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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 1997)
Thursday # July 10, 1997 L The Battalion IFEST rs'u 11 WmmlSm 11 Im 11 Gallery grows with new themes, exhibits By Wesley Brown The Battalion 1 imothy Vanya never attended Texas A&M, but from the looks of his office, few could tell. The artist and owner of The Red Brick Gallery in downtown Bryan has been focusing nhol fora : no st b\ n. fheni eract 1 an\' tesffl lew ntot k’lia librr lei® at® lew' ling® lot let® ■•ml : « Ml > • . f'- v. g m \ i Y, Photograph: Sarah Johnson Paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures are on display at The Red Brick Gallery in Bryan. on A&M traditions for almost a decade. Paint ings and drawings of Aggies young and old fig ure prominently throughout, most of them by Vanya himself. “I have a new set of works coming out this fall that focus on children and A&M — everything from 18-month-old toddlers to older kids and their first experience with Aggie traditions.” It is no wonder this theme is important in Vanya’s work — his daughter is a student at A&M. Red Brick Gallery does not, however, fo cus primarily on the work of its proprietor. The gallery, which opened in June, is a permanent showcase for Vanya’s work, but it also displays work from other artists. Five artists are featured besides Vanya. The gallery exhibits paintings and drawings, photographs and sculptures, but it is not going to be just a gallery for long. Vanya has big plans for upcoming months, including a “coffee house night” with live music and a poetry read ing every third Saturday of the month and a “Friday philosophy forum” to encourage intel lectual discussion. “I think the intellectual exchange of ideas in a comfortable setting is what this university envi ronment should be about, and it’s what this world lacks in general,” Vanya said. “There’s no interaction like that with TV or computers.” The Red Brick Gallery also will function as a learning center. Vanya keeps a well-stocked art library on hand and welcomes anyone who wishes to sit down and read as they visit the museum. In addition, Vanya and several other artists will be teaching their crafts to any inter ested students. Vanya plans to teach beginning through advanced drawing, as well as life draw ing, in which he has a particularly strong back ground. In addition, Dave Brady, whose sculp tures are exhibited in the gallery, will be teaching pottery classes. Vanya is heavily involved with the develop ment of the fine arts throughout Bryan-College Station. The building in which the Red Brick Gallery is located will soon be at the artistic heart of the community. Owner Kay Coulee has do nated an 8,000-square-foot area near the Gallery for a new project. “We’ve donated this area to the upcoming Children’s Museum, so that they can have a tem porary space to show a large part of their exhib it,” Conlee said. “They’re going to need a lot more room in the long run, but they’re going to start off here.” The Children’s Museum will be next-door to the Red Brick Gallery for at least two years, chair man Dale Whittaker said. Vanya welcomes his new neighbor and the business it will bring. “Every big city has one, and it’ll be great to have one here in Bryan,” he said. “If it’s like oth er children’s museums, it’ll be extremely popu lar. But even without that help, business here is getting better every day.” Vanya and some of his fellow artists are push ing for even more artistic growth in the Bryan- College Station area, appealing to the Bryan City Council for a joint-venture fine arts museum. “The museums on A&M’s campus have been great for encouraging art appreciation in this area, and we want to build on that foundation,” Vanya said. “We want to be the spark that gets a true fine arts community going in Bryan-Col lege Station.” The Red Brick Gallery is at 202 S. Bryan down the street from 3rd Floor Cantina, Photograph: Sarah Johnson Artist Timothy Vanya owns the Red Brick Gallery in downtown Bryan. Men In Black eclipses typical summer movies By James Francis The Battalion « rphey wear black suits with matching f / % Ban sunglasses. They hunt -*■ down the scum of the earth — aliens in human form, spread out all over (lie world. They keep us from knowing tlieirexistence and the unseen popula tion of aliens on Earth. They are the Men In Black. Some may speculate that the pair- ingofWill Smith as “J” and Tommy lee (ones as “K” in the sci-fi adven ture-comedy Men In Black is an odd one, but the onscreen chemistry between the two is pure movie magic. Box-office figures from this past weekend confirm that there certainly is some film element that makes Men In Black ap pealing to audiences across the nation. With a three-day domestic gross of S84.1 million, this film is on the road to summer-block- buster success. It just goes to show that if actors want to make a splash in the summer, they should market their films on the Fourth of July weekend. The film opens with Smith, as New York police officer James Edwards, in pursuit of a sus pected criminal. But when the felon jumps from a tall bridge and lands safely on the ground, Smith realizes he might not be dealing with an ordinary person. Later, Smith and the audience come to the understanding that there are numerous aliens on Earth. The only problem is that audiences can’t tell, because they ’( form of human beings. Soon, Smith is confronted by Jones and is selected to be one of the few, elite agents of the Men In Black orga nization. These agents go by single-let ter names, so Smith becomes Agent J and is paired with Jones, Agent K. The plot doesn’t get much thicker than this, other than both agents attempt ing to save the world from total de struction by a gigantic bug. Although it is straightforward and not hard to fol low, the storyline for this film is still intrigu ing, and it keeps the audience in touch with its characters. The best aspect of Men In Black is the come dy. Although the special ef fects were conducted by masters at Industrial Light & Magic and Steven Spielberg served as Executive Producer, no one can deny the comedic pairing of Smith and Jones. The classic television show The Odd Couple can not even come close to the banter played back and forth between Smith and Jones. Smith comes through in the film as his usual funny-guy Men In Black Starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones Directed by Barry Sonnenfeid Rated PG-13 Playing at Hollywood 16 ★★★★ (out of five) character who is just as normal as all of us — only a bit funnier and more wealthy. His performance displays a range of emotion from bewilderment toward an actual alien population to hi larity when faced with assisting in the birth of an alien. With his past success as the star of Independence Day, Smith may have a knack for the sci-fi genre, or at least sci-fi films that doesn’t take themselves too seriously. Smith is a co median by nature, and his skills truly shine in this film. Jones, on the other hand, takes his comedy like black coffee — straight, strong and at times, a bit subtle. Throughout the entire production, Jones shows no emotion other than a very serious nature for being an agent of the MIB. This is the brilliance of casting someone such as Jones in this film — he doesn’t have to try to be fun ny. Because of his serious facial ex pressions and reactions to what many people would deem out of the ordi nary, Jones comes across as a natural- born comic. A good surprise and great addition to the film is Dr. Laurel Weaver, played by Linda Fiorentino of the crit ically-acclaimed film The Last Seduc tion. Fiorentino is New York City’s Deputy Medical Examiner, who be comes involved with the MIB agents through a series of dead victims she must examine. Although she can usually be found attacking more serious roles, Fiorenti no takes on a new identity as a quirky medical doctor. The funniest se quences she appears in are those in which Agents J and K must erase her memory so that she will not remember their existence or the circumstances surrounding the victims she examines. As far as cinematography goes, Men In Black is a special effects smorgas bord. From alien creations to space ship crashes, this film delivers an array of interesting and realistic-looking computer-generated images. Such is also the case with the entire concept and filming of Men In Black. Its story is original, the acting is funny and the action is finely tuned. The only draw back to the film is that it might not be long enough for some audiences to get a full helping of the artistic accomplish ment that is the Men In Black. College Station Part-time Hardware Positions Universal Computer Systems, Inc. is looking for candidates for the following positions at our College Station computer facility. Operating hours of the facility are 6a.m.-10p.m., Monday through Friday and 8a.m.-10p.m. Saturday. A candidate must be able to work at least 15 hours Monday-Friday and have completed at least one semester of college. Data Entry - The College Station Repair facility handles computer repair for all our clients nation-wide and repairs more than 60,000 pieces of equipment per year. Persons working the data entry positions are responsible for maintaining data for more than 2000 parts both shipped from and received at the facility. Cleaning and Reclamation - Persons involved in cleaning and reclamation must maintain upkeep of all equipment received and shipped from the facility. Involves disassembly of equip ment, upkeep of pieces, and reassembly of equipment. Technician - Technicians will learn aspects of using an oscilloscope and multi-meters to trouble shoot and repair dysfunctional hardware. Each individual will be trained thoroughly in the repair of one particular piece of equipment including CRTs, terminals, keyboards, PCs, mainframes, con trollers, modems, and others. Parts Inventory - Responsible for maintaining inventory of more than 2000 parts that the facility may handle at any one time. To apply please call our Recruiting Department. EOE Universal Computer Systems, Inc. 1-409-846-1213 http ://www. ucs-syste ms. com AGGIE WRANGLERS AN AGGIE TRADITION FOR THIRTEEN YEARS SUMMER SESSION II DANCE LESSONS CLASS - PAY ^ TIME LOCATION COUNTRY & WESTERN JITTERBUG I jLx-* ^ SIGN-UPS IN THE MSC FLAGRC 6-7:30 8-9:30 GRW 266 GRW 266 8 AM. - 3 P.M. JULY 14 & 15 .COUPLE i-..,,;; . i y-x < CLASSES START JULY 20 AND RUN 4 WEEKS FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT THE AGGIE WRANGLERS ON-LINE AT http://www.tamu.edu/aggie_wranglers ‘tKaftbe/u Your 2 Engagement Ring Custom Jewelry Headquarters 2205 Longmire Suite F • 695-1328 Financing Available The Battalion’s now offering access to The WIRE A 24-hour, multimedia news service for the Internet from The Associated Press The WIRE provides continuously updated news coverage from one of the world’s oldest, largest news services via The Battalion’s web page. • A comprehensive, up-to-the-minute news report combining the latest AP stories with photos, graphics, sound and video. • Headlines and bulletins delivered as soon as news breaks. http://bat-web.tamu.edu Tl? l\V 3rd FLOOR CANTINA This Saturday, July 12th Pre-saie tickets at Rother’s, Cavenders, Marooned, DoubleQuick A Dickson Production