Gallery artist and musical performance by Clare E. Rojas as Peggy Honeywell
4:00 p.m. Thursday, February 2, 2006 @ Ulrich Museum (Wichita State University)
The gallery was full of paintings…simply full. I was surprised they didn't display any on the ceiling. There were many colors. They all fit within their own context, in fact, they made their own theme altogether, yet each one holding a separate story. Their theme felt folkish mixed with Native American with a hint of 1960's psychedelic stretching into postmodern. Simple and repetitive patterns created the textures in the paintings; otherwise, they were left flat and two-dimensional, often utilizing flat, homogenous colors for backgrounds or articles of clothing. The people and animals were composed of shapes usually, most familiar and basic, but others more abstract. Again, there was much repetition; the paintings as a whole would create patterns more evident from afar.
A recurring element was a multicolored triangle portruding from the woman's bosom, often penetrating, even skewering, men. I saw this particular element representative of the interaction of the woman's inner being with the world. The men were often naked, which I think exposed the subjects of the painting. Though I was allowed to see their flesh, I was invited to look at their souls, at their emotions. This feeling was further supported by the detail with which the faces were drawn. Honeywell used detail sparsely, and in doing so, really wielded it as a strong tool. So when it was there, I paid attention.
Honeywell unpacked an acoustic guitar and sang to it. Her fingers played the basic chords a student would first learn, but she played them the way a folk singer would, not too much strumming, but finger picking and steady rhythms. The guitar was just audible, especially when she sang. The volume contrast was appropriate, artistically and practically.
In my interpretation, she sang of the stories her paintings depicted, simple life, feelings, and life in general. The last song she sang was an old hymn, elegantly reworked for the guitar. Someone in the crowd asked her if it was real to her, to which she responded with something like: it's as real I sing about it. I got to ask her myself and she said she believes in goodness, which is something she found in the hymn. I also asked her about her paintings and her use of textures and designs. She's had a formal education in the arts, but mostly she said she paints what she wants to, which says to me that her tools are subsequent, but her art is heart-felt.
P.O.D., Pillar, Chariot, and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster Concert
7:00 p.m. Thursday, May 13, 2006 @ Cain's Ballroom, Tulsa, Ok
The place was bigger than it looked. With all the buildings indistinguishable old, brick buildings on the outside, Cain's Ballroom opened up into a large room with a considerable-size stage and wooden floors. A few staggered bleachers lined the two opposing walls adjacent to the stage; it was obvious danced were held here often.
The first band, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, jumped onto the stage rather quickly, without much warning, and immediately jumped into their first song. Being a hard rock band, the opening note was reminiscent of being awaken in the middle of the night by a crash of lightning, except I liked it. I'm guessing most people there felt likewise since they bought tickets for a rock concert.
I had seen Maylene before, so I was familiar with their music and their sound. Someone different was obviously mixing for them, and the sound wasn't very clear. The vocals were garbled and distorted, and I couldn't hear one of the guitarists. I didn't hear the parts I expected to, there was only someone playing guitar with no sound. The last time I saw them, they seemed to have more energy. Then again, they were the opening band of a concert of four; it's understandable that they seemed rushed and a bit stiff. I still enjoyed seeing them live again.
Chariot was the only band I had not heard before. In a music theory class in high school my professor told the students that music is organized noise. Chariot was music. I've heard some weird, thrashy stuff, but this was the most chaotic I've ever encountered. As they entered the stage, a recording was played over the system, something of an old sci-fi movie narration. That lasted at least a full minute, which is a significant amount of time at concerts, before they began to play. The band didn't seem sychronized, but the instruments always seemed to know where each other were going and ended up together for the high points. It was hard for me to find a progression in the songs, elements like rising actions and climax were as indescernable to me as the buildings outside. However, dynamics were very present and utilized well.
I remember seeing Pillar at my high school, before they had a record contract, back when rapped to their rock. They unleashed a couple new songs, and I do mean unleashed; they were fast and brutal, something I never thought I'd say about Pillar. They handled it well, though. I've seen bands like Pillar try to venture into the darker and faster, and sound like they couldn't keep up with themselves, or appear to suddenly regress in their ability to play their insturments. That didn't happen here. The notes were solid, precise. You could still follow the melody without having to listen real hard like many hard rock bands do. The extensive sound check was worth it.
The headliner was a first for me. I've heard many of P.O.D.'s songs on the radio, but never seen them. The singer had dreads to his backside, and I think the rest of the band was trying to catch up. They started strong, and ended strong, but the middle dwindled a bit. They sat back and played some reggae style songs, which they performed with precision and fun, but came off as a strong contrast to the rock concert atmosphere. They played a popular song called "Youth of the Nation," a tune whose lyrics confront the reality of life's delicacy and fragility through stories of tradegy and disfunctional lives that could have been prevented. Prior to playing it, they asked for children to come up on stage, an invitation to which maybe 20-30 responded. It was a heart warming experience as well as an enjoyable song.
For the last song, the singers of the other bands joined P.O.D. I had not heard this particular song, but it was a good one to go out on. Full of intensity, everyone was chanting the lyrics to it, even the bricks on the walls: I won't back down; I will not be knocked down. It was the high energy fix everyone came for.
