Arts DEVOté
Art, thy name is mine I should’ve been named Art. I totally would have called this column “Art on Art” or just “It’s Art!” My grandpa is an Art: Arthur Wallace Woodhouse. His son (my uncle) is Art: Arthur Craig Woodhouse. And his son is Art: Arthur Jacob Woodhouse. I was the first born of my generation in my family, but since my mom wasn’t a dude, I (and every other guy I grew up with) got named after a movie with Argonauts.
Artober, the lost month “What the hell is Artoberfest?” When I bring up the upcoming month-long celebration of Chico arts to anyone not involved in a local arts organization, that’s the response I often get. Ask no more, my friends, because www.artoberfest.org is now live. Go see, and learn.
Art of the heart CN&R contributor Charles H. Peckham V ("Chip") is feeling stigmatized by love, so the local scenester has turned zinester. It seems that six years have passed since Chip has had a girlfriend, so to better understand this drought, he’s put to page a “critical analysis” of all of his crushes and flirtations over that span in his zine “6 or Nothing Love.” From his high school days in Etna, Calif. ("pop. 781"), to his current life as a Chico State student, Chip recalls every painful, embarrassing and humorous moment, and paints a picture of good intentions and awkward growth that most of us social creatures can identify with. Send an e-mail to tetracycline_kills@yahoo.comand get your own copy for only $1.50.
Art of musical theater Broadway thrives on repetition, so I guess you can’t blame local musical theater producers for gettin’ with the oldies—but for the love of Nathan Lane, I wish there were more musical choices than stuff I was forced to see on field trips in grade school. Well, thanks to Allison Rich and crew, last weekend the Chico Cabaret (one of the few local venues that dares to go modern with its musicals) hosted three nights of Not Another Rodgers & Hammerstein Revue, featuring current-ish tunes from Rent, Wicked and other Broadway musicals produced within the past decade. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait another 525,600 minutes for some more.
Art of noise Is that a picture of Metallica roadies? No silly, that’s a picture of Luigi Russolo (Italian composer, Futurist and author of The Art of Noises) and his assistant Ugo Piatti (on the right) from nearly 100 years ago with some of Russolo’s Intonarumori creations. What’s an Intonarumori? It’s a “noise machine” with a crank on the back for making it go, and a lever on top to control the sounds coming out of the big horn via a vibrating metal string inside. It’s just so cool.
Arty music video “Knights of Cydnonia” by Muse: Best music video since Beck’s “Lost Cause.” “K.O.C.” is a six-minute spaghetti western featuring martial arts, lasers, a robot and a unicorn. Look it up at www.ifilm.com (and find “Lost Cause” at www.youtube.com).
Jason Cassidy is a former CN&R arts editor and current calendar editor and is on the board of the 1078 Gallery.