2B — Thursday, October 15, 2015
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Dear Gillian,
The man (boy?) I love does not
love me back. I finally let the words
come out of my blabbing, hesitant
mouth too little too late. He says
he felt love at
some point, but
it’s not there
anymore. Even
the physical
desire is gone.
Now I’m left
with the worst
feeling — the
kind that
burns the back
of your throat
and makes your breath heavy
when you linger on it too long. It
makes me cry at the end of every
poem, every song, every movie. I
feel alone in this because he does
not have said feeling. But I’m not
actually alone, because we still
see each other (as friends). He still
wants my company and I his. I just
have the short end of the stick.
How could someone not love
you and know you love them but
still want to spend time with you?
How do I let myself give that time?
- In need of a nudge
Dear Nudge,
Yes, poems, songs and movies
can sometimes flood your tear
ducts with idealized romance in
Hollywood or sickly sweet love
lyrics on Spotify. Yet the right ones
can provide a cathartic reflecting
pool and even hold your hand
through lost, unrequited love.
The ancient Greek poet
Theognis of Megara (your “man/
boy?” distinction…that had its
own significance in Ancient
Greece, but that’s beside the point)
had a lyric that may resonate:
“My heart’s in pain because of
my love of you, / For I can’t either
hate or love, / Knowing it’s hard
when a man’s your friend / To
hate him, and hard to love him if
he doesn’t want.” In the ancient
Greek tradition it was common
for one person to play hard to
get to another, creating clear
lover and beloved categories in
a relationship (at least in terms
of public appearance.) Although
this one-sided relationship was
commonplace, Theognis was still
trying to reconcile in his elegiac
poetry an unrequited love, the
object of which you would usually
want cast away to the depths of
Hades, with a friendship. It’s a
tough struggle you’re engaged
in, one that’s been eating away at
hearts since the 6th century BCE.
Your feeling of loneliness,
Nudge, even in his company, is
only to be expected. Many of
American artist Edward Hopper’s
realist paintings in the early
and mid-20th century portray
a solitary figure in the modern
world. In “Room in New York”
(1932), his study of loneliness is
magnified with two individuals
occupying the same space, but
who could not be further apart
from one another. The viewer of
the painting plays voyeur as he or
she gazes in through a window
framing a sharply dressed man
and woman sitting around a
small wooden table in their living
room interior. They are together
at the table, but draw away from
one another: the man bent over
reading a newspaper; the woman
twisting over her shoulder to play
a note on the piano behind her.
You may be just as lonely in his
company spending time as friends
and not as lovers as you would be
on your own. His presence may
magnify what is lacking in your
relationship. Maybe confront the
loneliness instead of masking it so
you can move on.
On the other hand, lost love or
love-just-out-of-reach can be the
most powerful artistic force in
the universe. Unrequited love is
ennobling, coaxing tours-de-force
and magni opi from artists and
authors since the dawn of time.
But its effects are exponentially
more powerful if your muse is
right there, only just barely out
of reach. That special kind of
unrequited love — love requited
only with friendship — is the
perhaps the most hopeful (and
tortuous) kind.
This is not Apollo and Daphne
nor Goethe’s Werther, unrequited
love made hopeless by Eros’s
vengeance and Charlotte’s
marriage. This isn’t Hans
Christian Anderson’s “Little
Mermaid” — she sold her soul
to get legs with which to chase
her man, who then didn’t even
recognize her as his rescuer.
This is not Cervantes’ “Quixote,”
whose Dulcinea didn’t even exist.
This is access to your unrequited
lover with each phase of the moon
and, ergo, the chance to reignite
his/her love for you. Sufferers of
impossible unrequited love do
great things in stoic acceptance of
their suffering, but lovers requited
with friendship do great things
and, sometimes, win their friends’
hearts in the process. Affection
doesn’t function in fixed states but
is ever evolving.
Love can be re-attained, but
I hesitate to suggest you try
to win your guy back if you’ve
already laid your thoughts and
feelings bare. There are two
paths out of the friend zone, the
patient pursuit and the decisive
door slam. The former is not for
everyone, but it works for some.
Check out the 1990 Whit
Stillman film “Metropolitan,”
which won an Academy Award
for its screenplay. In it, a rat pack
of debutante ball-going, Park-to-
Fifth-Avenue-roaming Ivy League
undergrads take in Tom, a barely
middle-class kid from the wrong
side of Central Park who studies
left-leaning political science at
Princeton on scholarship. As a
group of friends, they bring him
along to their crowd’s Christmas
season parties. Audrey falls in
love with Tom, but he rejects her
at first, a rejection made all the
more painful by the near-constant
time the group spends together.
Yet it’s that friend time that brings
Tom around to regretting the
rejection and when Audrey agrees
to accompany the high-society bad-
boy character to the Hamptons,
Tom realizes his feelings for her and
heads out there to win her over.
Maybe you saw the recent piece
in the New York Times by the poet
and author Elinor Lipman called
“Taking a Break for Friendship.”
Lipman dates, is rejected, remains
friendly and writes an essay for
publication about the situation,
which becomes the catalyst for
attracting him back. The takeaway
is that the friendship is the chance
to showcase your talents and charm
to pave your person’s road of return.
But Nudge, please don’t let this
prospect torture you. Your man-
boy cannot have it both ways and
expect everything he wants. That
is not fair to you. Keep doing things
that make you happy both within
and beyond boyman’s earshot. If he
has an epiphany, he knows where
to find you, but I wouldn’t settle
for friendship if you find it too
upsetting. But do keep your eyes
open for something unexpected.
I’ll leave you with some more
modern lyric poetry (Theognis
is so 58th Olympiad … ) by the
singer/songwriter/rapper Lauryn
Hill from “When it Hurts So
Bad” on her 1998 album, The
Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill.
I loved real, real hard once
But the love wasn’t returned
Found out the man I’d die for
He wasn’t even concerned
I tried, and I tried, and I tried
To keep him in my life
I cried and I cried, and I cried
But I couldn’t make it right
But I, I loved the young man
And if you’ve ever been in love
Then you’d understand
What you want might make
you cry
What you need might pass you
by.
Send an e-mail to deargillian@
michigandaily.com describing a
quandary about love, relationships,
existence or their opposites.
Gillian Jakab will attempt to
summon the wisdom of the arts
to soothe your troubled soul.
CULTURAL CURES COLUMN
Dear Gillian:
Unrequited love
StarKids return, talk
time at alma mater
By REBECCA GODWIN
Daily Arts Writer
My
Wednesday
last
week
offered
no
evidence
that
it
would be anything but normal
— that was, until I found myself
opening an e-mail from one
of the original StarKids, Brian
Holden, a 2008 Music, Theatre &
Dance alum, inviting me to come
to their rehearsal to interview
the group. I have made multiple
friends through a shared love of
the group. Their shows helped
remind me how much I love the
theatre, and their humble start
at the University left me with the
hope that I, too, could create and
stage my own show — which I did.
So it’s pretty safe to say StarKid
has had a pretty big impact on
my life. I immediately cleared my
to-do list, rearranged my work
schedule, and conveniently forgot
about my classes.
For those who don’t know,
StarKid is a theatre group that
originated here at the University in
2009 when they performed their
original musical, “A Very Potter
Musical,” a parody of the Harry
Potter series. They uploaded the
show to YouTube, and soon the
group of college friends found
themselves launched into Internet
fame. The production is still their
most popular with more than 11
million views, but they have gone
on to do many other successful
parodies. The group has since
moved to Chicago, and while it
has added members over the years,
it’s still made up almost entirely
of University alumni, including
“Glee” star Darren Criss.
It didn’t take long for me
to make my way to the Power
Center, and then suddenly I was
in the room and shaking Brian’s
hand and he was introducing me
to the entire group. Darren was
the first to stop and introduce
himself, shaking my hand and
letting me know he was there to
help with whatever I may need.
I returned the handshake with
a polite smile and pretended as
though I didn’t already know his
name and I wasn’t a huge fan.
This would eventually become a
theme throughout the day.
I sat and observed for about 20
minutes until I noticed Lauren
Lopez, a 2009 Music, Theatre
& Dance alum, taking a break.
Lauren is best known for her
portrayal of Draco Malfoy in
“A Very Potter Musical,” but
she has been with StarKid from
the beginning and has starred
in almost every production. I
approached slowly, asking what
made her want to come back and
do the reunion show.
“There wasn’t even a question,”
she said. “It was an immediate yes,
because the chance to come back
to Ann Arbor, not only come back
but to come back with a group
of friends that I’ve known for 10
years, who we all share a college
experience, and to come back to
the place where literally all of this
started is super special. It is just a
really special opportunity.”
Very quickly, Nick Lang,
2008 Music, Theatre & Dance
alum, called Lauren back up
on stage, but my first StarKid
interview was a good start.
Nick was taking on the role of
director for the concert, but he
is best known for writing the
StarKid shows, along with his
brother, 2010 LSA alum Matt
Lang. Others have assisted with
the writing on different shows,
but Nick and Matt are the only
ones whose names can be found
on every StarKid script.
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
University alumni Darren Criss and Joey Richter, StarKid actors, perform at the Power Center on Thursday, Oct. 8.
See STARKID, Page 3B
Beginnings
During the Q&A with Stamps
in
Color
students,
Guyton
spoke a bit about the changes
in the city of Detroit over his
lifetime and the impetus for his
community artwork.
“I grew up on Heidelberg
Street and I remember when it
was a thriving neighborhood,
Blacks
and
whites
living
there,” Guyton said. “In the
’60s and over the years it began
to change: You know the ups
and downs of the automobile
industry, the Vietnam War,
Wall Street. All these things
had an effect on the city of
Detroit. I remember some of the
white kids I used to play with
and how they moved away.”
Guyton
left
Detroit
for
a
period
and
then
moved
back at the wish of his aging
grandparents. It was Guyton’s
grandfather who gave him a
paintbrush at a young age and
instilled in him the passion to
create. Pursuing his study of
art at the College of Creative
Studies,
Guyton
met
artist
Charles McGee who became his
mentor. In a formative moment
McGee
prescribed
him
a
bizarre exercise to find himself
by
locking
himself
in
his
studio for two weeks, smoking
joints while listening to John
Coltrane, getting naked and
painting his body. It may sound
crazy, but it was from this act
of sustained introspection that
Guyton was able his understand
his community and what he
could do for it.
The
Heidelberg
Project
would
become
an
external
extension
of
this
gained
understanding. Back in Detroit,
it was important for Guyton to
share with his neighbors the
freedom of art and creative
thinking he’d discovered — not
just to render creative images
on canvas or paper, but to
reimagine the aesthetic of his
urban landscape and its social
climate. Noticing that a lot of
them weren’t going to the DIA
or exhibitions in Ann Arbor,
Guyton
was
determined
to
bring art to the people, citing a
piece called “More Power to the
People.”
“It was my way of using
the Heidelberg project as a
medicine to help the people
understand the importance of
thinking for themselves.”
Some of the neighbors on
Heidelberg Street had a knee-
jerk
reaction
of
distrust.
They didn’t like it; they didn’t
want it there. Provoking any
response, positive or negative,
laid the foundation for Guyton
to open conversations with his
community, to tease out, person
by person, what they thought
about the project and what they
thought the larger implications
were.
“He intends it as a gift to his
neighborhood and to the city,”
Wilkinson said. “But you know
everyone gets gifts that they
don’t quite know what to do
with and that’s what this is.”
Opposition, public and
private
The reaction Guyton drew
was art criticism on steroids,
with
repetitive
cases
of
litigation and acts of violence
against the Heidelberg Project.
The political implications of his
art became unavoidable.
“The city said to me … that art
goes in an institution,” Guyton
said. “And I said well what do
you mean? And they said you
put it in a building behind walls,
so I heard that. And then I was
told by the city government
that I should leave the city
and I should go to New York,
that New York is a place that
accepted art, or Chicago. Then
I was told that I had too many
white people coming, and then
I was told that I had too many
people coming in general.”
Government
officials
didn’t really understand what
the project was, how to talk
about it or how to accept it.
In the ’90s Mayor Coleman
Young dispatched bulldozers.
Guyton spent a lot of money
and time in the Detroit courts
and
administrative
agencies
fighting the political opponents
of
the
project.
Guyton
eventually won the right to
keep the project on Heidelberg
Street.
“Every time the city came to
demolish the project, something
inside of me said, ‘Do it again,’
and I went out there and I start
doing it again.”
Arson was another problem.
With the 12 fires, some as
recently as last year, Guyton
had to summon his spirit to help
his art continually rise from the
ashes.
“The voice said ‘Make it
greater’ than before,” Guyton
said. “And I did.”
One of the pieces Guyton
created specifically for the
UMMA exhibition, a mixed-
media sculpture titled “How
Much for the City” addresses
these
deep-rooted
struggles
with the city government.
During the arson episodes
last year, a destroyed television
set appeared on the street. An
upset Guyton left it out there
for a few days as he turned its
significance over in his mind:
How could he transformed it
into something positive and
interactive?
“Flip the script: turn it into
Heidelberg television,” Guyton
said. “My job as an artist is
to find solutions. So someone
came over, dropped a television
set off ,and it came to me: to
create Heidelberg Television.
So that television set was on
the project and I had the kids
of
Heidelberg
Street
come
down and they would write
television shows for me. So they
were performing behind that
television set.”
It was important to Wilkinson
to
feature
the
Heidelberg
Television in the exhibition
at
UMMA.
Borrowed
from
the project space for a period
of time, the physical frame
tells the story of the people
and activities on Heidelberg
Street. The television displays
a slideshow of many of the
art-adorned houses and their
social
or
aesthetic
themes,
such as house of soul, polka
dots and clocks among many
others, some of which are no
longer standing. These images
allow people who have maybe
have never seen the Heidelberg
Project to get a sense of its many
incarnations over the years.
Recreation and rebuilding
on the foundation
The second of the two new
works Guyton is creating for
the UMMA exhibition will
not be featured in the gallery,
but on Heidelberg Street itself.
Thinking about the 12 fires and
what to do about them, Guyton
met with a team of architects to
develop a plan to build a house.
After initial concern and doubt
posed by the architects about
the stability of the foundations
damaged by the fire, Guyton
convinced them to shore up and
salvage what had been damaged
and simply build on top. The
result is doubly powerful.
“Two plus two equals eight,”
Guyton said. “I’m never starting
over; I’m just adding. I keep
adding. That’s what I do.”
The reconstruction of one of
the houses on Heidelberg Street
is being filmed in real time and
Wilkinson plans to have the
footage shown in the exhibition
to celebrate the process of
rebuilding and connect visitors
of the gallery with the site in
Detroit.
Global perspective and
recognition
Guyton
returned
from
a
year-long residency in Basel,
Switzerland in 2012 where he
studied Plato and wrote his
forthcoming book. The small
city of Basel boasts more than
40 museums. With art and
artists
everywhere,
Guyton
was constantly seeing pieces
and their creators and engaging
in
dialogue
(not
only
the
Socratic kind) with some of his
international contemporaries.
“I went over there to learn,
to listen and to see, and I think
today if you’re going to be an
artist, and this is my opinion,
you have to think global,”
Guyton said. “And you have
to see (the world) because it
helps to grow (the Heidelberg
Project).”
Taking a year way from the
Heidelberg
Project
allowed
Guyton to reflect on his decades
of work and formulate how he
would return to it. UMMA’s
exhibit displays some of his
prints and studio work from his
Switzerland residency. Though
living abroad had its challenges,
the
glamour
of
an
artist
residency
threw
into
relief
some of the more gritty work
there is to be done at home.
“For me, going somewhere else,
they roll the red carpet out for
you. The real challenge is here.”
Reach of the project and
visitors
The
arrival
of
young
artists to Detroit’s blighted
neighborhoods
is
by
now
well underway. But it’s more
than just cheap rent drawing
them; that’s available in lots of
places. It’s the storied legacy
of
Detroit’s
creativity
and
determination that sets it apart,
and Heidelberg embodies it.
“I do think that having the
Heidelberg Project there with
its example of what an artist can
do to try to change people’s lives
gives later artists the freedom
to do all kinds of things,”
Wilkinson said. “I think what
is happening in Detroit could
maybe have never happened
without the Heidelberg Project
being here, and all of its
contentiousness … But I really
think that it’s so different even
though there’s a long history in
Detroit of artists making things
out of junk. Many artists here
do that because that’s what you
can find when you’re in Detroit
and there’s sort of a Detroit
ethos to it.”
Guyton has paved the way
for large-scale public artworks,
which have been springing up on
smaller scales all around the city.
“And now you get this new
energy that’s coming into the
city from all over the world,”
Guyton said. “Thirty years ago
when I started, I knew that I
was on to something. I knew it.”
A changing or “revitalized”
Detroit
poses
the
slew
of
problems
associated
with
gentrification,
but
the
Heidelberg Project has been
around through it all; it’s a
magnetic energy from within
the city born from the vision
of a Detroiter who sees the
importance of community art
in his neighborhood, in his city
and in the world.
“It’s a 30-year dissertation,”
Guyton said. “I hear me. I trust
me. I don’t have all the answers.
I’m still learning.”
GILLIAN
JAKAB
HEIDELBERG
From Page 1B