In Real Life 5:
The Musical
a Review by Bob Angilly
One of the advantages of the more static forms of art, (painting, sculpture, the written word, etc.) is that once you've finished your piece, you can put it somewhere, on a wall, in a book or just somewhere other than inside yourself (which is, after all where all this comes from), take a few steps back from it. There is still an emotional attachment, after all you created it, but once it's been created it assumes a life of its own, and you can look at it more objectively. You care about what people say about it, but its in the past, and you are already focused on the next creative project. If you're like me, you also have the good sense not to let anyone look at it until you get it just the way you want it, correct all the mistakes, or most of them anyway, and if it turns out to be a total embarrassment you can invoke plausible denial and send the wretched thing to be exhibited in the nearest land fill.
Performance art is not like that. You can prepare and rehearse and try to work out all the bugs beforehand but you always end up face to face with your audience. Each performance is a newly made work of art, and the audience reaction is always immediate, sometimes even before the piece is finished. You can juggle those balls until your arms ache but you're still going to drop one every now and again. Rehearsal won't make the act perfect, it will just make the odds a little more in your favor. Accidents can always happen, and you can't help but be aware of this when you perform. You may suddenly forget the third verse of that old song everybody knows by heart and have to scat sing your way to the chorus. You're costume may fail you as you're trying to hit that high note at the end of the National Anthem (this recently happened to a popular television star--made all the more embarrassing in that the audience roared with appreciation). When you're out in front of people you can't help but wonder how many picked that night to clean the old fruits and vegetables out of their refrigerator. It takes a rare breed of courage to perform in front of people, even more so when there's not a bus waiting outside to take you to the next town, because the audience all know you, and work side by side with you, and the one thing you know for certain is that THEY WILL NEVER LET YOU LIVE THIS DOWN.
This year, for the fifth celebration of In Real Life, there will be musical performances during the reception Thursday, August 7th. An acappella group, consisting of Ria Spencer, Mimi Truslow, Karen Dechman, Desiree Goodwin, and Barbara Lyonswill perform some popular songs including Lean on Me, Rockin'Robin, and Wake Up Little Susie. This will be the first time they will have performed together, but the harmony is coming together after just one brief rehearsal session, and their interesting blend of different voices and musical styles should be entertaining. Edna van Saun will also give a solo performance on the piano (this was unavailable for preview). Hopefully, this is the beginning of a new In Real Life tradition, and the performance part of the show will expand in future years.
In an effort to insure complete objectivity on my part, Kevin has been kind enough to have all the lights removed from the exhibition space. Art in the Dark--what a concept. It's clear to me, the GSD, is very like an elephant--sorry, I promised not to do poetry this year.
This year's In Real Life contributors are:
Barbara Lyon has photographed some of her painted furniture and wall designs. There is a whimsical painted table she created for her sons, and a top piece she designed for an antique dresser. There are also wall designs for a bathroom, painted with pea green paint, lots of water and plastic shopping bags instead of brushes, which create a nice textured effect. And a blue wall with long billowing clouds (which Barbara promises are not smoke, but I would check the batteries in the smoke detector just to be on the safe side). She also has two textured paintings in thick acrylic designed to be touched.
Minerva Smith has some new paintings and some which have appeared in previous In Real Life exhibitions. There are various styles and materials explored here, from comic book fantasies, to the surreal, to a charming portrait of her son asleep on the grass. There are knights and dragons and Superman's cape all done very imaginatively in acrylic, charcoal and water color.
Desireé Goodwin has two new poem. Night on the Nile is a tale of a baby in a basket (similar to the story of Moses and his mother) but told from the perspective of both the mother and child. The Journey is a claustrophobic tale of a trip through one's inner self and confronting the demons we all have inside us. She also has a collection of Desireé's Designs. Like Barbara Butler she has been spending some quality time in the Bead Shop on Church St. and has created a variety of earrings using various textures of beads and little twists of wire, and has included some of her earliest efforts (including a pair she made for her sister.).
Christine LaFleur has exhibited three black and white photos of the Tilt-a-Whirl at Pirates Fun Park in Salisbury, Mass. Together they give a sense of the exhilaration and motion of the ride. This is a fun ride, I remember it well, and still get a little dizzy thinking about it.
Josephine Louis has exhibited six black and white photos taken during past travels. There's a Ferris wheel in Paris, an alleyway in Vienna, a very interesting street lamp in Salzberg, the front of a cathedral in Nantes, a water tower in Czechoslovakia, and a large glass skyscraper in New York. These all seem very familiar despite their far away locales.
Liz Gianakos from the Joint Center for Housing has something she calls Videos in Progress which was unavailable for preview.
Mimi Truslow has brought us one large watercolor, instead of several smaller ones. I always thought she just painted on rainy or foggy days, but in Despite the Wind the sun is shining on a rolling hillside, with huge puffy clouds in the background. It is colorful and soothing and reminiscent of more relaxing times.
John Driscoll will return to In Real Life with another of his marble sculptures. I was unable to preview this piece before the show. John will set it up on Saturday, and was not entirely sure which one he would bring.
Barbara Butler has displayed the new line of Barbara's Beaded Beauties. Including earrings, pins, necklaces, a ring, a pair of Texas bolo ties all displaying an imaginative use of beads and twisted wire. Like Desireé's Designs these (and others just like them) can be purchased from the artist. After all, thanks to the UPS strike you can't rely on Home Shopping Club.
Doug Cogger has a collection of digital images called At the Office. Six photographs captured with a digital camera, downloaded in Photoshop and printed with something called a dyesublimination printer. I don't know what one of those is but I would not be at all surprised if there are satanic messages which you can't quite see unless you look at it at a certain angle and under pink florescent lights (assuming we finally get the lights back).
Bob Angilly will once again provide the raw material for paper hats, or you can roll this review into a cone, which can hold a great deal of popcorn and other snacks so you don't have to keep running out to the food table to refill your plate during the musical part of the evening.
In August 1998 we will have In Real Life 6: the Extreme Competition. Yes, John Driscoll will attempt to bungee jump from the Weeks Footbridge with one of his sculptures tied to his leg. Mimi Truslow will paint a watercolor while treading water the deep end of the Blodgett Pool. Doug Cogger will attempt to photograph oncoming trains, and I will attempt to compose my review using the Beta version of Microsoft Word 99, and no manual. And if there are not sufficient volunteers for the musical part of the program, we have a karaoke machine and we know how to use it. Yes indeed, Art can be dangerous.
Previous In Real Life reviews and other generally nifty and highly relevant to the GSD stuff can be found at Bob Angilly's home page (I have to say things like this to disguise the fact that my home page is just another shameless electronic vanity press). Just point your favorite browser to: