Page 8-The Michigan Daily- Monday, March 16,1992 New music was a turn-on New Works from the Electronic Music Studios Rackham Auditorium March 14,1992 Tonight takes its place in the tra- dition of inter-arts creativity in Ann Arbor. Through the works on this program, each of us can experience anew the difference between partici- pating in a piece that addresses one's responses primarily through the ears and one that asks participa- tion with the eyes and kinesthetic body senses as well. -Diane Kirkpatrick History of Art Department Chair It was a performance that touched the senses and was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. In fact seeing had very little to do with it, for this performance involved listening, with an occasional visual aid thrown in for good measure. New Works from the Electronic Music Studios, orga- nized by George Balch Wilson, was a collaboration of such pictures, dancers and electronically-processed sounds. The performance began in dark- ness, with various mixtures of Concert review - sounds, ranging from bells to space noises to echoes, coming from four different speakers strategically placed around the audience. The sounds seemed to jump from speaker to speaker with various intensities. There were no visual aids at first; at times it was difficult to tell whether the sounds were synthesized or not. Following the initial introduction to this new music was a piece titled "--57" which began with a visual of a computer chip and a flower pro- jected in the middle of it. A mechan- ical voice, speaking for the computer chip, compared itself to a landscape. Unlike the real world, with changing colors per season, this chip repre- sents a technology where seasons have no relevance. Items can be added and processed with a blink of an eye, and as a result, nature does- n't mean what it used to. , "Upper Midwestern Apologia," written by Ann Arbor poet Keith Taylor, combined electronic music and visuals by Evan Chambers and Doug Hagley, respectively. At first this was a tranquil piece depicting photos of the Midwest with echoing voices whispering "landscape." Sounds of crickets and birds chirping, wind whistling and water dripping coordinated with images of peaceful-looking lakes, painting a very haunting picture when associ- ated with Taylor's words. He gave us the impression that our environ- ment is slowly becoming something harmful to wildlife and people be- cause of ongoing industrialization. Doctoral student P.Q. Phan gave a stunning interpretation of his expe- riences growing up in Vietnam. He used electronic music, the work of choreographer Jeremy Steward and members of the University Dance Company. The dancers, wearing black leggings and colored tank tops, acted out the emotions and reactions of a child caught in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. Sounds of helicopters and machine guns fired through the auditorium. The grand finale, titled "Gog and Magog" showcased the collaborative talents of Glenn Palmer and Tom Frank. The two artists tried to ex- press the message of mankind's de- liberate destruction of self and the universe through the various wars in history. With the intensity and flare of a video game, the piece incorpo- rated war pictures flashing on a screen. These showed soldiers, uni- forms, maps, machinery, medals and people from different countries. Echoing music and sounds of na- ture were followed by sirens and ar- tillery, which seemed to be coming closer and closer. Pictures of people screaming in anguish flashed on the screen, while moving shadows filled the entire front wall of the audito- New Works from the Electronic Music Studios shows that technology is changing our world, and not necessarily for the better. rium. Armageddon's radar symbol held its place in the center of each picture, giving us the impression of destruction through every war photo. As these ghostly shadows continuously moved past, haunting music of various intensities filled the room; all eyes were glued upon the pictures of cemeteries and rows of tombstones in front of us declaring their death by war. New Works from the Electronic Music Studios shows that technology is changing our world, and not nec- essarily for the better. Meanwhile, it has used that new technology itself in its music to positively present problems, such as environmental de- struction, that are currently facing us and need to be addressed. -Carina A. Bacon Live (sort of) from New York (OK, Toronto), it's Lorne Michaels If you ask Lorne Michaels (far right) why so many brilliant comedians come out of Toronto, he'll tell you that it's because Toronto used to be "such a boring place to grow up." Michaels, the television producer extraordi- naire who recently brought the "Wayne's World" skit to the big screen, says that living in Ontario forced him to invent comic ideas because there was simply nothing else to do. Fortunately, Michaels ended his Canadian angst in 1968, when he went to Los Angeles to work as a writer for the then-revolutionary Laugh-In. In creating such ground-breaking material, Michaels soon learned (or perhaps helped shape) the kind of comedy Americans would eat up. In 1975, Michaels became the first executive producer of a daring new show called Saturday Night Live. Enough said. He stayed with the show until 1980, wisely getting out before the first new cast- and some accompanying jeers - came in. While he was absent, Michaels founded Broadway Video, Inc., the company that produces Kids in the Hall. In 1985, when TV audiences once again began laughing at the show for the reasons the writers intended, Michaels returned to Saturday Night Live . Producing the show ever since, he has put such sayings as "Yeah, that's the ticket!" and "Well isn't that conveeeeeniant!" into our idiom. For scholars of American culture, Wayne's World is essentially a monument to Lorne Michaels' rich understanding of the contemporary television medium; Wayne's partner Garth would probably tell you just that he hoped you "didn't think it sucked." Garth's general sentiments seem fairly basic, but Michaels had a rather refined design for how to keep Wayne's World from "sucking." He wanted the film to "play the culture back to itself." Appreciating our culture, in this case, requires only that you have watched Laverne and Shirley. Michaels envisioned Wayne's World as if Garth and Wayne had made it themselves. Realizing that "American kids know television the way French kids know wine," the producer put television at the core of the film. Doing so seems a reflection of Michaels' life work; few people, after all, have done more to put television at the core of America. -Gabriel Feldberg A healthy treatment of injustice Article 99 dir. Howa rd Deutch by Chris Lepley Article 99 is a surprisingly good and original film. Directed by Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful), Article 99 tells the story of our country's lack of commitment to the veterans of its wars. The film is preachy, funny and melodramatic by turns, but there is passion behind every line, and in every look. Article 99 resembles Born on the Fourth of July and Platoon in that it assumes that its audience is liberal. The film proceeds from that standpoint, never bothering to explain why providing health care for the poor and suffering, no matter what the monetary cost, is more important than following the rules and statutes of the bureaucracy. In the magical world of Hollywood, those kinds of questions are moot anyway. So it isn't a glaring error to automatically assume that the audience will give a shit. An "Article 99" is a fictitious government statute which informs a veteran that he has been awarded "full medical benefits, however, as the diagnosed condition cannot be specifically related to military service, treat- ment is not available at this time." In other words, you didn't have your four heart attacks in Vietnam, so we can't treat you for heart disease. In effect a "Catch-22" for the '90s, an "Article 99" is the death knell for any vet who requires extensive med- ical treatment. Although the statute itself is imaginary, screenwriter Ron Cutler created it by combining several pieces of ac- tual bureaucratic red tape, forming a more powerful symbol of neglect. Cutler's screenplay is based on sub- stantial research at VA hospitals across the country, making it ring true dramatically, despite the comedy which the characters use as an escape from brutal real- ity. Cutler interviewed doctors at VA hospitals across the country, even though those doctors were threatened with dismissal for speaking with the film crew. The ac- tors in the film sat in on several open-heart surgeries, researching their roles as heart specialists. Not since the Oscar-winning Coming Home has a VA hospital been portrayed so realistically, and the characters were still allowed to be the focal point of the film, rising above the all-important "issue." The film follows Dr. Peter Morgan (Kiefer Sutherland) from his first day at the hospital. Morgan is a cocky, superficial, future country club member who wants to spend a few months at the VA, then start a lu- crative private practice in Beverly Hills. Dr. Richard Sturgess (Ray Liotta) is the maverick who gives up a private practice to stay at the VA year after year, just doing his best to save people's lives. With his partners in crime, Dr. Sid Handleman (Forest Whitaker), Dr. Robin Van Dorn (Lea Thompson) and Dr. Rudy Bobrick (John C. McGinley), Sturgess con- ducts midnight raids on the animal research laborato- ries, stealing the medical supplies he needs to treat his patients. Van Dorn is an idealistic go-getter who spots the sil- ver spoon jutting out of Morgan's mouth right away. True to type, he hits on her every chance he gets, but refreshingly enough, even after he experiences his in- evitable change of heart, she doesn't go to bed with him. She isn't treated as his reward for good behavior, and he doesn't win her like a prize after he realizes the value of human life. That isn't to say that Article 99 doesn't have its share of romantic comedy. Dr. Diana Walton (Kathy Baker) is a psychiatrist who strikes instant sparks with Sturgess. Their scenes together are witty and tender, and their relationship isn't romanticized to the point of exchanging poignant looks for minutes at a time. Like the rest of the cast, Walton and Sturgess seem like real people, and that's the plus that Article 99 has over other "message" movies. The characters are fully drawn, fully functional human beings. Even the villain, Dr. Henry Dreyfoos (John Mahoney), the hospital's cost-cutting director,'does more than just sneer and mouth threats. The film's message isn't new, but its style and wit is. A good script and great acting save Article 99 from be- ing just another argument for straight-to-video releases. The ensemble cast works well together, and the faces are familiar. Many of the film's actors worked together on Oliver Stone's Platoon, and that camaraderie provides a smooth rhythm to the film's dialogue and movement. Deutch's direction is economical, but not sterile. The film's facts are straight, but it doesn't play like a docu- mentary. Above all, Article 99 is funny, entertaining and relevant. ARTICLE 99 is playing at Showcase. John C. McGinley, Ray Liotta and Forest Whitaker are just a few of the way cool unheralded talents in Article 99. Note Kiefer Sutherland's absence. - 1 There are hundreds of questions on the GMAT, GRE and LSAT. This checklist will help you answer all of them. EVI EVI Kaplan makes test prep convenient. With 150 centers and thousands of class schedules, the odds are we'll be ready to teach when and where you need us to be there. Kaplan helps you manage your time. 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