Tuesday, May1, 2012 1 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com FINE ARTS NOTEBOOK Carving art into the Olympics Modern art seeks to redefine competitive influences By JONATHAN ODDEN Daily Arts Writer With the London Olympics fast approaching, it's high time the art community gears up for another celebration of all things artistic. Or, at least, that was the case a century ago. It's hard now to imagine art's place at the Olympic games, espe- cially considering the Wolff Olins 2012 logo that has outraged many, given seizures to some and has even been seen as racist by the Iranian government. Yet, a hun- dred years ago, art was actually a competitive event at the 1912 Stockholm games. Pierre de Coubertin, the inno- vator and posthumously criticized founder of the International Olym- pic Committee, believed that the games needed a synthesis of athlet- is and intellectual pursuits to round out the competition. He drew this viewpoint from his interpretation of the Greek games - where sport and culture seemed interwoven - and from his personal educational philosophy - which sought to cre- ate a more complete individual through learning and sport. So a system was designed in which art, or rather artists' tech- niques, would be split into five judged categories: architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. Within each category, the judges would award honors of gold, silver and bronze medals just as they would in any other Olym- pic competition. This format was followed in the Olympic games for the next forty years, until it was decided by the IOC that artists were professionals and the com- petition was discretely dropped after the Helsinki summer games in 1952. The competition did draw some unusual artists to the Olym- pics, such as American Walter W. Winans', who won the gold medal for his bronze sculpture, An American Trotter, in 1912. Interestingly, this was not Winans first Olympic medal, but his third. He also received the gold for his shooting skills in rifling during the 1908 London games and the silver in 1912. That same year, Pierre de Cou- bertin won the gold medal for liter- ature with his poem "Ode to Sport." Perhaps Coubertin's victory reflects his own ego and desire to recede amid the Olympiads, but maybe it was an outcome of necessity, since no other artist rose to challenge him in the event. In fact, across all five events of the Stockholm games, just six artists participated, mak- ing it a competition in name only. The sole silver medalist that year, French sculptor Georges Dubois, is unfortunately all but lost to history now. Yet the year 1912 was far from lacking in artistic flair. Cubism had thrown the art world into the avant- garde of modernism, and futurism emerged, heraldingthe triumphs of modernity. However, neither move- ment, nor their peripheral imper- sonators and reactionaries, were in Sweden that summer. The pieces winning the Gold were traditional, formulaic and - as with winner Giovanni Pellegrini's gold medal painting - genuinely cartoonish. Clearly, something was institution- ally wrong. The problem may come from the "amateur" status that the com- petition required, since most seri- ous artists then and now dedicate themselves to their work, not com- petition - see if you get very far calling Christo and Jeanne-Claude or Murakami an amateur. Even still, the labels of "amateur" and "profes- sional" are more slippery in regards to art than in sports. So, if we just sidestep that issue, can we find an intersection between the Olym- pic games, competition and the art world? Some say no, suggesting that art and competition is like water and oil, but such a notion is misguided when looking at the increasingly competitive art world. Perhaps now art is even more competitive than the sports world when you con- sider the percentage of highly paid artists to highly paid athletes or the critical reception they receive - Nobel Prizes in literature, poet laureates and so on. Art exhibitions are now corporate sponsored and museums are more and more pre- occupied with admission. And this competition isn't solely at the high- est echelons of the art world, since scholarships for art, essays and design are as numerous and com- parative as athletic scholarships. Though the art world may not like to acknowledge it, valuation is rife within its ranks. Why shouldn't we see a Prisma- color sponsored artist someday? It might already exist, consider- ing that national funds constant- ly support artists they believe support their ethos - think Lee Ufan's Guggenheim show last fall that was sponsored by Samsung. We may very well be on the verge of art returning to the Olympics, but hopefully not at the expense of the unknown artists that push the art world forward. Ann Arbor, MI UN E-H U N DRED-T W EN T Y T WU Y EARS UF ED IT UIIAL FREEDUM Weekly Summer Edition From Class of 2012 Mugs and Teddy Bears to a large selection of photographs and other works of art, The M Den features the widest selection of gifts to help any graduate remember their days here at Michigan. Come see us at any M Den location or online at www.MDen.com, and to all graduates we wish you the best of luck. The M Den on Campus 303 S. State Street 734-68-3002 uThe M Den on Main Street* www.MDen.com * The M Den Briarwood Mall la hi El W NEWS 'U' stem cell line approved by NIH The second stem cell line from the 'U' to be approved >SEEPAGE 2 OPIN ION Cable doesn't cut it Michael Spaeth discusses the importance of closely analyzing every news source >> SEE PAGE5 The Beet Box Student-runhorganization combines health food and fast food >>SEE PAGE 11 SPOT 'M' softball loses two of three to Illini The Wolverines barely avoid sweep by Big Ten underdog. '>SEE PAGE 9 Vol. CXI.13102012ase sig.nDa.y NEW S . .............. ................2 OPINION .. .......... ............4 CLASSIFIEDS...................6 CROSSWORD........................6 SPORTS............................7 ARTS'-------".................10 MARISSA MCCLAIN/Daily Dr. Sanjay Gupta receiving the honorary Doctoral of Humane Letters from President Mary Sue Coleman. Gupta offers life lessons at Spring Commencement Gupta says 'U' grads have an advantage over others By PAIGE PEARCY Daily News Editor Over the weekend, 11,574 grad- uates received their tickets to leave Ann Arbor, to stop checking CTools and to never turn in anoth- er blue book exam. In the Big House, blanketed with overcast skies, the University graduates sat for about two hours to hear speakers, including Uni- versity alum Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and STUDENT PROJECT SvF makes first group investment Student-led fund chooses children's study video company LearnZillion By KATIE BURKE and STEVE ZOSKI Daily Staff Reporter and Daily News Editor A group of University student have made an investment that aim o change learning forever. The Social Venture Fund, a stu- Ient-run impact investment fun ,elonging to the Zell Lurie Insti- tute for Entrepreneurial Studies i the Ross School of Business, mad Ets first investment this month when it invested in LearnZillion recently developed educations technology company SvF was founded in 2009 55 the first student-run venture fund a the Business School, comprised o graduate and undergraduate stu dents. It is also the first student-run social venture fund in the Unite States, accordingto SvF'swebsite. The fund researches companies with social and environments nterests and will give $2.4 million :o LearnZillion along with 17 other nvestors. Business graduate student Set reenberg, SvF's director of opera ions, said a unique aspect of Sv s its careful consideration of the social aspects of the companie t researches for potential invest See~ VESTMENT, Page- receive the official recognition of their degrees. Gupta, who is the chief medi- cal correspondent for CNN and a practicing neurosurgeon, started his speech with his long-felt per- sonal attachment to Ann Arbor, beginning with his parents meet- ing in the city and leading to his eventual attendanceat the Univer- sity for undergraduate and medi- cal school. "Not only was the foundation for most of my life conceived in this town, I myself was likely con- ceived in this town," Gupta said. "Best bet is the 17th floor of the University Towers - but no one's talkingfor sure." Gupta then delved into 10 more serious lessons for the graduates while he stood on the podium. "Lesson number one: always respect your elders," Gupta began. "There's no doubt that our par- ents seem to grow smarter as we grow older, but truth is they also sacrificed an incredible amount to allow our lives be what they are, and it is on their shoulders that we realize our greatest triumphs." Other lessons included advice to make the impossible possible and to always cheer for the Wol- verines. "If you ever cheer for another See COMMENCEMENT, Page 3