Playing with Fire

Mary – a parishioner – carried a Zippo lighter in her pocketbook. She didn’t smoke, and in fact had a moral aversion to it, like the inhalation was a communion between man and the temporal world. Oxygen was thin and hardly satisfactory, but her own personal subjugation was to subsist on the sub-par.
In August, the Catholic congregation finalized their lease on a new building with a contemporary youth room, so the Protestants snatched up the old venue and pocketed the history. In September, the church sheathed its new congregation officially, and by October, the renovations were complete.
Mary helped with the denominational overhaul and in particular directed the removal of the stained glass that was “contrary to doctrine”.
The church converted; it denounced the virgin mother and they physically expelled her. The saints wept, then packed their carpet bags and left with her, trailing behind like a tail, inching back towards the heavenly father and His new youth room.
She stood inside while they removed the glass, shouting superfluous instructions, and watched the light change. The dust lifted and as the colors brightened, so the capacity for noise seemed to grow. The slab of Virgin Mother bobbed away on the shoulders of her pallbearers.
Mary drew out her lighter. It had the Virgin Mary on it. She flipped the lid, severing Mary’s head so the fire could sprout.
Prometheus strove to bring man the gift of the gods, and there it was, burning in her palm, a testament to the pattern of technological modernity. This lighter that Jonah had given her as a parting blow – to ease the sting of separation – and what he hoped would bring her to smoking or vandalism or some manifestation of daring rebellion instead of the cold, fishy pacification she clung to.
“Be in heaven when you belong to it and be human while you are human!” he said, bending his knees in rhythm with his exclamation mark. And she laughed and went on living, until she watched Mary slip from the fingers of the workmen and shatter into rainbows on the concrete.
While a few minutes earlier, she had been looking through the medium of art, through the painted air of the stained glass, she then saw into the undiluted light of day, and watched the fire of Mary burn in the palm of her hand.
The gap between sanctity and desecration shrunk, eating away at its wafer lining, until all that remained was perception. At the fork, which road? Because there stood Mary, and the pastor speaking to her with his thumbs in his belt loops, proclaiming success, and she couldn’t answer him.
Wind, breathing through the whole in the stained glass, snuffed the flame of the Zippo, and Mary looked at the pastor of her church, searching his face for something unexpected, and met a confused vacancy.
It all felt predestined.
She had the idea that Jonah was wrong about what he said, but she knew she hadn’t grasped any sort of truth yet. It was as though her limbs and organs had come unattached.
So she pulled together what bodily organization she could, and left the church through the hole in the stained glass.

By Maria Lawson, '13

Your kicks caught my eye

What I noticed first about Jenn were her Vans. I'm a fool for Chuck Taylors and Vans. I also loved the way she cuffed her jeans- since they were too long, she cut the sides and rolled it. Plus, she's absolutely rocking a Grove City College sweatshirt which is kinda tough to do because a lot of our apparel really isn't that big of a deal. Thanks Jenn, you're a sweetheart!

Hello Zooey

This is lovely Hannah on Sunday. I can picture adorable Zooey Deschanel wearing this skirt and ruffled shirt ensemble.

a chilly october

Thanks, Emily, for letting me take your photo! I love the red with the black and grey, and most importantly, it's comfortable and cozy for a chilly day.

Java Jam Homecoming '09

SCA President Sam Perry, MC for Java Jam, sings "Heartless" by Kanye West.

Sam, Brittany, and Dominic performing "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hasard.

Brothers Bits & Pieces, includes Josh, Lucas, and Kevin, who performed their own songs, including the song "Sweet Sound".

We are Merely the Artists

‘I’m very good, ‘ Jonathan went on, but so simply that there was no egotism in the remark, ‘but I’m nothing like as good as this. I simply am not. I could never, never paint this.’
--C. Williams, All Hallows’ Eve

As an artist, have you ever had the experience of looking at your finished work and thinking: “this isn’t mine! This can’t be that awkward block I was scratching away at or that strange fabric I was mixing runny colors on?” At the end of a work, if it is successful, everything comes together suddenly and the picture is clear. Of course we don’t always “get it right”, but when we do, it’s a most uncanny feeling. There’s a disconnect for the artist between the making and the viewing.
We talk of art as having a life of its own, and that seems true in one sense. Of course we literally are the ones chiseling away at something or adding dabs of shadow here and there, but the completed work is its own entity. The artist Jonathan in All Hallows’ Eve feels this when he leaves his painting for a few hours and comes back to find it “more real” and “better” than he had left it. It’s as though the piece has come alive once he has ceased his labor.
I don’t want to suggest anything too mystic, but perhaps it is well to note that we are not the only authors of our own work. The wood, clay, and paint themselves shape the work and determine its character. As artists we must be aware of our mediums and ensure that we are using them properly and according to their nature. The artist may be the main creative force, but if he works against his medium, he will fail. Perhaps in the end all I’m getting at in this post is a reminder of humility. We are hardly the “masters” of our own work, we are merely the artists.

-Heather VanderWall

The Society of Communication & Aesthetics in 09

This past year, The Society of Communication & Aesthetics was started up to bring about an artistic community in a college lacking an art program. We started up the blog as a simple way to get started. This is what we wrote about:

This year, we have plenty of new members with new ideas. Like these:

And so, as we continue to define ourselves as a group, you can see it all unfold here on the internet or come to one of our many events that we have planned.

Stay tuned and stay classy,

Sam

President of the Society of Communication & Aesthetics

Picasso's Art Stolen

A red notebook of 33 pencil drawings by Pablo Picasso has been stolen from a Paris museum. However, it will be a hard book to sell. Although worth an estimated $11 million, the only market for such a book would be a museum, like, say, the one it was taken from. Private collectors would much rather have more bang for their buck, but it has been speculated that some bizzare Picasso addict may have hired-out to have the book taken.

In August 2007, two Picasso paintings and a drawing worth more than $66 million were recovered after being stolen six months earlier.

To read a full article on the caper, click http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_france_picasso_theft

And lastly, just bask in the glory of Picasso's work:

Thanks,

Sam

Winner of the 2009 Student Made Short Film Festival

The Annual Student-Made Short Film Festival was great this year with 10 submissions ranging from mockumentary to Office spin-off. Of course, it was the "dream" that won the audience's love, and a really big trophy.

The Society of Communication & Aesthetics

If you've been wondering, we are the Society of Communication & Aesthetics based out of Grove City College in Pennsylvania. We are a new organization on campus with one mission: to communicate our ideas through the mediums of art and media that we love the most. So far we have hosted a gallery/concert event and a student-made film festival. This coming academic year, we will be holding even more events and starting an artist residency program.
We are not only an arts related group. We also seek opportunities to mesh aesthetics with communication. This could include journalism, advertising, or public relations.
All of these things are discovered and explored not only through our events but through workshops and speakers.
Please enjoy and get involved!
Sam
President of The Society of Communication and Aesthetics

Name In Stone-Dead Man's Bones

I love Dead Man's Bones.

They are amazing and I won't even try to put into words how much I love them.


HERE:http://vimeo.com/3996103
Also, in honour of the band, some cool people from the club did a Dead Man's Bones inspired photoshoot a few months back.

This is what we do

We take road trips to Cleveland to see Andrew Bird.

Elizabeth took some great photos of Andrew Bird.

Dead Man's Bones

Ryan Gosling started a band.
The band—Gosling, best friend Ryan Shields, and a children’s choir—started when Shields and Gosling wanted to start a theatre show. The theatre idea dissipated, but the music remained, and that’s all I needed to become absolutely obsessed.
Their debut album, Never Let a Lack of Talent Get You Down, on their own label, Werewolf Heart, is coming out this summer. A brilliant and simple video of a performance of “In the Room Where You Sleep” is smeared across YouTube and MySpace, and another song, “Dead Man’s Bones,” can be found IMEEM Music.
Gosling and Shields went at the project not trying to create a perfect package deal. Their MySpace page claims their inspiration to be from the Haunted Mansion at Disney World, which is visible in their video and lyrics.
Except their obsession with death isn’t creepy, it’s down-right perfect. It’s not even of the indie-aesthetic that far too many have become engulfed in after seeing Juno; but that’s a social dialogue I won’t be getting into. However, the sound is frozen in time with Gosling’s dreary and uncompromising vocals. Absolute grit.
In fact, Gosling and Shields held to a set of rules when recording: no click tracks or electric guitars, no more than three takes, and playing all of the instruments themselves. Gosling played cello and piano for the first time; Shields took up the drums. The result is a stripped, accessible indie unit that I just can’t shake.
They hope to go on tour but instead of carting around the kiddies in a macabre Partridge Family bus, Gosling plans to work with different youth choirs in the cities that they tour. When it comes time to make a few bar gigs, the plan is to involve artist friends. Who knows, maybe Joaquin Phoenix will spit on a few tracks?

Japanese Cartoon and The Welcome Wagon

After reading an article about the rumour that Lupe Fiasco is leading a British indie-rock band aside from his 'Superstar' rap career, I had to check out the band's myspace and was very pleased. The band has repeatedly posted blogs denying the rumors, saying that Percival Fats is the band's real front man but that Lupe is financing and producing the project.
Either way, their sound is fresh and exciting, especially with Lupe attached to the production. I would hesitate to say that the band is an indie-rock band, but that is only because of the misconception that rap is not indie. Japanese Cartoon is a mix of rap and indie-rock sounds that come together to form the perfect hybrid.
Another band that has just come to my attention is The Welcome Wagon. The band is comprised of New York pastor Vito Aiuto and his wife (both dear friends of Sufjan Stevens). Their sound is indeed very 'Sufjan' but it's a new breed chalk full of religious imagery.
The 2008 album Welcome to the Welcome Wagon is an album of hope that doesn't try to hide the light of Christ. Aiuto has made faith more accessible to the 'hipster nation' but denies being a hipster himself:

" I read somewhere that the chief marker in knowing whether someone is a hipster
or not is to deny that you are. I deny that I am, so I guess that probably makes
me one. I’m not trying to be obtuse, but I don’t really know what a “hipster”
is. I probably fit some of the definitions. But I know that my church is in
Brooklyn where there’s a lot of young people who are involved in the arts and
have a certain aesthetic inclination. I’d be lying or naive to say that I’m not
aware of those things."

-Sam

Update

-Sam and Sarah

Oakland

installment 1 of fall break in pittsburgh
I love showing people around Pittsburgh so when my friend Jess came home to stay with me, I already had a detailed list in my mind of places which should be included in her first tour of the steel city. One of the main stops was Oakland where we made our first stop at Carnegie Mellon University. Even though it was a Wednesday night, there was a lot going on in both the student union and arts buildings. In the arts bldg, we chanced upon a student opera just in time to join the rest of the audience as they reentered the theatre after the intermission. We weren't sure about how they modernized the tale about Rome and "Queen Pompea" with gothic and punk costumes, but other than that, it was very well done. After that, we headed to the University of Pittsburgh's campus which is just a block away to see the Cathedral of Learning (which was lit up for Pittsburgh's Festival of Lights and Heinz Chapel. Last stop in Oakland, the Frick bldg which is a library/art museum/art classrooms (also part of U. Pitt). This fountain is out front and inside, right in the middle of the bldg, there's a little open-air inner garden. (Also in Oakland: dinosaurs.)

And if you're in Oakland during the day you should check out South Craig Street for cafes and cool stores like Caliban's Book Store. Also go to the Carnegie Art Museum and the Carnegie Natural History museum (which has even more dinosaurs). There's also an American Apparel in Oakland...
-Sarah

Marky Mark at Churchy Church

The show Entourage has been causing its producer--Mark Wahlberg- some distractions on Sundays. Not because of the flash of camera bulbs but because people have been approaching him in church with story lines and requests to be on the. Wahlberg’s church attendance has become a business meeting and he'd like others to leave him alone when he's worshiping.
He says, " The stuff that I did with my entourage back in the day is stuff that I'm not proud of and I'm asking forgiveness for; I don't want things brought up in church, but, if you go to church in Beverly Hills, those kind of things happen."
Wahlberg has been around for the glory of HBO and M. Night’s first “R” rated movie, back in the day he was recording as Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, earning a hit with "Good Vibrations" from the album Music for the People. Maybe fellow church-goers just want to see Marky Mark back in action, can anyone say comeback album?
-Sam

Yesterday's tomorrow

When Halloween costumes are on the brain, I find myself exploring some interesting subcultures. But aside from the myriad offerings of everything from Harajuku to grunge to goth-loli fashion, I can't help coming back to steampunk.

Steampunk is hard to put into words. The concept first grew out of the speculative fiction of the 1800's by authors such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells - authors who wrote fantastical stories about adventurers who traveled the world in primitive submarines, steam-powered airships, and other unheard-of technologies. Today, the steampunk attitude is one that celebrates the mad scientist and the daring explorer.

Steampunk is about mechanical, intuitive technology - it runs on steam, with gears and levers and pressure gauges. Nothing needs to be plugged in. There are no circuit boards. It's complex, but simple enough for non-engineers to understand. It is novel and graceful, a fusion of technology and timeless beauty.

That's the steam side of steampunk, while the punk side is more closely related to fashion. Steampunk fashion often looks somewhat Victorian, but it incorporates funky details. We're seeing a lot of the tail end of steampunk influence on fashion trends from last season with waistcoats, newsboy hats, and corset-inspired tops. There's a wonderful focus on natural fabrics and materials, like leather and brass. This winter's fashion trends evoke an opulence harkening back to the steamy age of the late 1800s.

The influence of steampunk can be seen in films such as "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "The Prestige," "The Golden Compass," and most recently, "Hellboy 2." Fans of the FOX cult show "Firefly" will also recognize many steampunk elements.

A lot of steampunk is merely an issue of taste. The sleek look of modern technology must be popular, or it wouldn't sell. But for me, steampunk goes deeper than how things look. As the world feels more and more like a machine, the little human touches of artisanship become more and more valuable.

We have yet to see whether the steampunk trend has reached its peak or if it will grow in the next few years. I, for one, won't be donning a top hat or acquiring a monocle anytime soon. But in the meantime, if you're at a loss for a Halloween costume, a clever ensemble a la Steamgoth might be just the thing...

-Anna

Avalon Exchange

This past Thursday, Sarah and I took some time out of our schedules to visit Pittsburgh. We checked out our favorite vintage clothing store, Avalon Exchange, in Squirrel Hill and found plenty of gems among the racks.
I found too much and luckily had limited myself, that’s new for me, lolz. I bought a nice button down shirt and some Italian leather dress shoes that I have been wearing quite a bit recently.
Sarah of course found limitless amounts of hipster threads but of course we had to go to more than one store!
We also stopped at a Jerry's Record Store in Squirrel Hill that was absolutely epic. Rows and rows of vinyl gave me a tunnel vision that had me grabbing albums and wanting to spend the rest of my college savings.
There were plenty of deals there, but I settled on buying just one album, U2’s The Unforgettable Fire. (Yes, Bono will never lose his influence on my life)
Speaking of which, U2 is currently in the studio with a video blog giving us snippets of the boys with their partner in crime, Brian Eno. These vids can be seen on U2.com, and I’m sure youtube has got it all as well.
Eno, who is producing U2’s new album, was busy working with Coldplay…hence Viva La Vida sounding like all the work Eno has done with U2. He has worked with them on a number of their albums, and is truly innovative with sound and composition.
I’m not trying to knock Coldplay, they do what they do well, I’m just saying that Viva La Vida sounds like the love child of Sigur Ros and The Joshua Tree.
…and you thought we were talking about my new clothes...

Sam, in his new Avalon Exchange purchases.

-Sam

Java Jam, Homecoming week

This is Meghan, in a dress she made herself. She looks absolutely fabulous! I love the attention to detail (cardigan with the peter pan collar of her dress visible, the cinched waist belt, and those shoes!) and the color combination...

Pittsburgh's Festival of Lights

Pittsburgh continues to celebrate its 250th birthday this month and into the next with a glorified Festival of Lights. Pittsburgh's 250 Festival of Lights will be the largest of its kind in the United States. The illuminated tour of Pittsburgh will take you through cultural and historical districts, and will beautifully display the city's best architectural highlights. This will be accomplished with the help of internationally recognized artists. A renowned French artist will display her artistry with light at the William Penn Hotel and the Katz Plaza both in downtown Pittsburgh. This year, Oakland has been included in the Festival and the second tallest educational building in the world, the Cathedral of Learning, will be lit up by the two German artists of Casa Magica (http://www.casamagica.de/). In addition, the Festival has chosen approximately 20 churches, synagogues, and temples which will be lit in order to best showcase their architectural details and their stained glass. The Festival of Lights will run from October 10th through November 20th. Every night from 6pm to midnight the city will be lit up for viewing. Admission is free and musical bands may also be performing at certain locations. A walking map of the Festival of Lights is provided by Pittsburgh. Every Friday night, there will be music performances at Katz Plaza from 6 to 9 pm- for more information on the musicians playing each Friday, visit http://www.pittsburghcelebrates.org/music.asp. Hopefully, Sam or I will personally check it out soon and have some photos to share with you. In the meantime, get a group of friends, download the map, and enjoy the Festival of Lights yourself.
-Sarah

Music News

Actor Kevin Costner is going country. He is about to release his first album after 20 years of off-screen music making with a number of bands.
His first album, “Untold Truths” is a collection of 12 songs all written or co-written by Costner and his band, Kevin Costner and Modern West.
The band plans to tour later this year and in 2009 to support the album before his next movie “The New Daughter” comes out in March. It seems he will probably go the route of actor “slash” singer, due to his dying movie career.
Perhaps Costner should be going off to school before the big tour, like Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea who is going to study music at the University of Southern California.
Michael “Flea” Balzary, founder of Los Angeles' Silverlake Conservatory of Music, wants to add to his classical knowledge. His main goal is to learn more about the "mathematics of composition.”
Flea recently stated, "Music is made up out of these building blocks. I like studying how these blocks go together and what they consist of and the math of how it works”
Hey, someone’s gotta do it, and why not Flea? Another bandmate making a splash in the music world is Anthony Kiedis.
Over the summer, Kiedis curated the New American Music Union, a two-day summer music festival in Pittsburgh. He assembled a lineup of musicians including Bob Dylan, Gnarls Barkely, The Roots, and a second stage featuring college bands. All of this was for American Eagle Outfitters, whose headquarters are in the culturally and artistically rich community of the South Side of Pittsburgh.

Rashomon

The 1950 film Rashomon is being remade.
Although there is not a script or director or cast, it's definitely happening, in what is sure to be an awful awful idea.
The remake will take place in modern America, and put the characters' fates into the hand of a court charged with deciding a case involving a woman's rape and her husband's murder.
The original is set in Japan and is a movie that tackled a different kind of story telling with an overarching theme of ethics.
To remake this movie seems silly, as does Beverly Hills Ninja 2 (Hasselhoff appearance), but we are in the age of the remake. The name of the remake will be Rashomon 2010.
The problem with the title is that the only people that will understand its significance don't want the project to happen. It would have been much wiser to create a story inspired or similar to Rashomon, but called something completly different.
I'm just hoping people will see the original before the unveiling of Rashomon 2010.
-Sam

sufjan and mercer county and a dirt racetrack

Apparently, there is a racetrack in Mercer County. Is this stock car racing? I have no idea.
This weekend in Grove City One Acts was going on. And it was fantastic. Last spring, it was awesome as well. I'm a big fan of them.
After One Acts, a fellow GCC student and friend of mine and I turned on some Sufjan Stevens and drove down to the court house of Mercer County and explored the little town that is there. We found a sweet old-fashioned soda/ice cream shop that I definitely want to go to when it's actually open. From there, we used the GPS in our car and found that racetrack. It was weird and interesting. We didn't get to see any big wrecks or explosions unfortunately but it was still a good time.
-Sarah

Holler!

Hello and welcome to G.C. Scene.
We are a group of college students enamored by many mediums of communication.
Most of us are interested in film, while others still enjoy exploring photography, writing, music, fashion, art, and pop culture.
This blog will serve as an avenue for us to share not only with each other and our college community, but with the entire blogosphere.
Different people will be posting (hopefully daily) about cool events, celebrity trainwrecks, and goings on in the art forms we love so dearly.
Enjoy and tell your friends.

-Sam