University of South Carolina Libraries
THE GAMECOCK E ntert ainment September 7, 1984 ? Page 17 ' " ' ' I . .1 ' ' 1 ' * USC art prol By Maria Baem As a neophyte in the world of contcmpora munication, television has often been billed An associate professor at USC's Depai disagrees. Gunars Strazdins is busily inspiring in television as art. With the flick of a finger, we could have Leb a .u_ ?:i ?i nig iuuiii auu ut wiiiicascs IU llic CVU MJIICIUC) the beautiful, he said. STRAZDINS UNASSUMINGLY describes head of the photography... a graphic arti: nonetheless, the innovative force behind a nev ing television and painting. The winner of several awards, he teaches d! drawing at Sloan College. "My fondest wish is for my work to be rem those of other graphic artists who were not abs the impact of television." He reflects, "I'd like to be considered one who at least tried to do something serious in u ? uai i age ui midge* wc aic uiuiiucucu wiui. HIS TECHNIQUE involves freeze-frami cassette, and taking slides of particularly stril A specific slide can be projected onto a 100-; ing paper tightly stretched and stapled on a v Underneath this canvas is a cardboard th; painstakingly aligned corrogated strips of cai angles. It might resemble an egg carton excep actly the same number of .lines as a Sony moi This elaborate gridwork closely simulates t interference" that is unique to the real televis STRAZDINS PENCILS the projected imaj ing paper and enhances it with an airbrush. He completes tne worK witn coiorea pencils oil paints and then sprays several coats of wl back which harden for support and mountinj He attributes part of the growing public inti to the fact that the work itself offers "no cli done." Columbia artist focus Photo exhibit sifv ; :%-s^ipi| wlfiw i iff^ v ' " hhmbbbf immfw*'" V; *' ' k- ' /"?4s vfe> 8 Quiet please! St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Charleston is jus in photographs at USC's McKissick Museums unti a Columbia photographer, and is part of S.C. St Fessor turns o His works, which he aptly call; iry media com- clearly resembvles the works of as empty and techniques used are very different Why television? tment of Art ; public interest HE EXPLAINS, "I'm commii rnnm havino this wonderful nara ?? * '?cj r"? ienon in our liv- of me, and having to make certa of the rich and happening." Some of these comments can I ??.u the artist stresses he has no axe himself as the _ _ . . , t,, h . . One of two series he worked or i; f_, _ ft ' is called "Disquiet Pauses.'* Th v art form, tus- . , , pervasive violence on television t lotography and One work recently purchased b shows a female diver just before the pool ? only her legs are i embered among screen. olutley ignoring ANOTHER PRINT shows his s of those people pears to be horses in a battle scei response to* the Strazdins is not particularly violence. He is more concerned > delibly strong impression on the ' ng on a video credibly raw and agressive natu king images. without necessarily formulating percent rag trac- think." vooden frame. The second series he finishec at the artist has Queens" and it highlights frag rdboard at right videos featuring female rock star it that it has ex- It includes Annie Lennox defj nitor. drogynous looks," Madonna cou he "electronic tive yet rePulsive waV" and mouthing her words with contorl iivsii uua^v. . , AGAIN, THE implication he te onto the trac- r .. . a powerfully suggestive and sensuc His earlier works seem to portr , water color, or honed this technique by capturi lite paint on the news. He has done several i ?. assassination attempt on Presid erest in his work news events. le as to how it's In these works, he tried to de] cameramen would be part of ;es on religion at McKissick Mi ^jB^;Lf,':""":"; * twI "^^^:MWBJ^^KJj3|Br' J9K * *"*? - JbBBBBB^BB^^H^mbpI JB ^^SHBt^BH^Sl^^Bl^lRBnM^BE AflvHHHHffiSffiB it one of 19 historic South Carolina churches on view I Sept. 30. The exhibit was created by Calvin O'Neal, ate Museum's Traveling Exhibits program. n to televisio ? "mixed media on paper'' photorealists although the tted to. sitting in my living ide of images come in front in comments about what is If ?e truly disturbing although to grind." HB\ i during his recent sabbatical e whole series concerns the vv oday. y the S.C. Arts Commission she completes her entry into B seemingly implode into the possibly, as very ;on Kurt reacting to what ap- process." ne igniting on his chest. The shock valm worried about television light in his art. vith leaving "simply, an in viewers' minds about the in- STRAZDINS re of images on television, Hghlhearted aspec ; what they re suposed to Some of his wor 1 recently is called "Video re-runs of shows h ments of Music Television "The Little Rasca s. Beaver." ring sexuality with her lianrting the camera in a "seduc- One lighthearte Cyndi Lauper elaborately monster invading lions of her "famous lips." viewer can be easi The artist emp re is that television can be banalities of televi ,us* to being fond of rl o?f thp cortip fhpmp Qtra7flin? toloi/icirtn anH tr\ 1 MJ L1IV JUIIIV iUVlllV kJll IVIVTIiJlVII UIIM IV/ J ng images from the evening works on John Hinckley's "BY MY free ent Reagan as well as other various innate cha tion on a medium pict "how newsreporters and otherwise be diff the news themselves and said. ? * y. + r in rv%e\ f J5CUMI5 ICcJlUIBS By Marisa Porto st Say cheese . . . but not too loudly please. Si They might hear you. USC's McKissick Museums will be host to ni yet another collection of photographs, only st this time, South Carolina's churches are the tr subject of the exhibit. Calvin O'Neal's 29 black-and-white st photos of historic churches will be on display te until Sept. 30. fi THE PHOTOS are so realistic and w spiritual that viewers tend to whisper respect- ? fully as they study them. O'Neal, who used a photography method called the "zone system," lives in Columbia and captured the mystical quality of these ? churches by creating sharp contrasts and {| distinct tonal graduations in his subjects. ... . . ... . . /? a t-ie nas oeen researcning tnis metnoa ior " about 10 years, and this exhibit represents 5 the best of his tests, said Catherine Home, curator of history for McKissick. Nineteen chuches,including three in the Columbia area, six around Charleston and the rest mainly from the Lowcountry, are ? represented in this exhibit. THE EXHIBIT is a part of the S.C. State tl Museum's Traveling Exhibitions program. r Two of the most visually interesting and s contrasting photos in this exhibit display the a Church of the Holy Cross in the Sumter County community of Stateburc. built in f 1850 on land provided by Gen. Thomas u Sumter. s< The building was constructed of "pise de p terre," or rammed earth, and is quite simple at a first glance, composed of triangles and s< arches in the Roman style and featuring a h cross at the too of a tall, nlain steeole soarinc into the heavens. A shot of the interior of the church, N however, reveals a spectacular environment, h with an arched altar area where the arch's graceful curves and peaks are repeated over a and over in the ceiling and in the stained glass |windows, reportedly made by some of si Russia's finest artisans. ACCORDING TO McKissick Museums E Director George Terry, these photos help V n u intrusive elements in the newsmaking e of evening news programs is brought to HAS not forgotten the whimsical and ts of television, he said. ks contain excerpts from favorite afternoon listorians call the golden age of TV, such as: Is, The Three Stooges and Leave it to :d work features the tail of a Japanese the streets of Tokyo. With these prints, any ly swept up in nostalgia. >hasizes that he wants to bring out the sion as well as its serious aspects. He admits hetorical devices to bring out the paradox of provoke people to think about it. zing certain images and emphasizing the iracteristics of each image, I can focus atteni so diverse and fluid in its form that it may icult to evaluate meaningfully," Strazdins S.C. churches udents better understand the history of the ~ ? j n ? mini anu ouuin Carolina. "It's a show that highlights some of the lost prominent church structures in the* ate. The diversity is architecture is the ataction for students," Terry said. "Religion is a very important part of our ate's history. The students would find it inTesting for this," he added. This exhibit is not only interesting, but the ne quality of the photographs are well orth seeing. "It's a show that highlights some f the most prominent church strucjres in the state. The diversity in rchitecture is the attraction for tudents." ? George terry Director of McKissick Museums "RELIGION IS a very important part of he state's history. Because of the face that eligion is so important, to understand the outh one has to understand that religion was big part of it," Terry said. "That would be the main thrust of interest rom the history standpoint - religion. To nderstand the state's history as well as the outh's history, these photographs are imortant," he added. According to Terry, the exhibit is omething worth seeing, particularly for ictArw Knffr mivi / uuiiOi THE EXHIBIT is on the second floor of IcKissick Museums in the history section, e said. "Also, we have on display near this exhibit painting done by Blue Sky. It is one of the lorseshoe and should be of interest to many tudents," Terry said. According to Terry, those who have seen Hue Sky's mural "Tunnel Vision," will enoy the painting of USC's Horseshoe.