Harmony From Chaos

Harmonic Laboratory brings a dazzling avant garde show to the Hult

Everything is dark except for the truck-sized monolith. Two female figures emerge from the shadows, their bodies athletically twisting and spinning and stomping to the electronic beat, which sounds like someone drumming on crystal stalagmites. Crisp, geometric patterns project upon the monolith, creating a digital trompe l’oeil effect, the electronic shapes dissolving into and out of the forms of the dancers, whose projected images appear to be writhing within the structure as their counterparts writhe freely outside. Continue reading 

Arts Hound

The somewhat elusive Springfield Ditch Projects gallery opened its latest exhibit May 18, and it runs through June 15. Ron Graff and Donald Morgan: New Work features the abstract expressionist paintings of Graff, a UO associate professor of painting, and 2-D and 3-D works of Morgan, a UO assistant art professor. Morgan’s graphic sculptures have had a playful (and sometimes dark) bent in the past, including a topographic wall hanging of Crater Lake’s Wizard Island, a pair of mirrored spider webs and a noose rack. For more information visit ditchprojects.com. Continue reading 

xx-rated

Love or hate Baz Lurhmann’s The Great Gatsby, one of the most hypnotic scenes of the film is the first. There’s no Leonardo DiCaprio or Carey Mulligan, simply the camera zooming in on the metallic, Art Nouveau Gatsby crest as The xx’s “Together” pings with melancholy coolness.  Continue reading 

Flat Track Town USA

The second annual Big O international roller derby tournament rolls into Eugene

It was bound to happen: A Eugene spoof of the zeitgeisty show Portlandia, called, of course, Eugenia. The viral video lays down the same beat-heavy opening music as its Portland inspiration with “Eugenia” spelled out in an identical gritty typeface in front of a city view of Spencer Butte, followed by downtown shots of the federal building, Voodoo Doughnuts, the bus station, Cowfish and finally City Hall. Continue reading 

Back Beat

They are the champions. The UO Chamber Choir placed first in the Fleischmann International Trophy Competition at the prestigious Cork International Choral Festival in Ireland. Led by UO professor of music Sharon J. Paul, the choir beat out 29 other choirs from 17 countries with music ranging from “Italian madrigals to bluegrass-influenced gospel.” You can see these international stars in your own backyard 8 pm Wednesday, May 22, at Beall Concert Hall on campus; $5 students, $7 general.   Continue reading 

Arts Hound

Maude Kerns is presenting its 14th biennial (and beloved) Oregon Made for Interiors furniture exhibit, with an opening reception from 6 to 8 pm Friday, May 17. We’re not talking La-Z-Boys and bean bags; the pieces displayed are bonafide objets d’art that you can sit in or at. The juried show will feature the work of 39 artists, many who use recycled and repurposed materials, from around the state through June 21.   Continue reading 

Arts Hound

The Futureforecast of Stormcloudcomputing — just sit with that for a moment. That’s the name of the UO visiting artist lecture by Chicago-based interface artist Jon Satrom. Satrom manipulates all those zeroes and ones in your smart gadgets to make glitchy electronic and video art like “Windows Rainbows and Dinos.” The lecture, or “desktop performance,” begins at 6 pm Thursday, May 9, at 177 Lawrence Hall, University of Oregon; free.   Continue reading