Thursday
March 9, 2006
arts. michigandaily. com
artspage@michigandaily.com

RTSe iCigt i t

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THE TOP OF POP

MEDIA
BLITZ

THE OSCAR EDITION
BECAUSE, NO, WE STILL HAVEN'T
GOTTEN OVER THEM
Hot celebrity moms - Jennifer Garner almost slipped because
of her sudden "ballast" that accompanies the wonderful state of
- how did the Victorians say it? - being with child. And even
the full-fledged, experienced mom, the ever-dazzling Reese With-
erspoon, made Ryan Phillipe look like the luckiest father and hus-
band in the western hemisphere. Competent Hollywood moms, you
represent an absurd standard of perfection. God bless you.

S


4

'Crash' bashing - George Bush may not like black people, but
the Academy does. After slaying the dually chic/edge romance and
splendor of "Brokeback Mountain," the sizzling patchwork of righ-
teousness known as "Crash" started catching more flack than Lud-
acris at a feminist-rhetoric conference. Soon after the upset, the
expected backlash set in around hour six. No narrative coherence,
no character development, few unforced moments of visual beauty.
All true, but "Crash" digs under the skin. And it won. Bitches.

Tom Hanks, the angry old man - The nicest man in Holly-
wood drops a couple curse words right before he presents an award?
Apparently he was pissed that the orchestra played music from "For-
rest Gump" after he specifically ordered them not to. Funny, we fig-
ured he'd be angry over the mullet tribute his hairstylist created for
"The DaVinci Code." UH! WHAT NOW, MR. "TERMINAL!"

STUDENTS' ART PROJECT
ARRIVES ON NORTH
By Caitlin Cowan
Daily Features Editor
FESTIVAL PRFvIEW
Not such a long time ago, San Francisco became
a culturally vibrant hotspot for art and life. In the
'60s, the city's resident hip-
pies and acid trippers began
to put on large-scale music, Sync '06
art and light festivals in the Digital Arts
amphitheatres and venues and Music
in the famed Haight-Ash- Festival
bury district. People could Tonight, Friday and
experience bands like the Saturday at 7 p.m.
Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Free
Messenger Service and Jef-
ferson Airplane in a haze At the Duderstadt
of colorful light and strange
artistic installations that came together in a rain-
bow of psychedelic euphoria.
The concerts and music shows of today almost
seem pale and uninspired when compared to such
descriptions of the cross-genre brilliance exuded
by the San Francisco night. But this weekend, Per-
forming Arts Technology and Music junior Robert
Lester and his cavalcade of big plans might surprise
you if you stop by the Sync '06 Digital Art and
Music Festival to be held at the Duderstadt Center
on North Campus.
Though you may have never heard of it, Lester
said, "Sync has been happening for a few years.
We're kind of trying to bring (it) back."
After peripheral involvement with Sync's pre-
cursor, Entity, Lester expressed a desire to become
more involved.
"I thought it was an important thing to continue
and have happen in Ann Arbor because it show-
cased a lot of interesting work which really benefit-
ed from a sort of centralized exhibition," he said.
During the summer, Lester was asked if he
would be interested in taking charge of Sync '06
as its co-curator.
The schedule of events for the festival is com-
prised of a gallery component and a performance
component. The gallery will be open until Friday
from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Duderstadt Center, and
will feature work-by David Holtek, Leslie Sobel,
Margaret Parker and others. The artwork has many
starting points and is inspired by biological, spiri-
tual and hallucinatory elements.
"Almost every performance that is happening at
Sync features live visuals with live music or with

2

Three 6 Mafia post-parties with Salman Rushdie - Both par-
ties likely discussed their haters (East Coast rap elitists / The Aya-
tollahs), their artistic masterpieces ("Stay Fly" and "Sippin' on
Some Syrup" / "Midnight's Children") and (this part is serious)
Rushdie told Three 6 that he was pulling for them the whole time.
Remember how Rushdie started writing lyrics for Bono? Get ready
for Memphis bounce-rap to start having way, way more Hindu
images. Globalization rules.

Courtesy of Robert Lester
The Sync '06 Digital Arts Music Festival will begin tonight at 7 p.m. at the Duderstadt Center.

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I

'Brokeback Mountain'
Legos - All your favor-
ite scenes reenacted by
Lego versions of Ennis and
Jack. We wonder if the pegs
interlock in the appropri-
ate places. Or if we can
"quit" Legos. Do your
own analysis and check

live dancers. I think it's safe to say that one of the
themes for Sync this year is a kind of interdisciplin-
ary, collaborative spirit," Lester said.
Tonight, DorkBot.Detroit, a collective of art-
ists, students, designers and engineers, will give a
performance that includes analog electronics and
visual components. Also tonight, Jeff Karloski
will use everyday objects and familiar experience
as a starting point and move his performance from
there. Finally, Chris Landau will present "The
Flocking Party," a multifaceted narrative set in
the near future.
The Digital Music Ensemble, directed by Steve
Rush, will perform Friday with improvised dance
accompaniment. Attendees can expect everything
from electronics and video to toys and interpretive
dance. Saturday, The Earthwurms will give audi-
ences a taste of live-video theater that includes
scratched and dubbed remixes set to improvised
electro-acoustic music.
The icing on the electro-tech cake is that all the
events are free and open to the public. "I think that

has always been central to the Sync legacy," Lester
said of the festival's free admission.
Large, multi-component shows like Sync '06
can continue thanks to the year to year interests
of patrons. "What Sync '06 is trying to create is
an event that is going to create a buzz about inter-
media art and multimedia performance art," Les-
ter said, "something that we can regenerate a lot
of interest in."
While the tripped-out light, art and music shows
of the '60s have completely given way to more sep-
aratist events like art gallery openings, laser-light
shows and music concerts that all function indepen-
dently, the curators of Sync understand the kind of
ideas the San Francisco community was discover-
ing in their time. They've actively tried to create a
point of union between art and technology.
"Sync comes from a contemporary idea that the
visual can be attached to the sonic on a more foun-
dational level," Lester said. "You can create works
of art that dabble in both worlds to say something
that is far more comprehensive."


out more photos at
www.destinationdaniel.
smugmug.com.

Courtesy of Destinationdaniel.smugmug.com

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