Eugene
The Stringers (rock) at the
EMU Beer Garden Free chips
and satsa
4 5pm. mustc 5 7 30 p m
Free
nrnoio oroiner* isuui) ai uouo
Times 9 30pm $6
Sowbelly/The Scallywags/The Big I
Anv^erry Lee Hale at John Henry s 10
pm S
Caliente (Latin salsa and ia«) at theWOW
Hall 9pm $5/6
The Webster Trio (pianollutcclarmet
ensemble) at Beall Concert Hall 3 30 p m
$5
on civil liberties issues) in the EMU
Ballroom 8pm $69
Walker T Ryarv'The Mad Farmers/Oldtime
News (acoustic) at Maude Kerns Art Center,
a Eugene Folklore Society benclil concert
7 30 p m $5
Paulette and Power (blues
bom 1991 awards sweepers) al
Good T imes 9 30 p m 55
Cracfcerbaslv Oswald Five
O/Kpants (rock) at John
Henry's 10 pm $5
Oregon Natural Resources Council 20th
Anniversary Party ml Grupo Condor (South
American folk) and festivities at the WOW
Hall 6 30-11 pm $?0
“An Opera Sampler" at Beall Concert Hall
8pm S2/4
Flddlln Sue Unci* T and
Johnny (bluegrass) at John
Henry's
8pm $1
Ooaa/Adicfcdid/Compott at
John Henry s 10 p m $
"Old WiM and Nw Spirit*" (17th and
20th Cantury) at Beall Concert Mall 4 p m
$3/5
Neaeter's Mm Jm ai Good
Times 9 30pm $1
FHMc/Tta 9if FeeVReeth Mil
(rock) al John Henry's 10 pm
Bfaflsr T. Ryaa and Howtl
GaaMe (his new blues bend')
at Good Times 9 30pm S3
JoMy MoWMarshall
PlaWSennmwr (rock) at John
Henry's 10 p m
Blast Club Project (blues) at
Good Times 9 30 p m S3
TempesVRaklsh Paddy (Celtic
rock) at John Henry's 10 pm
Perfect Alibi (classic rock) at
Good Times 9 30 p m S3
The Posies/Best Kissers in the
World at the WOW Hall 8pm
$8
Oregon Gospel Ensemble 10th
Anniversary Concert ml Rickey Grundy to
celebrate Black History Month at the Hull
Center 7 and 9 30 p m $6/4
“A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around
Talking." an ACE comedy opens tonne at
the Theatre Anne*. 39 W lOthAve Shows
Feb 19. 20. 26. 27 and March 5. 6 8 30
pm $6/8/10
"Personals." an ACE comedic musical,
opens tomte at the Downtown Cabaret, cor
ner ot 10th and Willamette Shows Feb 19.
20. 26. 27 and March 5.6.12.13.19. 20.
25-27 8pm $6/8/10
"Uncooked. Unknown, Unleashed: RAW’
is a Graduate student Dept ot Dance con
cert Feb 19 and 20 in the Dougherty Dance
Theater 7:30 p m $3
tj-j Wk '■ A*
On the Verge, a University theater production, is a comedic examination ot gen
der roles In society Victorian women (above) bushwack their way to the 1950s
Women romp through time
By Ming Rodrigues
fcmecaid ConinOulcx
"So often we think of Victorian
women ns weak and powerless, when
actually there were many women of
that period who chose to refute that
image and discover their power On
Thr Verge chronicles the adventures
of three sui h women who are
stronger than their society.”
Director Amy Sarno-Fradkin. a
graduate student in theater arts, is
talking about the University produc
tion of a play that considers impor
tant issues concerning the role of
women through time
Written by Eric Ovormeyer. On The
Verge is a theatrical journey that tells
the story of three Victorian women
who bushwhack their way through
Terra Incognita — an entrance to the
twentieth century that has them
hurtling through space, time, history,
geography and fashion, finally to
arrive in the 1950s
It is not a documentary about
women explorers from this period
but rather a study of the quality of
imagination, curiosity and yearning
that explores provocative issues such
as social constraints and liberation.
For instance, the women encounter
artifacts from the future and try to gel
a perspective on Mrs. Butlerworth
bottles, Burma Shave slogans, and a
discarded rear-view mirror with the
cryptic message, "Objects in mirror
may l>e closer than they appear.”
Meanwhile, they also encounter
social displacement. In overcoming
(he restrictions and limitations of tin*
lHHOs, they proceed to 1955, a time
when "for middle-class women, the
social mandate was especially well
defimid le* feminine, sexy and bright,
but not too brainy." Sarno-Fradkin
said. For women conditioned in the
Victorian social code, the 1950s
prove to !*< very seductive,
Two of the travelers sui oumb to the
enchantment of the surfboard, the
barbecue and the jacuzzi and settle
down in 1955. The third, still
enthralled by the excitement of the
adventure, determines to push on
into the future.
With a lively literary wit and a
playful exuberance bordering on the
surrealistic. Overmeyer lilierates the
stage from its naturalistic shackles
with On The Verge. "Whether you
take the work as sardonic cultural
history, as the story of women's lib
eration, or at merely jaundiced time
tripping and star-trakking. it draws
you in. affectionately and mischie
vously.'* New York Magazine wrote
of the comedy
It is a story of language — how we
uae it to control end ere controlled by
it. Overmeyer has been referred to as
"an ecologist of language and a
shrewd observer of our quest to con
trol our environment and the envi
ronment of others." As one of his
characters remarks."! have seen the
future, and it is slang."
On The Verge opens tonight at the
Robinson Theater. Additional perfor
mances are scheduled for Feb 20.
Feb 25-27 and March 5-6 All perfor
mances begin at H p.m
sychedelic
lights
Story by
Freya Horn
The primordial ooze engulfed the os< Hinting
moelins ns bright bursts of color seduoedthe v ast
rei esses of tin* mind.
Not some over-worked chemist s hallucination,
this vision is a reality of the psychedelic light
show.
Phantasmagoria Lights began in Kugene, Ore., in
the mid 19fU)s when Doug Mosher and James l.esan
met as University students. Mosher, a graduate stu
dent in psychology who was studying the psycho
logical effects of color, hired l.esan. an art major,
to make a visual presentation for his psychology
I USCill i 1
In one experiment,
Mosher studied the
effects of colored light on
optical vibrations, and
Lesan < reated scientific
light shoves that involved
;j-i) color polarization, in
other experiments,
I.esan's psycho-lumia art
was used for color induc
tion — when the mind
"sees" the color orange
even though the picture
of the fruit is illuminated
International
Anthem
(above) with
the light ehow
ate recent
performance.
Pr*otO by Anthony Fom«y
wim n*u ugm — ana 10
determine how many
colors the human brain could distinguish.
Lesan's light shows worn "a mixture of percep
tion psychology, physics and art," he said
Intrigued by the concept, Lesun abandoned paint
ing to pursue this unexplored art medium
Pari of die Phantasmagoria Lights philosophy, he
said, is that the brain tries to maintain some sense
of order. But the light show wreaks havoc with our
everyday equilibrium — thus the term "psychedel
ic" — because of the way light transforms and ani
mates colors.
"We took the chaos theory, before it really was a
theory, and created ordered chaos." Lesan said.
“Just one slide in all that cacophony adds some
order, something recognizable that the brain tan
grasp."
The experiments soon went bayond the class
room when the two students liegan doing light
shows with The Ministry of Time, a “happening of
the hippy dippy Beatnik scene” in the basement of
an old church In Eugene, Lesan said The Base
ment. as it was celled, was transformed into a com
plete sensory experience with light shows and live
music — the virtual reality of the 60s
After touring the Northwest as a solo show with
their own music arrangements.they took the light
show to Berkeley just in time for the heyday of San
Francisco's counter-culture
60s scone. Soon they wore
performing with Jams
Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The
Doors and the Grateful
Dead, among others.
"One week no opened for
|anis and Big Brother at Cal
ifornia Hall, followed only
two weeks later with ]imt
Hendrix's American Debut
concert at the Fillmore
(West)," l.esan said. The
plunge into the big-time
"happened so fast we
couldn't even think about
it." he said.
While Bill Hamm invent
ed the open-dish liquid
light show. Phnntazmagoria
Lights became famous for
taking it to a new extreme
First, they put the colored
liquids between panes of
glass, which produced more
air bubbles for the dancing
amoeba effet t. To this they
added other special effects
with transparencies, paper
cutouts and slides To coor
dinate all the visuals, they
customized ordinary light
projectors with speed con
trols. color wheel rotators
and kaleidoscopic devices
Then they combined all the
images and colors with
their own creative flair.
“Nothing is pre
Photo bp AiHhofty >om#y
arranged, Lesan said ol the Phantazmagona teen
nique. The machines add to his ability to be more
improvisational. he said, because they coordinate
everything while he creates his "portable paint
ing."
“It’s a mind blower," said Michael Wilson, stage
manager for the Community Center for the Per
forming Arts. “They have a really good sense of
musicianship and arrangement. When the lights
and patterns hit the band, it completes the sensory
experience,” he said
The members of International Anthem, a local
liand that performed with Phantasmagoria recent
ly, all agreed that the psychedelic light show
enhanced their music.
“The audience was dumbfounded by how amaz
ing it was." Phil Simon, the band s manager, said
(.urrentiy. cesan is sun nomng me equipment.
With child-like glue, be constantly finds new gis
mos to satisfy his machine mania.
"Making the machines is as much fun as any
thing else." Lesan said. While these inventive gad
gets have no official name, they have by no means
remained nameless "What I call them just de|iends
on how they're working." he said jokingly.
Psychedelic light shows as an art form were
almost obliterated with the advent of “disco light
ing." Lesan said. "Now. we re the only one as far as
I know,” he said, pointing to their ad — the only
light show listed — in the Cavalcade of Arts and
Attractions, an international advertising catalog for
performing artists.
”1 couldn't just let something like this die," he
said, adding tongue-in-cheek that the show should
James Lesan (left) ol Phantasmagoria Lights prac
tices his light show techniques In his studio.
Leaan's customised light protectors have speed
controls to coordinate the colored liquids, paper
cutouts and transparencies. "Babba on the Moon"
tabove) la an animated sequence ol 60 color light
show slides Phantasmagoria Lights created In 1967
lie listed ill tin- Ror k mid Hull II.ill ol Kimt> I win
is t)ii> only original member It'll, timi i'iimi In* gave
up (hi* show lor awhile
The light show troupe returned to Kugene in
11)70 when "tilings ended ns quickly ns they
began." Lesan said That year they did their largest
work, a 150-foot by 25-foot light show at the Uni
versity's McArthur Court, hut by then the troupe
was tired of performing." lesan said
lie soon pursued other artistic ventures, sut h ns
opening an art gallery, teat lung as a visiting artist
at L(X' and helping to establish the WOW Hall as a
community center for performing arts. Having a
desire to be self-employed, he also started up two
new businesses — both still thriving today — in
stained glass design and ornamental pruning
Yet the light show continued "on the side** with
its local shows, done mainly for laisaiTs own
enjoyment, he said. "I have a hat'd time going to
concerts anymore." he said. "If I'm not doing a
light show. I get real bored "
After more than 25 years of creating visual stim
uli to accompany music. Lesan said he can't h«fp
but "see" music, literally. "I'll be driving along and
a tune cornea on the radio that I like, and I'll get
into it. and then I'll see the music In front of mu,"
he said. "I have to pull the car over... because all I
can see are patterns and colors instead of the rood.”
It may resemble nn acid flashback, but it’s not. he
said, because his sense of sight is in tune with his
sense of hearing.
"My brain has berm trained over the years to
think visually," be said as he leafed through a
Turn to LIQHTS, Page 10
Portraits of
diversity:
High school art class
helps prepare students
for the real world
“4 claaa offarad In multieulturaliam
may not ba tha ana war to tha
world* problama, but Warn atari."
— Wayne P. Hill
Thurston High School principal
By Katy Moeller
Emerald Contnoutor
A high school art teacher in Springfield recently assigned
her students to draw human faces. All of them drew Cau
casian faces.
The pictures that Marcia Graham saw reflected the basic
racial demography of Thurston High School, which has
only 81 minority students out of 1,450.
As part of a school effort to promote multiculturalism in
Thurston High School, Graham asked her students to draw
faces of people from other races or cultures.
Students referred to magazines such ns National Geo
graphic to locate pictures of non-whites
The common conception that the purpose of art class is
to produce something that is either beautiful or useful is
not the basis for Graham's teaching
"If they produce something beautiful, that's wonderful. If
they learn something while they’re doing it, that's more
important." she said
In honor of Martin Luther King |r.'s birthday, Graham
had her class do projects reflecting his messages. Students
produced portraits of King and collages that emphasize
racial harmony.
"I wanted to do a project that would reflect how blacks
and hispanics feel So I did some readings. I read King's ‘I
Have a Dream' speech. Then I worked for six hours straight.
I felt it had to he expressed." said Peabody.
Peabodv s portrait of Martin Luther King )r is framed by
handpainted African and American flags
"1 change the colors of the flag. The flag represents every
color of people in America, and 1 try to reflect that in the
flag," he said
Thurston High School principal Wayne P. Hill also
stressed the need for multicultural education at Thurston
High School.
"I tell my students that after they graduate from here,
they might he going to the bright lights and big city. And
they better have the knowledge and capacity to interact in a
multicultural setting,” Hill said.
"We'd be doing you a disservice if we just talked about
what's happening in Springfield.” he said
Graham, who is fond of Mexican art and music, asked her
students about what comes to mind when they think of
Mexican culture. She was shocked at their response
"They responded with several terrible ethnic slurs." she
said.
In an effort to combat the problem. Graham brings in arti
facts. books and sometimes schedules foreign students from
the University to come and speak in her class.
Thurston High School students recently became
embroiled in the controversy over Measure 9. the statewide
anti-gay measure, said sophomore Daniel Peabody.
"I actually carried Measure 9 around with me. When peo
ple said it was about special rights, I would say, ‘Where
does it say anything about special rights,’ " he said
Peabody, a student in Graham's art class, said he suffered
both verbal and physical abuse when he transferred from
Springfield Christian Center to Thurston High School.
"People thought I was gay. I was extremely preppy I was
stereotyped." he said.
''I have never seen an issue so divisive since the Viet
nam War," a Springfield High School hnglish teacher said.
The tension in high schools was a reflection of the com
munity. Families were divided on this issue,” she said.
Graham confirmed that students were highly involved
in the issue and often discussed it in her class. She sees ver
bal communication between students as a vital part of hur
teaching and encourages this by placing students into small
groups when they begin their propels
The class projects are now being displayed outside the
entrance to the Springfield publiclibrary and will remain
there until March 1.
In the past there has been a “Women's Week” and a
“Men’s Week" honoring students of each gender for acade
mic and extracurricular achievements, but this year marks
the first year with a "Multicultural Week” at Thurston High
School.
“A class offered in multiculturalism may not be the an
swer to the world's problems, but it's a start," Hill said.
W«obyfc*o», Pam*
Art t—ehar Mania Graham (tattf and high aohooi aophmora OmiW
^ »-*- - -i-Mm Tlniflnw ««-*- gniinnl —
r+MXXJj WWW wW inUrBlOfl rVyfl vcnooi Sri fXrnOPT.