Living Out Loud

Living Out Loud (1998), directed by Richard LaGravenese, starring Holly Hunter, Danny DeVito and Queen Latifah, is a dramatic comedy about a woman (Hunter) finding an unforeseen companion in her apartment buildings elevator operator (DeVito). Judith Moore has recently divorced her doctor husband and is living, alone, in their Upper East Side apartment. All their friends were really his so she feel

s isolated, finding solace in the soulful singing of Liz Bailey (Latifah), often making the trip to the Upper West Side bar she performs at. After a few failed attempts at male companionship, a conversation with her buildings doorman, Pat Francato, begins what would become the driving relationship in the film.

The most poignant moment in the film is a ridiculous, over the top organized dance number that comes close to the films conclusion. While at a gay club, Judith and Liz move to the pulsing dance beats, lights in seemingly every color of the spectrum bounce and glow around them. The dance floor is so full of women that they all seem to combine into one, singular being. Judith moves to the music before breaking out in a synchronized dance with the women around her as the floor clears to give them space. The sequence ends when Judith finds her younger self on the dance-floor, as they embrace, the floor fills back up and the animal starts up all over again. This scene serves to show Judith that while she has been looking for herself since leaving her husband, she has always truly known who she is.

Through playful tricks like this, aimed at taking the viewer into Judith's mind by showing what she wants to do versus what she actually does begin awkward and out of place but by the end of the film serve as both a playful and poignant aspect of the film. In the begging, they feel like schizophrenic gimmicks, the film seemingly not able to make up its mind between being a continuos classical hollywood narrative and a discontinuous, almost semi-experimental piece. The film leaves the viewer, at times, questioning what’s real and what is fake as the viewer begins to be able to tell when the reality we are seeing is in fact not actually happening.

This film brings up social issues of a single woman as Judith stands up to her ex-husband and doesn’t act as a scared or weak patsy during the divorce proceedings, something that seems to often be portrayed as such in movies and television. By the end of the film she has realized she doesn’t have to be what she sees in the women around her, instead she can be who she wants to be. Ignoring the reactions of her neighbors towards her relationship with Pat she circumvents the norms society has set out for her as an upper class single woman. By returning to her roots, Judith is able to fully understand where she’s come from therefore allowing her to become who she needs to be by Living Out Loud.

My Own Personal Museum

Creating art is why we go to Columbia. Whether that art is a painting, play, or gallery show, its creation is done by artists, either collectively or singular. For me, I like to surround myself with art, whether of my own creation of from others. The most obvious example of “my own personal ‘museum’” is my bedroom.

By the end of the semester I hope to have my walls covered in art and they are well on their way to getting there.

Whether posters from events on campus, team pictures and posters from my past, movie posters, my tack-board with past concert and event tickets, to the large prints of my own photography dominate the walls of my room.

These prints are all shots I have taken over the past year and represent major parts of my life. Surrounding myself in the art I create not only reinforces my drive to create new works but also reminds me of where I came from and what I am building on.








This picture, taken at the ELITE Hockey Training Camp in Northfield, Vermont this Summer, serves as a reminder of one of the best jobs I’ve ever had, while also reminding me everyday of how I got started in filmmaking in the first place. The photo itself is one of my all time personal favorites that I have taken. The depth of field drawing your attention to the young hockey players face; his expression showing his focus and determination. In the background the viewer can make out other players, their sticks in hand yet the focal player sticks out in stark contrast to the rest of the image.
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This photo was taken in August at one of my high school's pre-season football practices. While Marfan Syndrome kept me off the playing fields in high school, nothing could keep me from the coaches box as I managed every possible team I could.

Working for the football team, I became an impromptu assistant coach, managing nearly all off-field activities of the team: paperwork, broken equipment, I was even the team medic. These were two of my favorite photos from the nearly 300 I took over two days during pre-season.

These two were some of the most visually striking. In the first, my friend Loren stared me down from across the field; standind out against the blurred background. A stone cold look on his face, his eyes squinting against the sun. In the second photo Ben and Zak share a fun moment in between plays.
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These two photos are near portraits of two of my good friends, and are the last of the 5 prints I have on my walls. Benny takes to the air snowboarding this past winter while Lee jokes around with me before the 2008 football season.



Surrounding myself with pictures of friends reminds me of home while I am away at school, also serving as a constant reminder as to how I got here. While a jock at heart, health reasons force me to give up sports, but through my video work and managing duties I have been able to stay connected to the teams I love. This reminder helps keep me grounded in both my past and future as a media maker by keeping my photographs and friends constantly in my mind and on my walls.



Moving forward I look to add more to my "personal museum". Building it with time to fill every available inch. Whether those new pieces are recently taken photographs, recent event posters, or new movie posters, I want to constantly surround myself with the art that surrounds my everyday life.

Earth's Elixir

Water can quench our thirst, wash away our grime, it can even turn powder into pancakes with the help of a little heat. Water covers 2/3 of the earth and makes up nearly 60% of the human body. Whether clean and cold, or muddied and luke-warm, water is a necessity of life while being simplistic in nature. A glass of the lovable liquid makes it look as if nothing is there. Water should, in all respects, be clear; free of all particulates, coloration, or any milkiness.

If the water is to be ingested, these

qualities are that much more important. Temperature varies on personal preference. As the saying goes “some like it hot.” While that expression was most likely meant for a different interaction then simply taking a drink of water, the mentality still stands. Depending on a person’s own views, the intake temperature changes. For the most part, people seem to like their water cold. That leads to people believing the water to be “fresh” and or “crisp”.

When the water is being used to wash or clean, again, the clearer the better. No one wants to wash a dirty dish with dirty water; nothing gets accomplished. And again, like with ingestion, temperature depends on the necessary task. When taking a shower or doing the dishes, warm, even hot, water is needed to break down the dirt and grime, while the washing of a delicate silk or frail fabric may require cold water in order to retain the materials structural

integrity.

Water has the complexity of being both utterly simple and very complex at the very same time. Made up of two hydrogen molecules bonded with an oxygen molecule, at its base, water is not intricate it its construction. Its flavor is simple as well, or at least it should be. It should have little to no taste. Water should simply be a cold, crisp, refreshing wave of thirst quenching liquid traveling down your throat. Or a hot spear of scalding liquid ripping that ketchup stain from your favorite sweatshirt. If your water has a taste, whether it be metallic, earthy, or just

downright bad, something is tainting the purity of your product and needs to be dealt with. The problem could come from many locations. Wether the original source (a pond or stream, per-say), the plant it was treated at, or the pipes it traveled through, all the way to the pitcher you stored it in in the fridge. Various contaminations could come from anywhere along this path leading to a sub-par final product. The best ways to prevent such an unfortunate occurrence from happening is to employ a filtering pitcher or, if the space allow, get your water straight from the source and install a well on your property.

Water itself becomes complicated when all the issues of temperature, clarity, flavor, number of bubbles (or amount of carbonation), and the liquids source all come together to form the full

nature of the liquid.

Earth’s elixir is something we cannot live without therefore keeping the available water on our planet drinkable and clean is something we all most fight diligently for. Even if our own personal supply of water appears never-ending, it never truly is. Much like natural gas, our supplies of clean water, while almost never ending, can and will become drastically reduced if our current usage is to continue. In the future, mass purifiers or dangerous melting tactics may need to be implemented in order to quench the worlds near-infinite thirst. We must also think of the millions of people around the world who are not as water-fortunate as we are.

ENGAGE! Student Organization Expo

Columbia prides itself on being different. On being the school that offers things no others can. Columbia strives to bring multiple groups together through their artistic passion. While they say these things and have these lofty ideals, it may be difficult for the school to show off this mentality. One place where this is on full display is at the Student Organization Expo. Held on February 4^th at the Office of Student Engagement’s office on the 4^th Floor of the 916 S. Wabash Building, a space aptly named “The Loft”. (For the purposes of full disclosure, I was at the Expo as the vice president of Student Athletics and am thus a quasi-employee of the Office of Student Engagement.)

The Student Organizations Expo is a chance for the over 60 student run clubs and organizations on campus to come together and meet new and perspective members.

A lot of Columbia’s ideals on who we are as artists angers me, especially when they seemingly love to bring up the fact that Columbia hosts no Homecoming sporting events. In the face of these personal beliefs on the campus atmosphere, going to things like this Expo are why Columbia is what it is. Seeing these ethnically, religiously, and culturally diverse groups all together in one room, recruiting new members, really brings to life the beliefs that I believe Columbia is striving for.

The following is a very short list of a few of the clubs that were at the Expo:

Student Government Association

"The Student Government Association of Columbia College Chicago represents the student voice and endeavors to construct a more perfect union."

Latino Alliance:

“This Columbia College Student Organization works to improve Latino student life by creating a supportive atmosphere through empowerment”

Common Ground

It is the unified goal of Common Ground to create an environment on campus that allows students to fully express themselves without fear of ridicule or judgment based on sexual orientation and identity.

EPIC

"E.P.I.C. strives to promote change and increase awareness of environmental issues for our members, our campus and our communities."

Columbia NORML

"Columbia NORML is an organization attempting to educate students on the actual effects of smoking cannabis, leading discussion away from propaganda and the deep-hearted hatred that came as a result."

Check out the full list of Student Organizations.

Walking around the Expo Columbia’s true colors come to light. Hispanic Journalists of Columbia sitting next to To Write Love On Your Arms or Athletics (aka me) sitting next to the FEMMES (Feminism: Equality Matters).

This event is different then an art exhibition or a play, yet it can still be reviewed because of its importance to the artistic environment of Columbia. The Office of Student Engagement acts as an extension of the liberal arts curriculum of the school. While we may not host any Homecoming games or be the home to any fraternities or sororities, through the dozens of student organizations there is a club or organization for nearly every interest or passion. If the organization you want doesn’t already exist, get 10 of your friends together and start your own.

Pompidou Pieces and Lithograph Lore: An Exhibit Review

I’m going to start this by saying contemporary art often has a negative effect on my brain. Bluntly put, it pisses me off. Walking down the halls of Paris’ Centre Pompidou, I see massive gray canvases, painted down the center with a single white line. I do not call this art. But, for instances such as this, I need to convince myself to go into installations and exhibits with as open of a mind as possible. Since I am going to judge and critic these pieces, I can’t let my prior views to influence me too much, although they ultimately will. At first glance, the “At Close Distance: Labyrinth of Self” exhibit seems modest in scope. 10 to 15 pieces scattered around the space not much larger then a two car garage. Walking throughout the room there are a mix of mediums: lithograph, found objects, photography, digital video. The mix of mediums makes the exhibit feel modern even when many of the pieces look ancient. With that said, I can’t seem to come up with a general theme for this graduate student installation. The name “Labyrinth of Self” implies that each piece is the artists attempt to express some internal belief or feeling, thus leading to my relative confusion as to how the exhibit flows and fits together. A few of the pieces that stick out to me most are Maggie Puckett’s “Lithographs on Paper” and Colleen McGann’s “of Mine: A Ritual of Self.”

In Puckett’s lithograph’s, her beautifully colored and intricate drawings stand in stark contrast against their white backgrounds. Her piece’s of ancient sea creatures and explorers conjure up stories of the deep sea and the “monsters” that inhabit it. They make me relive reading Jules Verne’s 2000 Leagues Under the Sea as a child.

With Colleen McGann’s large format film/digital prints, “of Mine: A Ritual of Self”, the artist has used a manipulation process that turns the photographs into a ghostly, milky, almost paint like finished product. These images are blurred, the women dressed in white dresses bleed into their surrounds in this whimsical set of three prints. They bring up images in my mind of a time long ago. The prints transport me somewhere else, somewhere distant; something that I look for in a successful piece of art.

This feeling of contemporary art as actual art that I can enjoy, for me, only lasted so long. Soon enough I came across a few “Pompidou Pieces” that, to my biased eye, are far from art. This may be harsh. It may be ignorant. It may be wrong. But with Kelli Cousin’s installation entitled “Imaging”, the viewer stared into thee white panels while strange, animalistic, natural, and humanoid murmurs were whispered into their ears via headphones. For me, the only emotion this conjured for me was that of creepiness. While this may in fact be the intended notion, I can’t get past the existence of the panels. For me, art’s function is to entertain, and, like I said earlier, transport us somewhere, anywhere. Whether our grandma’s kitchen or a far off world. To me, these panels don’t serve a useful purpose. I am sure the artist had a very strong reasoning behind placing them there, or they would never have made the piece, but I can’t read her mind; I can’t see why.

Contemporary art has never been something I have enjoyed. Maybe due to my desire to think long and hard about why a massive, inflating and deflating hot water bottle is art (as the Pompidou Center said in one of their installations). This exhibit drummed up all of those prior beliefs on the topic. Overall, I commend the artists as a whole for their work and dedication to their projects, yet I still cannot bring myself to sit for hours in front of a piece figuring it out. Why are those white panels there and why is this creepy lady is whispering aimless sounds in my ear?

by Kevin Hartmann