V O L . I I , N O. X V
C E L E B R A T I N G T H E P R E C I O U S H U M A N TA P E S T R Y
11 APRIL, 2008
Prospect II gives students chance to appreciate art
Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts kicks off with a bang BY STEPHEN SUKUMARAN Deputy Editor
The annual Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts kicked off last Wednesday evening with Prospect II. This was the second of two exhibitions held this semester showcasing the works of the 2007-2008 Post-Baccalaureate students in Studio Art. Now in its fifteenth year, the Post-baccalaureate program has gained much recognition, being noted in the New York Times. Leonard Bernstein initiated the festival believing in the power of art to promote change in the world. The works shown in the exhibit certainly displayed this belief. The artists featured in the opening showed great talent through the intensity and truly inspired themes of their pieces. Graduate student Sarah Lubin made use of various earth tones, resulting in the creation of simple yet charming pieces. Her depictions varied from the common, like the urban glimpse
PHOTO BY Napoleon Lherisson/The Hoot
INSPIRATIONAL FACES: One of the portraits on display in "The Faces of TYP," an exhibit that is part of the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts
given in “Street,” to the unusual as in “Elephas Maximus Indicus.” This large composition featured a daunting Indian elephant ready to walk right out of the canvas. Yo u n g s h e e n Jhe (GRAD) presented a black and white series aptly entitled “Black & White.” Jhe created the intricate works almost entirely with tiny oil strokes. The process had mixed results as certain pieces appeared to be of a higher quality than others. For example, one canvas that featured a cellist playing in front
of a statue memorial in a cemetery certainly had more of an impact that two pieces involving a woman drinking coffee. The similarly themed paintings of Ryan Pressman (GRAD) offered an inside look of personal moments in what can only be assumed as his life as the male figure depicted bore his likeness. The situations depicted in the realistic compositions drew various emotions from viewers including shock, voyeuristic interest and sadness. The best pieces appeared to be those of James Wheaton (GRAD). Wheaton pushed the artistic boundaries by incorporating random and somewhat conflicting images. “Saturnalia” depicted a woman, seemingly posing for a portrait, in a dark jungle. If that wasn’t visually combative enough, Wheaton added large fish heads to the foreground of the composition creating a hallucinogenic effect. Wheaton explained that he makes use of “associative metaphor” and tries not to be explicit in terms of
what his works convey. Another one of his pieces, entitled “The Greatest Gift,” featured the profile of a woman lying down with vegetation spewing from her mouth. The manner in which the subject was presented made it difficult to determine whether or not she was dead or merely sleeping. The image led to much debate over what was actually going on. But according to Wheaton, that was exactly the point. He likened the situation to hitting the pause button while watching a movie. A different viewer would not be able to tell neither what led up to the image left on the screen nor what was to come next. Although Wheaton’s works seemed confusing and jarring at first, the meaning and intent behind them, in addition to the pure talent, are the reasons why he stole the show. Prospect II was extremely well attended and received, setting off the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts to a great start.
City of Angels : I love you Jens Lekman No place for the ordinary Swedish indie pop icon performs in Boston BY JAMIE FLEISHMAN Staff
Director Aaron Arbiter '10 appropriately ended his note from the director in the City of Angels program saying, “This is no ordinary musical, so please sit back and enjoy the extraordinary.” Certainly City of Angels is not your ordinary musical as the plot interweaves two stories in one. Stine (Ross Brown '10), who plays the lead character in the “Hollywood” world, is a writer having trouble transposing his novel City of Angels into a movie screenplay. As Stine sits in the back corner of the stage typing the screenplay on his typewriter, the “movie” world comes to life led by Stone (Robert St. Laurence '11), the suave detective in Stine’s movie – and his alter-ego. Brown and St. Laurence both capture the essence of their characters. Brown shows the struggles Stine has with his story and his personal life, while St. Laurence pulls off the smooth talking, ladyfriendly, and witty mannered Stone. When the two worlds of Stine and Stone blur into one, and the two
characters sing their feature song, “You’re Nothing Without Me,” both St. Laurence and Brown bring their powerful voices together for form a dramatic duo. Much credit has to be given to the female leads, Jennifer Faber '09, Gavi Young '09, and Sierra Kagen '09, who all have to constantly switch in playing two different roles. Kagen especially stood out in her “movie” role as Alaura Kingsley, who seductively drags Stone into investigating the “disappearance” of her daughter, Mallory Kingsley (Arielle Kaplan ‘10). Kagen commented on the female leads playing dual roles, “we all had to juggle the differences between our film noir and real-life characters. They had to be reminiscent, but different enough so as not to confuse our audience. And how does one play the femme fatale without coming off as cheesy or stilted?” Another unique aspect of City of Angels was the location of the musicians. As opposed to the musicians sitting in the “pit,” not visSee ANGELS p.11
IN THIS EDITION:
New Zealander duo, Flight of the Conchords See how awesome their music is p. 9
BY MAXWELL PRICE Staff
There comes a point in every music writer’s career when he is tempted to throw journalistic integrity out the window and exclaim to the world, “I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU, JENS LEKMAN!” Though this might seem a slight exaggeration, the audience last Friday night at the Paradise Rock Club was wildly enthusiastic enough to convince me that this was a universal experience. For those of you that haven’t yet been smitten, Jens Lekman is a Swedish indie pop icon who has made significant inroads into the American alternative music scene. Even after receiving rave reviews from the likes of Spin and Pitchfork, however, it seems that there remains a gap between his critical acclaim and commercial popularity (the New York Times acknowledged as much in a recent concert review). Nevertheless, no one in attendance at Friday night’s concert would deny that Lekman is one of the foremost figures in pop music today. While recent indie pop stars
like the Shins and I’m From Barcelona ape Brian Wilson’s aesthetic style, Lekman tackles the more ambitious task of sounding like Burt Bacharach without devolving into pure retro or kitsch. This was evidenced by masterful arrangements that featured violin and cello in addition to electronic samples. He opened the set with “I Am Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You,” a gem of a tune from his
The Roots help its music to grow Check out the band's new album p. 9
newest release, Night Falls Over Kortedala. The song is built on a keyboard sample that sounds like it could have come from Laura Nyro and piles on six electronic hip-hop beats to support a saccharine melody and wry lyrics. Another highlight, “The Opposite of Hallelujah,” soon followed, its whimsical violin riff and a sprightly drumbeat getting the crowd bouncing. See LEKMAN p. 10
DID YOU KNOW?
The film 21 has caused an uproar on multiple online forums and Facebook groups as the Asian-American students on whom the film is based, are played by white actors.