The "Other" Artist

Lots of people live in New York City, it seems. I always knew it, I guess. Lots of people on the subway like bumper bowling at every station. Skyscrapers and Yankee fans. But, the APAP trip convinced me of its enormity. The people in this city create the largest audience for the arts in the world. This means a lot of things for the arts in New York. It means that the institutions can charge exorbitant ticket prices and still sell seats. It means that Bruce Springsteen can sell out a week at Madison Square Garden. But, it also means that there is a huge population of weirdos that consistently consume the avant-garde, the experimental, the "out". I use the term "weirdos" neither positively or negatively. It's just who they are- who we are?

Well, a quick list of some of the shows I saw this weekend may clear up the weird definition. Wednesday evening was The Asphalt Orchestra (http://asphaltorchestra.com/). They are a marching band- well, they look and act like a marching band. At the brand new Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, in a room with vines covering the walls, The Asphalt Orchestra did not play Hail To The Victors or any other fight songs. Instead, they marched the audience around the room and played transcriptions of Frank Zappa, Tyondai Braxton, and many others. They were talented, fun, interactive but, most definitely, weird. Thursday night was The Devil You Know (http://www.undertheradarfestival.com/index.php?p=27). A beautiful piece of puppet theater, the play was based on the 1937 short story, "The Devil and Daniel Webster". A show about a man selling his soul to the devil and Daniel Webster winning it back, it was dark, creepy, extremely engaging, and weird. Friday night was Trajal Harrell's "Twenty Looks or Paris Is Burning At the Judson Church (S)" at the New Museum (http://www.newmuseum.org/events/418). A solo dance piece, Harrell attempts to tell the story of what would have happened had the early postmodern dance artists allowed the African Americans dancing in the ballrooms uptown to participate in the dance scene downtown. An interesting question, Harrell explores the idea through the lens of a one man fashion show. Intimately and subtly, Harrell changed clothes and expressions- in his onstage dressing room- 30 times over the 60 minute show. Weird. The list continues throughout the weekend with dance showcases, theater performances, world music acts, and jazz club sets. And, at every show I went to, the house was full and the crowd seemed to be loving it.

I cannot always connect with the extremely "out" performances- someday maybe I will be deep enough- however, this weekend I found a deep appreciation for the importance of performance space and audience for the "other" artist. Is he welcome in Ann Arbor? Where's his home? Who cares?

By: Bennett Stein
UMS Intern