The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, October 26, 2007 - 5A
Yes, those are pool noodles in the pond on North Campus
Across the pond,
sonic isolation
By PRIYA BALI
Daily Arets Writer
There is music in everything.
Even in chaos.
"Music is all around us," said
iconic composer John Cage, "if
only we had ears."
These words pro-
vided inspira- Gypsy Pond
tion for what is MUSiC
now known as
the Digital Music Through
Ensemble (DME), Saturday
startedbyStephen Free
Rush, a professor
in the School of At the pond in
Music, Theatre frontof the School
and Dnce. of Musdc, Theater
and Dance. an ac
The DME, a and Dance
class Rush offers,
is composed of engineering, art and
music students, all of whom col-
laborate with Rush in the annual
"Gypsy Pond Music" sound instal-
lation. The pond outside the Earl
V. Moore Building that houses the
School of Music becomes a canvas
for experimentation with lights and
sounds through various technolo-
gies.
The notion of labyrinths has lent
the ensemble the idea that with-
in a grand spectrum, there is an
individual working to self-reflect
among the, chaos. The premise is,,
admittedly, vague, but each year
takes a different approach to the
theme. This year focuses on the
individual and one's place in a com-
munity. Students attempt to map
out this particular relationship in
sculptures, lights and music.
One of the central questions
focuses on finding beauty within
chaos. As students attempted to
answer this question, they con-
sidered the coexistence of three
musical layers. Students collected
everyday noise that would resemble
chaos and then filled in the spaces
with composed music of their own
to represent beauty. These sounds
play from four large speakers in the
trees surrounding the pond.,
"I felt that there was a certain
music that wasn't being played,
both classical and experimental.
It was an artistic need that both
the students and I had," Rush said
of the composition. "There's music
around us, but we're not listening to
it, and I think this ensemble allows
that to happen."
The pond isn't the only com-
ponent of "Gypsy Pond Music."
A small transparent tent stands
beside the pond. When the garage
door motion sensor in the corner
of the tent is triggered, recordings
of philosophical statements by his-
toric people such as Virginia Woolf
and Hitler create another aspect.
We are meant to feel isolated
- that much is obvious - but the
transparency of the tent allows you
to still see what exists outside.
"The tent is the resemblance of
the distance between the individual
and society" Rush said.
Each student's role in the instil-
lation of this creation is unique. As
students discuss the meaning of the
installation and the philosophical
route it should take, each begins
to relate to the theme in different
ways.
"For me, it was a community
thing because of all the cooperation
involved - the individual experi-
ence is something I get more from
once it is completed and I can reflect
on it," said David Biedenbender, a
first year grad student in the School
of Music, Theatre and Dance. Bie-
denbender oversaw keeping conti-
Blurring the line
between music
and chaos.
nuity between parts of the project
on water and land and assisted in
the design of the lily-pad scene on
the pond.
In the evening, the pond's lily
pads go off at different rates and
patterns in glowing colors. The
idea, again, is that beauty and order
emerge out of the chaos. Although
advanced technology was used
inside the lily pad with tiny com-
puter chips, they were hand-made
out of floating swimming pool noo-
dles covered in white sheets.
"Ideasarelimitlessinthistheme,"
Rush said. "The human experience
is critical to the outcome of the proj-
ect, and you need to ask yourself
what the appropriate technology is
for it. Sometimes all you just need is
a hammer or a rubber band."
The installation will continue to
run in the afternoon and evening
through tomorrow.
Amy Chavasse's theater is out there, and it's awesome. See it today and tomorrow at 8 p.m. at the Duderstadt Center.
Sleeping with Coulter
Amy Cavasse's politically charged theater
BY MERYL SCHWARTZ
Daily Arts Writer
This Friday night, Assistant Music
Prof Amy Chavasse will exclaim: "I
am the lucky girl who sleeps with Ann
Coulter!" This isn't true, of course.
Coulter and Chavasse have never met,
let alone been intimate. But the irony of
the homophobic right-
wing darling taking a
same-sex lover is the Amy
creative premise for Chavasse:
Chavasse's original I
spoken word piece, "t "I Seep
Sleep with Ann Coul- with Ann
ter."
"Coulter" is one of Coulter" and
five provocative the- other per-
ater pieces onstage at formances
the Duderstadt Video
and Performance Stu- Today and
dio this Friday and tomorrow
Saturday at 8 p.m. at 8p.m.
The performances Free
combine modern
dance, video and text Atthe Duderstadt
in a dynamic explo- Center, Video
ration of such top- and Perfor-
ics as torture, female mance Studio
friendship and how
deliberately false and
offensive comments can turn into a
lucrative career (cue Coulter).
Chavasse credits the performer-
friendly policies of North Campus's
Duderstadt Center with making this
weekend's performances possible. The
Duderstadt allows all students and fac-
ulty to submit project proposals and,
if accepted, applicants receive grant
money and performance space.
"After I had my first year of teaching
here under my belt, it felt like it was time
to find a performance venue," Chavasse
said. "Iknewthatsome ofmycolleagues
had presented work at the Duderstadt,
and I became interested. It's really an
amazing space."
Once Chavasse's proposal was accept-
ed, she sought collaborators. Instead of
a permanent company, Chavasse has
what's known in the business as a pick-
up company - a range of fellow per-
formers she can call on whenever there's
a gig. For this performance, Chavasse
enlisted her former student, Jessica
Jolly, a dancer from the Brooklyn-based
modern dance company, Everything
Smaller; School of Music, Theatre and
Dance seniors Alexandra Burley and
Alex Springer; her mentor, actor Peter
Schmitz; and Donnell Turner, another
dancer from Everything Smaller.
The performnance opens with
an excerpt from "The Map and the
Machine," an original dance piece cre-
ated by Everything Smaller. "The Map
and the Machine" will premiere in New
York City in late November.
Chavasse had a hand in the creation
and choreography of the four remaining
acts. The topics differ, but they share a
number of Chavasse's trademarks: the
pieces are all character driven, socially
relevant, humorous and preoccupied
with the lyricism of language and the
expressiveness of the body.
For example, the night's most fre-
netic work, "All I Ask of My Enemies,"
a dance and spoken-word duet accom-
panied by video projection, displays
many of the aforementioned qualities.
The politically charged piece uses the
shifting relationship between-two char-
acters, played by Chavasse and Schmitz,
to reflect the arbitrary nature of iden-
tifying and treating those we consider
enemies.
The text for "Enemies" is almost
entirely adapted from recently released
National Security Archives documents
like "Prohibition on the Use of Force."
The discrepancy between the docu-
ment's lyrical language and atrocious
content fascinated Chavasse, a particu-
larly articulate speaker.
"The language is just so strange,
archaic and beautiful," she said.
A video created by artist Sue Reese, a
colleague of Chavasse's from her time at
Bennington College, uses ironic humor
to further emphasize the absurdity of
conflict.
Excerpts from the "Road Runner
and Wile E. Coyote" cartoons are inter-
spersed with footage from James Bond
movies and original animation of Lewis
Carroll's classic tale of betrayal, "The
Walrus and the Carpenter."
Chavasse hopes theater pieces like
"Enemies" or "Coulter" challenge
audiences to question the origin of the
information they receive, and encour-
age research and accountability. How-
ever, Chavasse is quick to note she is an
entertainer, not a preacher.
"I try to make my
characters believ-
able, they aren't
just polemic
sounding
boards,"
Chavasse
said.
She added:
"These pieces
are my reac-
tion to current "
events. I am
fascinated and
disturbed by
what I see going
on in the world,
but I'm not bit-
ter. There is
humor. I'm
like the Ste-
phen Colbert
of modern
dance."
I THERE'S WEIRD MUSIC OUT THERE.
Go to michigandaily.com and see what you missed
at The Michigan Theater this week.
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