ARTS
Saturday, July 27, 1985
The Michigan Daily
Hot hands
A juggler ignores his mother's advice
on the Diag.
Music 'hppe
By Nancy Bromberg
TAR ?wo cares about art?
Action happenswheremusichappens and
Ann Arbor is a music lover's dream.
All year 'round, the selection of music
is eclectic and tasteful.
But when the art fair hits town, the
music abounds.
While thousands of consumers and
art lovers browsed the Ann Arbor
SaudaJuy7a18iTeMchgnal
Art fair: mixed emotions
By Chrs Lbor, among whom it is fashionable to cloth ties emblazoned with all manner
__________ tongue-lash the art fair - most of of LOUD designs. You guessed it -
.gyou won't find this booth in either of
A T HIS IS A REVIEW of the art fair, the more strictly juried fairs. (I'm
Forget the fact that there's still what they say. briefly regressing here to speak of the
all day today left - nothing's going to I'm talking about the people who fair as three separate fairs. The Guild
" o be any different than the first three walk around inside their shells fair, the one along State Stree, is
y days. Besides, I want a lot of people to refusing to open their senses and min- noticeably of the least quality,
-r read my review. How often does one ds to what's going on, often pausing although it too has some fine artists.)
get a chance to review a raging from their impenetrable daily routine How about the polished rock booth?
microcosm of American culture? to make stupid little uninformed poor- It's funny to see people looking for
If you think I'm going to talk about man's-aphorism comments, maybe rocks they like. All that scrutiny
just the exhibits - I urge you to give perusing enough exhibits to pick up a wasted on rocks.
up on life - you obviously don't un- hand-carved ashtray or something. I saw lots of wire and metal
derstand it and you're just making the Case in point: At a political booth creations; intricacy may be cool in its
along South University, a young girl onrgt u tsntsnnmu
lines at the Italian sausage stands un- ang u brion wih own right, but it's not synonymous
necessarily long, older woman who runs the booth. The with artistic quality. I saw iota of in-
The art fair - they all meld into argument got heated. Some guy wan. tricate crap. Maybe I'm biased
one, though you know when you're in dering by, who couldn't have heard because I don't have any kids but at
the lower quality area - has evolved more than a tenth of the argument, an art fair wood crayon holders are a
from its original conception as a lure who obviously didn't have very much disconcerting sight. They do,
for sidewalk sales into a sprawling, interest or concern in the issue at however, make a booth fluffy full of
multi-faceted cultural event - alive hand, who was plainly being an- every kind of feather-build accessory
enough to have a pulse of its own. It's tagonistic simply because of the girl's you can imagine - including roach
not just the crowds - although the trendy appearance, said, "She's the clips - look like pure unadulterated
event is a little like being at a four-dayted rttane aiSe h
lon bseall gae.It' bengt jut tdy best commercial for abortion I've artistic vision.
long baseball game. It's not just the Despite all this, the stomach-
exhibits - although the cheap, ever seen." turning lack-of-creativity award has
gaudy, too-cute-for-its-own-good mer- I told you I was going to review the to go to the man who was selling
chandise that many of the exhibitors art fair as a cultural event. Other plexiglass-enclosed engraved triple-
try and pass off as art is truly things that have gradually become cute messages like "Love grows
M amusing (for a while). It's not just the irritating include ballons, kids on where kindness shows" and "Today is
Daily Photo by NANCY BROMBERG entertainment - Ann Arbor is nor- skateboards needlessly endangering the first day for the rest of our lives
mally a respectably happening place my life, and bratty kids obviously (sic)." I looked but there were no
even during the summer. destined to be as permanently im- plexiglass cubes with Nietzsche
The art fair is more than all these mature as their parents. quotes. I would have settled for
e about playing with fire yesterday Tharfarsmre na se Athrtigs:Y 'esanrngSh nhe.
things alone. And weird but true, it's Another thing is: You're sauntering Schopenhauer.
more than just their sum. It's the along through the crowd with a The outdoor music - which along
morethanjus eir um' stomachful of junk food, a handful of
enormous possibilities generated by more junk food, a pocketful of loose with legions of screaming babies con-
flh1. n t t, the combination of all these elements change that jangles in rhythm withstuethmotipineletsf
-"aw and experiencing the final consequen- your nerves, two lungfuls of someone the event's soundtrack - is to the
ces that makes the art fair what it is. else's breath, and a headful of mental everlasting credit of the three
belted out up-beat, brassy tunes, the The art fair is a lot, but it strikes capactiy eroded by too much sun, too organizers of the stage music and the
crowd drank in the sunshine and beer. you from so many different directions much bumping into people, too much ubiquitous impromptu performers.
Many got happy feet and boogied in that you really can't say whether you art,, too much stuff that's supposed to Though the Eclipse stage in front of
the street. like it or not. I have strong feelings be art, too much everything - when the Union makes the best place for sit-
Under the Graceful Arch on East both ways. from one of the food booths comes a ting-in-the-grass listening, the new
I admit I have gradually built up ay " Graceful Arch is the most impressive
University Street, the Afro- tolerance for fat veiny-legged people heartily mercenary scream, PIZZA. by virture of its stunning visual ef-
Musicology Ensemble belted out in tightpoysr clothes. It's the GE T YOUR PIZZA. And this feet; it'sa, oe sth hl dao
funky, jazzy, rhythmic beats, while i ih polyester clte. ats theGTYU IZ. A fe ts as novel as the whole ides of
theirankzrhyuthonaneaty sowh-ecrustacean-minded fair-goers who at regular intervals. It's enough to live outdoor music in the middle of the
their dancers put on an earthy show - refused to come out of their own little make one turn inside out. Oh, the sub- summer calm.
occasionally gyrating, and thrustig world that irritate me and who I feel tle difference between frustration and I guess at this point I should say
seductively, undercut the whole notion of a fair, art fun. It's risky out there. something about the many diverse
The ensemble, along with all the or otherwise. I'm not talking about the Among the really irritating foods available at the fair. But I can't
other music and dance-oriented per- people who live and work in Ann Ar- exhibition booths is the one selling because I hate to wait in lines.
streets yesterday, thousands of formances held under the canopy
musicphiles listened to, shimmied sponsored by the Washtenaw Cou
with, and shook to the various ensem- for the Arts, said Helga Haller,
bles playing throughout town. Council's executive director.
The tonewas popular, and the styles In front of the Michigan Un)
extended from jazz to folk to rock. ol falae ugoto
Perhaps the most soulful perfor- people of all ages hung out onl
mance was found within the Arch lawn. Thescenebooked something]
leading to the Diag. E.J. Marks, a miniature Pine Knob without
wearing dark "shades," stood pavillion and the security guai
strumming an acoustic guitar and Live bands played throughout the
playing songs from the 'sixties. About from the stage picturesquely pla
fifty people, mostly young, many under a group of trees.
wearing tie-dyed t-shirts, peace signs, Tom Simonian, a DJ for WC
and other relics from the 'sixties, WEMU, and the U-Club said that
sang in solidarity. Chris Truzzi, an en- performances at the Union provil
thusiastic participator, said that he "good chance for all these musici
was impressed with the scene. "The to be heard by people who might
accoustics are fantastic," he said. otherwise hear them."
Sing-alongs "put you in the beat Sure, the art fair's main attrac
mood," said Archie O'Connor, is the art. But if you're not in
another singer performing in the fair. market to buy anything, and h
Down on Church St., a crowd already stuffed yourself silly
hanging out by Morelli's was street food, check out the music ati
unquestionably in a good mood. As fair. It's happening.
Radio King and his All-Star Soul Band
are
the portrait
don, By Hobey Echlin
the
like X ANDERING AMID the myriad
the of booths along East University
rds. yesterday, I happened upon an
day exhibit of etchings and drawings that
ced really struck me: dark, bold, almost
grotesque renderings of horses and
other creatures, with abstract titles
BN, that added to the mystery. It's work
the like this that makes you wonder
de a about the mind behind the artist.
ans That mind belongs to Deborah Mae
not Schimmer, a 30 year-old University of
Tennessee graduate who now teaches
tion at Moorhead State University in Min-
the nesota. She has been making prints
ave for ten years, but has only sold them
with for the last four years, the same amount
the of time she has been coming to the Art
Fair.
of a coneerned artist
Deborah explained that she only be a little uneasy when somebody
exhibits her work in two fairs a year. wants to purchase your thoughts. "In
Why Ann Arbor? "Because of its good order to feel good when doing a piece,
reputation among art fairs. It's a bet- I don't worry about its sellability,"
ter quality show with a more in- she says.
telligent fair-going crowd because of She stresses that she is not an artist
the University." She deems this more for a living. Because she works
intelligent crowd essential to her beyond any commercial bounds, she
work's acceptance because her art enjoys a greater freedom and a
"appeals to those who are serious deeper sense of integrity in producing
about art," she said. her art.
Her pride is especially evident in
discussions about her work. While When she does sell a one-of-a-kind
explaining that her art "requires a piece, she takes the time to get to
closer look than the general public is know the buyer and make sure the
willing to take," Deborah might seem work is understood and appreciated.
a bit snobbish. " She even offers to buy back the work
This concern is easy to understand if the buyer should ever grow tired of
when you consider that most of her it. "Otherwise, I wouldn't feel right
work, especially her drawings, are about it." And for Deborah Mae
one-of-a-kind, and come from deep Schimmer, it's feeling right that
personal emotions. It's only natural to counts.