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BY SUZI STEFFEN JEWELS GONE WILD
When you see the press release information for the newest exhibition at the J-Schnitz (aka the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the UO campus), your first reaction might be like ours: Holy freakin' whoa! True, "jewelry" does not usually bring up those emotions, but this exhibit isn't exactly the engagement ring case at Freddie's. "Coming into View," a traveling exhibition of the work of 12 jewelers, opens Dec. 6 and runs through Feb. 18. Artist Anya Kivarkis is a visiting assistant prof in the triple-A program at the UO, so you can ask her about her work (some of which is on view on our website, www.eugeneweekly.com) in person. Nice! This exhibit has some cool, freaky pieces. There's Body count jewelry by Kunihiro Shibuya, an artist from Japan, which deconstructs chain mail and dog tags and necklaces; there's the pretty-but-weird-in-pink vulval/pink ribbon-like necklace of the German duo Body Politics (Peter Krause and Kathleen Tapnick); there's Kivarkis' meldy and futuristic (or is it Duchamp-istic?) white Victoriana, pure and bizarre; and there's oh, so much more, including Lauren Kalman's amazingly fascinating-yet-creepy science-fictiony gold and precious stone creations. Curator Mary Hallam Pearse, an assistant prof of jewelry/metalsmithing at the U of Georgia, says that "the language of jewelry has greatly expanded." Yes, to include "What the freakin' hell is that?!" Anyway, while we're all at the J-Schnitz, there's much more to see. Check the Art in the Galleries on p. 24 for more info on other exhibits, and don't forget to take the kiddies to Sunday, Dec. 2's free Family Day and Holiday Open House party: Dragon Theatre, family-friendly tours and the chance to build gingerbread houses highlight that event.
A THOUSAND READERS, BIRD BY BIRD While some of us do indeed walk and read in the rain, thus necessitating the PNW-disdained umbrellas, it's much more likely that Eugene residents are wondering what to read inside during The Depressing Months, also known as The Months When People Spend Too Much Money On Plane Tickets To Hawai'i and Mexico. Take a look at the EW Winter Reading issue coming up soon, but don't forget the Springfield and Eugene Public Libraries' very cool "Readin' in the Rain" program. This year's author is Chris Chester, and the book is his memoir called Providence of a Sparrow: Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds. "Chester's chance meeting with a small bird changes everything," the publicity says, which makes the book sound a little iffy, a bit on the goofy Mitch Albom side of things (except with A Bird Teaching Life Lessons instead of a professor). But book reviewers from Portland to L.A. have praised it as being literate or even literary, scientific (Chester is an electronics technician) and sensitive, so join me in putting your skeptic cap away. And hey, the point of Readin' in the Rain is to try something new along with thousands of others doing the same thing. Meet Chester himself at the Authors and Artists Fair from 7 pm to 10 pm Saturday, Dec. 2. If you buy a book, you can get it signed and receive a Readin' in the Rain logo pin plus a calendar of Readin' in the Rain events. Bird not included.
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