The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
FINE ARTS COLUMN
Exit throi
the pop
B anksy has garnered gobs Heck, Ban
of media attention ever first guy to
since he began using painting w
stencils and spray paint to leave and cultur
his iconic images on public Don't be
canvasses Google im
- walls, Le Rat" -
streets, side- Done? N
walks and results are
even port- turns up h
a-potties that are so
have been would swe
ambushed by across a hi
this mysteri- wiring. Th
ous crusader LAUREN stenciled b
of creativ- CASERTA torical, po]
ity. His eye- figures inc
catching well, a sym
graffiti art is a series of satirical uted to Ban
symbols that address issues like Banksy
capitalism, war and hypocrisy, Xavier Pro
often utilizing contradictory who paint
imagery to get his point across. "Blek Le R
But while Banksy's creations working si
are hailed as the uniquely has inspire
perceptive ideas of an artistic And Prou h
lone wolf, the vehicle for his enthusiast
satire is far from unique and is another ar
instead strikingly reminiscent style in an,
of a much larger movement that with owne
dominated the art scene of the laws is aki
'50s and '60s. 'm talking, of Still, their
course, about Pop Art. in stone. B
Most Banksy fans would rowed" in
probably balk at the idea that self-expre
their socially conscious and Lichtenste
politically opinionated idol fell under
could be associated with people their suspi
who painted soup cans and actual com
movie stars in their snooty artist is ce
minimalist lofts, but their line betwe
similar focus on consumerism what is pla
and popular culture are unmis-
takable. Both enjoy taking
everyday items or scenes out of
context and allowing the viewer V
to see them in a different, often Ban
revealing light - only Banksy's
penchant for utilizing juxta- COM
position as blatant irony hints
at the evolution that Pop Art a 5(
has undergone since its 20th-
century heyday.
His images of crucified
Christ holding shopping bags Still, it's'
in his outstretched arms and Warhol to
a group of children saluting a often publi
Tesco grocery bag that's being artistic int
hoisted like a flag are perfect ures like M
symbols for a new generation of Queen Eliza
pop artists and culture critics different, I
who have emerged en masse to isolation a
pick up where Warhol and Dine of popular
left off. Ironic and deadpan some fasci
humor are the means by which between ti
Pop Art's newest incarnation profession
has emerged, producing works 2007, Pollo
of varying craftsmanship and up with th
seriousness that now fill every- arts venue,
thing from modern art galleries exclusively
to the vast corners of the web. ing the wo:
Accordingly, Warhol's paint- ists side-by
ing of Marilyn Monroe becomes studio.
North Korean defector Song But outs
Byeok's portrait of his dictator's Banksy's s

smiling face superimposed onto imagery st
the actress's body in her famous hurricane-
updraft pose. Meanwhile, New Orlea
Lichtenstein's comic book Bank wall.'
girls become popular Internet tional meth
images of'50s housewives strongly w
whose brilliant advertisement driven by t
smiles are rendered neurotic by of pop cult
an accompanying quote about remember
their hidden desire to tear you a son to call
new one. mercializa
Interestingly, like the Pop the human
artists before him, Banksy also this new ge
fits into an artistic movement The reviva
whose boundaries regarding of Pop Art
originality and ownership are satire and
blurred by the use of material only its late
that is both copyrighted by which has
companies and used by his fel- with us for
low artists. Artists of the '50s ue to quest
and '60s were known for their motives -
sense of openness when it came
to using other people's ideas, C
even if that meant that inspira- a
tion came from a fellow artist. e-m


Monday, November 7, 2011 - 7A


ugh
irt
ksy wasn't even the
orun around spray-
alls with political
al iconography.
elieve me? Do a
age search for "Blek
go on, Il wait.
Votice anything? The
eerie - the search
undreds of images
Banksy-esque you
ar you'd stumbled
ccup in Google's
ese hundreds of
lack-and-white his-
litical and cultural
lude many rats as
nbol usually attrib-
nksy's repertoire.
has admitted that
u, the street artist
s under the moniker
at" and has been
nce the early '80s,
ed much of his work.
has been surprisingly
ic about allowing
tist to imitate his
age where messing
rship and copyright
n to playing with fire.
relationship is not set
anksy may have "bor-
the spirit of artistic
ssion, but just as
in's comic book girls
intense scrutiny for
cious resemblance to
ic panels, the street
rtainly skirting the
en what is art and
giarism.
hat does
sy have in
mon with

Holy'Arkham City Batman
New video game featuring the Dark Knight
combines enthralling gameplay and story
By Shin Hieftje I Daily Arts Writer

Batman has a lot of things
going for him. He saves and
protects people. He's a million-
aire with a ton
of awesome ****
gadgets. He's
got a catchy Batman:
name. But mostA
importantly, Arkham City
Batman is Xbox 360,
pretty badass. PS3, PC
Developer
Rocksteady Rocksteady
recognizes and
celebrates all these things in
"Batman: Arkham City." What
makes "Arkham City" stand out
is how much it embraces the Bat-
man fiction and incorporates it
thoroughly into both the game-
play and story.
"Arkham City" takes place in
a sectioned-off neighborhood of
Gotham that functions as a mega-
prison for criminals. As Batman,
the player uncovers a number of
mysteries being caused by a wide
range of villains. One of the most
impressive aspects of the game is
how many major characters from
the Batman universe it weaves
into the story while still having
a cohesive narrative: "Arkham
City" includes face-offs with
Joker, Hugo Strange, Two-Face,
Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, the Pen-
guin and many more.
Getting around Arkham City is
made simple through the Batclaw
grappling hook and Batman's
cape, which let the player attach
to any building and glide through
the air. While getting from place

to place is easy, the city itself is
so big that it's still a little tedious
moving all the way across the
map to the next objective. Bat-
man is free to go anywhere in the
city, but the game is still fairly
linear. There's always a primary
area for Batman to go to advance
the story, and a couple side mis-
sions along the way to take part
in, which are usually better than
expected. Outside of these mis-
sions, though, all there is in the
city are random thugs to beat up
and scattered collectible trophies
hidden by the Riddler.
Once the player reaches a des-
tination, beit a dilapidated police
building or Joker's hideout, get-
ting from place to place becomes
more of a puzzle. One might use
detective vision to track down
footprints, take a zip line across a
chasm or use a remote-controlled
Batarang to trigger a switch. Bat-
man has a wide variety ofgadgets,
and it's impressive how the game
requires the use of almost all of
them. Defeating enemies will
net experience and let the player
unlock abilities, which allows
access to previously unreachable
areas as well.
When Batman isn't busy fig-
uring out where to go, he's busy
taking people down. The melee
portions pit him against a group
of thugs that the player can take
down primarily through a series
of punches and counters. While it
can be a little button-mashy, the
animation in the fights makes the
combat visceral and satisfying.

And that's why you always leave a note.
Taking down 20 thugs feels a lit-
tle too easy in the beginning, but
the enemy types becomes more
difficult, which makes for a fair
challenge.
Stealth combat happens when
Batman runs into a room full of
thugs armed with guns. Guns
can rip up Batman pretty badly,
which is a refreshing change of
pace from most games, where
bullet damage hardly matters.
Thus, the player has to sneak-
ily pick off enemies in strategic
ways: Throw a Batarang to dis-
tract other guards while silently
taking out an isolated one, or use
an electronic disruptor to make
the enemies' guns go haywire for
a short time. Batman's large arse-
nal of gadgets and moves mean

these armed enemies can be
taken down a different way every
time, providing much leeway for
creativity.
"Batman: Arkham City" can
be seen as a perfect example of
how to integrate a beloved fic-
tion into a new medium. The
story has great twists, the music
stands out (with a very "Dark
Knight" inspired score), it looks
sharp, the boss fights are cre-
ative and over-the-top and
there's more gameplay variation
than expected. Some of the com-
bat scenarios can feel contrived,
and getting around the city can
drag a little. But at the end of
the day, it's nearly everything
one would want from at Batman
game.

ompcan? A vampire show with more bite than'Blood'

'50s art legend Andy
whom Banksy is most
icly compared. Their
erpretations of fig-
larilyn Monroe and
abeth II may be very
but their focus on the
nd re-interpretation
cultural icons form
nating parallels
he two, even in the
al art community: In
'ck Fine Art teamed
e Hospital, a creative
to run an exhibit
'devoted to gather-
rks of these two art-
y-side into the same
ide art galleries,
savvy and powerful
retches from the
ravaged houses of
ns to the Israeli West
While his unconven-
hods may resonate
ith a generation
he use (and misuse)
ure, it's important to
he isn't the first per-
into question com-
tion and the state of
condition, even from
eneration of artists.
1 and transformation
into a medium for
self-examination is
est incarnation, one
the potential to stay
as long as we contin-
ion our values, our
and ourselves.
aserta is spray-painting
wall. To steal her ideas,
ail caserta@umich.edu.

By KAYLA UPADHYAYA
Daily Arts Writer
I'm going to make a rather bold
statement: If you are not con-
vinced "The Vampire Diaries" is a
drama worthy of your time, then
I am not convinced you have ever
actually watched "The Vampire
Diaries." I know. It's about vam-
pires, it's on the CW, it's adver-
tised as a teen drama full of love
triangles and beautiful people.
But don't let the promos - which
are created by networks to gener-
ate viewers and don't necessar-
ily convey the true nature of the
shows they represent - fool you.
"The Vampire Diaries" features
strong writing and dynamic char-
acters portrayed by a cast with
impressive range.
Many people like to refer
to "The Vampire Diaries" as a
watered-down version of HBO's
"True Blood," but this is an unfair
claim. "True Blood" takes place in
a world where people know vam-
pires exist. The concept is intrigu-
ing and decently executed in the
first season, but beyond that,
"True Blood" is nothing but self-
indulgent, mindless television.
The writers never seem to know
where they're going, and none
of the characters ever undergo
significant change or show any
multi-dimensionality.

The main thing "True Blood" moment, she explains to Caro-
had going for it at first was that line that not all vampire-hunters
the show featured an overarch- are monsters - it's just the way
ing, thinly veiled metaphor for they've been taught. This furthers
gay people in our society. This the allegory, suggesting that not
allegory worked for a while but all homophobes are inherently
became overstated with heavy- bad people, but products of their
handed lines like "God hates time. If I ever saw something this
fangs" and vampires "coming out poignant on "True Blood," I'd be
of their coffins." shocked.
"The Vampire Diaries" suc-
ceeds on many other fronts that
The CW pulls "True Blood" can't seem to pull
off. Most notably, the characters
off vamps better are always growing. The good-
versus-evil dichotomy is fasci-
than HBO. nating, as no one is completely
evil or purely good. Each new
villain initially seems like a mon-
ster but quickly develops relat-
Three episodes into its third able, human flaws. Even Klaus
season, "The Vampire Diaries" (Joseph Morgan, "Immortals"),
proved it could beat "True Blood" who has been the show's main vil-
at its own game. In a wonderfully lain since the end of last season,
constructed subplot, Caroline shows a moment of vulnerability
(Candice Accola) is kidnapped in a recent episode when his sister
by her ironically gay father (Jack Rebekah asks him if his loneliness
Coleman, "Heroes"), who tortures is his primary motivating force.
her in an attempt to cure her of These characters may be super-
vampirism. The metaphor is much natural, but they have very real,
more subtle than it is on "True mortal problems.
Blood" and the finesse makes it all "True Blood" has received
the more powerful. critical attention for its actors, but
Caroline's mother, Sheriff Liz those performances are one-note.
Forbes (Marguerite MacIntyre), On "The Vampire Diaries," Nina
who only recently accepted her Dobrev has managed to balance
daughter's vampirism, saves her. playing two divergent characters,
And in another beautifully subtle succeeding to the point where

I almost forget Katherine and
Elena - the Petrova Doppelgang-
ers - aren't played by two differ-
ent actresses. Ian Somerhalder
has effectively conveyed Damon's
inner turmoil and existential cri-
ses. Candice Accola always leads
me on an emotional roller-coaster
and Paul Wesley has convincingly
embodied Stefan in his innocent
days and his transition into a psy-
chopathic killer this season.
"The Vampire Diaries" is the
only show that has been able to
continually shock me episode after
episode. The "WTF" moments
lead to great payoffs. "True Blood"
tries to be shocking, but instead
relies on gore and gratuity to get
the job done, rarely incorporating
satisfying twists that play into the
character arcs or plot. And even
when the writers do try this kind
of plot twist, they end up lost in
their own mythology.
I used to call "The Vampire
Diaries" my guilty pleasure show,
but why should I feel guilty for
watching a series that has few
flaws and proves that genre tele-
vision can be thought-provoking
and emotional? When it comes
down to it, this is a show about
family, not teen love or vampire
adventures. "The Vampire Dia-
ries" will be around for a while,
even if it never receives the criti-
cal attention it deserves.

BIRDS DO IT,
BEES DO IT ...
AND WE DO IT.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
@MICHDAILYARTS.

Interested in Health in a post-conflict setting?
r- The Center for Global Health in partnership with the Center for Education of Women, r-
m the Center for Human Growth & Development (MHIRT Program), the Institute for
=3 Research on Women & Gender, and the Office of Global Outreach, School of Nursing, =3
o invite you to join us at the
3rd Annual Student Global Health Day
November 11, 2011. Events from 9:30am - 4:30pm
More info
http://www.globalhealth.umich.edu/tudentglObalhealthdaY2O11 html =
Register
http://www.cew.umich.edu/progevents/third-annual-student-global-
health-day-and-symposium/20110926
Watch Student-led presentations and view their posters