up Up and AWAY!

“Up, the latest lovely fantasy from the artists at Disney’s Pixar animation, it's a truly fantastic adventure -- a lighter-than-air daydream about a cranky widower, a chubby boy and their amazing journey.” If I had give Up, a grade it would be an A+. At the beginning of the movie, I couldn’t really draw a parallel to the main character, Carl Fredricksen. His character embodies a 78-year-old grumpy man that seems to hate life; however, within five minutes I fell in love with him. The story line of Up is inventive and imaginative. It is based on the old man tying thousands of balloons to his home to escape eviction and the destruction of his house. In his house, he shared many cherished memories with his wife Ellie who had already passed. Since they both were young, they shared the same dream to escape to South America to live on top of a waterfall and he was determined to fulfill this dream. As he lifts off, he discovers a stow away, Russell, the wilderness explorer. They go on an adventure together and build a sentimental relationship. This is Pixar’s ninth movie. Their previous works consist of Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Toy Story 3. All these movies are wonderfully made movies, just like Up. These movies are designed for all age groups, that aren’t distasteful, are entertaining, and leave a lasting impression making you want more. Throughout the movie Up, everyone of my emotions was touched. One moment, I wanted to reach for a tissue and then the next moment, I would be laughing. In addition, I ultimately fell in love with the characters including Carl, Dug, Kevin, and especially Russell. I feel like I loved this movie so much because it was filled with action and thrills mixed with comedy and suspense that is timeless.

Goodbye, Farewell

As we wait for the Simon Shaheen’s performance, we ventured through the new exhibit at the Dayton Art Institute. The exhibit focused on American art. As a I was walking through the rooms, a couple works jumped out at me. The first piece was “Bold Endeavor” by Jon Kunn. This work was done in 1998 using laminated, cut, and polished glass. This glass sculpture was in the middle of the room, which immediately caught my eye because the light illuminated every aspect of the work. The piece was pyramidal in shape with intricate etchings in the glass on the outside and even on the inside of the work. On the inside, the etchings were colorful from reds to blues. I thought to myself this work was innovative and definitely eye catching. The next piece was “Red Circle” by Dwinell Grant. Modern and abstract entered my mind when first viewing this piece. It was done in 1939 with oil on canvas. It is difficult to rationalize this piece because you have no idea what it is or what is trying to represent. Is it just supposed to represent a red circle as the title states? Or is it something more? As much as this work confused me, I admired the vibrant colors that it incorporated. The artist did a good job transitioning from one color to the next. After that, my eyes were fixed upon the painting, “Summer Afternoon” by Ray Parker in 1959. Splotches of oil with lively colors covered the canvas. The vision itself wouldn’t remind you of a summer afternoon, but the colors would. It took me back to a memory of a summer picnic with the checkered blanket, variety of food from watermelon, fruit, potato salad, sandwiches, to the ants of course. Last, “Adieu” was the last piece that caught my eye. “Adieu” in French means goodbye, farewell. This work was by far my favorite of the bunch with its bright pinks, dark greens, and ingenious symmetry by Julian Schnabel in 1996. I liked that this piece wasn’t uniform with the rest having its own unique qualities. In addition, I liked how the artist wasn’t afraid make it messy in appearance leaving a lasting impression on me. So that’s it, ADIEU!

Exceeding Expectations

5 Stars. Bravo! One cold and wet Thursday, one of our friends was performing for Thursday Night Live on Art Street. Due to the weather, the performances took place in Art Street Café, a cozy little area. As I walked in, it reminded me of a quaint downtown coffee shop with live performances. When I looked around, the place was PACKED leaving us to find a place to stand. Our friend, Mary Michael, wasn’t up yet, so we watched the ongoing performance. As soon as we knew it, it was her turn. She performed a total of six songs. From one song to the next, they flowed together seamlessly with similar beats, rhythms, and artistic genres. The first song was “Landslide” by Stevie Nicks. “I took my love and I took it down, I climbed a mountain and I turned around, And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills, 'Till Landslide brought me down.” This song sounded familiar to me, but she sang with great ease. Second, "Loneliness is just a crime, look each other in the eye, And say hello-o-o-o-o, and say hello-o-o-o-o." This song was “Say Hello” by Sufjan Stevens. It was sung as a duet with another guy accompanying Mary Michael. Their voices complemented each other’s; however, I feel like she outshined his voice with depth and projection. I’m a fan of Sufjan Stevens with many of his albums; I was able to draw more of a connection to this song just because it was more relevant to my life. Third up to bat was “Stormy Weather” by Billie Holiday. “Can’t go on, ev’ry thing I had is gone, Stormy Weather, Since my man and I ain’t together, Keeps rainin’ all the time.” Another older song, but I still enjoyed it. She sang three other songs, but I was drawn to a song by Ingrid Michaelson. Porcelain Fists. “Looked in the bathroom stall, Your back against the wall, Cold tiles beneath your knees, Your body broke your fall, Spitting into your own reflection gazing back, Inside your porcelain fists, your palms begin to crack.” I enjoyed these lyrics and ultimately the song the most because she sang with them with passion, similar to the sound of Michaelson’s voice. I had heard Mary Michael’s voice down the hall once or twice, but I never realized how good she was; therefore, exceeding my expectations. Overall, she did a fantastic job by performing with her own twist, really making it unique to her, but at the same time, in touch with the music created and sung by other artists.

Twisted. Knotted. Tousled. Braided.

According to International Film Journal, Tangled was “utterly charming, visually sumptuous and often witty, this new 3D musical rendition of the old fairy tale about Rapunzel and her endless mane of flaxen hair will delight youngsters and teens while holding the attention of the more hair-challenged among audiences." Tangled, a new Disney film is based on the original story of Rapunzel, but with a twist. Even know the film was somewhat predictable being a kid’s movie, I truly enjoyed it. The plot was dramatic and intriguing. The film dealt with your emotions. One moment you would feel ecstatic, one moment you would want to cry, one moment you would be wrapped up in suspense, and all back again. The plot consisted of the typical Rapunzel story; the twist is first seen with her rescuer, Flynn Rider. He was in place of prince charming; however, in this story he was a thief with good looks. He takes her on an adventure to the castle. Ultimately, Flynn Rider and Rapunzel fall in love. Who would’ve thought? Anyways ending in a happily ever after. Not only was it romantic, but a comedy as well where I got a few giggles out of it. Next, I liked the characterization of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Who doesn’t love and pity Rapunzel? The writer and producer made her character very likable and round. She could sing, she was artistic; she was visually stunning with her golden hair, and her overall personality was a delight. Every little girl would strive to be like her. Her overall personality is adventurous and very innocent because she has been trapped in this hidden tower for 18 years of her life. The other character I liked was Flynn Rider, the thief. He represented kind of a bad boy and was handsome at the same time. At one point in the movie when he meets Rapunzel while being tied up, he tries to woe her with his “smolder”. His character adds humor to the film, which is refreshing. Next, the film was visually satisfying. I saw it in 3D and there were excellent special effects. For example, they mastered the movement of Rapunzel’s locks making her hair look realistic. Disney has come a long way from the movies I watched as a child. In conclusion, I would recommend this movie to all ages, even know it is directed to kids, it was overall a fun movie to watch.

Make Me Want to Dance

Rhythm. Technique. Feeling. Simon Shaheen. Shaheen is a talented Arab musician. I’ve never crossed paths with this type of music before; it definitely wasn’t something I was expecting. However, it was new and intriguing. At first, the music reminded me of that type of music you hear when you walk into a Greek restaurant that’s playing in the background. In the first song, Simon played the violin. He described the song to be based on a beautiful dancer. You could listen to the melody and envision this magnificent woman moving her body elegantly and smoothly. The music was raspy, deep, and sort of mysterious. This type of sound coming from the violin was unexpected, but I enjoyed it. Not only was Shaheen a talented musician, he also surrounded himself with others that possessed the same talent. The band was more than just an individual or the main performer, but a group, which was nice to see. This doesn’t always happen in pop culture bands we see today. They all worked harmoniously with each other. The group played instruments including a violin, oud, and some sort of flute, bass, drums, and tambourine. During this first song, the thought of Greek influence popped in to my head yet again. This mental picture of a Greek wedding appeared including people dancing in a circle, throwing dishes, and saying “opa” as an act of celebration. ODU! Finally the Oud made its first appearance. Simon in Spain composed this next song called “the Arch”. The music fused multiple different musical types like flamingo and African rhythm. The sound of the Oud was a delight to my ears. There were quick bursts of sound. His fingers were moving rapidly and I thought that it was extremely impressive because I know I could never do that. The feeling of wanting to dance overcame me. At that moment in time, I wished I could flamingo dance. This sparked this vision of a movie in Spain, like a romantic scene with sensual dancing between a man and woman. As the performance went on, the songs were upbeat and the tempo slowly quickened. There were periods of amazingly fast speed Oud playing. Overall, this was my favorite art series performance because it was something truly out of the ordinary.

Alice in Wonderland

Phyllis? The new Alice? This was my first thought as I walked into Sears Recital Hall. It was this woman sitting down with a miniature, apple red toy piano with pots and pans surrounding her. She appeared like a giant to the small instrument sitting before her, like Alice in multiple scenes throughout the story. In addition, in her introduction, she uses this comparison to Alice in Wonderland. Soon enough, the chiming began. At first, it was sort of magical. Who would’ve ever thought you could accomplish this type of noise with such a small instrument or that of a piano for that matter. However, as the performance went on, my opinion changed. The high-pitched chiming turned to pounding giving me quite the ongoing headache. The next element of the performance was the real piano. She used paper to create a different noise. Unfortunately, this sound wasn’t satisfying what so ever. The piece of paper rattled like static you would hear on the radio or a blank TV channel. In my opinion, the rest of this part sounded like bad horror music in an old movie. The music she was performing wasn’t exactly what I imagine when I think of classical music. In contrast, I did admire her passion for such an unusual instrument. She talked about her discovery and developed love of toy pianos with excitement. While she played, as part of the audience, I noticed she devoted all her energy to the music from the movement of her body, especially her head to the quickness of her fingers. You could tell she truly enjoyed what she was doing. Overall, when I think of toy pianos I imagine them to be like the one in the movie “Big” with Tom Hanks. In this movie, he moves and hops across these large keys on a huge piano on the floor and draws quite a crowd. Hank plays this character that is truly a big kid at heart; maybe Phyllis Chen is a kid at heart playing toy pianos as not only a job, but out of pure enjoyment.

Annotated Bibliography

Salvador Dalí.
"Salvador Dalí." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (2010): 1. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

This article provides a short bibliography of Salvador Dali’s life. It gives insight to his early childhood and other artists who inspired him throughout his life. With this understanding of his background, the reader understands why he was one of the leaders of the surrealist movement and how he developed his reputation. It also helps the reader to understand his personality that ultimately led to his downfall at the end of his life.

The Mad, Magnificent Salvador Dali.
Harmon, Melissa Burdick. "The Mad, Magnificent Salvador Dali." Biography 5.1 (2001): 106. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Dali’s love for art of all kinds began at a young age. Throughout this article, the author provides an insight into the life of Salvador Dali, specifically his childhood and his path towards international fame. People including, his mother, father, and his wife had a great influence in his life that allowed him achieve this fame. The author ends with the tragic end of his life. In addition, it begins to explain what Surrealism is and Dali’s influence on this movement.

The Grand Master of Surrealism Salvador Dalí.
"The Grand Master of Surrealism Salvador Dalí." USA Today Magazine 133.2720 (2005): 34-41. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Like the title, Salvador Dali is regarded highly in the art world. Dali is referenced as one of the most influential artists of his time and his success is described. This review highlights of the works of Salvador Dali and the exhibitions where his artwork was presented. His artwork changed the views on art, as people knew it and turned heads. This is how he became so well known. Also, it explains the importance Salvador Dali to other artists as a pure inspiration.

Analyzing Surrealist Madness Through the Poetry of Salvador Dalí
Rattray, Jacqueline. "Analyzing Surrealist Madness Through the Poetry of Salvador Dalí." Comparative Critical Studies 5.2 (2008), 207-220.

“Surrealist madness” is a main concept of this movement, focusing on the realms of all mental states to open new possibilities of art in the world. The author does not regard this concept as bad, but embraces it because of the inspirational works that were created out of this sense of madness. Like other artists, Salvador Dali possessed his type of madness. This article explains how it effected the Surrealist art movement. This madness was introduced through Dali’s art, especially his poetry. It describes the term of “paranoiac-critical method” and it’s role in Dali’s art in relation to “surrealist madness”.

The link between artistic creativity and psychopathology: Salvador Dalí
Murphy, Caroline. "The link between artistic creativity and psychopathology: Salvador Dalí." Personality and Individual Differences 46.8 (2009), 765-774.

What is the truth behind Salvador Dali’s “madness”? This article explores this concept and tries to rationalize it. However, this author finds this difficult because there’s little insight into the private life of Dali. The only means of this discovery exists in his art, autobiographies, and interviews with those who were close to him throughout his life.
In addition, it attempts to describe the craziness that Dali was famous for and its relationship to his creative works.

Dalí's Inauthenticity
Rothman, Roger. "Dalí's Inauthenticity." Modernism/modernity 14.3 (2007), 489-497.

According to Rothman, Dali's artwork opened the eyes of its viewers and the profound effect on art movements. His works based on his interest in "illusions, copies, and fakes" that are exclusive to his personality. Dali used modern techniques and traditional techniques and methods for his artwork. In addition, the author provides a critique of Dali and his artwork and how it ultimately changed art, as people knew it during this time period.

THE GREAT LATE Salvador Dalí.
Stolz, George. "THE GREAT LATE Salvador Dalí." ARTnews 104.2 (2005): 120-125. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

This article explains Salvador Dali rising reputation as an artist. The world possessed a growing interest in Dali’s work because it was so unlike what was expected during this time period. Throughout the novel, Stolz describes the works of Dali in detail. Also, it also explains his works and his influence on the development of Pop art in the 1960s.

THE SURREAL WORLD OF SALVADOR DALI
Meisler, Stanley. "THE SURREAL WORLD OF SALVADOR DALÍ." Smithsonian 36.1 (2005): 72-80. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

This article deals with the question if Salvador Dali was a "Genius or Madman?" It tries to differentiate between the two concepts. The "Genius" Meisler was referring to, relate to his talent and unique approach as an artist and to the magnificent works he created. In contrast, the "madman" concept directly relates to his unstable mental state that he was well known for. With his mental state, it allowed the world to take interest in the Dali's different outlook on the Surrealist movement.

Dalí (1904-1989): Psychoanalysis and Pictorial Surrealism.
Martínez-Herrera, Ma José, Antonio G. Alcántara, and Lorena García-Fernández. "Dalí (1904-1989): Psychoanalysis and Pictorial Surrealism." American Journal of Psychiatry 160.5 (2003): 855. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

These authors take us through the life of Salvador Dali and the ups and downs he faced, especially in his earlier years. They focus on his life to show its relation to his works. Aspects of Dali's life are used as deeper meanings in his artwork as forms of symbols like "a lion's head, a hook, grasshopper, and shells" plus many more. His artwork was presented in multiple exhibitions all over the world. Overall, the authors have respect for Dali because he was a "revolutionary contribution to surrealism".

Dali's dimensions.
Kemp, Martin. "Dali's dimensions." Nature 391.6662 (1998): 27. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Many artists attempted to understand Salvador Dali’s use of the fourth dimension, specifically in the ‘Corpus Hypercubus’ exhibition. This search for this new dimension was shared by not only different artists, but other “pioneers of modernism” including Charles Howard Hinton, a mathematician. The author states how Dali used this concept of the fourth dimension flawlessly.

DALI GOES TO REHAB.
Lacayo, Richard. "DALI GOES TO REHAB." Time 165.8 (2005): 59-60. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Salvador Dali was considered one of the best artists at the time. This works were considered to be “brilliant and durable”. However, this view of Dali changed overtime. This change was described as a decline on the quality and focus of his work because of this wild personality and unstable mental state. In addition, Lacayo showed his impact of the interpretations of Dali’s work in relation to postmodernism.

Dali's Folly
Kachur, Lewis. "Dalí's Folly." Art in America 91.10 (2003): 70. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

This article highlights the exhibitions, especially the Dream of Venus, of Salvador Dali in 1939. This exhibition was Dali’s attempt of a “rediscovery and revival” from his earlier works. The author describes the type of art that was displayed from the “liquid ladies” to the lobsters by using different techniques and materials. He showed how they contributed to the Surrealist movement.

Dali's Paranoia-Criticism or The Exercise of Freedom.
Finkelstein, Haim. "Dali's Paranoia-Criticism or The Exercise of Freedom." Twentieth Century Literature 21.1 (1975): 59. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Salvador Dali masterminded the concept of “paranoiac-criticism”. “Paranoiac-criticism” is based on irrational beliefs to make unthinkable art. Finklestein describes the impact and importance of this concept to the Surrealist movement. This concept is an important part of the books written by Salvador Dali and his views on it.

Displaying the Marvelous: Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali, and Surrealist Exhibition Installations (review)
Tashjian, Dickran,. "Displaying the Marvelous: Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali, and Surrealist Exhibition Installations (review)." Modernism/modernity 9.1 (2002), 193-194. Ohio Link Database. Web. 1 Nov. 2010.

This review highlights the "high pitch" of the Surrealist movement in the 1930s and the 1940s. It incorporates multiple Surrealist artists, especially Salvador Dali. The author talks about the Surrealist exhibitions and their unique value that were considered to be "ideological spaces." It states that Dali was well-known artist, but eventually he became obsessed with commercialism. At this time period, society was based on consumerism and media advertisement that Dali got caught up in leading to his downfall.

"New Skin, a New Land!": Dalí's American Metamorphosis
Pine, Julia. "“New Skin, a New Land!”: Dalí’s American Metamorphosis." ESC: English Studies in Canada 34.1 (2009), 37-58.

Pine views Salvador Dali’s autobiography, “The Secret Life”. She gives us insight into his life, which many were unaware of. “The Secret Life” gave the world information about his personal life, so they could begin to understand him better. In addition, it describes his works during Dali’s postsurrealsist, postavant-garde period and how they impacted the Surrealist movement.