The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com W ,mA a o r, 7 Wednesday, November 14, 2007 - 5A Art without instructions Poetry finds new life through Rachid Koraichi's ceramics By Nora Feldhusen I Daily Arts Writer Walking into the Institute for the Humanities on last Wednesday was the equiv- alent of entering a Chelsea gallery on a Friday night. Decked out with hum- mus and tzadiki platters, the open- ing of "20 Years, 12 Poets: Ceramics by Rachid Koraichi" 20 Years, was a sophisticated, 12 poets: well-attended event Koraichi, curator Ceramics Elisabeth Paymal by Rachid and director Daniel KOraiChi Herwitz introduced the imaginative, Through dynamic exhibit to Dec.14 an attentive crowd. At the Institute for As part of its the Humanities 20th anniversary, the Institute invited Free Koraichi, arenowned and versatile French-Algerian artist, to create ceramic plates inspired by the work of 12 past and present Institute poetry fellows. Koraichi, in Michigan for the first time, produces 25 original and intricate pieces that play on the individual character of poets whose work he had never seen before the project. The plates were made with the help of Studio Coordinator John Leyland at the School of Art & Design. The fellows' 12 disparate poems are unified by Koraichi's infusion of his personal background. The plates, on display until Dec. 14, give a second and fresh life to the poems. Lloyd Hall Scholar students in Carol Tell's writing class will attempt to give a third life to the poems by writing their own interpretive poetry based on the plates. Koraichi, who grew up in the Sufi Muslim tradition, is a native Algeri- an who speaks Algerian, French and Arabic - but not English. Luckily, a friend of the artist, Fatma Nedjari, who is also program coordinator in the School of Public Health, happened to attend the opening and helped translate my questions. Through her, Koraichi spoke about his relationship with the various poems. Each plate has a uniform shape and size with all images in the same shade of blue - "the color of infinity" - and each includes the Arabicword for love. Koraichi explained he could work spontaneously after focusing intent- ly on his first interaction with each poem. Whether or not it was a readily apparent theme, Koraichi found love in each poem, which he believes to be present in even the most painful and sorrow-filled places. Each plate is comprised of an excerpt of the poem in English, Ara- bic translations of some of the words and interpretive images drawn out by Koraichi. Teacher and former poetry- fellow Terry Blackwater submitted a poem, "At the Raku Firing," about a ceramic production method. A cir- cular design representing the inside of the kiln is illustrated on one plate while the other plate boasts abstract images of volcanic eruptions and rebirth to depict the spontaneous nature of raku. The Muslim tradition of Sufism places importance on knowl- edge and education through ยข mysticism. By employing Arabic words and sym- bols, Koraichi brings his own tradition and cul- - ture to the verse pre- sented to him. Koraichi believes art is like music: neither come = with instructions. He follows his emotions ' and feelings to create artwork, which can then act as a starting point for dialogue between people of different backgrounds. "20 Years, 12 Poets" drives at the heart of interdisciplinary educa- tion and the importance of art at the University. While munching on bakla- va, the opening's attendees discussed the artwork in several languages and gesticulated wildly while circling the room, enthusiastic about the exhibit's combination of culture, imagery and poetry. It seemed the exhibit's admi- rable vision spilled freely onto the exhibit floor. Audience as a commodity The past couple of weeks brought some big-stage personalities to campus. They included any acidly punny performance artist, a man whose collaboration in a revolution- ary music genre earned him exile from his native Brazil and a Paris-born Chinese-American super- star of crossover classical music. The events showcased how distinct the rela- tionship between performers and their audience can be. Oleszko manipulated her audience when it least expected it to prove a point about performance. Veloso ral- lied his audience to join him in a bouncy world where music a rules expression. Virtuosos Ma and Stott kept their audi- ence attentive to every note. I realized they were using us as more than observers. Our receipt of the performers was the final, integral component of their creative work. Here's a rundown: Pat Oleszko University alum Pat Oleszko graduated from the School of Art and Design to create elaborate costumes and sculptures for her humorous, pro- vocative performance art pieces. She offers these deadpan performances on the street. Passersby become her spontaneous, bewildered audience. Oleszko discomforts her audience for the sake of humor, social critique or political commentary. For a time, the audience at her Michigan Theater pre- sentation enjoyed the confusion of others, watch- ing her video documentation of past performances. In one, Oleszko staked out a spot in St. Peter's Square in Rome's Vatican City. She attracted the attention of many, including the police, by dress- ing as "da Nincompope," a petulant, toddler-like, watergun-weilding pontiff. At the theater, Oleszko wore an elaborate black, red and white costume with asNapoleonic hat as she explained slides of her performance works. When the enormous hat slipped from her head she matter-of-factly cursed it, bent to pick it up, secured itin its proper, absurd place and continued with her presentation. This presentation's style was as much of a curveball to her seated audience as her cartoonish characters are to her street audiences. Pairing her bizarre outfit with unsettlinglynormalbehavior denied the expectations of The Michigan Theater crowd, fulfillinghergeneral aim - to keep every- one wondering what on earth is going on. CaetanoVeloso As someone unfamiliar with iconic singer/song- writer and guitarist Veloso's repertoire, I may have been more surprised than many at Friday evening's performance. His show was idiosyncratic, to say the least, usingtrippy mod lighting and an abstract backdrop to seta mood of burlesque experimenta- tion, the lights theatrically fadingto black between songs. Veloso, who came off as a good-natured jokester/rockstar and a truly peculiar individual, had designed a stage where he felt at home. With the slightly fey movements of a whiz kid performing for adoring grandparents, Veloso made his body a filter for his sound. He empha- sized high notes with a hand thrown up in the gesture of someone professing a point. He coyly flashed his unremarkable belly to the audience during a dancynumber. He even grabbed his crotch once - delicately. If there was a point to that, it may have been in Portuguese. Most distinctly, Veloso measured every move- ment to the timing and mood of the song he was in. Adjusting his glasses on his face became a dem- onstration of the holistic reach of his music - he elevated it to an expression of his sound. In the hands of someone with less inventive material to present, his method could go wrong. But Veloso endeared his audience to him. His own text for UMS's program notes, available on the website, suggests his personality well with lines like, "There are too many songs in this world. I have, myself, written a ridiculous amount of them." Yo-Yo Ma Saturday night's performance by cellist Ma and British pianist Kathryn Stott was, on the surface, straightforward. The sole embellishment to Hill's stage was a large flower arrangement placed off- center. The house lights were only dimmed, never totally dark. Ma and Stott entered after the cus- tomary phantom-voice alert to turn off all devices, took their seats and began to play. Duringthe applause after some pieces, the musicians exited the stage so they could re-enter in an encore bow. Such boasts are as characteristic of classical performances as Veloso's sinking to his knees, relinquishing his guitar to an assistant and bendingto kiss a fan was of rock performance. But Ma and Stott were as understated in their personas as the three musicians who played with Veloso, deep in concentration on the pieces before them. They don't pantomime their performances as Oleszko or Veloso do, likely because they don't comment on the act of performance with Oleszko's scrutiny or Veloso's liberality. Ma played most of the pieces without any sheet music, and occasionally he and Stott leaned togeth- er, tuning into each other. This embodied their relationship ina motion that, if not intended for the benefit of the audience, seemed to be received that way. These motional quirks charmed the audience, although Ma and Stottwere likely preaching to the choir (the event sold out six weeks in advance, and student tickets went in 90 seconds). Returning to the stage for their third encore piece, Ma antically jogged back to his chair with his cello in one hand and mimed "one more, and then we all have to go to bed" with the other. - E-mail Colodner at abigabor@umich.edu. ARTS IN BRIEF FILM DVD MUSIC Horror that's just not Who needs acting Snark doesn't make on the level when you have CGI sense with 'Canvas' "P2" At Quality 16 and Showcase Summit Between her drunken boss hit- ting on her and having to work until everyone else has fled the building, Angela (Rachel Nichols, "Alias") is having a pretty shitty Christmas. Things get considerably worse when she's trapped in her building's park- ing garage with Thomas (Wes Bentley, "American Beauty"), a security guard with some seriously bad tips on how to meet women. And that's pretty much it - lots of running and screaming and hiding. "P2" is a thriller that really doesn't even try to bring anything original to the table. While the film does serve up several fleetingly frightening moments (never antagonize a crazy person's angry dog), there's nothing distinguishing it from any other hor- ror movie Hollywood spits out each year. Just about the only thing that makes "P2" memorable is Thomas's epic stalking skills. Seriously, this guy thinks of everything to keep Angela locked in that garage. He even gives her Christmas presents - and they say chivalry is dead. ANNIE LEVENE "Spider-Man 3" Columbia It seems appropriate thatthe special features packaged with "Spider-Man 3" focus primarily on visual effects, because the movie itself relies more on stunning CGI sequences than on its script or actors. Instead of delving into characters' origins, the special-fea- tures disc reveals how the crew digi- tally recreated the Marvel universe. It's not easy making comic-book vil- lains come to life, but painstakingly detailed work and a reported budget of $258 million certainly help. In one feature clip, "Grains of Sand: Building Sandman," the crew explains how it experimented with 12 different kinds of sand and how each type bounces off thousands of surfaces. A similar short clip addresses the making of Venom and how it took the crew months to decide on the perfect virtual charac- teristics of his costume. Considering the amount of money and energy that went into making "Spider-Man 3," the movie's inability to simply tell a good story is a disap- pointment. But the special features disc rightfully celebrates the movie's strongest point: truly superior visual imagery. DAVE REAP The Spill Canvas No Really, I'm Fine One Eleven The Spill Canvas's frontman Nick Thomas doesn't care about "pleasing all those little pricks and all those little scenes." While it's always been popular for up-and-coming rock outfits to be somewhat confrontational, most bands try to avoid deliberately trashing their fans.But Thomas is following the exam- ple ofemo bands SayAnythingand Brand New, who pioneered the trend of mock- ing their underage scenester crowds that flock to their sold-out shows. But with The Spill Canvas's latest offering, No Really, I'm Fine, we have to ask: What the hell is Thomas whin- ing about? Even the album's title caters to the pseudo-depressed subculture of 21st-century emo. The album's predict- able power-pop tunes contrast the band's earlier acoustic feel.Rather than develop its previous sound, The Spill Canvas puts out yet another faux-forlorn release. Closing the album with a predictable ballad ("Lullaby"),you wonder if the band is biting the hand that feeds it. While Thomas and company may be unhappy with the scene's current direction, their most recent release fails to differentiate them from emo contemporaries. SASHA RESENDE He hates her Stooges ring tone.