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8B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend Magazine - Thursday, March 18, 2004
Digital arts exhibition showcases 'U' talent
The Michigan Daily - Weekend Ma g
By Emily Liu
Daily Arts Writer
An interactive digital arts exhibi-
tion will get underway tomorrow.
Sync 04 features
a range of art-
work created with Sync 04
or in response to March 19 -30
digital media. Opening Night
reception, March 20
The works 7-9p.m.
include anima- Free
tion, video, flat At the Duderstadt
work, music and Center
installation pieces
that respond to the human element.
The show will be held at the
Media Union on North Campus,
which celebrates its renaming cere-
mony tomorrow as well. The Union
is being commemorated as The
James and Anne Duderstadt Center.
"Certain themes pop up in all of
the work, such as the contrast
between reality and the digital
realm. The use of digital media
grants the artist such fine and delib-
erate control over his message that
the end result is poignant reflection
on the world we live in," said Engi-
neering senior Noah Zoschke, presi-
dent of Entity, a digital arts coalition
that is one of the organizations
behind the show.
An example of this underlying
theme is Cranbrook Schools student
Bradford Watson's "2x4x96," an ani-
mation of a two-by-four being
shaved off bit by bit. The undulating
movement of the wood's rings, set
on a stark white background, uses a
digital realm to communicate the
idea of life. "The wood is taken out
of its natural context and turned into
a source of digital animation. The
tree comes alive again by viewing it
in this manner," Zoschke explained.
Another work is an interactive
sound and video controller project,
which is manipulated by joysticks
and human interaction. The exhibi-
tion also includes interactive work-
stations, where the viewer can spend
more time browsing through artwork
at his own pace. One can step
through images, watch animations,
and listen to music, thus exploiting
the power of the digital format.
The exhibition's opening festivi-
ties night on Saturday features musi-
cal performances in the Video
Studio by four local artists - Form-
less Figures, Aneurysm, Kadence
featuring Tenacity, and 000. A
Detroit artist on the Planet-Mu label,
000 will open with live laptop elec-
tronic grooves. Kadence and Tenaci-
ty are two members of the
Abolitionists, an Ann Arbor group
specializing in philosophical socio-
political hip-hop. Following is
Aneurysm, a DJ whose setup con-
sists of both old and new technolo-
gies - computers, Atari joysticks, a
power glove and a standard
turntable. The headliner, Formless
Figures, a group from Warren, melds
together jazz, soulful hip-hop and
electronic sounds with the use of
live instrumentation, turntables,
drum machines, other electronics,
vocals and a veejay. Free food and
drink will be provided, and anima-
tion and video screenings will take
place between performances.
The annual exhibition, under a
different name, in past years fea-
tured international and higher-pro-
file artists. This year's show, in
contrast, focuses on students and
local artists. Among them are LSA,
Engineering and Art and Design stu-
dents, Detroit College for Creative
Studies students, Cranbrook stu-
dents, and artists from Ann Arbor,
Ypsilanti and Detroit.
"The greatest part about the show
has been working with other groups
and especially with other schools,"
Zoschke said. "Working with outside
artists who have their own experi-
ence handling artwork, combined
with the University's facilities, gives
the show a unique feel that it would-
n't have if working with solely U of
Photos courtesy of Mark Stock, David Anderson and
Ronald Lusk
Sync 04 artwork manipulates a digital
medium to convey meaning in a
distinctive way.
M people."
Entity, one of the organizations
hosting Sync 04, is a digital arts
coalition at the University that
focuses on collaboration among
artists. Zoschke said, "The fruits of
(Entity's) project nights are actually
in the art show as installation
pieces. We discussed ideas in larger
project nights, and once an idea was
solidified, the people who were
interested would work on it in their
spare time." The sound and video
controller project is one of these
installation pieces arising from
J
Entity meetings. The University
sponsors the group, providing mem-
bers with equipment, public spaces
and funding.
Media hype glamorizes cosmetic surgery boom
By Niamh Slevin
Daily Weekend Editor
Welcome to the youth of Ameri-
ca's media experience. Popular
magazines such as:Glamour and
Cosmopolitan plaster images of
idyllic beauties across their pages
and help make the idea of cosmetic
surgery more acceptable to its read-
ers. TV shows like "The O.C."
openly discuss the presence of cos-
metic operations in the nation, par-
ticularly for young patients.
"Extreme Makeover" and MTV's "I
Want a Famous Face" portray cos-
metic surgery as an integral part of
their participants' makeover ses-
sions.
With the plethora of makeover
shows on television today, the con-
cept of cosmetic surgery has
become far less taboo. Less than a
decade ago, celebrities were reluc-
tant to admit they elected to have
such operations, fearing viewers
would consider them too vain. Jen-
nifer Grey would not disclose that
she had a nose job after "Dirty
Dancing," but only a few years
later, she guest starred on sitcoms
mocking her long-concealed opera-
tion. Michael Jackson continuously
denied undergoing plastic surgery
in the past; last year, he revealed
that he did have minor work done
on his face. The culture is chang-
ing, and so is the media's coverage
of it. However, an often overlooked
aspect of the plastic surgery field is
reconstructive surgery.
William Kuzon, a professor in the
plastic surgery section of the Med-
ical School, says, "Plastic surgery
is, by far, the most diverse of all the
surgical specialties. We operate
from the top of the head to the tip
of the toe for people of all ages. We
treat every conceivable kind of
pathology (burns, hand trauma,
malignancies, congenital malforma-
tions, etc.)."
Reconstructive surgery more
often revolves around the restora-
tion of an area of the body rather
than an enhancement of it. Such
operations are usually part of the
treatment for a disease or trauma.
For instance, burn victims can
undergo a variety of reconstructive
surgeries to repair skin damage
from the trauma. Many women seek
breast reduction surgeries to ease
their discomfort and aid chronic
back problems. As a result, this
kind of work requires a great deal
of knowledge, adaptability and skill
from its surgeons.
"Plastic surgeons consider them-
selves to be the virtuoso perform-
ers among surgeons. The old saying
is 'Plastic surgery is general sur-
gery done better,' " Kuzon explains.
Despite the benefits of this field,
media representation has been rela-
tively low compared to its cosmetic
counterpart. While stations like
,MTV and The Learning Channel
also air programs addressing candi-
See PLASTIC SURGERY, page 9B
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