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.