ARTS The Michigan Daily Saturday, January 26, 1985 Page 5 Guggenheim art exhibit . .. It's surre By Andrew Comai T read not with trepidation but cum celeritate to the Museum of Art on the corner of State and South Univer- sity. Within that neoclassical construct is nestled a mind expanding exhibit, en- titled "The Influence of Surrealism on American Art." The exhibit is com- posed of 32 works on loan from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as well as pieces from the University of Michigan collection. The surrealist theme should not deter you from atten- ding, for the basic ideals of surrealist art include four themes which seem to enthrall most normal college students: sex, fear of death, rejection of authoritarian dogma, and sex. The erotic and morbid elements of surrealism stem from the use of Freudian and Jungian theories on the cause and content of dreams. The surrealist seeks to delve into the sub- conscious, capturing in various media the essence of the inner mind. The in- ner essence can be extremely shocking in its content. The disturbing piece by Kay Savage with its unstable architec- tural structures dominating the foreground and its lack of secure and supportive background structures looks like the worst nightmare of an agoraphobic engineer. The dark menace of the sky meets the horizon and the dismal distance threatens to swallow up the viewer. The seething element of the human id, the fear of death, is manifest if this picture. The erotic aspects of the human sub- concious are prevalent in the exhibit. While it may be easy to exceed the limits of good taste when examining these works for signs of gender sym- bolism, both phallic and vaginate, it sure is fun. The most obvious example is in Victor Banner's Constancy of Sexuality. In this festive piece several Aztec gods frolic in all their tumescent glory. A more enigmatic piece, Hans Arp's Fruit Pre-Adamique, has an ob- vious sensual, touchable form yet is only slightly anthropomorphic. Its title would lead one to believe that this small bronze, a veritable abstract orgy, is the artist's conception of carnal lust before there was flesh. When examining the essence of the inner mind one need not dwell entirely on the horrifying and shocking. There is the beautiful and the intriguing as well. Matta's Luminous Paint, a panorama of another world, is the at- tempt to express not the landscape of another place but the "inscape" of another mind. Max Ernst in his En Rade may have been trying to convey al thing nothing more than the joy, light, and life that the human mind can experien- ce. It surpasses what the retina can take in and delivers the concentrated elements of the human psyche. If fine art to you seems rather preten- tious and constricted by dogma spewed forth by "art authorities," if the use of psychological symbolism seems like another artificial convention, then this exhibit is still worth your while. Spawned from the zany school of the Dadaists, the surrealists still have a flavor of subversive, anti-establish- ment humor. The Dadaists were the ar- tists most likely to write humorous things on restroom walls. It was Duchamp who drew a moustache on the Mona Lisa and inscribed the saying "she's got hot pants" beneath. Good fun is evident in Calder's mobile as well as several prints by Duchamp himself. Most wonderous is the book cover by Duchamp which seems to represent either a large pink doorbell, or a small version of one of his wife's two friends. Museum hours are 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Tues - Fri and 1 - 5 Sat and Sun. Special talks will be given on January 29 and 31 from 12:10 - 12:30. The title of the talks is."Maholy-Nagy and Mark Rothko: Two Approaches to Surrealism." Adolph Gottleib's "Beasts in the Night" is one of the many fine works now on exhibit at the University Museum of Art. . ..... ..... Bandco By Richard Williams h, the mystique of Factory Records. They have provided us with the honest ambiguity of the Joy Division/New Order legacy. We always recognize the terse, simple in- dustrial graphics on any new release standing in the shops. So what is Fac- tory all about? I'd rather leave that up to you or whoever wants to write a book about it because I prefer silent reinter- pretation. But there's one simple thing we should realize: Factory Records is also the Durutti Column, A Certain Ratio, The Wake The Names, The Stockholm Monster, Section 25, and others. The latter is our subject today. Sec- tion 25 was formed in 1979 and has released three albums, the current being From the Hip. They have gone throught some personnel changes ntinues Factory's legacy I but the core has remained the brothers Larry and Vin Cassidy, on guitar/vocals and electronics, respec- tively.They currently enroll two female vocalist/keyboardist and a drummer. From the Hip is a healthy encoun- ter in the post-synthetic course of the inanity. The record charts a varied course in electronic mayhem without ever becoming derivative or playing up to the computer age's electro-pop men- tality. The lyrics are purposely am- biguous, a Factory specialty. Tempos change, directions change, melodies change, continually creating a passive, engaging breath of fresh pop. Things begin slowly but beautifully enough with "The Process" which builds with a heavenly synth line and a biting New Orderish guitar. Drums begin to pound and one of the girls mut- ters along as the whole big thing begins to swell over our heads. The single "Looking From a Hilltop" follows. It features an amazingly dense slice of synth and drums that will assuredly pound you into the dancefloor. It rivals New Order's "Blue Monday" and SPK's "Metal Dance" for pure sonic capabilites. "Reflection" is the perfect electro- pop tune. A joyous melody and pun- ctuated vocal interplay help it put all the synth trendies on a solemn wander through the cold forest. But Side 1 ends with "Prepare to Live," a negligible hyper pop-dirge. Side 2 starts with "Program for Light", another dense slice of unpredic- table electronic mayhem and then unexpectedly shifts gears as it segues into "Desert" a compelling interplay of acoustic guitar, piano and female vocals. The album runs out of refreshing ideas at the end as "Beneath the Blade" plods through a very good but standard post-Joy Division riff. It segues into "Inspiration" which contains many nice mutations of its melody but relies on standard electro-pop riffs and vocals. Section 25 along with New Order and a few others are aware of the musical limitations of electronics and are suc- cessful in using it to their advantage. Section 25 has developed a set of varied yet engaging songs that keep the faith alive for the post-punk synthtrade. Editor's note: Section 25 will be appearing tonight at The Asylum in Detroit. Tickets are $6. Call 962- 7280 for further information. This barren landscape that effaces Section 25's new album,From the Hip, would fit nicely in Brian Griffin's portfolio of rock and roll album covers. l Marlboro musicians make magnificent music By Neil Galanter The concert opened with Mozart's the continuity of the ensemble was for the siderable amount of musical tension ensemble's chiseled clean passage dance tunes that go over well Flute Quartet in D Major for flute, most part in excellent form. There was and excitement without any loss of the work was also most impressive. Thus, audience. There is also a p violin, viola, and cello. The quartet is a slight problem in the beginning with necessary quiet and expressive aspects the Beethoven ended on an upbeat abundance of lyricism in the pi hat's more enjoyable on a called a flute quartet not because it is respect to perfect ensemble playing of an adagio. rounding itself out with a good batting Licad captured all the spirit an dreary January evening than made up of four flutes, but because it when the flute seemed a pinch too The interpretational problem came average. of the former, but passed over with an leasant; ece and d verve a lot of hearing five different instruments play in ensemble? Nothing much actually, and nothing. much more was really needed Wednesday night in Rackham Auditorium when five outstanding young artists from the "Music from Marlboro" Series performed a night's worth of chamber music, a delightful repetoire encompassing Mozart, Beethoven, and Czech composer An- tonin Dvorak. is a piece for four instruments with the flute playing the major role in the piece. That is exactly what flutist Judith Mendenhall did in this perfor- mance. She knows the craft of playing her pipe extraordinarily well. Producing a mello (and never shrill) tone quality, Mendenhall provided for generous helpings of spontaneous, sup- ple music making. Tempo changes were handled with ease and grace, and detached from the group despite the fact that the flute is supposed to play a solo type of role. The problem was solved later, however,by the elegance and precision of the middle Adagio movement, and by the end of the Ron- deau we had been treated to a portion of music beautifully interwoven and inter- twined. - The Beethoven String Trio No.1, Op. 9 in G Major followed the Mozart. After such a vivaciously spirited Mozart per- forming anything else is a tough act to follow, but by performing music of Beethoven, the three stringed _in- strumentalists actually fared quite well. The interpretation of the Adagio was right on base, played with a con- with the Scherzo. "Scherzo" is the Italian word for joke, indicating a musical character somewhat half serious and extremely light-hearted. A scherzo movement following an adagio is a naturally perfect contrast and it is quite pleasing to the listeners ears, but the group's scherzo did not seem to have enough jest in it. It was much too constrained, and not enough gag or jape was manifested. Did they take a more laid back approach here in order to set us up for a real "gung-ho" presto finale? The answer is a very strong "perhaps." The presto finale certainly was "all forces go!!"and plenty .of sweep and drama was apparent throughout. The After intermission we moved into the Romantic era with music of Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. Pianist Cecile Licad joined the string players for a performance of the Piano Quartet in E Flat, Opus 87. The score is filled with all of the leaping spirited Czech the latter lyricism, as she has often done before in past performances of other works. She has supreme capabilities pianistically and technically, but is often somewhat detached emotionally from the music, skimming over what are often the finest parts. Future moguls strut stuff By James Fazio The best videos from the 1984 Michigan Media Student Video Festival returned to Ann Arbor Thursday night for a show at Per- formance Network. The videos shown were all produced by studen- ts and some were award winners at the Festival, which was held at the Michigan Theater last April. The opening video, entitled "Courier Express," by R.C. Nygard of the University of Minnesota, went home with the $500 third prize last year, a fact that surprised most, as many people did not appreciate it. The photography was jerky, the plot weak, and the acting average. the only two bright spots in this seven and half minute action video were a radar gun reading of 56 mph which started a cop-chases-high-priced- sports-car scene in a 55 mph zone and the last lines of the video which read: "All Rights Reserved - And Then Some." A music video entitled "Get Tough" was also featured in the show. Created by Shane Solow of focused on brightly colored Indian paintings and combined them with a penetrating score. The special ef- fects were simple but neatly done, and a catharsis was actually achieved in the short time of ten minutes. Live theater offers some advan- tages over other methods of viewing, as exemplified by the special per- formance of the evening called "On Line." This interesting piece moved too slow to be a television attraction, but as a live show it was impressive. It presented a modern day computer addict as he went through a series of interludes that included a hacker, a psychic's billboard, a girl named Julie, and a computer fantasy game geek. The Media Festival is a three day affair with the last show starting at 8p.m. tonight. This evening's program includes the best of the San Francisco International Video Festival and "A Retrospective," videos from the '70s, that have been made in production during the past few years. Tonight's event will be held at Performance Network at 408 W. Washington. Anybody who is interested (even *.UE u..U UIS.*.UES@UE@ " " $ .SAT. & SUN. FIRST MATINEE ONLY $2.00 " U With this entire ad $1.00 off adult Evening admission. F Coupon good for purchase of one or two tickets good all OFF features thru 1/31/85 (EXCEPT TUESDAYS). e a ENDS THURS.I ENS FROM MARK RYDELL, EDS0HUS. THE DIRECTOR OF U HE'S NOT JUST ANOTHER OUT-OF-TOWNER! " : '"ON GOLDEN POND" 0 * U FRI., MON. 8:30 p.m. " SAT., SUN. 1:00, 3:00, 8:30 FRI., SAT. -MIDNIGHT * 0iiiiiii".i *>; THE TALKING HEADS " 4 CHANNEL DOLBY STEREO " MEL GIBSON " SISSY SPACEK M KN * * FRI., MON 5:30, 7:30, 9:45 FRI., MON. 5:00, 6:50,10:30 t SAT., SUN. 12:50, 5:15, 7:30, 9:45 .RISATUN.AT M 5: 6:50,10:30 " ANN ARBOR EXTRA SHOWS FRI. & SAT. NIGHT Regular Price " AT MIDNIGHT! AT MIDNIGHT! - "THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET" "STOP MAKING SENSE" iu*u*u*u*u*m*m*m*u*u*u. mu*.. *u*ue *e*e*e*ei***E*U COMING FEBRUARY 1st!