Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, May 20, 2004, Page 8, Image 8

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    C TV/f l/'T? 13 all proceeds donated to
i31YIUlVC.lt The Boys and Girls Club
Boxing
Exhibition
with -ft t Rhetoric
live music by Tuesday
Buy tickets at the EMU Ticket Officer
or at the door, on the day of event.
Musicl Fights!
Amateur Boxers!
Raffle! Prizes!
MacArthur Court
Wed, May 26th
The Oregon Humanities Center presents
INNER WAR
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May 23 and 24, 2004 /
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Martin S. Jaffee Alexander Golitzin
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The Wars of Torah: Inner The Violent Take It by Force:
Struggle and Historical Martial Imagery in the
Victory in the Rabbinic Eastern Christian Ascetical
Tradition Tradition
May 23 May 24
Lectures will he held al 8 pan. in Room 182. Lillis Hall
r
These events are free and open to the publtc. and are cosponsored
toy the College of Arts and Sciences: For more information, or for dis
ability accommodations, please call (541) 346*3934.
UNIVERSITY
EO/AA/ADA institution committed to cultural diversity OF OK EGON
Carl Sundberg
Reasoning with madness
Touting
mercy
before
justice
In these days of destruction, in this
era of aggression and revenge, it has
become plain to me that we need a
new way of thinking. We need what
Ken Kesey called a "revolution of con
sciousness."
"We've got to be mature enough to
incorporate everyone into this revolu
tion," Kesey wrote. "Its basis is mercy
and justice, and mercy before justice."
This should be its mantra: Mercy
before justice.
We've come a long way as humans,
but once again, like so many times in
the past, we are in jeopardy. We are
bordering on killing the whole damn
planet — wiping everything out: peo
ple and environment. We're working
on another world war, kids, and like
the saying goes, the third time's the
charm.
If this happens, there won't be a
World War Four.
We hold the keys to this careening
car of destiny, each and every single
one of us. And while we are led to be
lieve our leaders are in charge and
everything is up to them, it's not. We
all choose war or peace. We all choose
joy or misery. We all choose revenge
or forgiveness. Our leaders sign the
checks, but we write 'em.
There is plenty of hatred and anger
going around these days, and not just
in the Middle East. Here in the Unit
ed States there is plenty of in-fighting.
Just take a look at our political
process.
We've got two parties, Democrats
and Republicans. (Sorry, Indepen
dents, this is the sad truth.) Both sides
believe in the rules of the game. They
each have a creed, a side, and neither
one of them will budge if it means sac
rificing their self-induced dogmatic
ideal. They'd rather escalate the fury
than calm down and take a moment to
just simply listen to what the other guy
has to say. No one backs down, even if
Turn to SUNDBERG, page 8
Modem art moves
from street to MTV
One of the most common criti
cisms of the fine art world has been
that it is inaccessible to the majority
of people. Galleries and art muse
ums have been stereotyped as places
meant only for the super-rich and
cosmopolitan, with the rest of us
supposedly too simple to appreciate
a fine painting.
One reason for this might be the
failure of American education to
give us the context to understand
and relish art. A glance at the dimin
ishing budgets of arts education and
other programs is all it takes to
know their place on the list of soci
ety's priorities.
Thankfully, there are those who
have refused to see art as a luxury.
There are those who have overcome
the hurdles of art-world elitism by
creating pieces for an environment
that is quite removed from a stuffy
gallery: the street.
Street art is usually equated with
graffiti. However, there is much
more to it than tagging and the oth
er traditional spray-painted designs.
Artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat
and Keith Haring — and the artists
they have inspired such as Barry
McGee, Margaret Kilgallen and
Shepard Fairey — have changed art
by merging fine and street art. They
have taken the formal art education
and used it to decorate informal
canvasses.
The universal nature of their work
has helped street art come full circle,
and this group is now accepted as
fine artists. New York galleries such
as the Deitch Projects and Alleged
Gallery have built reputations for
themselves by offering a platform
for innovative art to transition from
the street to wall space.
But the evolution of art from
gallery to street and back to gallery
is not over. Many of these artists are
transforming their work even fur
ther. They're bringing it to the com
mercial sphere. Some of today's
most exciting visual artwork is being
made by those who have bridged
the gap between fine, commercial
and street art.
Fairey, whose simple stencil and
paint "Obey Giant" campaign be
came a widespread phenomenon, is
now involved in designs for Sprite
Helen Schumacher
Notes from the underground
and Barnes & Noble. Other exam
ples of this transition indude Futura
designing Calvin Klein perfume bot
tles, and Thomas Campbell and Ed
Templeton designing skate decks
and shoes.
Of course, this mixing of venues
comes with plenty of questions and
concerns. Companies are co-opting
a culture to maintain their relevan
cy to the young consumer.
At a September conference titled
"Creativity Now" in New York,
Fairey, during a lecture on the com
modification of street art, made the
following comment: "When some
thing reaches a critical mass —
whether it's the look of street art,
stencils, drips, graffiti, or musidans,
wardrobe, whatever — it will be
used to market products." In other
words, the use of the street art style
by advertisers was inevitable.
Fairey continues his commentary,
saying that designing work for an
advertising firm is a way for artists to
find a new audience. Instead of fu
tilely dwelling on the issue of capi
talism, we can adopt the perspecti ve
that this advertising is another way
to bring art into our lives.
During the same lecture, Jeffrey
Deitch of the Deitch Projects made
the point that "this next generation
of the artists is much more sophisti
cated about how to communicate.
(Artists can take their) radical per
spective and find people who can
give them the means to make an
MTV video, do a Nike commercial
and use the system in a subversive
way." Street artists who first subvert
ed the gallery world are now doing
the same to advertising.
Contact the Pulse columnist at
helenschumacher@dailyemerald.com.
Her opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
We have just returned from The APP
Annual Conference & Exposition 2004
in Las Vegas with TONS of the newest
and best jewelry in the world!!!
Come in and see it all, and bring in
this coupon for 10% off any jewelry.
UO Students!!
Present this Coupon with
Your Student ID
UO Ticket Office
Main Floor- EMU
Two Tickets
for the price of
One
to
much ado
about nothing
Thursday, May 20 Only!
\}\ l !\S| I \
\\ illiam shakcspcaiv's
much ado
about | •
nothing
.1 rohiiison theatre production
Mav I 1, 1.’)
9(j, 9 | , 99
28, 2<)- 8 PM
May 23- 2 PM
a benefit for
Womcnspace
for benefit tiekets
485-8232
tickets:
l O Ticket Oiltcc hM(
346-4363