The Family Fang – Kevin Wilson

Where to draw the line is a question of moral dispute that incites many debates and rarely offers answers. The line is close for some people, far for others, and sometimes even nonexistent. What line you may ask? ‘That line.’ The one you forget exists until you dangerously cross it. In jokes ‘the line’ is a subject of constant debate. What is ‘too far’ within the realm of humor? In art, ‘the line’ is often blurry, wavy, or just not there, sparking many debates as well. In 1971 Chris Burden was shot in the arm by a friend as a part of an art piece entitled “Shoot.” In 2007 Guillermo Vargas starved a dog, tied it to the wall, and burned pieces of crack cocaine and marijuana as part of his art show “N° 1.” In 2008 Aliza Shvarts claimed to have artificially inseminated and aborted multiple of her own fetuses over the course of a year as part of her senior performance art project at Yale University. Do these art works cross ‘the line’? Or, does tacking the word ‘art’ onto something controversial make it acceptable?

In a class at Columbia College Chicago, the students were given a list of ethically questionable actions and asked to come to a consensus and organize the list from least ethical to most ethical. During the ensuing debate, the topics that the class had the most difficulty deciding on were the topics which included the word art. Was standing on an American flag as part of an art piece ethical? Was using aborted fetuses as a medium acceptable in the name of art? Although ‘the line’ in art is unlikely to be defined soon or ever, the topic is still one of considerable discussion and is addressed in Kevin Wilson’s new novel, The Family Fang.

Wilson’s first novel follows the life of the Fang family, a couple of performance artists and their children. The story unfolds in the present with every other chapter being a flashback description of a piece of art produced by the Fang family. Camille and Caleb Fang, the matriarch and patriarch of the Fang clan have a very unique view of what art is and they often carried out their acts without regard for the wellbeing or future sanity of their children.

The book begins when the children are grown and trying to cope in the real world after a childhood full of bizarre works of art in which they were forced to participate. Annie Fang is an aspiring actress holding a lot of resentment for her less than normal childhood. Buster Fang is a struggling freelance journalist by day and a novelist by night. When Annie becomes involved in several tabloid scandals and is kicked out of her movie and Buster is shot in the face with a potato gun and uses his last cent on the medical bills, the Fang children are forced to return home to their parents and their artistic antics. Soon after they return, Camille and Caleb Fang go missing and Annie and Buster are forced to investigate their disappearance. Are the Fang parents actually missing or are they in the midst of a piece of art? The stress that the disappearance puts on the siblings suggests that if this is art, this piece has definitely crossed the line.

 Everything about the plot and the characters in The Family Fang are completely absurd, but to the great entertainment of the reader. These absurdities are only accentuated by the descriptions of the art produced by the Fangs in the alternating chapters. Wilson must have been a performance artist in his past life because the book is entirely filled with completely strange ideas for art pieces centering on the Fang philosophy of art: chaos is beauty. While providing a reason to laugh, the flashback descriptions also add depth to the characters especially Annie and Buster who are constantly dealing with their past and who find themselves unable to disentangle themselves from their strange and scarring childhood. With the goal of ultimate chaos, Camille and Caleb devised numerous performances which incorporated Annie and Buster starting when they were only infants, these works ultimately resulted in complete turmoil and occasionally arrest. As you can imagine, a childhood filled with forced performance art participation led to some serious mental and character flaws in the Fang children which provides the backdrop for the unfolding mystery of the Fang disappearance.

While the plot of the story never fails to entertain, the book loses some resonance because of its complete absurdity. The underlying themes of family bonds and sibling relationships are completely overshadowed and made not relatable by the fact that the Fang family is most certainly one of a kind. Not many people find themselves forced to dress in drag to overthrow a beauty pageant or asked to eat hundreds of jelly beans off the floor of a candy shop. Though these events will no doubt provide a laugh, the deeper and more subtle elements of the novel are buried under these farces. At the root, The Family Fang is about overcoming trying pasts and about family relationships, that is if you can find it through the chaos of the Fang pranks that consume the book.

Part mystery, part art book, part romance, part family history, The Family Fang is a circus run by a crazy person. It may be completely unrealistic, it may be insanely bizarre, but it is sure to be enjoyable. There is no doubt that after reading this book you will begin to ponder ‘the line’ and, in fact, the very meaning of the word art.

Rafaël Rozendaal

http://www.newrafael.com/websites/

How many hours do we spend surfing the web endlessly, searching for something to fill our time? How much time do we spend watching pointless videos, scrolling through random websites, reading random memes? The answer is billions and billions of hours. The beautiful (or possibly terrible) thing about the internet is that we will never run out of sites to scroll and videos to watch because for every hour we spend procrastinating millions more things are being uploaded to the internet. Visual artist Rafaël Rozendaal has taken advantage of our attention on the internet to create a new genre of art. Combining pop art elements with web design Rozendaal has a collection of over fifty websites created simply as pieces of art. Whether or not these websites are actually art could be debated, whether or not they are entertaining cannot be questioned. Each website consists of a simple page with a shape or image. Some move reminiscent of iTunes visualizer, some manipulate the cursor and some have interactive elements. All are displayed simply and under enigmatic web addresses.

            Rozendaal is a Dutch-Brazilian artist who has been creating these websites since 2001 and they receive over 15 million views per year. Some of his websites such as flamingcursor.com are very straight forward. This website consists of a plain black screen with your white cursor which when moved about, emits flames. Other sites are more abstract such as everythingyouseeisinthepast.com which consists of a screen of shifting shapes and patterns. In the same way as the content, the style of art changes in many websites. Some sites such as papertoilet.com are very pop art-y in style and this particular page depicts a simple roll of toilet paper. Others center more on shape and color rather than literal things.

            In some ways Rozendaal’s work could be categorized with the hundreds of pointless iPhone apps like the applications that just show a crackling fire or the thousands of eye pleasing screen savers, but in some sites, Rozendaal accesses something deeper and darker. Fataltotheflesh.com requires the mouse holder to click and drag lines onto a white screen. The red lines that appear reveal themselves to be bleeding cuts which drip blood down the screen. In brokenself.com the viewer clicks the screen to shatter a mirror into hundreds of shards

            While this art may be abstract in making a statement or identifying itself in the traditional art sense, there is no doubt that Rozendaal has created a unique and completely relevant something. His medium of the internet is sure to gather viewers and the bizarreness of the titles of the works suggest something more than just procrastination entertainment. What that is will surely be determined by one of the millions of people who stumble upon the sites during a daily stroll through the internet. So next time you’ve got some time to kill skip over Facebook and Tumblr and check out Rafaël Rozendaal’s web art.

Covert Affairs

 

I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the republic which is plagued by Russian spies and dangerous assassins, but protected by our heroic CIA agents who tackle our enemies wearing red high heels. In the age of patriotism, USA’s Covert Affairs has captured our minds with high speed car chases, sexy spies, and all in the name of America the beautiful. The writing may be subpar, the acting mediocre, but Covert Affairs knows how to entertain.

            Covert Affairs Pilot starring Piper Perabo as the daringly beautiful Annie Walker, first aired July 13, 2010 and will continue with its third season this summer. Annie Walker is a language genius finishing up her time in CIA training at ‘the farm’ when she is suddenly and mysteriously summoned to Langley, the CIA head quarters. Annie’s language expertise is needed to gain intelligence from a Russian contact and Annie is thrown head first into the world of a spy. As she works her first assignment she encounters assassins, bureaucratic monsters, friendly blind men, deceiving ex convicts, and over protective siblings. This special two hour episode has it all: high speed car chases, hand to hand combat, frightening shoot outs, under cover call girls, and don’t forget the romance.

            Layering selfless patriotism with straight up badass, Annie Walker is at the crux of Covert Affairs. Men and women alike can appreciate Perabo’s style. The Pilot is peppered with scenes for just such an audience: Annie valiantly jumping out of a plane while her male colleagues look on in fear, Annie seducing her way out of interrogation with the FB I, Annie catapulting turnstiles in chase of a dangerous foreigner while wearing five inch heels, Annie driving her red car like a NASCAR stunt driver in escape of a sketchy black car following her. If Annie isn’t to your taste then you’re sure to find someone you like. There’s the loveable techie Auggie, blinded in Iraq, who always has a joke and a piece of advice, and who is, let’s be frank, pretty darn good looking. There’s Arthur and Joan, big bosses in the CIA and using their CIA privileges and under cover knowledge to ensure that they aren’t cheating. There’s the sneaky Liza Hearn, a journalist leaking intelligence secrets. And of course Annie’s mysterious love interest who vanishes suddenly from their bed of new and passionate love, leaving only a note.

            The episode starts with Annie’s polygraph for entry into the CIA and we are introduced through flashbacks to Annie’s tumultuous love affair in Sri Lanka which, after ending so abruptly, leaves Annie hardened and ready for a life of secrecy and dedication to her country. Back in the present Annie is summoned to Langley, given a fake cell phone enabled to synch with the cell phone of a Russian asset and a DC call girl outfit. When the operation goes wrong Annie gets in trouble with her strict boss Joan, and is forced to take initiative to solve the problem herself.

            While we will never know what truly goes on inside the highly guarded CIA headquarters, we can guess that undercover missions do not usually unfold with such slow motion glamour, that paper work is not actually done so infrequently, and the head of the Domestic Protection Division does not actually get to wear such low cut dresses. Despite this unreality and the somewhat cheesy writing, Covert Affairs has surely persuaded numerous budding Americans, that the CIA is a job of intrigue and excitement again in the name of good ‘ol America.

            This high budget, high profile TV show has action and glamour going for it, and that is the way it is going to have to continue. To stay successful Covert Affairs will have to continue wowing us with high speed chases, complex CIA lingo, and the perilous state of our national security. With the current nuclear mindset, USA network will have no problem keeping us on our toes and even convincing us to give our life for our country, or more likely, our life in search of a thrilling spy lifestyle in which leaping from planes in tight skirts is the norm and there is liberty and justice for all.

Aqua Tower

           For over a hundred years now, men have been asserting their masculinity by raising phallic structures high into the sky. From the Empire State building in 1931 to the Willis (Sears) tower in 1974, to the Burj Khalifa in 2009, the architects who designed these buildings surely must be the manliest of men. But in Chicago, in 2010, a building was completed and this building was designed by a woman. A woman? Design a skyscraper? Impossible. Well, it is in fact very possible, but height is not the most important feature of Jeanne Gang’s Aqua tower. Though the structure is eighty-two stories and 859 feet tall, its size blends in with the many other tall buildings in the loop lake front area of Chicago. Unlike her male counterparts, Gang was not asserting her dominance, but instead creating a unique work of art.

            The outside of Aqua tower appears, just as the name suggests, aquatic. The entire surface of the building seems to ripple like the waves of Lake Michigan only two blocks away. The curvatures of the protruding balconies are reminiscent of Antonio Gaudi’s Casa Milá. Each floor of the Aqua has a unique balcony design which extends out from the building in a range of lengths from one to twelve feet. The pattern of all the balconies combined with the shimmering blue glass, makes the building appear to undulate.

            Aqua tower designed by Jeanne Gang and Studio Gang architects had its ground breaking in 2006. The building took four years to complete and opened in November of 2010.The cost of the project was over 475 million dollars. The building is now home to a hotel, luxury apartments and condominiums, street level retail space, a track, and a huge rooftop garden.

            No matter what is now housed inside the building, the Aqua tower is an artistic structure which reflects the nearby Lake Michigan and Chicago River as well as fitting in with the surrounding architecture. Aqua tower is distinctive in its design yet not too distinct that it disrupts the flow of the Chicago skyline. In some ways this blending is an important aspect of architecture, but if you are looking for the most innovative design the Aqua blends in a bit too much, especially when viewed from a distance where the wiggling balconies are hard to see. From afar the Aqua can seem like just another tall glassy box surrounded by dozens of tall glassy boxes.

            The shape of the building, the practicality of the balconies, and the environmental friendliness of the building are all topics of disagreement in regards to the Aqua, but all of these are discussed through the lens of gender. The Aqua, being designed by a woman, has been put under further scrutiny and Jeanne Gang has been applauded as if she just accomplished a feat that men mastered a hundred years ago. But we must see beyond these practicalities; architecture is another form of art and the Aqua is a creative architectural addition to the Chicago lakefront skyline.

Black Dogs by Jason Buhrmester

           Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, the catch phrase of the 1960s and 70s, life is good as long as you’ve got some girls, some drugs, and plenty of good music. If this phrase were actually the truth and if perhaps you were having sex, on drugs and listening to rock and roll, ‘Black Dogs’ by Jason Buhrmester could possibly be an enjoyable book, if this is not your situation, don’t bother reading it.

            “Black Dogs,” published in 2009, tells the fictional tale of four young criminals who pull off the famous theft of over 200,000 dollars from the British rock band Led Zeppelin. This book can be summed up quite simply; ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’ gives a fairly accurate picture of the book. If this does not satisfy your curiosity here is a more thorough overview of the plot: four teenage drop outs decide to rob Led Zeppelin. They run into some trouble with the law and a motorcycle gang. They get out of trouble. Now that you have it there’s no need to read the book. There is nothing more juicy, emotional or interesting in the pages of “Black Dogs” than there was in the last few sentences of this review.

            This entire book is marked by a complete lack of emotional depth. The characters are so entirely bland and stereotypical the reader never even begins to feel any attachment or interest in their wellbeing. This causes problems when the plot relies on the reader’s interest to create excitement or suspense when the characters are in a sticky situation. Instead of caring you just wish everyone would hurry up and get arrested and go to jail for life so you can stop wasting your time reading the rest of the book. If you have no obligation to read this book, the writing will give you no incentive to finish reading it so just put it down, you won’t lose any sleep

wondering what happens in the end, you already know before you finish reading the back cover.

            Throughout the book there are many potentials for excitement and set ups for suspense or action. Each time there is a set up for excitement the emotions never become tangible and the event blows past without notice. In the beginning of the book the narrator, Patrick, returns from New York to Baltimore to see his friend who was just released from prison. Patrick is the reason why his friend was in jail and it seems there may be some tension between them. Instead Patrick is instantly forgiven and they go straight to work on their plot to steal Led Zeppelin’s money. Each time you become hopeful that something exhilarating will happen, the emotional distance of all the characters and the didactic writing kills the mood and leaves the reader once again bored. Even the absurd scenes such as a massive riot at the carnival between the carnival workers and an extreme Christian motorcycle gang don’t stir any excitement.

            In between these set ups the book flies by in a forgettable and easy to read series of descriptions of the ‘gang’ drinking beer and talking endlessly about their favorite bands, most predominantly, Black Sabbath. Buhrmester obviously has an obsessive love for Black Sabbath which comes through in Patrick’s character, so that you can’t find a single page without a confession of love for Black Sabbath.

 Not only is the plot dull and predictable, the writing style is nothing special. The didactic manner of writing only contributes to the overall ordinariness of “Black Dogs.” Although the uncomplicated nature of the writing makes the book an easy and quick read, there is nothing distinguishable about the writing and no memorable or meaningful quotes. In every good book there is always a quote or an excerpt that makes the book meaningful. “Black Dogs” can easily be summed up by this telling quote. “We spent the rest of the night getting drunk and stoned and talked about what we were going to buy.”

            So if you perhaps enjoyed too much of the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll back in the day, pick up this book and give it a skim (it won’t take you more than a couple hours). Otherwise, save your time for a book with more content.

Drive

            Everyone knows how to drive. You press the gas and move forwards, the brake to stop and “Drive” is, well a long and winding drive with a driver a bit heavy on the brakes. This new film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling and Carrie Mulligan has all the set-up and makings of an exciting action movie, without the action.

            “Drive” is a challenge to see how many possible camera angles you can have inside a car. The conclusion seems to be not many. Or at least not many where you can still fully admire Ryan Gosling’s somber and beautiful face. This stony, silent façade is what makes up the majority of this movie. When Ryan gosling was cast as the mysterious driver, it seems it was decided that an hour of silent screen time for Gosling should be added. The close ups of his face show, in great detail, his detached ‘badass’ face or perhaps just that he is lacking a portion of his brain. The expression Gosling wears for the entire movie is so glossy and blank you begin to bet with yourself whether or not he is even capable of emotion.

            In between the many silences, “Drive” tells the story of a man, only identified as Driver, who works at a car garage by day and drives getaway cars for criminals by night. Driver soon becomes besotted (well we can only guess, is that a glimmer of love in his eyes?) with his lovely neighbor (Carrie Mulligan) who of course has a husband recently released from prison and involved in a criminal gang. The beautiful neighbor also has a doe-eyed little boy and the ensuing plot involving the criminal gang and the Driver all occurs for the sake of the boy, but of course we all know it’s really about the girl.

            Despite the somewhat predictable plot and close up views of Gosling’s facial skin pores, “Drive” is different from other generic action/car chase movies. Although the silences are a few too many, their presence does create suspense and give the audience time to think in between the action. In a normal car chase movie the audience is left with no time to mull over what is actually going on. “Drive” provides ample time for thinking which gives more emphasis to the emotional and psychological aspects of the characters. The movie, being of a dark and violent subject, leaves you with time to consider the psychological repercussions of the violence. The several violent scenes in the movie are indeed, extremely bloody, perhaps excessively so, but the suddenness of the violence in contrast to the vacant silence certainly makes it more powerful.  

            “Drive” is an intriguing and sometimes boring drive through the mind of Driver. The ride sometimes comes to an abrupt halt and sometimes moves like you’re out of gas, and then there are the occasional accelerations, speeding up to pass through the yellow light. Though it can be dull and predictable at times the overall effect of “Drive” leaves you intrigued and pensive about what the long silences were really about.

Ingrid Michaelson- 'Everybody' 

Back in her fourth album, Ingrid Michaelson has amassed a collection of peppy and absolutely cheesy tracks. ‘Everybody,’ released in 2009, somehow managed to peak on the charts at 18^th in that year. If Michaelson has an irritating voice and vapid lyrics, one thing she is good at is catching the eye, or rather ear, of the many young people of America who are so besotted by pop-y artists of this kind.

‘Everybody’ is an example of the way Michaelson’s music has become increasingly commercialized since the release of her first album in 2005. Michaelson’s career as a singer began with her simple, maybe even sweet voice and piano. Since then she has entered full force into the realm of pop which neglects musicality for the gaining of a larger audience. In ‘Everybody’ Michaelson employs the use of bigger and catchier beats and classic ‘young love’ lyrics that are so generic presumably anyone can associate.

Young and spunky Michaelson has made a valiant attempt with the album ‘Everybody’ adding some new instrumentation and even some orchestration to her usual piano, guitar and singing, but the album flops just as much as all other generic girl pop singers have flopped before her, face first into the pool of tastelessness and unoriginality. Despite the staleness of the album, Michaelson is developing quite a following of such people that so enjoy happy, catchy and generic music that also so happen to make up a large portion of the population. Select tracks from ‘Everybody’ have even been featured in TV series and movies such as Grey’s Anatomy and The House Bunny.

This album opens with ‘Soldier,’ a song about heartbreak and other general cardiovascular matters. ‘Everybody’ then continues to the namesake of the album, which proclaims over and over and over, “Everybody, Everybody wants to love” and “Everybody” yes, “Everybody wants to be loved.” The amount of time spent proclaiming this notion suggests perhaps the residue some unfortunate abandonment complex from childhood. The album then skims through several other entirely forgettable tracks and comes to ‘Are We There Yet’ which screeches on with repetitive lyrics (“are we there yet, are we there yet, are we…’you get the idea) until you can’t help screech along, are we at the end of the album yet?

The second half of the album finishes in much the same manner as the first half with completely unremarkable, bland lyrics and Michaelson’s voice, which if cute at first, has now just become severely annoying. The ordinariness of the album, however, does not stop Michaelson from adapting a trademark peppy pop voice as she seems to giggle and jump like a cheerleader through the utterly repetitive remain of the tracks. Her fake cheerfulness only accentuates the unexceptional and cliché quality of both lyrics and songs.