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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 1989)
he Battalion NTERTAINMENT 11 ONDAY, JANUARY 23, 1989 victor)’ ve creii: : °achp t cnoii»i IU game xhibit focuses Ion T exas artists .theiii DOostiiii the sej. we hai r Coad >as aft re easilt in tin at wav ■ansast . but Ik Horned TCU ii said losing ' have By Chuck Lovejoy Entertainment writer 61: D: mish; Changes are occurring in the ar- istic world of Texas, a fact that is the tasis for “The First Texas Trien- ial,” an exhibit of contemporary art m display in Rudder Exhibit Hall. Compiled by the Contemporary l^rts Museum of Houston, the Triennial’ is a fascinating look into The works of art being produced by ew or unknown Texas artists. Hermona Dayag, director of exas A&M University Art Exhibits, vhich is sponsoring the show, said he exhibit shows a great diversity of ityle. I “It’s a stimulating show,” Dayag Said. “Its variety of expression makes people think. The show contains ev erything from political and social Commentaries to humorous pieces.” “The First Texas Triennial” is the trainchild of Marilyn Zeitlin, cura- :or of the Contemporary Arts Mu- eum. The show opened in Houston jo rave reviews in the fall of 1988. \fter the Houston showing, the ex- libit was taken on the road to travel iround the state for three years, tence the name “triennial.” A&M is he exhibit’s first stop. The compilation of the show was he responsibility of three nationally nown art experts: David Ross, di- ector of Boston’s Institute for Con- emporary Art; Marge Goldwater, urator at the Walker Art Center in linneapolis; and Zeitlin. Artists from across the state sent Hn photographs of their work, which he judges used to select the artists or inclusion in the exhibit. The artists had to meet one re- juirement, however: they could not 3e established artists. Dayag explains his rule as meaning that the artists mild not have had a solo exhibition n a gallery. She said choosing unknown or ittle-known artists was the judges’ ;oal. “They didn’t allow established art ists into the show,” Dayag explained. They wanted to focus on new and tp-and-coming artists.” The opening of the exhibit at \&M was accompanied by a lecture )y Marise McDermott of the San An- onio Light. In her talk, McDermott gave a jrief history of the evolution of Texas art, saying it has changed rom a “regionalistic” style, one vhich depicted Texan themes and ymbols, to a contemporary and I note world-conscious style. According to Dayag, the exhibit I eflects that view. I “The show’s theme is to explore | iontemporary Texas visual artists — ot Texas themes, but Texans,” she aid. If anything, the show is, in Day- g's words, a stimulating look into he kinds of art being produced by ew Texas artists. Evidence of the retreat from the egionalistic is evident in several ieces of art, all of which are inter sting to view as well. Perhaps most visible is the work of aul Kittelson, whose Five monstrous lack statues stand guard over Rud der Fountain. Titled “Mindless Competition,” the figures depict headless bodybuilders posing as though in competition, a possible statement concerning the worth of such pageants and possibly even hinting at human vanity. Other pieces hint at more pressing matters. Rick Lowe’s untitled work depicts a Ku Klux Klan movement in a southern town. The dark piece is composed of two panels, one featur ing a portrait of a Klan member standing in front of a burning cross, the other containing a large cross made of real wood in which a section is missing. “Break in the O. Layer” by Bill Komodore depicts another impor tant issue. Swirls of thick mudlike paint surround a cheerfully colored still life of flowers, perhaps fore shadowing the possible results of the earth’s diminishing ozone layer. Of course, the only person who knows what any work of art, visual, written or otherwise, actually rep resents is the artist himself, a fact which is part of the appeal of the ‘Triennial.’ Trying to determine what the artist is trying to say is an engaging task. Difficult as this may be, several artists in the show make this deci phering fun through their use of un conventional and even bizarre materials, which seemingly has be come another trend in contempo rary Texas art. Take for example Jean Goehr- ing’s “In Dreams,” which is made from a stained, tattered piece of mattress covering on which the words “in dreams” are faintly writ ten in pink acrylic paint. There is Jesse Lott’s untitled statue formed from common objects such as ear rings, brooches and scraps of wire and metal. Stuffed with colored pieces of glass, the figure holds a large shiny bullet in one out stretched hand. Other unconventional pieces in clude Bill Lundberg’s ninth untitled work, in which a color photograph resembling a scrambled TV signal that has been colorized is inset in a beautiful rectangle of wood. Tracy Harris painted on an eight- foot-square of masonite, a wood compound commonly used for pan eling, to create “The Distance Be tween Skin and Scar.” Two bizarre pieces seem to have animal themes. George Ely’s “Omni cide” is composed of oil, enamel paint and tar applied to a wire screen shaped to resemble a stretched animal pelt. “Yauti in Heaven” by Regina Vater is a mixed media piece consisting of three color photos from outer space and two rea/animal pelts half in and half out of wooden frames. Into the photos has been added a figure, presumably ‘Yauti’, which looks like a trilobite, an extinct marine arthropod. Perhaps the most unconventional work of all is Celia Alvarez Munoz’s “ ‘Ella’ El.” The work is a two doored wooden cabinet telling the tale of two mismatched lovers, “Ella” and “El.” The doors open to reveal the couple’s belongings attached to Photo Courtesy of Contemporary Arts Museum “Channel,” by Mark Perlman is one of more than 25 paintings by contemporary Texas artists on display at Texas A&M. the inside of the doors, belongings which reflect the personalities of the lovers as described by cards inside the cabinet. “Ella” is described in the cards as a sweet girl “in love with li fe,” and “El” as a bad boy “with a re spect for death.” Present throughout the Triennial are works containing intense color. Jack Hanley’s “Death of Absa lom,” depicting the Biblical death of the son of David, is striped with large green and yellow bands. Deborah Maverick Kelley’s “Tea” is a colorful look at two friends pre paring to drink tea. This painting also contains interesting perspective; it gives the viewer the sense that he or she is hovering in the corner of the room looking down on the scene. One piece is notable not for its color, but rather for its absence of it. Randy Twaddle’s “Less Bridge, More Traffic” is stark black and white, showing in three panels a bridge, a telephone pole with trans former and a television antenna. The most emotional work in the exhibit is Wendy Watriss’ “Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington D.C.,” a series of black and white photographs of the landmark. Wa triss shows scenes of sadness, such as a fatigues-clad man kneeling in tears against the wall, as well as happier ones, such as scenes of reunions at the wall of men who fought the war. According to Dayag, these photos are among the most popular works in the exhibit. “These photos seem to touch all Americans, possibly because the war is still so close in our memories,” she said. “I think they will have an im mediate impact, by their beauty as well as their actual meaning.” There are still plenty of works of art not described here on display in the Triennial. The collection will be on display through Feb. 18. rganizing time, studying notes key to successful test-taking Jy T. Kelley Boylan ENTERTAINMENT WRITER I Do tests make you nervous? Are Man Roll-On ads outright lies during Bnals week? Are you unable to raise jBour hand because you don’t feel ■ure? These are the symptoms of a ■est-anxious student, a much-studied Hnd all-too-common phenomenon in Bte university setting. I Practically everyone, if not every- Bne, has walked in to take a test feel- |*ig nervous and tense, worried jllbout doing well. Occasionally, the fest-taker may be so nervous that the | lest is a flop no matter how much he Or she prepared for it. I The simple fear of tests, whether Br not they’re difficult, whether or ‘ lot the taker has prepared for them, fc common. ■ Perhaps more common, however, i anxiety caused by ill-preparedness Or, more specifically, inefficient time Bianagement. There simply didn’t Beem to be time to prepare, to absorb Bie information, and the inevitable fcment is, “If only I had more time!” But there are ways to study more ef- Iciently, to have more time. I The Texas A&M Student Coun- feling Center provides a study skills Borkshop once a week covering time jjhanagement, motivation, text read- giig and test taking. The workshop Mils on a different day each week — Buesday, Wednesday or Thursday f- to accommodate almost anyone’s Bchedule. m For help in a specific area, coun selors will arrange a special class if Sour or more ^students make the same request. To request a special class, go to the Student Counseling office on the third floor of the YMCA Building. To sign up for one of the regular workshops, students can leave their names and phone numbers at the office. Most students don’t consider studying very convenient because it takes up what would otherwise be free time; the biggest obstacle to study time is undoubtedly social time. E. Glenn Griffis, professor emeritus at Purdue University says in a U.S. News and World Report ar ticle on “Advice that Can Help You Succeed on Campus,”: “Man is first a social animal, then a rational one.” Peer pressure can destroy aca demic excellence, but it doesn’t have to, and A&M’s Counseling Services promises not to take away all of a student’s free time. Dr. Maggie Olona, counselor at the Student Counseling Services, said that by scheduling study, work and social times into blocks and allocating each activity a specific amount of time, many students have been surprised to find that they have more free time than before. For students who work and go to school, those extra hours may be essential. According to the U.S. News & World Report article, college courses require more study time because they involve more reading and thinking and less memorization than high school classes. It’s a different situation, so even if you made good grades in high school, you may need to study differently now. When you study, don’t do anything else, and be organized about it. For example, if you study in the li brary, don’t do it in the section where you major’s books are held, Philadelphia education consultant Richard Gallagher suggests in an ar ticle in the Phi Kappa Phi Journal. Math majors should go to the litera ture section. Chemistry majors, find a seat in education and engineering majors, try liberal arts areas. That way you won’t be interrupted by people you know. Studying means concentrating. Another tip is to use notebooks that come apart, like looseleaf bind ers, Olona said. Take your notes and spread them out on a table or on the floor so that you can see the last two or three weeks’ work at once. The material will be much less confusing, and you’ll know just how much ground you have to cover, she said. There are hundreds of tips on how to get more out of study time. Olona suggests the following ways to study more efficiently (all of which are covered in detail in the weekly workshop): •Set priorities. Decide what is and what is not important before starting the semester. Some classes, events and jobs take more time and effort than others. •Use a calendar. Put all your as signments on a monthly calendar so you can see what’s coming up and when. •Set study times and places. Once you decide on a time and place to study each day or week, stick to it. The object is to train your mind to fall into study mode on demand, on time. •Keep up on assignments. It sounds obvious, but it may be the single most violated rule of acade mia. •Review your notes. Don’t wait any longer than necessary to go over your notes each day, certainly no more than 24 hours. •Turn waiting time into study time. While you wait for your tea cher to get to class, skim the previous day’s notes again. Your mind will be ready for new material, and if you have a question, you’ll be prepared to ask. To add to Olona’s list, following are some hints from Gallagher, who presented the following ideas in an article in the Phi Kappa Phi Journal: •Write down the teacher’s ques tions. If he or she took the time and effort to ask them in class, you can bet they’ll be on the test. •Read the introduction and con clusion of every chapter. They will tell you the important points of the chapter plus provide an overview of the material. •Study index cards. Write down relevant points on index cards (the perfect way to review your notes as suggested by Olona). Read the notes aloud, and if possible, make an au dio tape of them to listen to later. •Write down everything you know just to prove you know it. It isn’t time consuming if you keep up with it each day. Combine assignments if your in structors will allow it. If you have a political science and a history paper due in the same week, see if they can he tied together into a single project. •Use loose leaf paper and write on only one side. Again, that way you can spread your notes out for a overall view. According to Gallagher, the dif ference between an A and a D is only ten minutes a day, the ten minutes it takes to jot your notes down on in dex cards and then write down ev erything you know to prove you know it. Studying and reviewing is a daily affair, one that need not take up much time. Reviewing your notes is absolutely vital, however you do it, according to researchers Linda J. Knight and Stuart J. McKelvie, whose study ideas were presented in Psychology Today. Of all the things you can do to study more effectively, reviewing is the one item that will most likely im prove your score. Students who take notes but don’t review them do not do much better than students who take the test cold, Knight and McK elvie claim. In other words, if you took the notes and didn’t look at them, you probably wasted the pa per and ink. Olona recommends reviewing notes no more than 24 hours after taking them, and making a final re view of everything no more than four days before the test, preferably one or two. Study and review sessions are an other excellent way to organize study time. In his article “A Closer Look at the Study Session” in the journal Teaching of Psychology, Dr. A.G. Aamodt found that students who attended a teacher’s study ses sion prior to the exam did signifi cantly better than those who didn’t. Furthermore, an organized over view was much more effective than just a question and answer session, which didn’t seem to be very effec tive at all, Aamodt found. Finding appropriate help is not difficult, and using it may be more important than you think. Half of the students who come to college, eager to study and expecting to earn a bachelor’s degree, don’t do it, according to U.S. News & World Re port statistics in the article “Advice that can Help You Succeed on Campus.” They drop out. They leave for a variety of reasons, and one of those is simply distaste — they don’t enjoy what they’re doing. Perhaps the best way to utilize your time in school is to study some thing you want to learn, a subject you’re interested in, according to Er nest Boyer, president of the Carne gie Foundation of Teaching, who was cited in the same article. If ana lyzing business transactions and ac counting really makes your day, go for it. Arthur Anderson and other business companies are always com ing to campus. However, if you find yourself spending more time with Nietzsche or Hemingway than cred its and debits, don’t force yourself into business. Take time to find out what really interests and excites you, and you’ll spend a lot more time doing it, Boyer says. Having to plod through every as signment, ready for it to be over be fore it’s even begun, is not a good See Organize/Page 14