,rA w Page Six THE MICHIGAN DAILY Saturday, June 13, 1970 Saturday, June 13, 1970 t THE MICHIGAN DAILY -9- .... . ..... , { 7 ,.. f - - - Seeing before Knowing Donald L. Weisman, THE VIS- UAL ARTS AS HUMAN EX- PERIENCE, Prentice-Hall, $18.- 95. By ELISSA EVETT For all those souls who have cultivated the habit of sneering with disdain at the omnipresent, uneducated museum-goer who pronounces loudly to her com- panion, "Well Blanche, I sure don't know anything about art, but at least I know what I like," but who, on the other hand, realize deep-down that they cannot describe their own re- sponses to art in any more far- reaching terms than these, Prentice-Hall has just the book. Entitled The visual Arts as Hu- man Experience, the b o o k is written by Donald L. Weisman, an artist and teacher of the arts at the University of Texas whose dual role as creator and critic grant him a two-fold au- thority over his subject matter. As the title implies, the au- thor is concerned with locating the visual arts in their human and cultural contexts, and he reminds the reader at various times of this purpose: "For af- ter all, that is one of our prin- cipal aims: to know again that the art of men is more than a private, isolated concern unre- lated to the life men lead in the street, their meeting rooms, their beds and their courts of law." Although some scholars in the discipline of art history seem to have lost sight of this fact in their involvement with precise art historical problems, most people engaged in the vis- ual arts accept this as a basic tenet. Thus, it is quite clear that this book is directed to- wards the curious, unenlighten- ed initiate. Weisman makes t h e begin- ning venture into the realm of visual arts a blissfully easy and well-planned excursion. He pro- ceeds in a systematic fashion from the basic components that make up visual language to the more complicated questions of how visual elements work to- gether in s u c h conditions as balance, cohesion, tension, and illusion. He is extremely con- scientious in his attempt to bind visual experiences in art with similar experiences in everyday life. Thus, in reference to the propensity for balance in the visual arts, the reader recalls his own experiences in regards to the physical phenomenon of gravity which h e1p s maintain his own balance. True to his subject, Weisman relies heavily on visual means to convey his ideas. Before dis- cussing how different visual principles function in their ar- tistic settings, he first illustrates their optical qualities by means of simple and clearly instruc- tive diagrams. Thus the strong- ly felt but difficult to describe properties of cohesion, tension, and closure are strikingly illu- minated by a series of simple diamgrams involving the place- ment of one or a few circles within a square. Weisman gives further prom- " FLOATING OPERA " CARNA LKITCHEN " LOVE'S ALCHEMY &fg £tee/!,qg//poos 635 S. Main, AA MONDAY, JUNE 15-8 p.m. BENEFIT DANCE FOR "COME TOGETHER" inence to visual material in his extravagant display of illustra- tions. Almost every painting that he discusses in any detail is shown in black and white im- mediately adjacent as well as in a full-page color plate of fine quality. Occasionally, when his treatment of a particular work becomes rather lengthy, he will even reproduce the black and white illustration a second time in order to save the reader the slight inconvenience' of having to flip a few pages back to refer to the picture. This is truly luxurious treatment even in the world of expensive art books. Weisman gears the level of his discussion to a consistent and complete image of his read- er. He tones his material to an even, elementary level, never lapsing into unwarranted, over- taxing material. Although there are occasions of fresh insight, for the most part his presenta- tion follows the usual line of interpretation of, for example, as the key developments in at- titudes about the creation of il- lusory three dimensional space. Occasionally he hints at alter- native approaches but he un- fortunately n e v e-r follows through with substantial sup- port for these approaches, e.g.: "The history of art is less a simple story of rejecting one truth for another than it is a comprehensive indication of the changing demands for truth that man's existence calls forth. And although .no simple evolu- tionary theory will suffice to describe or explain the relation- ships among t h e varieties of truth called forth at different times and places, still such re- lations do exist." As indicated by the lavish use of illustrative material, Weis- man's allegiance is to the realm of the visual and the major thrust of his opinions rallies around the role of visual per- ception. Thus, even though he acknowledges the role of "out? side" knowledge upon our com- prehension of art objects, he places more weight on the pow- er of our visual faculties: "But in the long run there is less danger in risking our open sur- render to the visual world than there is in going about behind an armored vision. The poverty or richness of our concepts is determined by the depth and quality of our perceptions. Only through an ever increasing per- ceptual awareness can our con- cepts and our whole conceptual life attain to more than more than mere adequacy in a word that is forever ready to reveal more of itself to us." His other prevalent attitude works in support of the "hu- man experience" aspect of the title; Weisman repeatedly em- phasizes the meaning of the art object in terms of its wide, hu- man implications. In a chapter on perspective, he prefaces his technical examination of t h e A principle of one point perspec- tive as used in Leonardo's "Last Supper," with a compelling de- scription of the religious and human impact of the event de- picted. He then illustrates how, the technique of perspective is instrumental in propelling the Student Book Service NOW OPEN EVENINGS 7:00-10:30 many nice books 1215 S. UNIVERSITY 761-0700 Open daytime beqinninq June 22nd b 0 0 k s religious message as wel as sat- isfying the desire for a consis- tently realistic optical illusion. Occasionally, Weisman's com- pulsion to bring the reader's in- dividual, human expericenes to bear on works of art leads him into some rather absurdanalo- gies. The most uncalled-for and downright embarrassing of these instances occurs when he likens the atmosphere of suspension and pent-up energy found in Rembrandt's magnificent etch- ing "The Three Crosses" to the feeling at the moment of the ignition of a rocket missile. The book suffers from other such small mishaps, as well as from occasional heavy passages lad- en with needless repetitions employed to belabor a particu- lar point. While supposedly this b o o k woud not be -ef sustaining in- terest to anyone who has tak- en a decent a rt appreciation course and who has done some careful looking at visual art, it would provide those who are not exactly sure of the differ- ence between value and inten- sity, or between one point anc two point perspective, with a comprehensive, skillfully pre- sented overview of the language of visual arts. Today's Writer .. Cellist, horticulturist, leather- worker, equestrian, and baker, Elissa Evett received her M.A. in Art History from the Univer- sity of Michigan. She has taught art appreciation and Oriental Art at Kalamazoo Col- lege and at the University of Michigan, bearborn Campus. -Associated Press Safe, by a hair Fort Knox barber John Vessels puts the finishing touches on a haircut for ROTC cadet Chuck Burggraf, one of about 1600 stu- dents entering a special ROTC summer program. The haircut is a regulation for participating in the military session. FIRE FROINES? University of Oregon to investigate teacher ------~~- Ann Arbor Network reopens to provide help via telephone By DEBRA THAL If you dial 769-6450 anytime of the day or night, chances are you'll feel better when you hang up. The number belongs to the Ann Arbor Network, the newly reopended switchboard-bulletin board which operates strictly as a public service. The Network, operated by Ozone House-a home for run- aways, a counseling service and community center scheduled to open in mid-July-has informa- tion on almost everything, and a quick phone call to them can provide: -referrals for medical, legal, psychiatric, drug, draft, religious and personal problems; -news on what is happening around Ann Arbor; -immediate help for any emergency; -contact with different or- ganizations in Ann Arbor and other cities; --suggestions on coordinating transportations for large events; and -short-term volunteer switch- board facilities for other organ- izations. The Network is also a contact point for Ozone House. Run- aways who need a place to sleep and eat or someone to talk to can call 769-6450 to obtain in- formation about interim hous- ing and counseling services. "We are solely a communica- tions service; we are apolitical," says Eddie Grant, Network co- ordinator. Although the communication service originally opened apart from Ozone House early in March, Grant says it fell apart when the winter term ended and many of the telephone oper- ators left the area. Network re- opened last week when Ozone House took over managing re- sponsibilities. The switchboard is open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Friday, and from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday and Sunday. Net- work can be reached for in- formation or help at 769-6540 or P.O. Box 420. The Network also asks any- one to call who has information others may want to know. Matinees LAST FOUR DAYS "SMASH S ~"-EWWE "Meyer's unabashedly...luscious...best!" Kevin Thomas-LA. TIMES EUGENE, Oregon - (CPS) Conservative state legislators are mounting a large scale drive to force the University of Oregon to fireassistant professor of chemistry John Froines, who was found not guilty of con- spiracy and inciting to riot charges in the Chicago 8 trial. Representative Safford Han- sell says Froines "has given the state of Oregon a real black eye" and has demanded the profes- sor's immediate dismissal. Pub- lic support for Hansell's move grew after Froines addressed an audience of over 2,000 students and called for a shutdown of all universities next fall unless the wear is over and Bobby Seale and the New Haven Panthers are freed. University President Robert Clark stated that because of the "public outcry" he would launch an investigation of Froines, which will "operate something like a grand jury." The questions which will be explored, Clark said, include "Did Dr. Froines incite the students to violent and disruptive action? If he ad- vocated the closing of universi- ties, what did he mean by 'clos- ing'? "The public should be reas- sured," declared Clark. "that the University will not submit tim- idly to assault by those who would destroy it or who would interfere with its operations by coercion or violence, whether they be students or faculty." Eves 6:25, 9:05 A 0 the news by The Associated Press am BRAZILIAN OFFICIALS main as they anxiously awaited some f terrorists who kidnaped West Germs Holleben Thursday night. The abductors, who shot and k and wounded another in taking the the embassy residence, threw mime saying the ambassador would be held met their, demands, including releas * * SOVIET AMBASSADOR ANA' Secretary of State Joseph J. Sisco a series of discussions aimed at tr settling the Arab-Israeli war. Officials declined to say wheth The appearance of Soviet pilots i the discussion, officials said, but on political issues. * * PENN CENTRAL CO. said y have resigned. The announcement came after a of the financially-troubled railroad. The announcement said Louis ) Corp. of Boston, had resigned as a d Co. and Penn Central Transpotati No reason was given for Cabot's r The directors also announced t to the New York law firm of Perki John T. Dorrance Jr., chairman of th ed their directorships of both rail con prese CA RNA L I EXT RAW SATURDAY AND SUND TWO SHOWS EACH DA u;I;NN i nr TH Onum 1,I 411,M N IN ANA~, MAXJVON rAN75-3O June 12, 13-F THET The best of the " space'' horror film salts--you may not incredible tension-! "Gave me nightmarf 672&9:105 662-887 1 75c ;.. a "A fun drama about a swinging lady!" Judith Crist--N.Y. MAGAZINE "Meyer's best..a merciless put on. Erica Gavin... electrifying !" Roger Ebert -- CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 6 r.,.._"r.... -1 = erfectiOn m. i modecrn Gooie "AI R PORT' is a great film all the way!" 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