Our Interns Review: Ony Ratsimbaharison on bell hooks' Wounds of Passion

As part of Jasper's summer intern experience we asked our interns to write about-- and even review -- books, films, paintings, ART -- that have been influential to them in their journeys. Heck, we invite you all to do this, as well. We hope you enjoy Ony Ratsimbaharison's review of the always radicalizing bell hooks' 1997 Wounds of Passion :  A Writing Life. For more on hooks, please visit the website for the bell hooks Institute at Berea College.)

---

“Writing is my passion. Words are the way to know ecstasy. Without them life is barren. The poet insists Language is a body of suffering and when you take up language you take up the suffering too. All my life I have been suffering for words. Words have been the source of the pain and the way to heal.” –bell hooks, Wounds of Passion

--

If there’s question as to how and why bell hooks has written so much in her life, it is clear from her heartbreaking experimental memoir Wounds of Passion A writing life (H. Holt, 1997) that writing was her most vital coping method.

The prolific black feminist and social activist author intertwines the story of finding her writing voice with finding a sense of purpose and love, both following the most troubled times of her childhood and as well as during a long-term relationship with another writer. It’s a great read for anyone interested in experiencing the life of a writer through their own critical eye. The title describes the work best—these aren’t just memories but her wounds being reopened and once again healed through the power of writing.

In the preface, hooks explains that the root word for passion is patior, which means to suffer. She insists that pain cannot be avoided if one feels deeply, which she quite evidently does. Many of the memories presented are unpleasant ones, each marked by hooks’ suffering. She describes the hurt she felt in her childhood, for being the subject of ridicule for being too much like herself. She found comfort in words and in poetry from a young age. During her 15-year relationship with another writer she calls Mack, hooks is again and continually the subject of someone else’s pain-infliction. The details of her struggles are often difficult to read because the pain is so apparent.

The most rewarding part of reading Wounds of Passion is seeing first-hand how hooks develops her writing voice in the midst of all her suffering. It is clear that words and writing are her passion, and hooks makes note of people who influence her to be dedicated to her craft. Her descriptions of people she admires are so loving and inspiring (examples?) that it’s hard not to admire them too.

Another interesting component of the book is the use of both third and first person perspectives. The first person narrator is hooks experiencing the pain at the time. She wants to make her sometimes chaotic relationship work, despite all the hurt she feels from it. The third person narrator is the hooks after all the chaos, who now sees why they were doomed from the start.

Wounds of Passion is great for anyone seeking to experience the power of words during troubled times. For someone familiar with the work of bell hooks, this book provides more context to her life as a writer, making all her previous work even more powerful. It's a book about pain and honesty, and how some wounds can ignite passion. -Jasper intern Ony Ratsimbaharison

SPOLETO REVIEW: A reflection on festival curation, with mini-reviews of chamber music, Old Crow Medicine Show, & Brandi Carlile

By: Kyle Petersen

I saw three musical performances as part of Spoleto USA over Memorial Day weekend: the raucous old-timey string band Old Crow Medicine Show, the sleek and powerful pop-rock singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile, and Program II of the Bank of America Chamber Music Series curated by Geoff Nuttall.

In 2016, that list is hardly surprising, but it wasn’t too long ago that those first two names would have drawn pause from longtime festival patrons. Spoleto made its reputation on cutting-edge but cosmopolitan “high” art performances, bringing in a fascinating and eclectically curated selection of theatre, opera, dance, and chamber, symphonic, choral, and jazz music. You’ll notice that rock, pop, folk, blues, and country didn’t quite make the cut.

That seems to have shifted (as far as I can tell), in the mid-2000s, when the festival loosened its strictures to allow some favored roots, soul, and folk artists to its stages, sliding them into their Jazz series, closing night finales, and, eventually, as part of their regular music programming.

I used to read this evolution in two ways, both fairly cynical: 1), that the festival was just following the interests and tastes of their older and more staid demographic, both of which had changed considerably since the inaugural Spoleto USA in 1976; 2), that they were trying to be a kind of shortsighted arbiter of contemporary music, selecting the most conservative and retro-minded on of popular contemporary music, in stark contrast to their mostly forward-thinking selections elsewhere.

As snide as that assessment is, it never stopped me from enjoying the high caliber the festival booked in past years, but this year I think I had a change of heart about the why of it.

If you flip both of those assumptions on their head and try to see the positive, forward-thinking rationale behind the curation shift, you seem something fundamentally different. After all, what Spoleto proves year after year is that aging, no-longer mainstream art forms like dance, opera, classical music, and (to a lesser extent) theatre still have an artistic vibrancy to them, that they are creative expressions very much worth keeping around precisely because we still have gifted artists still capable of reinventing or reframing them in a way that’s entertaining and edifying to contemporary audiences.

It’s Geoff Nuttall who probably deserves the most praise for this realization. As a curator and master of ceremonies for the chamber music series he is without compare, capable of bringing ample doses of humor, wit, and expertise to an expansive selection of compositions that he can breathe new life into for the audiences. Program II was bookended by Mozart’s Concerto in B-Flat Major, K. 191, which served to showcase the tremendous talents of bassoonist Peter Kolkay, and Maurice Ravel’s gypsy-derived Tzigane, which saw violinist Livia Sohn blazing away at entrancing melodies and derivations alongside Stephen Prutsman’s piano accompaniment.  There was awesome an easy homerun in there with a few Gershwin tunes sung by contratenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, something this Porgy & Bess-obsessed audience lapped up with glee.

My personal favorite of the program, though, was the Kreitzer Sonato. Based on a Leo Tolstory novella that was itself based on a Beethoven sonata, there's an exaggerated sense of theatre and drama built nicely on top of a string quartet that makes for a highly engaging piece of music. Nuttall walked the audience through the story before beginning of the piece, often pausing to note what musical phrases denoted what/when in the action of the story, essentially establishing the vocabulary of the composition in a breezy, accessible fashion that utterly upends the sense of inscrutability classical music performances can occasionally have.

That ability to make classical music sound not only contemporary but almost urgently relevant, I think, is the through line to the festival’s larger curation goals.

Of course, Americana and folk-tinged pop-rock have hardly risen to “high art” status and are far from the relative irrelevancy facing many of the other art forms Spoleto champions, but they are trending down. EDM, hip-hop, “indie” rock and stadium country are the most popular musical forms today, there’s no mistaking it, particularly among younger audiences. And yet there’s so much good, vital music being made outside of those categories.

Old Crow Medicine Show is a prime example of this reality. Although they benefited enormously from the post-O Brother Where Art Thou? folk and old-timey boom (something which seems to have indirectly led to those musical styles’ introduction to Spoleto), they also felt like a band steeped in tradition that was startling new, crafting original songs and sounds out of the most venerable of parts. And even setting the success of “Wagon Wheel” aside, they’ve charted a fascinating path towards wider mainstream acceptance and awareness.

Their sold-out Friday night performance at the Cistern Yard (they also played Thursday) was a work of consummate showmanship, making wonderful nods to the setting, region, and the weekend (a veteran’s shout-out before the anti-war “Levi”) that never felt forced yet always came across as professional. Their battery of singers and ability to slide a radio hit as rock ‘n’ roll as “I Won’t Back Down” into a nicely balanced selection of originals was noteworthy. There was plenty of frenzied fiddling and even some gratuitous hee-haw two stepping, but these guys are truly charting their own song-driven course. They played “Wagon Wheel” of course, to immense enthusiasm to their crowd, but they weren’t owned by it, not by a long shot.

Brandi Carlile, who was forced into TD Arena instead of the Cistern because of the weather, plays with a similar passion. Her milieu is a bit different—she namechecks Crosby, Stills & Nash as inspiration, and the twin giants of Stevie Nicks and Melissa Etheridge hang over her alternatively bittersweet and bombastic folk-rock sound—but you can’t help but be in awe of how much life she breathes into her performances. Flanked by Tim and Phil Hanseroth, two side players who would hardly be notable if they weren’t twins (excepting their rich harmonies), Carlile wills herself into rock god status, with a soaring falsetto one moment and a throaty holler the next. Her pivots from commercially polished pop-rock to gritty blues-tinged grooves and 70s coffeehouse singer/songwriterisms always feel natural yet innervating, as if she’s a great student of rock ‘n’ roll who is occasionally capable of transcending the masters.

Both acts are incredibly able live talents, with seasoned performance styles built for the kind of grueling tour schedules they now need to maintain to make a living at this racket. But I’m drawn most to the idea that they are doing something with traditions that might now feel like they should be a bit solidified—you know, the way we think of jazz, theatre, dance, opera, and all of the other forms Spoleto champions. And that’s when I realized how much I am not only a fan of Spoleto USA as a bounty of artistic riches, but that I’m fully invested in the value system that seems to underpin their curation.

Even if they probably won’t bring in Chance the Rapper next year.

A CASE FOR THE ARTS - an essay by Jasper Intern Olivia Morris

 

Art is a celebration of humanity's emotional and technical intelligence. It is what we build ourselves from  and what spills out of us, personal and universal at once. However, art has been pushed aside in favor of STEM subjects in schools. The Republican Study Committee has suggested the arts budget be eliminated entirely. In a world that devalues the emotional and intellectual value of art, an argument can be made in terms everyone can understand — money. Art is money. Areas with art make money.

Artistry-rich areas have a competitive advantage compared to cities without sufficient artistic activities. These areas attract visitors and businesses.  Increased art and culture in a region increases both the amount of foot traffic and the amount of money spent in the area.

In 1905, The Crane Company Building inPhiladelphia was erected as a cast concrete emblem of modernizing architecture. Built in the manufacturing district of northern Philadelphia, the building transformed to meet the shifting American demands, first as a plumbing manufacture, then as a seafood processing plant.  After years of reeking of draft horses and half-frozen shrimp, the building closed and became dilapidated through the twentieth century.  In 2004, a group of local artists restored the building and established Crane Arts, a gallery space for established and emerging artists in Philadelphia. Crane Arts's 'Icebox' art projects have garnered international attention and were mentioned in Lonely Planet's article on top ten U.S. destinations. This is one of the numerous examples of how fostering artistic expression can lead to increased visibility and visitation of a region.

Stories like Crane Arts don't only exist in major cities. In Columbia, The Nickelodeon Theater hosts an annual arts and culture festival called Indie Grits. Andy Smith, the Executive Director of The Nickelodeon, shared the figures on how much this one festival contributed to the economy. Indie Grits had 10,267 attendees this year, all in one weekend. 38 percent of those people come from out of town, and therefore increased the profits going towards hotel and restaurants. On average, attendees spent $30 outside of the festival, mostly within a mile radius of the The Nickelodeon.  That is roughly $300,000 dollars being pumped into the non-arts sector over the course of one weekend.

Additionally, arts and culture jobs proliferate into jobs for other sectors. For every arts job that was generated in 2012, 1.62 other non-arts jobs were created as a result. The arts are constantly pumping more into the economy than they are taking out. For every $1 invested in the arts, there is a $1.69 in total output. The nonprofit arts industry creates an average of $135.2 billion every year, resulting in $22.3 billion in tax revenues across the national, state, and local levels. Lee Snelgrove, the Executive Director of One Columbia, brought the Arts & Economic Prosperity IV report on Columbia to our attention. It outlines the economic impact that the nonprofit arts and culture organizations have in Columbia. In the greater Columbia area, total industry expenditures total at $35,898,074.  Columbia alone generates revenues of $1,773,000 to the local government and $2,154,000 to state government.

When 97% of employers report that creativity matters to them when looking for an employee, the fostering of art is not only important to individuals, but also to businesses. South Carolina's economy is one of the most sluggish in the nation. According to Business Insider, South Carolina ranks as one of the most economically struggling states, the fifth worst in the nation. Instead of eradicating the arts, it has proven already to be more effective to bolster them. Arts and culture invigorate the economy and are vital to placemaking. The arts are not a part of the problem, but rather a part of the solution.

SPOTLIGHT ON POET MONIFA LEMONS BY OLIVIA MORRIS

"When I think about where I was, it was just me, and my daughter, and a hundred flyers," says Monifa Lemons, co-founder and director of The Watering Hole, a South Carolina-based poetry collective dedicated to poets of color. When she moved South Carolina, Lemons felt displaced from the creative scene in her hometown of New York City. Lemons, then a working, single mother of a seven year old, was determined to create the change she wanted to see. She secured an open-mic night venue at the Jamaican restaurant This, That, and the Other in Five Points and Cool Beans Coffee Company. Lemons and her daughter walked down Main Street together, posting flyers for the spoken-word scene she had created. That was 1998.

Today, Lemons directs The Watering Hole (TWH). Started as a Facebook group with just eighteen people, TWH now serves as a safe space to over 500 members. In 2016, TWH was invited to present at James Madison University's Furious Flower Poetry Center, the first center in the nation to be dedicated to African American poetry. This poetry conference only occurs every ten years. Furious Flower has honored nationally revered poets such as Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, and in 2016, Rita Dove. TWH also offers an annual Winter Retreat, where they offer expert education to Southern poets at economical prices. "I don't create it if I can't buy it," explains Lemons.

Lemons has also has recently been published. Her work has been chosen for an anthology of Southern poetry entitled Home is Where, edited by Emmy award winning poet Kwame Dawes. Lemons's poetry, like herself, is incredibly dynamic. In the beginning, she was strictly a spoken word poet. Also an accomplished actress, Lemons would jot down poems between scenes, drawing inspiration from 90s-era hip-hop. Presently, however, she has focused her poetry to reflect the many facets of herself. She writes about motherhood, specifically what it is like to be a single, black mother. She also writes about womanism (a form of feminism that emphasizes women's natural contribution to society, used by some in distinction to the term feminism and its association with white women) and injustice. Her spoken word poetry is ever-changing. She reworks one piece in particular, "For Brown, for Rice, for Garner," every time she performs, putting her poetry in a perpetual state of metamorphosis. In "Black Girls," (below) she talks about her daughters praying over cereal and hoping for decorated pencils. In "B's and H's", she provides a cutting condemnation of misogyny in the music industry. Lemons is a poet who can do it all, and do it all well.

When ask if her poetry is confessional, Lemons responds, "it is confessional, but it speaks for a sect of people who are not represented well." Lemons has dedicated much of her time and craft to bringing to light what much of the poetry world ignores. Lemons is continuing the adroit work of her inspirations, Nikky Finney, Patricia Smith, and Roger Bonair-Agard. Though Lemons is a New York native, she also has a bracing Southern perspective in her work. In her youth, she spent her summers raising hogs and feeding chickens at her grandmother's farm in Camden, South Carolina. "I've always been a kindred spirit to South Carolina ... when opportunities came up to move back to New York, I never would," she says. With Lemons's recent publication, she is adding to the rich literary legacy of South Carolina, while also providing her own idiosyncratic commentary on motherhood, hip-hop, and injustice.

↓

Two Poems by Monifa Lemons

Black Girls    

I know Black Girls

Black girls running around in panties.

Black girls praying. Even over cereal.

Black girls bouncing. or sitting on stairs.

Black girls lit at the gift of notebooks and decorated pencils.

I know black girls

Black girls who hug with the wholeness of their arms

Fast black girls. Free.

Black girls who smile at no one.

smile

I know black girls who pass mirrors and do their own hair.

Black girls showing off.

Black girls screaming.

I know black girls who silence when grandmothers speak.

I know them.

Black girls.

I know black girls who arch backs to drum beats and sax who make it truth because they say so they told them on the way here to us black girls who believe in their sisters hood who don’t ask for black dolls they expect them black girls who strut through your space and whip their hips passed newsstands they know they know they know they know black girls who blow and hush and hum and rhythm and concoct and draw and spell and conjure up you and you and you and you. i know them. I know them black girls and they comin’ for you.

Weight

You look good. You. Look good. Yeah Good. Looking good. What are you doing? Now what are you doing? You

Look good. What have you been doing? What. What have you not been doing? What were you not doing? When did you care? When did you care about looking good? When you do that, you look good. Look. Look, you are good. You are good. Now. You care now. You now care. Care has been taken. Now. What were you doing? What have you done? You care. Now. We'll care now look at you. We care to look at you. You look good. Now.

Censored Art Exhibit: An Interview with Amanda Ladymon By: Mary Catherine Ballou

Opening on Friday, June Third at Frame of Mind Gallery, Censored showcases pieces by local artists inspired by social media’s impact on body image.  Curated by visual artist Amanda Ladymon, in conjunction with photographer Jim Dukes, Censored challenges and questions the influence of technology-drenched culture on body perception, revealed through various mediums and perspectives.  Contributing artists include Jarid Lyfe Brown, Jim Dukes, Diana Farfan, Alejandro Garcia-Lemos, Jennifer Hill, Julie Jacobson, Michael Krajewski, Amanda Ladymon, and Whitney LeJeune.  Ladymon, a local artist, educator, writer, parent, and owner of Ladybug Art Studios, kindly agreed to share her insight on the motives behind Censored.

Jasper: What was the impetus for creating the Censored exhibit?

Ladymon: “Some photos of my semi-nude three-year-old daughter were reported by an unknown Facebook friend, which temporarily shut down my account.  I was shocked and confused by this (because let's face it - children all look exactly the same from the waist up when they're that young - we all have nipples and a belly button) - but also quite amused! … While my photos were not in violation of the [Facebook] policy, it left me really puzzled, why are Americans so uptight about the human body?!  And even further, why are Americans so uptight about things that they may not relate to or understand?!  My friend and fellow Artist Jim Dukes and I immediately started messaging and talking with each other about what had happened and the spark for a group art exhibition happened … Together we compiled a list of artists we had either exhibited with previously or artists I had worked with on exhibitions … I have the great privilege of knowing so many amazing artists and it was easy to find a handful of willing participants whom would appreciate our vision.”

Jasper: What role does Jim Dukes play in the event?

Ladymon: “He's sort of my right hand man.  He helped me construct the mission statement for the show, he has brainstormed frequently with me, done some photo shoots, and created the fantastic Exhibition Image for Facebook.”

Jasper: How do you think people will react to this exhibit?

Ladymon: “I anticipate it's going to be a mixed bag - some may be shocked, some might laugh, and some might be disgusted.  Overall I just hope it makes people stop and think about how social media has controlled and shaped our way of thinking in the 21st century.”

Censored highlights the different perceptions regarding the human body.  Ladymon reflects on the “veil over everything”, connoting ubiquitous filters and Photo-shopped images.  An exhibit that one will not likely forget, Censored forces viewers to question their own perspectives as well as prevailing societal norms. It also confirms the universal impulse to explore, highlight, and celebrate the wonders of the human form.  Censored will be available for viewing at Frame of Mind, 140 State St., West Columbia, through the last week of July, with tentative plans for a closing reception and panel discussion.  Free and open to the public, this event is restricted to an 18 and older audience.

Girls Rock the Block at First Thursday by Ony Ratsimbaharison

On Thursday June 2 at 6 pm, Girls Rock Columbia will host a block party at Boyd Plaza in front of the Columbia Museum of Art. The event, called Girls Rock the Block will be held as part of First Thursday on Main, Columbia’s monthly arts event on Main Street. It’ll be a free event with live music and food by the Wurst Wagen. All proceeds will go to benefit Girls Rock Columbia, so that they can continue to enrich the lives of our community’s youth.

If you haven’t heard, Girls Rock Columbia is our local chapter of the Girls Rock Camp Alliance (GRCA), which is an international coalition of organizations that aims to empower women and girls through music education, to foster confidence and self-esteem. GRCA was founded in 2007 in Portland, OR, and now has over 60 camps worldwide.

This will be Columbia’s 4th annual Girls Rock Camp, and it will be bigger than ever. I spoke with Mollie Williamson, executive director of Girls Rock Columbia, about this event and all of the organization’s exciting developments.

Instead of the usual one-week camp they’ve had in the past, this year Girls Rock Columbia will launch its two-week teen leadership program, where teens ages 13-17 will have camp the first week and return as teen leaders for the general camp the following week, which is for campers ages 8-12.

“They’ll be acting as peer mentors—repairing gear, facilitating workshops, and just largely contributing to things running smoothly,” Mollie said. “We’re super excited to give them the opportunity to lead!”

Girls Rock Columbia has also started an internship program this year and implemented their first board of directors in January. The camp itself has also grown; there will be 24 teen campers in the first week, and 84 during the general session, a huge jump from the original 17 campers its first year. In the past, campers were offered 10 workshops, and this year there will be 40.

With all these changes, Girls Rock needs as much help from the community as possible. The block party on Thursday is one way people can get involved, since proceeds will go to Girls Rock to help with programming. Live music will be performed by Jacksonville, FL electronic group Tomboi, and locals Can’t Kids and Paisley Marie, all of whom have been involved with Girls Rock.

“We’ll have a table at Girls Rock the Block, so stop by and shoot the breeze with us!” says Mollie.

For more information on Girls Rock Columbia and this fun event, check out girlsrockcolumbia.org

SPOLETO REVIEW: Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company Perform Modern Dance Classic

In its fourth year of performing at Spoleto (1989, 2001, 2006, 2016) the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, known for its innovative approach to contemporary dance, did not disappoint in their performance of two unique pieces of choreography on Saturday, May 29th. As the lights went down at the beginning of the first piece, titled Story and choreographed by Jones in 2013, the 9 member dance company posed on stage with one member of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra who then took his place onstage alongside three other quartet members accompanying the dancers.

Purposeful, athletic, and classically modern are some of the descriptors Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, soloist with Columbia City Ballet and contributing dance editor to Jasper, used to describe the dance, adding that the choreography had almost a tribal or animalistic feel to it. Sparse group vocalizations added to the totemic ambience of the piece, sometimes catching the audience off-guard and reinforcing the reality that a corps of dancers of this caliber can easily and seamlessly sequence from performing as unique individuals to performing as a single unit--a hive-brained organism with grace and finesse.

"There is no meaningless movement," Boiter-Jolley says, as she traces the formula of the phraseology being used. "Each section had its own vocabulary and each dancer knows and uses that vocabulary throughout the choreography. There is nothing random--it's all very specific."

Boiter-Jolley points out the quote from Jasper Johns that introduces the first piece of choreography in the program, "... take something and do something to it, and then do something else to it ..." and notes how it explains the creation of the dance, explaining that this common technique was used frequently when she danced with Spectrum Dance Theatre under Donald Byrd in Seattle, as well as with Columbia's Wideman-Davis Dance, Thaddeus Davis having trained under Byrd himself.

The second act of the performance found the orchestra in the pit and the dance company performing D-Man in the Waters,  a classic piece of modern dance. First created in 1989, D-Man in the Waters is dedicated to Demian Acquavella, a 32-year-old company member whose valiant fight against AIDS inspired the piece. Acquavilla died in 1990 but the piece has continued to be performed by various companies, including Alvin Ailley, over the decades, always introducing the multi-faceted spirit of Acquavilla onto the stage. It should also be noted that Arnie Zane, Jones's partner in dance and life, had died of AIDS in 1988, as well.

Set to Mendelssohn's Octet for Strings, the dancers are costumed in cammo fatigues to symbolize the ongoing battle against AIDS. Much of the phraseology focuses on mutual assistance with dancers tumbling across one another and clinging to one another to stay afloat. The final sequence depicts the corps of dancers tossing a featured dancer high into the air as the lights go out. Powerful stuff indeed.

Company members include Antonio Brown, Rene Butler, Cain Coleman, Jr., Talli Jackson, Shane Larson, I-Ling Liu, Jenna Riegel, Christine Robson, and Carlo Antonio Villanueva.

SPOLETO REVIEW: The Importance of Being Earnest

When I first learned that Spoleto would be presenting one of my favorite fun plays, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest at this year's festival, and that it was being produced by The Gate Theatre, one of the most distinguished theatre companies in the world, I felt an amalgam of emotion. Having seen Earnest several times on stage and screen, the prospect of the opportunity to see Gate Theatre regulars Alex Felton and Michael Ford-Fitzgerald as Algernon Moncrief and Jack Worthing, respectively, certainly presented a thrill. After all, it's difficult to find a season at The Gate in which the company does not present a Wilde performance --and he only wrote a thrifty handful of plays. If you only get to see one Wilde play in your life you should make sure it's the Gate Theatre putting it on.

However, The Gate Theatre has come to perform almost as regularly in Charleston as it does in Dublin. Well, that's not entirely true, but the company has become a regular presenter over the past few decades bringing us such plays as Present Laughter, Pride and Prejudice, Two Plays After, Hay Fever, I'll Go On, The Constant Wife (which though written by Maugham is still quite Wildesque), as well as Salome back in 1990 and Lady Windermere's Fan in 98.

So if the caliber of The Gate's work is undeniable and the company arguably offers the quintessential Wilde experience, why doesn't the equation result in a win/win situation?

It's because as much as there are few things as fun and clever as Wilde's playful play, there are also few things as boring. Despite the fact that I knew in my heart that The Gate would bring period costumes and perfectly chintzy and doillied  sets to the Dock Street Theatre, in my heart of hearts I had hoped they would shake things up a bit. Why not use the duplicity and social satire of the characters to set the action in LA or DC? Why not embrace the allusion to homosexuality in the play that even Wilde admitted he may have inadvertently included in its writing to expand upon the trivial role gender binaries and heteronormativity play in culture these days? Or even go blue with it? (Wilde writes about Bunburying for Christ sake!) Of course, we can take the lessons of Woolton's Manor House and apply them to contemporary society, but how much fun would it be to cast Lorna Quinn's Cecily as a Tri-Delt and Aoibhin Garrihy's Gwendolyn as a fallen cheerleader kicked off the squad?

Alas, Marion O'Dwyer's Miss Prism and Deirdre Donnelly's Lady Bracknell are just as prim and proper as if you'd picked them from a Victorian Garden and Mark Lambert's Reverend Chasuble is just as bumbly as he would have been when the play was first written in 1895.

Two bits of innovation mark the play in the form of the butlers, played by Des Keogh and Bosco Hogan, who add the odd Red Skelton hop to their walking about the stage, and their interactions with the set which is far less Victorian than one would imagine. A large and lovely silk screen of Wilde himself transforms into cabinets and shelves that open to display the countryside and cityscape as the scenes change.

Clever, innovative, and of the 21st century. Something I'd like to see more of at Dock Street Theatre. //cb

REVIEW: Trustus Theatre's The Flick

By: Kyle Petersen

I can still smell the warm, slightly musty aroma of the Nick right now.

Not the new, wonderfully renovated Fox Theatre that The Nickelodeon occupies now, of course, but that old, worn-out room hiding behind the State House. Where there were maybe 60 seats and a small screen. Where you could buy a bucket of beers that would furtively clink together over the course of a film. Where the smell of popcorn mingled with the smell of the underground, and watching an independent film felt like it might still be a subversive act in this sleepy Southern town.

The Flick, Trustus Theatre’s latest production and the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for playwright Annie Baker, isn’t about a theatre exactly like the old Nick, but it’s close enough to make me misty. In part because the play itself grapples with nostalgia and sentiment in the confines of a theatre that’s not too different from that old black box, and one that goes through tangentially similar growing pains over the course of the narrative (right down to the shift from film reels to digital projectors).

The story takes place in a small, rundown movie theatre that’s clearly on its last legs. The three main characters are all employees there, and the action takes place almost entirely between screenings as they clean the floors over and over again, something that should make the action feel repetitive but somehow doesn’t, mostly through Baker’s deft ability to write a kind of comedic realism that is always sharp but never showy. Most of the early action centers on Sam (Ben Blazer), the thirtysomething experienced hand who gripes about not being promoted to projectionist, and Avery (Kendrick Marion), a young, bespectacled black nerd who is taking some time off from college to work in a movie theatre. A third character, the free-spirited and gregarious Rose, is the projectionist, and is gradually woven in as the trio gets to know each other slowly and awkwardly, the way people do in real life.

There is drama and tension here, but Baker opts for an anti-sensational approach to the action as she “holds a mirror up” to the reality of tedious, behind-the-scenes minimum wage jobs that are often occupied by people whose dreams have been thwarted or never really blossomed to begin with.  But the narrative pace also allows so many different themes and reflections to emerge over the course of the lengthy run time—the subtle, nuanced ways race and class affect how we approach the world, the often confusing and conflicting ways workplace relationships evolve, and the impact of movies on how we understand and bond with one another.

Much of the buzz around this play has billed it as a “love letter to the cinema,” but that doesn’t seem quite right to me. That’s not to say that the love of movies doesn’t play a prominent role, but to me the play seemed to be more curious about how places and things become imbued with the people we connect them with, that this rundown movie theatre became a place where Rose, Avery, and Sam learned from and about each other. The trio is thrown together through the odd happenstance of needing work and loving film, and little else, yet they forge a very specific kind of friendship through the hours and hours of menial work they do together in the confines of that single-screen theatre.

As usual, Trustus produced an ace production for this relatively austere play. The set features beat-up old movie theatre seats that were pulled up from Spotlight Cinema on St. Andrews that had to be a bear to install on the tilted floor that gave the set just the right verisimilitude, as did the real film projector on loan to the theatre. For a play with the potential to sprawl with literal untidy messes, director Dewey Scott-Wiley kept the blocking and pacing fairly tight, with only a few dramatic pauses of work to drive home the sense of endless cleaning that dominates these characters' lives. All of the performances are quite strong—Marion’s performance particular is astounding, in large part because his previous roles have emphasized his powerhouse singing voice and required flamboyant performances, whereas here he shrinks up into a succession of halting pauses, facial tics, and frowns as Avery, worlds away from R&B frontman Jimmy Thunder in Dreamgirls. Both Ben Blazer as Sam and Christine Hellman as Rose had to put on tough Boston brogues and embody individuals that can bounce from stereotypically dead-end types to puzzlingly complex in a heartbeat. Each brings their character to life with a deceptive sense of ease that would have left this production gasping without them. Trustus Apprentice Company member Colin Milligan also performs admirably in his debut with the small role he plays as the cast's fourth member.

Sandwiched between two productions which seem to guarantee a much more boisterous and fun night of entertainment on the Trustus schedule—Peter and the Star Catcher before this and Green Day’s American Idiot following the run—there might be a sense that this is an eat-your-vegetables play, something too self-involved and navel-gazing in its commitment to contemporary realism and the role of storytelling and theatrics. I can’t guarantee you won’t leave the theatre feeling that way, but for my money The Flick is an example of how singularly powerful theatre can actually be. This is a story that requires you to think about people, stories and lives that can exist—that can be imaginatively projected—in a confined space, and how we are still asking old questions and searching for new answers in those spaces. More power to Trustus for continuing, commenting, and expanding that powerful and time-honored tradition with The Flick.

The Flick runs through Saturday, June 4. Go to trustus.org for ticket information.

Welcome Jasper's New Summer Interns

 

My name is Mary Catherine Ballou and I am from Columbia, SC. I received a BA in English and French from Emory University and I enjoy drawing, painting, and making music. My art experience includes a Visual Arts magnet program in high school, art classes in college, and singing and listening to music as much as possible. I admire many artists but some of my favorites include Mark Rothko, Salvador Dali, and Frida Kahlo. I love the colors in Rothko’s pieces, and I admire the freethinking and confidence embodied in both Dali’s and Kahlo’s artwork. One of my favorite musicians is Patti Smith because I think she channels raw musical emotion through her work, and I admire her combination of poetry and rock and roll. I look forward to writing about visual art and music for Jasper.

My name's Ony Ratsimbaharison and I grew up here in Columbia, and studied Writing for Print and Digital Media at Columbia College, where I graduated in 2014. I play bass in a band called fk mt. and have been playing guitar for almost 10 years. My favorite band is Unwound because they made me think of music in a totally new way when I first started playing electric guitar. Their music still resonates with me today, and they continue to be a big influence on my songwriting. One of my favorite writers is Haruki Murakami because his writing makes me notice the surreal and unreal in everyday life. I look forward to writing about music, films and books for Jasper.

My name is Olivia Morris, I grew up in North Augusta, South Carolina, and I'm majoring in International Studies at the University of South Carolina. I have written for The Yellow Jacket newspaper, The Daily Gamecock newspaper, and the SIR Journal. My favorite artist is poet Barbara Guest because of her piercing wit, musicality, and resourceful abstractions. My favorite film is Synecdoche, New York because it is both magically inventive and realistically human.

A big welcome to our new interns who you'll be seeing around town at various arts events this summer. We think they're pretty awesome & think you will, too.

Line Up of Fun for Jasper Release Party Monday Night

Big Art Fun at GUESSWORK Studio

We've seen this happen before.

Jasper starts out planning to celebrate the release of the newest issue of the magazine with an informal gathering of artists and arts lovers at a local studio or gallery. Keeping it simple. No big deal.

Then someone has an idea for a cool performance or activity. A band or two is interested in playing. What if we did this? Or this? Damn Y'all, let's just do this!

The next thing we know a big old hairy artball is rolling down the hill and, this time, it's landing with a splat at Billy Guess's very cool new studio space GUESSWORK on Avondale Road.

(You know you don't want to miss this thing.)

Here's what to expect Monday night, starting about 7, at the release celebration of the 29th issue of Jasper Magazine.

Hold on tight.

____℘℘℘℘℘____

Music by Tyler Godon

Music by the Mustache Brothers

Art by Billy Guess, Khris Coolidge, and (fingers crossed) Jasper's own visual arts editor, Kara Gunter

Michael Krajewski will be channeling Dave Chappell channeling Prince and making Prince symbol-shaped pancakes - Billy will be providing a pancake toppings bar

On a big blow-up outdoor screen, Wade Sellers will be sharing his film 25 Artists, which features - you guessed it - 25 Artists from Columbia

Barry Wheeler will be creating a video of you and 100 of your closest friends playing a One Columbia kazoo in a weird blend of the arts and patriotism as we create the Columbia Arts Community's Memorial Day Message to the Universe

Bier Doc will be grilling up cheap hot dogs and supper will only cost you a dollar (Or you can wrap those dogs in a pancake to make pan dogs/hot cakes)

Annie will be selling you bottomless cups of good beer and decent wine

And last but not least, you'll get your hands on a fresh hot copy of the 29th issue of

Jasper Magazine!

____℘℘℘℘℘____

When was the last time you had this much fun on a Monday night?

See  you about 7 at 955 Avondale Drive, a couple blocks off North Main right after the intersection at Sunset

Bring a lawn chair and be ready to have a big old time!

Love,

Jasper

May Release Party Live Music Preview

Originally a musical outlet for Columbia songwriter Tyler Gordon, Barnwell has emerged as a rock band worthy of attention and close listening. 2014’s The First Ghost was the soundtrack to a young man’s attempt at reconciling his spirituality with the harmless banality of secular life. Though musically Spartan, the album reintroduced Columbia to Gordon’s songcraft after years of separation. Motel Art, released last March, represents the realization of Ghost’s promises. Themes are revisited and excavated further, now against bigger hooks and a sense of joy its predecessor artfully dodged. Listen to the tunes here and here.

;

The Mustache Brothers seem superhumanly immune to the self-doubt that hangs precariously over the heads of many of their peers. Their reverence for traditional Americana stylings – from backwoods balladeering to ragtime stompers – is just as obvious as their penchant for jammy digression. Through it all, their harmonies are among the tightest in the Midlands and their burly confidence makes every decision appear preordained. Check out the music here.

Gallery West Presents Captured 2: The Photography of Seven -- June 3 - July 23, 2015

 

Gallery West, located at 134 State Street in West Columbia, will host an exhibition of seven photographers whose work covers a diverse range of subject matter.  The original 2015 exhibition was cut short due to flood damage in the prior gallery space. This new version of the exhibition will run from June 3 through July 23, 2015. All are welcome to attend a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception in the gallery on Friday, June 3, 5:00-8:00 PM.

The subject matter in Captured 2: The Photography of Seven is in fact so diverse that it feels as if there are seven separate exhibitions under one roof. Each photographer has their own distinct vision and focus, yet share the common goal of asking the viewer to observe and enter the world through their eyes and lens.

Participating photographers include Frank Baker, Jim Hoyle, Russell Jeffcoat, Katie Purnell, Dalvin Spann, Francis Schanberger, and Olaf Wegner.

Frank Baker, a Columbia native, though long intrigued, only turned seriously to photography four years ago. He became fascinated with the Great Blue Heron and other fantastic birds who live near to and depend on coastal and lake water. His intimate shots capture these birds when they reveal themselves only to those who have the utmost patience to wait for the moment.

Jim Hoyle, based in Greensboro, NC, uses the camera as a means of self-expression. His work "exists solely for the joy of creating it." His stunning exhibition series brings together the three subjects he is most inspired by - the outdoors, still-life, and the nude.

Katie Purnell of Columbia SC is an internationally published portrait, lifestyle, and fine art photographer. Her current work explores the presence of color and light and the surprising weight of small experiences.

Russell Jeffcoat's subject matter ranges from classical portraits to luminous nudes. Based in Columbia, SC, his art is renowned, appearing in museums and galleries both in the US and around the world. The richness of his work reflects his expert use of vintage cameras and film, an art form lost to many today.

Francis Schanberger began collecting parts of native trees upon his move to Dayton, OH from the California coast. This past-time became the focus of a photographic project. Nineteenth century naturalists recorded their researches in photogenic drawings. Some 170 years later Schanberger returned to their photographic investigations using his gatherings, scanning the specimens and creating images from them using the historic Vandyke Brown Print process.

Born and raised in Columbia, SC, Dalvin "Mustafa" Spann has been exploring the world of art from an early age, graduating with honors from the Governor's School for the Arts and later from the Savannah College of Art and Design. As a founding member of the artists' collective, Izms of Art (IOA), Spann has participated in the tri-state area with other members and was recently part of a featured exhibition at the Columbia Museum of Art. His exhibition series "Enlightenment" explores his subjects' physical expression of a deeper search for their own spirituality.

W. Olaf Weger of Columbia, local "artisan/creative," is best known for his work in sets and props for TV, short films, and theater and dance. His craftsmanship in copper bar and counter tops, tables, and ceilings can be seen in many familiar and popular restaurants in the area. A byproduct of his work with copper became the "Macro Copper Patina" series, photographs of the unseen world of color and texture within a small area of the oxidized copper. Though the configurations were "accidental," each natural design is expertly captured and offered to us from thousands of images in what appears as both abstract and repetitive design.

It's Jasper Intern Time! Summer & Season!

Jasper is looking for interns for Summer 2016 and Season 2016-17!

Jasper is looking for interns for both Summer and Fall, Winter, Spring 2016 - 17.

Summer interns - we need two!

May 23 - August, 2016

~

Season interns - we need four!

August 2016 - May 2017

WANTED: Summer and Season interns for Jasper Magazine.

Requirements:

• Must be 18 or older and enrolled in or a recent college graduate.
• Must have excellent writing skills.
• Must be interested in improving these skills and see correction as an oppotunity for growth.
• Design skills are not required but they make you look very pretty to us. The greater the skills, the cuter you become.
• Must -- MUST -- be a self-starter. This is the time when you get to try out your ideas and see if they fly. (Read - you will be expected to come up with your own ideas and follow through on them with our guidance. While we will not be holding your hand, we will be whispering in your ear, patting you on the back, and giving you both dirty looks and nods of approval. This HAS to work for you or  you won't be happy working for us.)
• Must be able to work at home in your PJs but still get the job done and get it done on time. This may sound easy, but it's not -- some people are suited for this, other very talented, well-meaning people suck at this. Know thyself.
• Must believe in the ability of the arts to both document and change the world.
• Must have a love/hate relationship with deadlines.
• You may be suited for this job if you like art, artists, smart people, talented people, irreverence, silliness, people who act like they never work but work all the time, talking to strangers, ignoring assholes, cursing, learning a lot about something you didn't know you were even interested in, and being paid with hugs and beer.
• You may not be suited for this job if you are lazy, afraid or disrespectful of nerds, money-hungry, are looking for the traditional office/work situation, if you don't believe in your own ability to create something other people may or may not value, or if you have no respect for the Oxford comma.

To apply, send an email explaining why you want to be and think you would be an excellent Jasper intern to editor@Jaspercolumbia.com. Tell us

1. Where you are in school.
2. What your major is.
3. What your art proclivities are or have been. (Have you ever taken dance or piano or written poetry or for your school paper? Did you know what "proclivities" meant without looking it up or did you look it up or ignore it?)
4. The last three books you REALLY read.
5. Who you support in the 2016 presidential election and why.

Summer deadline = May 16, 2016

Season deadline = June 15, 2016

Artfields 2016 Winners Announced

On April 22nd, Artfields opened its doors and storefronts and abandoned buildings and fields of grass. Eight days, thousands of visitors, and almost 400 pieces of original art from 12 Southeastern states later, the 4 year old competitive art festival announces its 2016 winners, with Elgin's Tyrone Geter being awarded a $1000 Judges' Award of Merit for his installation "Mother Nature's Last In-House Domestic Worker."

$50,000 Top Prize Winner Charles Clary—Be Kind, Rewind

$25,000 Juried Prize Winner Brent Pafford—Remember This As a Time of Day

$12,500 3-D People’s Choice Winner Jocelyn Chateuavert—Invasive Species

$12,500 2-D People’s Choice Winner Aron Belka—Contact Tracings

Judges’ Award of Merit Sponsored by The Citizens Bank

Susie Ganch—Drag (Diptych)

Heather Mae Erickson—American Values/Handmade in America

Brad Williams—Of the Earth

Colin Quashie—French Toile, Negro Toil

Michael Logan Woodle—Clabber Ladle

Wanbli Hamilton Gamache—Excavations

Logan Tanner—Hog

Ken Hamilton—E-Z Rest Motel

Tyrone Geter—Mother Nature’s Last In-House Domestic Worker

Stacy Rexrode—Quasi-Delft Bequest

Jasper congratulates all the winners and participants in this year's festival! 

Q & A with filmmaker Lauren Greenwald By: Alivia Seely

  As an artist, filmmaker, photographer, and professor, Lauren Greenwald has led a busy life thus far.

Greenwald put her many skills to the test with a video project instalment called Waterway that was showcased at Indie Grits this year. This was her first artist appearance at the festival. Indie Grits is an annual film festival hosted by The Nickelodeon Theatre. The four-day festival showcases film, music and visual artists in the southeast region.

As a South Carolina native, how did the flood affect your video installment for Indie Grits?

Greenwald: I recently returned to South Carolina after almost 20 years. I was originally planning on creating a video about the river for Indie Grits, but the flood and the history-making aspect of it prompted me to turn my focus towards the river and South Carolina waterways in general in history and documentation. I’m using a lot of found footage to create a video piece.

What type of preparation and background research did you have to do for this video?

G: This video piece was not a document, but a collection of imagery, historical and contemporary, of the rivers and waterways, both natural and manmade. I’m interested in the various paths water takes through the state and in representing it in a non-narrative manner.

How do you think this year’s festival theme Waterlines will effect the city of Columbia, given the flood back in October?

G: It’s was very timely, and I feel was a great response to the events of this past fall. Many natural disasters arrive and then disappear quite quickly from public consciousness, while the reality, especially for those who were directly affected, is much different. Just as Columbia is still working to repair the damage to the dam and other elements of infrastructure, just as people are still recovering from displacement and loss of property and life, this is an event that should still be present in our consciousness. I think the festival was a good commemoration and celebration of recovery and renewal.

In what ways did you see the Indie Grits festival increase art awareness for the city and people of Columbia?

G: I think it brings Columbia into the national and international arena. Indie Grits is a world-class film festival, and brings talent from well outside South Carolina. This year’s celebration of its 10^th anniversary, with all of the programming available for free, hopefully encouraged the people of Columbia to engage in this amazing cultural event and to recognize that they should support such events in the future.

What advice have you been given that inspires your work, and what advice do you give your students?

G: I was told once not to worry about what I should do, but to pay attention to what I love and am attracted to. The rest will find a way of working out.

I advise my students to stay curious and to read about everything and look at everything. Learn another language, live abroad, be engaged, and keep trying new things. Art can’t be made without learning and investigation.

In between getting her bachelor’s from the College of Charleston in 1997 and her masters of fine arts from the University of New Mexico in 2011, Greenwald worked in the field of architecture and production. She even took her skills across the pond and owned her own project management business in France. Since 2011, she has taught photography at a college level, and in 2014, she joined the visual art and design faculty at the University of South Carolina.

REVIEW: Kimi Maeda's Ephemera Trilogy at the Trustus Side Door Theatre

By: Kyle Petersen

Ephemera (noun):

1. things that exist or are used or enjoyed for only a short time.
2. items of collectible memorabilia, typically written or printed ones, that were originally expected to have only short-term usefulness or popularity.

"The year the law of gravity was abolished the moon wandered away. In the excitement we didn't notice that the Nakashimas disappeared. You had to hold on tight or things floated off. I suppose they never really put down solid roots."  –Kimi Maeda

It’s difficult to leave a performance of Kimi Maeda’s Ephemera Trilogy, which runs through May 7th in the Trustus Side Door Theatre, without your head buzzing with questions. What is the relationship between storytelling and art, art and memory, memory and identity, identity and truth?

Maeda is not offering up answers, of course, but is certainly providing provocative new ways of tackling these questions. Her work is deeply invested in interrogating the act of storytelling itself, of how we come to know ourselves through creative expression, with all of its messy contours and murky revelations. Using stories of her parents (and, perhaps more to the point, the stories they have told her) as logical guideposts to understanding herself, Maeda’s work is grounded in sorting through the thorny reality that the telling of a story is an ephemeral act and, yet, also the fundamental way we come to make sense of our memories and ourselves as people. Each section of Ephemera, which was developed over a period of six years, employs a different stunning and innovative method of telling a story, each of which foregrounds its storytelling artifice while at the same time reaching for something that feels true, that feels real, in the process.

In the first part of Ephemera, “Homecoming,” Maeda uses a flashlight to bring paper cutouts to life as she ponders questions about her parent’s homes as well as the kind of fables and myths we all tell about home, what it’s supposed to say about who we are. The idea is that how we think about home is a kind of storytelling in and of itself. Maeda is both fascinated and distrustful of these questions, and you can sense that lack of sureness in both the pre-recorded narrative and the ever-so-slight shake of the flashlight as she moves across and through the miniature tableaux and brings it to life. This story doesn’t, can’t, exist without Maeda there, providing that thin light and fragile movement necessary to make sense of this piece of visual art. This phenomenon is something that occurs in each of the sections, a kind of implicit recognition that how both viewer and artist are being swayed and prodded by a distinct viewpoint, one that only exists in precisely this way in this one particular moment in time. Each performance, then, is a reminder of both the power of storytelling and its ephemeral, magical nature.

The second section, “The Crane Wife,” has Maeda performing elegantly wrought shadow puppetry as she weaves together the story of her mom coming to America from Japan with an old Japanese folktale. Framed by (real?) historical letters that Maeda pens and reads aloud in real-time, the interpretation of the crane wife tale she tells becomes intertwined with how the artist understands her Japanese-American identity. Maeda renders it lovingly. She also ponders the story’s intrinsic message about sacrifice and feminism, testing what identifications she has with the story and the limits to which it can function as a genuine link to her Japanese heritage. That a folktale like “The Crane Wife” is endlessly told and retold, revised and reshaped, makes such tests of authenticity quite fraught. Yet this particular version will always have meaning for Maeda and her mother, will structure their identities and how they understand themselves. It’s an ancient practice of making new.

The final section, “Bend,” uses archival footage of Maeda’s father, suffering from dementia, and the famous Japanese sculptor, Isamu Noguchi, both of whom were assigned to the same Japanese internment camp in 1942 -1943. This footage and audio, which often features Maeda talking with her father about the past, is juxtaposed and blended with live sand drawings of figures and places, memories and fragments that are constantly erased, literally disappearing as Maeda draws over or sweeps them away with a broom the last image to make way for the next one. The idea of Maeda’s father, who is clearly a man of extraordinary intellect, warmth, and ambition having to grapple with his own shifting sands of memory makes this method of storytelling particularly significant and brings home the reality of the ephemeral nature of both memory and art.

These are by necessity brief and incomplete descriptions of what goes told through the incredibly innovative and evocative visual language that Maeda uses, but what’s even more difficult to translate is the sheer creativity at the heart of it all. The way she uses light and crumbled papers to conjure up a fire, the way layers of design and shadow move us through airports and palaces and soar us through the sky or into the interior of phone lines in “Homecoming.” The casual virtuosity of the shadow puppet illustrations of “The Crane Wife” that feel more keenly alive than any picture book. And perhaps most profoundly, the unusual framing and living transitions that exist over the course of one of her many sand drawings, each of which is remarkable in each distinct moment. It’s wholly distinct and different from simply watching a painter paint or an illustrator draw. I can’t help but think about a performance like this in spiritual and ritual terms, of finding some solace, some beauty, and some redemption in these symbolic and repetitive acts. Ritual is something that keeps tradition alive even as it changes, that gives us new spins on ancient questions, and that remind us all that all creative acts are storytelling ones, each with their fair share of an older narrative inextricably grafted to a new thread.  

To that end, art-as-ritual, or storytelling-as-ritual, or perhaps even storytelling-as-truth, feels at the heart of Maeda’s trilogy. Our stories are who we are. Even if there is something lost in translation, there is also something invented, something new, something you.   

And I can’t say that everything I pulled out of her Ephemera Trilogy is what Maeda necessarily intended. But I can without qualification say that such a rich, nuanced, and simply extraordinary piece of artwork is a treasure that contains multitudes and is very much worth spending your time with. 

https://vimeo.com/110097232

PREVIEW: Finlay Park welcomes back SCSC with The Merry Wives of Windsor - By Alivia Seely

 

“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”

The words of William Shakespeare are not always as clear in their meanings as audience members would like them to be. Yet, that does not stop the talented individuals from The South Carolina Shakespeare Company from taking that difficult language from folio, to the stage.

Sharing the beautiful, historic language with audiences across Columbia, the SC Shakespeare Company will be gracing the Finlay Park stage for a two weekend production of The Merry Wives of Windsor.

The Merry Wives of Windsor is a story that chronicles the life of Sir John Falstaff, played by Hunter Boyle. Falstaff is an outrageous man. He is a retired bacchanal with vulgar wit and multiple schemes of seduction, as he plans to dazzle the hearts of Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, played by Libby Campbell-Turner and Becky Hunter. Yet, it does not take long before the two ladies and Ford’s husband Master Ford, to figure out why Falstaff is set on reeking havoc in Windsor.

“He is a very suspicious and jealous husband. I think that he is someone that always thinks that someone is up to something. So when all of this stuff with Falstaff starts happening, my character Master Ford very easily and rapidly buys the fact that his wife is cheating. He then sets out to discover if that is true,” says Scott Blanks, managing director for the South Carolina Shakespeare Company, and will be playing the role of Master Ford.

This production is directed by Linda Khoury, artistic director and co-founder of the company. Other notable characters are: Robert Shallow, played by Chris Cook, Dr. Caius, played by Tracy Steele, Master Page, played by Jason Sprankle, Mistress Quickly, played by Sara Blanks, Anne Page, played by Katie Mixon and Parson Evens, played by David Reed.

“It is captivating, energetic, and is a humorous take on marriage, miscommunication, and forgiveness. The wild and bawdy characters along with the fast-moving story full of mischief and trickery will keep the audience riveted,” says Khoury.

The outdoor performance environment is no stranger to these company members. Finlay Park has been home to numerous SCSC performances in the past. The only thing that will be keeping them out of the park is inclement weather.

“I really enjoy the outdoor environment. I think audiences enjoy the outdoor environment. I can tell your first hand it is a really great experience for an audience member; however, it is really rather difficult for actors and actresses,” says Blanks.

Although there are moments of scandal and humorous revenge, Khoury encourages the entire family to come out and enjoy the show.

The South Carolina Shakespeare Company is one of the most popular professional theatre companies and producers of classical theatre in South Carolina. Since its founding in 1992, the company has sought to bring language, art, and history to the community in order to foster the arts culture.

The show opens Saturday April 23 at 8:00 p.m. in Finlay Park, and will run again April 27-30 at 8:00 p.m. For more information about the show visit www.shakespeareSC.org.

On Prince. And Hunter Boyle. A Message from Cindi.

I was dreamin' when I wrote this Forgive me if it goes astray -- P.

Hunter Boyle is not a particularly good friend of mine. In fact, I don’t know much about him. I don’t know his favorite films or foods. I wouldn’t know where to find him on a Monday morning, like I would most of my friends. I don’t even know how old he is or where he grew up. That said, Hunter Boyle is one of the most important people in my life, and I love him. I genuinely love him and if we ever lost him I would be devastated.

I met Hunter a long time before he met me. I don’t remember exactly when but I know it was decades ago and he was on the stage at Trustus Theatre. I’m not a fan girl or a sycophant, but I never imagined that I’d ever meet Hunter back then, like I never imagined that I’d meet the amazing Paul Kaufmann. When I saw the Kathy and Mo Show and immediately memorized lines that still make me laugh at this very moment, I never imagined that I would meet and come to know Elena Martinez-Vidal and Dewey Scott-Wiley.

But life changed for me. Like for a lot of us, the older I got the harder it became to blow off and block out how fucked up the world is. I had to make adjustments. Apply filters and make priorities. So I made a decision that if I were going to be able to get through this thing called life, rather than calling up that shrink in Beverly Hills, Dr. Everything’ll Be Alright, I would have to prioritize what to me presented as the most essential parts of existence. For me, there are three things: love, nature, and art. Pure and unconditional love, expressed through my relationship with my spouse and family; the dependability, consistency, and resoluteness of nature; and art, some of which is only meaningful in its expression of fancy or beauty, but is nonetheless important, but most of which is the outpouring of such personal authentic resolution and reconciliation of life’s issues and events – loss, pain, frustration, emptiness, confusion, the struggle to continue, overwhelming joy and love – that there are times when it almost paralyzes the spirit with its purity of sentiment.

You know these times.

A dancer ends her performance and you realize you haven’t exhaled for far too long.

A play ends and only then are you aware that tears are dripping down your face.

You look at a photograph and feel like you’ve seen a ghost, and though nothing is evidently there, you cannot shake the feeling and return time and again to peer at and into the same photo.

Or with a painting, you stare at it and examine it from all distances and angles, and you spend moments, or sometimes a lifetime, trying to hear the story it is telling.

A band is playing and the music possesses you and it seems as if you cannot control how the bass and rhythm move through your body, so you dance. You move and shake, and you dance, disregarding any sense of humility.

Or, and this really gets me, a vocalist holds a note at the end of a song and you feel as if your heart is going to burst right out of your chest as she does it – I mean, you feel the actual sensation of your chest having expanded to such a degree that the muscles hurt with a sweet and exhilarating pain.

Along with love and nature, these feelings, these experiences and my privilege of witnessing these testimonies are my crutches. They prop me up and keep me going. And, as was just resolved at a conversation at the Whig, crutches don’t have to symbolize weakness; they can also signify humanity.

...

Prince died yesterday and he has broken our hearts in having done so.

Social media is filled with expressions of grief and exaltation; stories of songs and concerts and rites of passage. He was so many things to so many of us. For me, Prince was my instant drug—with the first notes of so many songs setting off a physical reaction that reduced (expanded?) me to a convulsing, quivering spazmoid of a middle-aged lady vomiting out the inner workings of my soul. My soul! I stopped caring what people thought about this a long time ago because, well, fuck them if they didn’t get that it was Prince and he was talking to me. When the song would end I’d go back to my slightly more decorous life and my day, my world, would always be better for having heard it, no matter how much my paroxysms embarrassed the people around me. Prince was and always will be my crutch.

His song has ended, but his songs will never end.

Very few of us ever met Prince. We didn’t know his favorite foods or films or what he might be doing on a Monday morning. But he was one of the most important people in our lives, and we loved him. Now that he is gone, we are devastated.

But we're still here.

So, I'm writing this to the artists who are still here with us, the artists like Prince who aren’t Prince, but are part of his tribe, his family of artists, the mere mortals who may never step onto the same stages from which Prince ruled our worlds but still suffer and hunger and try to make sense for the rest of us, just like Prince did – the Hunter Boyles and Paul Kaufmanns and Deweys and Elenas, and the Mariclare Mirandas and Stephen Chesleys and the Daniel Machados, and the Michaela Pilar Browns, the Bonnies and Chads and Eds. You may never know who we are, but you are our crutches, too. You prop us up and keep us going alone in a world so cold. You bring a value to our lives not unlike that of the Purple One. And for that we should all celebrate.

Thank you to Prince, and thank you to all the artists out there, unknown and known. Life is just a party - so, let's get nuts.

-CB

5 Questions w/ Kara Gunter About Artista Vista

Jasper Visual Arts Editor Kara Gunter is one of the artists showing her work at tonight's Artista Vista. We asked her to give us a little preview of what she has in the works.

JASPER:  What are we going to be seeing from you at Artista Vista this year and where and when will we be seeing it?

KARA GUNTER: I have installed a work in the Lady St. tunnel in the Vista of six hanging, cocoon-like figures.  All are a deep blue, human in form, with a light in each head that will glow brighter as the sun sets.  The pieces are cast from a live model, and layered over with paper and adhesive.  I call them Head Lamps.  Artista Vista opens Thursday the 21^st, and continues through the weekend.

JASPER:  How does this fit into your ongoing body of work?

KARA:  My work is always about Self, but specifically, I have been thinking a lot about the corporeality of the human body.  I have dealt with a lot of nebulous health problems throughout my life –nothing life-threatening, but disruptive, and at times, scary-- I come out on the other end having learned something about myself, and who I want to be in this world.  I always try to transform these times of suffering into some sort of evolution or integration of bigger feelings and ideas.  The cocoon is a recurring symbol for me and obviously speaks of rebirth, of change, and personal and spiritual growth.  I chose the tunnel to install in, as it is literally a passage from darkness into light.  Great things happen in the dark—sleep, dreaming, healing, gestation, change, but it can also be a lonely and frustrating experience, and one in which waiting is the only course of action.

I’m also turning 40 this year, and having had the experience these past months of helping my father through a cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment, I feel as though I’ve “leveled up” as an adult, albeit, reluctantly.  So, that evolution has also been on my mind—what awaits my post-40 self?  I’m thinking it’s an intellectual shift that’s occurring, and that’s referenced in the glowing heads.  Even though my body may not be as hearty as I wish, I feel as though I’m operating with the clearest, strongest, most creative mind I’ve ever had, and there’s something very rewarding about that.  There’s also a bit of an inquiry posed to the viewer—will you come with me?  In an era when emotions are ruling us (as seen in our social-political stances), I wonder if it’s not time to leave those childish things behind and let our intellect guide us from darkness.  Time to grow up, in some respects!

JASPER:  Is there a relationship between your Artista Vista work and the work you're showing at Artfields next week, and can you talk briefly about the similarities or differences?

KARA:  There is definitely a similarity between the work I’m showing at Artfields and Artista Vista.  Stylistically, they are a bit different, but they both utilize the human figure, and both speak to the fragility of the human body.  Rising In Falling, the installation at Artfields is more pointedly about death and dying.  Those figures are in a freefall, but can also appear to be floating gently by paper parasols, so perhaps they are floating instead of plummeting.  I leave the interpretation up to the viewer, and the viewers’ own associations with the process of living or dying.  I wanted to depict the inevitability of the cycle of death and rebirth, and the dependency of life on death itself.  The bottom figure in the installation is holding a skull, and out of it pours flowers and fruits.

JASPER:  What are the challenges of installing art in a tunnel?

KARA:  Working out a way to hang the figures in the tunnel was a bit of a challenge, and I had to revamp my original vision several times.  There are large niches in the wall where it seems as if the mortar has crumbled away from the bricks over time, and because I didn’t want to put bolt holes in the stone or mortar, it became apparent this was the only way to hang the forms.  The overall installation was dictated by these niches, and I really had no idea what the layout was going to be until installation.

The wind blows pretty swiftly through the tunnel, and I was worried about this until I saw the figures swaying in the wind.  I really like this unexpected development as it brings life to the figures, and at the same time, a loneliness and eeriness.

I’m always a bit nervous about public installations.  There is something about art being outside of the gallery setting, that the viewer feels more inclined to interact with the work. That’s not always a bad thing, and I suppose it can be a bit confusing because some works are meant to be interacted with.  Because my work is often made of more fragile things (like paper), I sometimes find it all a bit nerve-wracking!

*

JASPER:  Finally, what else are you excited about seeing at Artista vista this year?

KARA:  Michaela Pilar Brown has curated this year’s installations, and I’m very excited to see what the other artists she’s chosen will be doing.  I’ve been so busy with my work, I have no idea what to expect from everyone else, and I really look forward to the surprise!