Thursday, March 29, 2012

Durwood in Denton With Another Way Our Universities Intelligently Use Money.

The UNT Art Galleries and the UNT Institute for the Advancement of the Arts (IAA) have partnerned to host visual artist Nick Cave as the 2011-2012 Artist in Residence, commissioning Cave to create a new work of public art at the University of North Texas. Internationally recognized for his Soundsuits and for working with communities to choreograph public performances, Cave is creating a new performance piece to take place on campus in March. The piece, titled Heard, involves 30 horses running through the grounds, being corralled by 50-100 percussionists, and breaking apart into 60 hybrid beings that move in increased improvisation. The creation of the horse suits, choregraphy, musical score and performance are the result of Nick Cave's collaboration with UNT students, faculty, and staff and the surrounding community.


15 comments:

  1. When I was a graduate student, I had often wondered if my instructors ought to be drug-tested.

    This sort of makes me wonder all over again.

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  2. Or perhaps the organizer is trying to initiate another McDonald's vs HR Puff 'n Stuff copyright lawsuit.

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  3. Somehow, I know there's a way to combine this with the idea that governing faculty is like herding cats.

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  4. Yes, art is clearly a waste of money. Whenever I start to think that, I try to remember what most people think of my field.

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  5. Damn, at first I thought that the Artist in Residence was Nick Cave the musician. That would have been cool.

    I had never heard of Nick Cave the artist before. While this particular piece of performance art is not really my thing, I'm not going to dismiss it as a waste of money just because I, personally, don't find it especially appealing.

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  6. I don't think this post is about the value of art. I'd bet a large school like UNT has a giant group of adjuncts who'd love to spend the afternoon in horsey outfits instead of sharing cubes and running off to the prison to teach night classes to make rent.

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  7. How many fellow SLAC grads saw the photo and thought "oh, god, please don't let this be something stupid at my alma matter" before they continued reading?

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    1. I knew it wasn't mine because those fur things looked too well-made.

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  8. Wow, this looks wonderful! I would love it if the music department were doing this on my campus.

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    1. I would honestly like to see this. I appreciate a good spectacle, even if I don't "get" the meaning.

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  9. I still can't see horses in that photo.

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    1. The blurb mentions the horses breaking apart at some point, so maybe that picture is only showing the "rears"

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    2. A bunch of horse's rearends running about campus? By God! It *is* art!

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  10. I am familiar with Nick Cave's work (both of them, in fact, but I mean the visual artist) and his stuff is really cool. It seems to be an article of faith for many Miserians that the humanities are important in teaching students to think outside their "bubble;" couldn't the same be true for something like this? I for one would love to see it.

    TL;DR What Ursula said.

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