Mount Hood

Art on campus: “Soliloquy”

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

In the first stairwell of Hamersly Library hangs an intricate tapestry that many students may not give a second glance. “Soliloquy” by Shelley Socolofsky has been living in the library since it opened its doors. The art piece was commissioned specifically for the library as a part of the Percent for Art program.

The Oregon Arts Commission started the Percent for Art program in 1975, when it applied only to Marion and Polk counties. The program legislates that any building with a budget of $100,000 or more must set aside one percent or more of their budget for public artwork. In 1977, the legislation took effect in all Oregon counties.

Shelley Socolofsky is currently based in Portland, Oregon. According to her website, shelleysocolofsky.com, “informed by long histories of textile production with its orientation to pattern and decoration, her work explores the material, conceptual and poetic nuances of ‘craft’ through a hybrid practice incorporating both digital technology and analogue hand processes.”

“Soliloquy” is a tapestry in Gobelin Tapestry style, a technique born from Les Manufactures des Gobelins in Paris and Uzes, France, where Socolofsky completed an apprenticeship. According to Hamersly Library’s website, Gobelins is a tapestry style that was developed during the middle ages in Europe from cloth making traditions developed over centuries.

“Part of why I like it so much is that it’s huge, and it represents so much work,” said Paula Booth, an art professor and director of the Cannon Gallery of Art in Campbell Hall, “I also find that it looks totally different when you’re standing at a distance.”

The tapestry features a woman whose head opens into a cloudscape. Flowing upward, clouds turn into tree branches and finally the top of the tapestry sits baby birds, mouths agape. The pieces represents the hunger for new knowledge, open-minded thinking and the search for new ideas. Woven behind the image of the woman are excerpts from an Anne Sexton poem; the words are very subtle and visible only at a semi-close distance. The tapestry captures the mission statement and vision of a library — the pursuit of knowledge and exposure to new ideas.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Youtube channel Girls Play features WOU alumnae

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

According to the 2016 census, Monmouth’s population is about 10,000 people. The Girls Play Youtube channel’s subscriber count currently sits at about 246,000, which is 24 times more people than the population of Monmouth.

Girls Play is a channel that has been building a following for six years. The group also has a considerable following on Twitch, a streaming channel where viewers can interact live with streamers. Many women have joined and left the channel over the years, but the current team is about 10 people. One of the original members, Larson, was working at Target and attending Western when the channel was born.

“One of my friends realized ‘hey, there’s no girls in this platform, and especially a group. How cool would it be if we could get a group of girls in this niche that’s starting to grow and see what we could do with it?’” said Larson.

The channel started in a bedroom, and in the beginning it was just a hobby. Larson commented that for the first four years, she was only recreationally making videos while also working and going to school. But as their following grew, it became a full time job.

“I’ve only been full time two-years with this,” Larson commented, “it was very hard. Even though we look big and professional now, it’s still a struggle and I don’t think a lot of people ever realize that the struggle at the beginning is real.”

Natalie Doerfler, a junior theater major at Western, joined the channel about a year ago.

“Now people are recognizing Youtube and Twitch as actual jobs and you get paid to do them,” Doerfler said.

Although maintaining the channel takes a lot of work, Natalie enjoys being able to do something she loves.

“It’s become about just hanging out with friends on a Youtube channel and on Twitch, and just being able to play video games,” commented Doerfler.

The Girls Play channel has videos on a diverse group of video games.

“We’re… variety, which was originally why we liked the idea of the girl group,” said Larson, “because you have so many different personalities, whereas a lot of channels especially are very solo focused.”

Specific challenges come along with being a group of women online in a Youtube genre that is dominated by men.

“There are gonna be the men who come into chat and talk about how much makeup you’re wearing and how distracting it is,” said Doerfler, “and then you’ll have another guy come into maybe a different stream where you’re wearing a little bit less makeup and they’ll judge you for how little makeup you’re wearing.” But, in the end, the girls say that the community they’ve built is worth everything.

“We are completely relying on the community to keep (the channel) going,” Larson said.

Doerfler said the most important thing about the channel to her was to engage with other women within the gaming community.

“I think it’s important to show men that, hey, this is happening and it’s okay for you to enjoy this as well,” said Doerfler. “I just want people to see that women are having fun with video games just as much as men.”

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Video courtesy of Chrys Weedon

Photo courtesy of Paul F. Davis

Folk musician John Gorka visits Western

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

John Gorka was born into the world of music in a small coffeehouse in Pennsylvania in the 1970s. The coffeehouse, Godfrey Daniels, was a hotspot for musicians and a place that Gorka frequented often, even living in the basement for a time. There at Godfrey Daniels, he met a myriad of musicians who inspired him and he quickly started writing his own music.

Gorka’s first album, “I Know,” was released in 1987. He released his 14th album on January 19, 2018.

Gorka visited Western on Jan. 18 as a visiting artist. As part of the Smith’s Fine Arts series, Gorka came to play his music and share the wisdom he has gathered through his years of making music and touring.

“Of course, I’ve been influenced by mainstream stuff. But I think of myself as something of an insider, and I have always felt that it was better to really strongly affect a small number of people, than to reach a big number of people only superficially or temporarily,” said Gorka in a story in the Huffington Post by journalist Brian D’Ambrosio.

Gorka’s songs are strongly characterized by the storytelling element. Each song takes the listener on a journey. Songs like “Mennonite Girl” and “Edgar the Party Man” are both examples that show off Gorka’s storytelling abilities. Along with his more structured, storytelling songs, Gorka has multiple pieces that are more funny and lighthearted, like “People my Age” and “Like my Watch.” On stage, Gorka is jovial, cracking jokes and telling stories about his travels and his music career.

Behind the scenes, however, Gorka is shy and subdued. Earlier in the afternoon on Friday, Jan 19, Gorka held a song writing workshop to impart his knowledge of the craft and share his writing techniques. He often deflected attention to his instruments and his songs.

“Personally, I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone,” commented Sage Kiernan-Sherrow, a junior pursuing an English degree with a literature concentration.

“What I got out of it was that you have to be comfortable forcing yourself to create even when you don’t want to,” said Kiernan-Sherrow, “and experimenting with your work when you’re stuck.”

The songs of John Gorka are clearly products of many different influences, but they all have a strong theme of honesty through each one of them. Each melody, each lyric, feels like a secret memory or poem. Gorka’s music can be found on Spotify and iTunes. His website can be found at johngorka.com.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Book review: “The Water Cure”

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

“If the men come to you, show yourself some mercy. Don’t stick around and wait for them to put you out of your misery.” These are the words of King, the caretaker and creator of a supposedly utopian compound in a world that is plagued by male violence and intense radiation. Here, with their mother, three women liver: Grace, Lia and Sky. King has vanished, apparently killed by the dangerous world outside.

Only Grace still has faint memories of the outside world. Lia and Sky were too young to know what the world is really like. Convinced from a young age that certain death awaited them beyond the borders of the compound, the girls stay with their mother and reminisce about the past, about the years when women would travel to them by sea to be healed.

In order to be cleansed, guests would endure different “therapies” of King’s own design. These included purging, being held underwater for as long as possible before drowning, and burning effigies representative of each woman’s trauma. These all led up to a final therapy — the water cure. For a final time, a woman deemed truly healed would be held underwater within an inch of drowning; if she survived, she was ready, and would travel back into the world.

Grace, Lia and Sky grew up enduring these therapies, all the while learning of the violent and chaotic nature of men, who would hurt you if they got the opportunity. When three men wash up on their shore, tensions rise and the sisters are forced to adapt to their new lives among them. When their mother disappears, the girls start to understand their own strength and capacity for desire.

Author Mackintosh’s descriptive ability and complex writing makes this novel intriguing. The many layers and metaphors in the novel deserve a comprehensive analysis. The distinctive voices of Grace and Lia, who take turns narrating the book, alternate so fluidly and naturally. Mackintosh clearly has a strong command of language. The fact that “The Water Cure” is her first novel is very promising.

Overall Rating: I would strongly recommend this book, but would advise caution. There is some imagery of abuse and sexual assault that could adversely affect some readers.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of penguin.co.uk

Student artist spotlight: Madeline Weinstein

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

Madeline Weinstein is a junior studying theater at Western Oregon. Originally hailing from Seattle, Washington, Weinstein didn’t have much enthusiasm for the idea of college after her graduation from high school.

“It’s really cheesy, but then I visited Western Oregon, I was very hesitant. And then I realized, this is a very friendly place. People are waving ‘hi’ to each other, even on the weekends,” Weinstein said.

After visiting Western, Weinstein knew she wanted to apply.

“My mom actually said something that is going to stick with me forever, and it’s: ‘pick a school where you feel comfortable walking into a room and feeling confident that someone would help you,’” commented Weinstein, “that was the deciding factor.”

Weinstein had plenty of acting experience when she started at Western. She acted in all twelve shows that her high school produced in her four years there. In fact, Weinstein’s main inspiration was her high school drama teacher. Because of that one teacher, she decided to get her bachelor’s degree in theater and then continue on to get her master’s degree in education.

Weinstein hopes to relocate back to Washington after graduating to teach high school drama; “I want to give back and inspire my high schoolers,” she remarked.

Since coming to Western, Weinstein has participated in multiple shows in a various number of capacities. As a first-year, she was responsible for the sound in Western’s production of “Shakespeare in Hollywood.” She has also been a part of paint crew, and has acted in one-acts and ten-minute plays.

“Even if I don’t get into the main stage shows, I know that there’s still a chance for me to act in the one-acts and the ten minutes,” said Weinstein.

Something that Weinstein loves about the theater program is that “they don’t always put the ‘perfect’ actors in there, they put people who they know can learn from the experience and… who can grow more.”

Overall, Weinstein’s experience in the artistic community at Western has been positive: “I’m not a number, I’m an actual person with a name.”

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Podcast Review: “Just Break Up”

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

If anyone could claim that they were addicted to podcasts, it would probably be me. I am a self-diagnosed podcast addict, and I have an endless supply at my fingertips; it seems like everyone and their mother has a podcast, and of course they do: everyone believes they have something important to say. I mean, I review stuff. I’m pretty much roasting myself here.

A recent addition to my arsenal of podcasts that I keep up with regularly is a show called “Just Break Up.” True to its title, the show tackles topics related to relationships, including friendships, familial relationships and romantic ones.

The first episode of the podcast was released on July 15, 2018. The two co-hosts are Sam Blackwell and Sierra DeMulder, two English majors based in Minnesota. Sierra DeMulder is also published poet and author of four books of poetry.

“Sierra and Sam hope to convey what they’ve learned throughout their own romantic journeys to bring comfort and support to others who might be going through similar situations,” said the podcast website, justbreakuppod.com.

Anyone can be endlessly validating, but that is not always healthy, and may even cause an unhealthy situation to continue. In my opinion, sometimes being stern while giving advice or expressing a perspective on an issue is key. My love of “Just Break Up” stems from the fact that Sam and Sierra manage to be validating while also being brutally honest. The co-hosts accept submitted letters from listeners and formulate thoughtful responses providing advice and support.

“They’re affirming and validating, but not to the point where they’re making excuses for the way we can act badly about relationships,” said Western alumna Danielle Durand, who introduced me to the podcast. “I learn something new about myself every time… And I find myself looking forward to Mondays every week now.”

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of justbreakuppod.com

Rainbow Dance Theater

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

On the evening of Friday, Jan.11, students and community members alike packed into Rice Auditorium to experience the Rainbow Dance Theater. The RDT has been performing at Western since the year 2000, after the dance company moved from Honolulu, Hawaii, where it was founded.

Friday’s performance consisted of two separate dances, each telling a separate and unique story. Both dances were choreographed by Valerie Bergman and Darryl Thomas.

Act one, titled “Origins,” follows the development of life on Earth, starting within the darkness of the deep ocean. The audience witnesses the birth of single-celled organisms and their metamorphosis into more complex multi-celled beings and eventually primitive humans. The whole first act is submerged in complete darkness, with performers illuminated with suits of light. This type of dance is called “iLumiDance” by the dance company.

Act two, “The Garden of Earthly Delights” is a dance that was performed at the Spring term 2018 dance concert.

“Both music composition and choreography were inspired by the eponymous early 16th-century triptych by Hieronymus Bosch,” explained the program. This piece was set to an original scored by Leroy Osmon that was commissioned by the Salem Concert Band to be performed in early 2018.

This second act opens with Eve in the paradise that is the Garden of Eden. The audience follows as Eve loses her innocence, meets various animals and magical beasts and travels with Noah through the great flood. Throughout the dance, Eve is introduced to a world filled with eroticism and animal lust.

The end of act two sees Eve reappear, transformed into a peaceful and strong figure bringing the hope of peace and beauty in the chaotic world that was displayed throughout the performance.

Since its inception, the Rainbow Dance Theater has toured the globe, performing on multiple continents and throughout the United States. During a regular touring season, the RDT performs over 60 concerts. According to the concert program: “The Company celebrates diversity with its virtuosic style that fuses West African Dance, Haitian Dance, Hip Hop, Martial Arts with American Modern Dance.”

Earlier in the day on Jan. 11, the RDT gave a special performance for around 200 students aged from kindergarten through eighth grade. This interactive concert was performed as a part of the Smith Fine Arts’ Education Outreach initiative. The young students participated in a special demonstration that showed them how STEM processes are used to create new technologies within the dance world. A number of students were given the opportunity to create their own dance with a light-wire puppet.

RDT’s most recent performance is innovative kinesthetically and creatively. The technical complexity of the first act is truly amazing, as is the skill level of the dancers. Although the second act is a dance that Western has seen before, it is still just as complex and interesting as the 2018 performance.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

 

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