Category Archives: The Arts

October 5, 2011 · 9:12 am

Author: Lisa Ellen Niver, CAS’89

On November 4, 2011, Penn Club Los Angeles will once again be acknowledged with the Club Award of Merit during Homecoming Weekend featuring Arts and Culture.  This  great honor is due in large part to the herculean efforts of our Club President, Melissa Wu. Melissa leads a wonderful group of alumni and she creates incredible events that build the Penn community in Los Angeles!

Recently in Los Angeles, the Penn Club hosted author and alumna, Rachel Friedman, who read from her travel book, The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost.  In it, Friedman says, “…sometimes travel and being adventurous do not fit with the model I hold of myself, …but it does not coexist with how I picture myself—a sheltered, scared, predictable kind of girl, definitely not a girl who has adventures. I come from rooted people; people who prefer chlorinated bodies of water and career paths.”

Travel allows us distance from our normal life and a separation that allows us to notice what is truly important. Without such a perspective, to know what to keep and to continue in life’s path may prove more difficult. Travels allows us all to step out of “normal” life, to see other cultures, meet people, learn languages—expecting to learn about others while really it is we who become transformed.

During the question and answer session after a book reading earlier this month, Friedman talked about travel as an important and essential part of education.  In her book she also asks: “What’s the right way to go about … our lives? Should you do what you love, what’s outrageous and unpredictable, and worry about the future later, or plug away at a steady job first and go off and have your fun when you retire?”

I commend Melissa Wu and the entire Penn Club LA alumni board for bringing together the community and for allowing me as co-author of the blog, “We Said Go Travel,” to participate in this special occasion. Congrats again to PENN CLUB LA!

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September 30, 2011 · 9:04 am

A Must See Movie: “Thunder Soul”

Author: Nicole C. Maloy, W’95

It’s Mr. Holland’s Opus meets Stand and Deliver; it’s Drumline meets Dead Poets Society. It’s not a movie about a band, or their music. It’s about the man who inspired them to greatness by making them believe that they could be great. They proved him right. Then, 30 years later, they got together to show him that they remembered what he’d taught them. And I’m not just talking about the music.

The Director’s name was Conrad O. Johnson, Sr., otherwise known as “Prof.” He led the Kashmere Stage Band to undreamed-of heights for an all-Black group of Houston, Texas public high school students in the early ’70s. I’m talking the kind of heights typically found in fairy tales and made-for-TV family drama. But this is all true. Through interviews, rehearsal video, and amazing footage/photos from the band’s heyday, this documentary – Thunder Soul, named after one of the group’s songs – tells the story of the band’s formation, the success they achieved, and the 2008 reunion where alumni came together to play for their “Prof” one more time to say thank you.

The true story of Conrad Johnson & the Kashmere Stage Band. “He gave them everything. Now it’s time to give back.”

Shout out to Executive Producer Jamie Foxx for helping to make this movie possible. Read this article for his thoughts on the film, and why he was so compelled to be a part of it. It’s a good thing he was; it has already won two “Best Documentary Feature” awards, and nine Audience Awards. And counting?

I was fortunate enough to attend a screening of Thunder Soul in Philadelphia (alumni, you will get a chance at Homecoming 2011 if you can’t find it near you before November). It is not often I believe that everyone I know, as well as everyone I don’t know, should see a particular film. But you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll groove, and you’ll leave knowing you’ve just experienced something powerful. And, if you happen to have ever played in a school band, or if you happen to care about kids having arts programs in school, or if you happen to enjoy ‘70s funk, well, then. So much the better. You will like – dare I say, even love – this movie even more.

But you’ll also like it – dare I say, even love it:

  • If you’ve ever had, or not had, the chance to show someone how much they meant to you.
  • If you have ever been a part of a team, in any form.
  • If you’ve ever taught someone how to do something, then felt the rush of pride in seeing them run with it.
  • If you’ve ever learned how to do something, then felt the exhilaration of running with it.
  • If you’ve ever run back to say, “Thank you.”
  • If you’re now thinking about the people you should be thanking.
  • If you’ve ever been in the minority, and been made aware of it by others (as if you didn’t already know).
  • If anyone has ever had low expectations of you that you went on to prove wrong.
  • If anyone has ever had high expectations of you that you went on to prove right.

Don’t let the fact that movie popcorn costs $75 keep you from going to the theater. You can always eat something beforehand.

You know the kind of movie you wished for, and that you said you’d support if it were out there? That anyone, from any background, can see and enjoy? That you can take your family to see, and that everyone, of every age, will actually like? That portrays a diverse array of African-Americans as thinking, feeling human beings rather than as insulting caricatures? That shows positive things happening while still being real? That is uplifting and inspiring without being cheesy? This is that movie, so here’s your chance to support it: find where it’s playing, and see it. Then tell someone about it.

And go ahead, get to that first “Thank you.” You’re about to make someone’s day.

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September 20, 2011 · 6:15 pm

Resurrect Dead

Author: Lisa Marie Patzer

I recently attended the Philadelphia premiere of Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles at the International House.  I knew very little about the film but was curious to learn more about the odd tiles I had seen scattered throughout the streets of Philadelphia. Here is one located at 43rd and Chester:

Resurrect Dead, a documentary film directed by Jon Foy, follows Justin Duerr a Philadelphia-based artist, on his journey to find the source of the Toynbee Tiles.  Hundreds of these cryptic messages have been found embedded in the streets of major cities across the U.S. and South American and Justin has taken a photo of nearly every one.  The tiles contain some variation on the following inscription:

TOYNBEE IDEA
IN KUBRICK’S 2001
RESURRECT DEAD
ON PLANET JUPITER

I would classify the film is a hybrid doc-fiction that attempts to de-code the meaning behind the tiles as well as uncover the identity of the creator.  I will resist including any “spoilers” here, but I will say I was impressed by the film and the audience support.  The attendance at the International House was so overwhelming they added a 5th screening to the program.  

Kendall Whitehouse with the Wharton School at UPenn has a great  photo album of a Q&A session with Jon Foy.

In order to promote the film, the producers of Resurrect Dead gave the audience stickers that look like the Toynbee Tiles.  I have seen several pasted in public places throughout the city.

This Philadelphia based film is receiving a lot of buzz, both locally and nationally.  It has moved on to Chicago, but I am sure it will be back.  For more information, see the official website.

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Filed under Campus Life, Film, Lisa Marie Patzer, Philadelphia, The Arts, The Arts at Penn, Uncategorized

August 31, 2011 · 8:02 am

Campus Art

Author: Lisa Vaccarelli, C’02

One of the great things about working on a vibrant university campus like Penn is the never-ending flow of exhibits, performances and cultural events.  Yes, despite being one of the world’s most renowned research institutions, Penn also holds its own when it comes to the arts.  I say all of this not as an art aficionado – or even an art history minor – but as someone who most frequently enters into cultural experiences by accident.  And THIS is why Penn is so great – for those of us who might not seek out these experiences on our own, there is always a new exhibit or performance to stumble upon here on campus.

For example, last week, I navigated to the Penn homepage only to find the following photo:

Needless to say, this visual image was enough to distract me from whatever work-related online destination I was heading toward.  I needed to learn more about this photo, which I quickly discovered is part of an upcoming exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art, entitled Blowing On A Hairy Shoulder: Grief Hunters.  Grief – as in, my boyfriend just dumped me so why not go sit on the beach with an umbrella and wait for a thunderstorm?  I told you – I’m no expert.  According to the ICA’s website, this exhibition presents work by twenty artists from Israel, Greece, Germany, Belgium, Britain, and America that examines the relationships between originality and origin. Through video, photography, drawing, and sculpture these works take the challenges of “originality”—invention, innovation, novelty—to extremes, while making the term “origin” (genesis, precedent, historical debt, pre-historic territory) a subject.

This is all way over my head – but it’s intriguing enough to make me want to spend a lunch hour exploring the exhibit this fall.  Plus, I’m dying to know what’s going on with this guy.

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August 1, 2011 · 5:17 pm

Secret Cinema at the ICA

Need something fun to do this week? A way to escape the heat? Come down to the Institute of Contemporary Art this Wednesday to take part in one of the final events for this year’s Secret Cinema. Details below.

Wednesday, August 3
8:00 PM- 11:00 PM
Admission: FREE
Sister Ray Slam with Secret Cinema

The Secret Cinema will help make the media more multi as all celebrate the close of ICA’s summer season with screenings of rare Andy Warhol short films and “Screen Tests,” accompanied by four live bands reinterpreting the Velvet Underground’s epic “Sister Ray.” Many of the films selected were originally part of Warhol’s “Exploding Plastic Inevitable” shows with the Velvet Underground. In conjunction with the exhibition That’s How We Escaped: Reflections on Warhol, come channel The Factory with music by U.S. Girls, Dry Feet, Megajam Booze Band, and The Sweet Sister Ray Band (featuring Dan Murphy of Megawords). Plus artisanal treats by Little Baby’s Ice Cream!

 

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July 8, 2011 · 5:39 pm

Hidden Gems

Author: Lynn Carroll, C’93

Can you guess where on campus this photo was taken? It’s my favorite place on campus for peace, quiet, and a bit of perspective—and no, it’s not near the Bio Pond!

This is the Class of 1957 Geology Garden, located just south of Hayden Hall near 33rd Street and Smith Walk. When you have about 10 minutes, call the “Discover Penn” audio tour at 215-525-1562 and enter 11#. You will hear Dr. Hermann Pfefferkorn, Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, describe the geology of each and every boulder in the garden, the oldest of which—gneiss and serpentinite—are an estimated 1 billion years old.

More about Discover Penn …And a bit about Dr. Pfefferkorn.

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July 7, 2011 · 9:54 am

Noticing King Solomon

Author: Bart M.

Even though he is fourteen feet tall, I have walked past King Solomon for years and years and barely noticed him. He’s been standing there quietly since my sophomore year at Penn. Until today, I never gavehim much more than a quick glance. This afternoon, I spent an extra minute admiring King Solomon and then I looked him up on Penn’s website to see what his story is.

Truly one of the coolest pieces of art at Penn, the bronze statue King Solomon (1963) was sculpted by Alexander Archipenko and it keeps watch on 36th Street between Locust Walk and Walnut Street (across from the old Hillel and what is now the new Annenberg Public Policy Center). King Solomon  was given to Penn in honor of the inauguration of President Judith Rodin on October 21, 1994 by Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey H. Loria .

Check out how the cubist shape and form of Solomon mimics/compliments the tree behind it. Not intentional, I’m sure, but cool nonetheless.

Notice Archipenko’s signature on the left side.

And the plaque at Solomon’s feet:

And here is a view from behind Solomon – something most people have never taken the time to see. The juxtaposition of smooth and rough texture is pretty remarkable. And for a reference point, that is the new Annenberg Public Policy Center just across 36th Street.

And something else I just learned: Archipenko did not normally work on a monumental scale. But shortly before his death in 1964, he completed a 4-foot King Solomon designed for enlargement. Instructions were left with his widow, who supervised the casting of a 14.5-foot, 1.5-ton version in 1968. This is the Solomon that stands on 36th Street. Archipenko’s original plan was for Solomon to be over sixty feet tall.

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