ARTS
Friday, May 30, 1986
Page 8
The Michigan Daily
The complete
Art as gender
By Noelle Brower
NCEPTUAL art.
Conceptual artist.
These are both commonly used
terms in the inner sanctums of art
circles these days, terms that
have almost lost the originality they
once denoted. Everybody is an artist
today. Right? However, one cannot
argue with video artist Dale Hoyt
terestingly enough, the third stage of
her development - the actual stage
when Frank is making the transition
between girlhood and young
womanhood - is portrayed by a
friend of Hoyt's who had actually un-
dergone a sex-change operation prior
to the filming of the video. Though the
actress is unmistakenly female in the
film, Hoyt thought that she would best
understand the sensitive transition of
becoming a woman.
when he uses the term; he is one of the Hoyt seems unusually attuned to his,
few people to have actually received a audience, especially women, even
degree in conceptual and performanc though he does not produce his videos
ce art, at the San Francisco Art In- with a specific audience in mind. Af-
stitute, and lives up to the title he ter his earlier videos angered many
claims. people, prompting them to label him a
misogynist, Hoyt reflected on the con-
This Monday night at Eyemediae, tent of his videos. "The earlier tapes I
Hoyt will present his videos that have made had elements that, much to my
become known under the title The horror, I saw being appropriated and
Complete Dale Hoyt. The highlight of winding up in tapes that were shown
the evening will come, however, when on MTV; and that of course is hard
Hoyt's acclaimed The Complete Anne core misogyny. They (the tapes)
Frank will be shown. This video piece weren't intended that way and that's
has been called "an inspired adap- why I've never apologized for them.
tation (of the Anne Frank diaries) However, at the same time I thought
oblique, stylish, and sufficiently that this is no reason why I shouldn't
assured...," and, on the other hand, be sensitive to it." Hoyt is usually
"a PBS documentary gone slum- present when these tapes are shown,
ming." as he will be on Monday night, so that
,Fhe can "answer and cajole anybody
The Complete Anne Frank is Hoyt's who might be offended because it's
own adaptation of the diaries kept by not (his) purpose to offend."
Anne Frank during the two years she (
spent in hiding from the Nazis during
World War II. Hoyt more or less The response he received for these
stumbled upon the idea of doing this undoubtedly led him, in part, to
piece when he was looking for decide on Anne Frank as a topic. He
material for "a project that would ex- realized that he wasn't in contact with
plore the aspects of artificial sen- what he refers to as his "feminine
timentality and compare it with the side" as he should be. Actually, his in-
artificialmeans of pornography." tentions were to shock, "to show how
horrifying sexual roles can be and
He was originally going to direct an how we readily put ourselves into
"abstract narrative" of It's A Won- these roles." Hoyt says he had
derful Life, but he saw the film ver- "originally depicted men as being just
sion of the Anne Frank diaries and as'objectionable," however he "later
decided that its material would be realized that men don't have to com-
more appropriate. bat those types of stereotypes in the
media as much as women do."
"When I resd her diaries, I realized
that they had an emotional bresdth to In producing The Complete Anne
them; they had a dignity," Hoyt said. Frank, Hoyt himself becomes en-
He wanted to depict her as she was: a tangled with the images that we form
simple girl, one whom people could of Frank. In the opening, while
identify with, rather than the viewing a still image of Frank, Hoyt
sacrosanct icon she had come to "recites the terms of a legal contract
represent in people's minds, largely under which an individual (Frank)
through the film and stage versions of relinquishes control of their own
her story. "She's sort of thought to be image." Which is Frank and which is
a Madonna, a sort of sacrificial the artist, or can we seperate the two?
lamb...that bothers me. I wanted to
make her more human. When you
make something sacred, you invite ito Hoyt will present hs controversial
sacrifice." videos Monday night at 8:00 p.m. at
Eyemediae, located at 214 N. Fourth
Ave. Admission is $3. On Tuesday
To remain true to Anne Frank the Hoyt will holda workshop that focuses
adolescent girl, Hoyt has chosen four on gender exploitation in the media
actresses to play Frank in the various using the interesting concept of
stages of her maturation. In- phone-sex.
The Tetes Noires will be returning to Ann Arbor next week with their engaging, original, musical humor.
Tetes Noires: An acme
of innovative sound
By Julie Jurrjens
"E d CLECTIC", "witty," and
"political" are all adjectives
which critics have used to describe
Minneapolis' Tetes Noires. While all
do their duty as pat descriptions,
they barely scratch the surface
when it comes to describing the
Tetes' intelligent and entertaining
musical mishmash. Anyone who saw
either of the band's two previous
Ann Arbor performances will attest
that they brought down the house
with their blend of tight harmonies
and good humor, rather than with
superficial goodies like politics or
eclecticism.
The Tetes' performance at the Ark
this coming Thursday will feature a
new lineup - including, for the first
time, a full time drummer. The
original band lacked a drummer;
which accounted, to some extent, for
the Tetes' distinctive sound on their
self-titled debut EP and their LP
American Dream. Tetes co-vocalist
Camille Gage comments on the
departure of guitarist Polly Alexan-
der and her replacement with
Christel Little on drums:
"We've changed a lot. Since we
just changed instrumentation, we're
still waiting for things to settle
down." Things are musically more
complex now - the bass doesn't
ting some management, though,
have to do double duty as a rhythm because with all the work we have to
and melodic instrument. Renee do for the band, plus our day jobs,
(Kayon, Camille's sister) is playing we don't have the time to ex-
guitar now, so it's still a full sound periment."
but very different. Not so wired as Maybe it's not such a bad idea,
before in some respects, but in allowing the Tetes some leeway for
others, weirder!" experimentation. Left to their own
The Tetes are negotiating a con- devices, the band has developed a
tract with Rounder records and are hilarious stage show and two
planning to record a new album in albums' worth of engaging, genre-
July. defying tunes. Their past two Ann
"We've been talking to Rounder," Arbor shows have featured
says Camille, "and just ,recently everything from Hotorhead-meets-
were contacted by Brian Ritchie the-Supremes metal to an a capella
and Victor deLorenzo of the Violent swing cover of Billy Idol's "White
Femmes, and they're going to he Wedding." The band views the
producing " it. . . (We decided to change of venue - from the bar set-
switch) because Rapunzel (the ting of the Blind Pig to the cof-
band's own label) was too hard to feehouse environment of the Ark -
manage. Every indie band faces the asa challenge and a treat.
problem of distribution. Only if "In a bar," Camille says, "you
you're on a big indie label or better can make any drunk get up and dan-
canyou get the exposure you need." ce, no matter what you sound like. In
After lots of hard work and a place like (the Ark), where people
various trials and tribulations on the come mostly to sit down and listen,
road, the Tetes are finally beginning you have that added challenge of
to attract the attention they well establishing a rapport with your
deserve. audience. I tend to think it's more
"Our truck is on its second or fun for the band and the audience to
third transmission," says Camille, seeus thatway."
"We're getting a lot of friends and Don't miss the Tetes Noires,
following around the country, so I guaranteed to charm the most
suppose (we're doing) more work cynical ear with their blend of sharp
now. We have to do all the work our- social satire and super six-part
selves, (from) keeping up with the harmonies. Tickets are $7.50 at
truck and the insurance to managing Schoolkids' and at the door. The
ourselves, We're thinking about get- show begins at about 9:00 p.m.