Studying art at a liberal arts college can be a liability for some aspiring young artists because of constraints on studio time, but for many students the possibilities of enhancing their work with the knowledge gained from various areas of study is an advantage.
"Are you being followed?" Posters asking this question appeared around campus last week precluding the arrival of contemporary French artist Sophie Calle.
Avant-garde performance artist Diamanda Galas will perform "Judgement Day," an emotionally charged, solo stage production about the AIDS epidemic, tonight in Spaulding Auditorium at 8 p.m. The classically trained singer and pianist uses everything from biblical passages to parodies of fundamentalist preachers in her criticism of how the disease is dealt with by many Americans. Shock is an integral part of Galas's shows.
In a lecture last night in Rockefeller Center Evelyne Accad, author of "Sexuality and War: Literary Masks of the Middle East," compared how men and women novelists writing about destruction in Lebanon, where she has lived and studied, react differently to war. Introducing Accad, Marianne Hirsch, professor of comparative literature, noted that it was appropriate for various departments and programs, including Asian studies, comparative literature, French, women studies and the Dickey Endowment for International Understanding, to sponsor Accad's talk because the novelist, writer and feminist theorist teaches French, comparative literature, women studies, Asian studies and African studies in Beirut and in this country at the University of Illinois. Accad began her lecture titled "War and Sexuality" by reading two descriptions of Lebanon.
In light of the College's decision to open the Hovey's murals up to the public, the Hood Museum of Art faces challenges in creating exhibition space for controversial subject matter. According to Tim Rub, Director of the Hood, the space in the basement of Thayer Hall, which now houses Hovey's Pub, will be transformed into an art gallery under the jurisdiction of the Hood between June and September of next year.
For Chance Whitmire '94, writing plays is a way to express the dynamics of relationships and choices facing people of our generation. He jokingly describes his plays as "after school specials gone horribly wrong." "I like writing about young people trapped between being young and growing older because that's where I am in my life," Whitmire said. A drama and English major, Whitmire began writing plays his Sophomore Fall when he landed a place in an advanced playwriting class. He is currently working on the one-act "The Beautiful People Die Twice," which is under revision and will be produced Winter term, with a staging in Center Theater possible. One of the highlights of Whitmire's Dartmouth career was his '93 win of the best play award in the annual Eleanor Frost competition for the one-act piece "Stay." Working with the New York Theater Company during the summer of his sophomore year was a turning point for Whitmire.
Responding to today's Columbus Day holiday before it began, Native Americans at Dartmouth last night sponsored an event that celebrated the survival of Native culture and emphasized "peaceful coexistence" between people of different backgrounds. The event, called "501 Years of Survival: A Celebration of Native Cultures," included food, music and poetry from several North American tribes. Sharilyn Roanhorse '95, the vice president of NAD, read a statement from the group that asked students and administrators to push for an atmosphere of equality at the College and to consider the implications of celebrating the Columbus Day holiday. Roanhorse asked that Native American culture be given the same level of respect as Western culture. Columbus Day honors the explorer Christopher Columbus, who landed in the Caribbean in 1492 and is often credited for discovering the American continents. Roanhorse said the event was scheduled on the day before the federal holiday to take pride in the survival of Native cultures, not to glorify Columbus. Today NAD is sponsoring a table next to the Hinman Boxes to distribute the organization's statement on today's federal holiday and buttons that say "Genocide is no cause for celebration" and "1492 1993, 501 years of tourists." Last Columbus Day marked the quincentennial anniversary of Columbus' arrival.
Holidays are a usually a time for celebration, unification and great food. Native Americans at Dartmouth recognizes this but asks that people take into consideration the reasons behind the merriment. In last night's two-hour event titled "501 Years of Survival: A Celebration of Native Cultures," Native American students met in Brace Commons to cook food, play music and recite poetry that expressed the richness of surviving Native cultures, while at the same time encouraging people to think about the social implications of honoring the Columbus Day holiday. As a tape of tribal music played, the festivities began with a feast, including Native culinary treats from across the country.
Ironically but rather appropriately potatoes become political statements in the work of Peruvian retablist artist Nicario Jimenez Quispe.
"Landscapes of Spokane," a collection of about 40 recent works by painter Christine Druffel, adds a certain vibrancy to the Upper Jewett Exhibition Corridor in the Hopkins Center, where the pieces are presently on display. Color is definitely Druffel's forte.