The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - 5A Art and the business world Ringo? Isolation and mayhem When the Career Center hosted a panel of people working for museums earlier this year, Gregory Tom, the Museum of Contemporary Art: Detroit's programming and develop- ment coordinator, commented that of all businesses, nonprofits are the most concerned with money. Many arts institutions and presenters are nonprofits, including our Detroit Institute V of Art, Univer- sity Musical Society and the University's ABIGAIL B. Museum of Art. COLODNER In several - -.-. campus events this week, the student organization Arts Enterprise posits that arts and businesses - by generic definition, profit-seekers - have somethingto say to one another. The organization calls itself a "forum" for students of the Ross School and of the School of Music, Theater, and Dance. An arti- cle later this week will cover resident renaissance man Eric Booth's 5:30 p.m. lecture today at the Rackham Amphitheater and his residency at the University, which is co-spon- sored by the group. Maya Angelou's charismatic appearance at Hill Auditorium in October as the Ross School of Business's alumni weekend keynote speaker conspicuously ushered in this talk of the convergence of prac- tices. After Ross School Dean Robert Dolan introduced her, Angelou pro- claimed, "I'm not surprised to find a man who knows arts and science go together like peaches and cream in Ann Arbor." In a preview of the event, Ross School spokesman Paul Gediman told The Michigan Daily that "busi- ness doesn't exist in a vacuum. It exists in the real, complex world full of artists, writers, poets, doctors, activists and others." The inverse - that art exists in a world formally predicated on economic negotiations - is just as true. Nonetheless, there's a misguided tendencyto define artby its distance from practical, strategic or monetary concerns, the labor of a pure mind spoolingthrough the world of ideas in search of beauty. That idea of art as necessarily esoteric and theoreti- cal is the convention. Because of this ready association, it's easy to talk about artistic efforts as if they are - or as if they should be - isolated incidents. But for a prac- tice that supposedly requires only an imagination and a means of expres- sion, political and monetary net- works could not be more important. A recent New Yorker article on the contemporary art market exem- plified how knotted the powerful structures that support the creation and exhibition of art are. The article described New York-based art dealer Jeffrey Deitch's feverish lifestyle of keeping an eye on art deals, securing paintings for his clients, sponsoring bizarre performance art events and inviting artists to fancy dinners. Per- haps naively, I was taken aback by the dizzying intricacy and busyness (pun forgivable) of the art market. As should have been unsurprising to me, it read less like a discussion of art than a discussion of, well, a market. The author quotes Deitch as saying, "We live in an increasingly culture-based economy, and the value of art is in synch with other tangible assets now, like real estate." Art sales reaching into the hun- dreds of millions of dollars are large- ly private enterprises, although the article brushes on the role of dollars in public art endeavors as well. Another campus event, happen- ing today at UMMA/Off-site at6 p.m., "dream.DETROIT," seeks to pool ideas about the public role of art and, most pressingly, the policy behind that role. Like I said, it's all too easy to imagine that art doesn't need material support - and that, in its aesthetic bubble, it has no power to infuse business endeavors with its relevancy. But as Angelou said of arts and science, "One without the other's not much of anything." Art asa practice comments on the world and elevates people's observa- tions of it. With such potent imagi- nation, art should be on a two-way street with policy. Today's UMMA event is put on by the Roosevelt Institution, a "nonprofit, nonparti- san student thinktank" according to RC junior Lainie Kokas, director of the new Urban Planning and Com- munity Development Center in the Institution, and co-sponsored by the Detroit Project and College Demo- crats. "dream.DETROIT" will be part of a series of speakers and discus- sion on arts in Detroit, withthe goal of brainstorming innovative policy ideas. Kokas told me she expected the event - which is free and includes such varied speakers as UMS's president and the founding director of the Cultural Alliance of Southeast Michigan - to produce "some powerful ideas, which will be noted so they can be researched later." At the risk of over-quoting Ange- lou, I offer a final statement on the inherent relationship between the arts and the workaday world: "There is an order to all things. As a poetI start with that premise." To all systems, some beauty. - Colodner is a closet academic. E-mail her at abigabor@umich.edu. enerally, thrillers begin with the protagonist's demand of the audi- ence's sympa- thy. Meanwhile, the villain is only gradually ****7 unveiled until the audience observes his full wrath dur- No Country ing a climactic breaking for Old Men point of anxiety. The Coens (Joel and At the State Ethan, "The Ladykillers") Theater, completely disregard this Quality 16 and convention in "No Country Showcase for Old Men," 'an adaptation Miramax of the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same title. The first scene sets a brutal, unrelenting tone for the rest of the movie: Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem, "Collateral") blasts an apparently innocent old man's brains out with some kind of pressurized hardware. The senior was just trying to help jump Anton's car. Elsewhere, the supposed protagonist, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin, "Planet Terror"), unsuspectingly uncovers the remains of a drug deal gone wrong with a high body count (including a dead dog) and only one survivor, who is slowly dying and begs for "agua." With the scene, the Coens drop a frank reminder of how masochistic they can be and how sadistic "No Country" will be. Llewelyn takes a satchel filled with money and leaves the man to die. Within two angst- ridden and prolonged scenes - in which Anton literally throws the life of a helpless gas station attendant in the air with a coin toss, and Llewelyn foolishly returns to the crime The brothers Coen smash into genres By Elie Zwiebel Daily Arts Writer scene to satisfy his conscience's plea to help the parched man - it becomes clear Anton has been hired to recover the case of money. Both men are driven: Anton, calculating and maniacal, tracks the money, nonchalant- ly murdering anyone who irks him or gets in his way; Llewelyn shrewdly does all he can to delay what he realizes is inevitable - the eventual and unwilling surrender of both the money and his life. Bardem plays sociopathic Anton with maverick precision, maintaining the disturb- ing air of intelligence behind his character. Brolin gives one of his better performances, never seeming desperate despite Llewelyn's overwhelmed mix of fear, anger and a lack of options. Not only does "No Country" have a tight suspense plot to make John Grisham wince, it's also terrifying. The perverse use of power tools evokes memories of the gory insanity in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," but the Coens challenge horror conventions. Anton is revealed as the monster early in the film with explicit, graphic violence, and the Coens diminish the gore as the movie progresses, leaving it up to the viewer to construct their own horrific, bloody images of death. And without doubt, the Coens supply their audi- ence with plenty of these opportunities. But "No Country" isn't just a thriller or horror film - it's a western. As much as the Coens play on blood and the viewer's imagi- nation, the film also emphasizes dioramic shots of the undeveloped West. At its core, "No Country" is about cowboys jostling with one another and with the characters' pro- found isolation. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"), a local law enforcer always three steps behind the other rogue characters, confronts the constant combat in the face of grave seclusion. His age only exaggerates these motifs. Bell is on the verge of retirement and clearly feels a deep sense of disgust (accompanied by exhaustion and confusion) over the crimes and his inability to prevent further bloodshed. Above all, "No Country for Old Men" is unfalteringly forceful. The Coens allow Sher- iff Bell to channel McCarthy's voice self- reflexively: "You just can't imagine this stuff, and I dare you to." The intensity is warped and creative. But by the end, the audience is in the driver's seat. We're forced to concoct our own masochistic confrontations that pass off-camera and, eventually, imagine the hor- rendous acts Anton has already perpetrated as well as those yet to come to insane and bloody fruition. ARTS IN BRIEF IN CONCERT FILM One 'Hit away from the bottom of the barrel "Hitman" At Quality 16 and Showcase 20th Century Fox Watching "Hitman" isn't as excruciating as, say, getting a bar- code tattooed on the base of your skull,butitisn't exactly akiss on the cheek, either. Unlike many recent shoot-'em-up films before it ("The Transporter," "Smokin' Aces" and the one they actually called "Shoot 'Em Up"), "Hitman" suffers from the additional symptom of being based on a mediocre video game. As any person with eyes and ears can tell you, movie adaptations of video games range from the mar- ginal ("Resident Evil") to the abys- mal ("House of the Dead"), and "Hitman" lies somewhere in the middle. Timothy Olyphant (TV's "Dead- wood") plays the most conspicu- ous-looking assassin in the world (officer, I'd check out what's in that massive, tattooed bald guy's bag), known only by the number 47. He's contracted to kill the Russian presi- dent, but he discovers he's been set up. Guns, boobs and explosions abound, and about 87 people are dead by thetime he gets his revenge. Originally marketed as PG-13, you can see the places where digital splashes of blood have been added or sequences of random nudity have been extended to appease the game's rabid fan base. As a member of the 98% male audience, I'm sure you'll at least cheer for that. PAUL TASSI COMPETITION Rethinking North create a public, interactive, educa- tional and imaginative element that will contribute significantly to the social, cultural, and physical envi- ronment of the North Campus." Basically, you're supposed to come up with a conceptual "ele- ment" that gives our friends up a north a good jolt. The kicker? First prize takes home $10,000, and sec- ond place nabs half of that. There are also prizes for honorable men- tions. Not a bad incentive. Working in teams is required, since you must have at least two different North Campus schools represented. There will be a ques- tion-and-answer session next Mon- day in room 1200 of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building and a public information session the following Monday at a location to be announced. This sounds like a fantastic brain exercise. Who's goingto have the guts to propose turning North, Campus into its own flying city? ANDREW SARGUS KLEIN a child would hinder her future as a cellist, forges her signature on adoption papers and sends their newborn Evan (Freddie High- more, "Finding Neverland") to an orphanage. Evan eventually sets off to New York City, and with the help of a Fagin-like Robin Williams ("Good Will Hunting"), a guitar and Julliard, he puts his music out into the world in hopes his parents will hear it and find him. As determinedly saccharine as the movie is, "August Rush" is sal- vaged by the one thing the movie hammers home: music. The music is pitch-perfect throughout, a har- monious blend of rock and classical that holds the audience as it waits for the crescendo. The power of the universal language of music binds the characters and the audience together, emotionally and physical- ly. When the movie focuses on that simple force, "August Rush" doesn't need leaps of faith to succeed. SARAH SCHWARTZ Campus with multimedia FILM North Campus Competition: The 'Rush' only Work/Play relates to the music Conceptualizing never felt so good. Or, for that matter, paid so well. Arts on Earth (artsonearth. "August Rush" org), which brought us a delicious At Quality 16 and Showcase night of photography and art at The Warner Bros. Michigan Theater in early Novem- ber, among other events, is hold- A reimagining of "Oliver" into ing a contest unlike anything I've another musical, "August Rush" is ever heard of at the University. full of flights of airy fancy. Louis "Work/Play" is a call for ideas (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, "Match on how to the revamp our fair Point") and Lyla (Ker Russell, North Campus. It's an "open, TV's "Felicity") meet under a New interdisciplinary challenge to York moon. Lyla's father, believing Indie group Tegan and Sara perform a free concert at Borders on Liberty Street to promote its new album The Con. The line for the show began to take shape this morning at 5 a.m. The twin sisters hailing from Calgary will continue their tour tomorrow in front of a sold-out crowd at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit. John Mayer. But not really.