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New ceramics exhibit in library
Katie Elkins
GUEST WRITER
Tonight the Guilford College
Art Gallery will make history.
Never before
has the gallery
presented an
exhibition fo
cusing solely on
pottery, but
Charles Tefft,
instructor of ce
ramics here at
Guilford, is
breaking new
ground by curating such a show, from Japan, China, Korea, and
In conjunction with a ceram
ics art history class he is teach
ing this semester, which focuses
on ceramic traditions in other cul
tures, Tefft has put together an
exhibition entitled "Historical
Perspectives on Contemporary
Ceramics." The opening of the
show will take place tonight,
March 16, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the
Guilford College Art Gallery in
Hege Library. If you think that
The View from the CracMen
Katie Elliott
FEATURES COLUMNIST
So here we are, back safe
and sound at home sweet Guilco
. . . All around me are lil' sun
burned faces, people with hang
overs so severe that they'll last
'til April. And you know what? I
am not one of those people, and I
have approximately zero sympa
thy for those of you who are.
You see, I did not go to the
beach for spring break. I did not
spend the week "laying out" or
"catching rays." I did not engage
in any overblown bacchanalias,
nor did I spend the majority of
my week plastered out of my
brains.
No, I was one of the oh-so
lucky ones who spent the major
ity of the week in front of a com
puter, doing homework.
Don't get me wrong; it's not
as if I desperately yearned to do
papers all week. Not in the slight
est. I would infinitely prefer to be
engaging in more mind-altering
activities, but I didn't really have
that choice. As always, I had work
to do.
You see, I have some sort of
internal paradox. I am, at heart, a
slacker. I really don't give a d*mn
about doing work. I don't want to
do it, and I don't really care about
it in the least.
ceramics just isn't your thing,
these artists might change your
mind.
The show will include the
recent works of six major Ameri-
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orwinnieOwen^ar^^
West Africa. Each
uses the influences
in concert with
their own cultural
identities and aes
thetics, producing
works of art that of
fer a glimpse of the
past through the
eyes of the present.
Art has, over the span of where else in the world, which is
mankind, always been an indica- certainly a gift but one that also
break.
But I have this weird, overac
tive conscience that screams like
a menopausal woman suffering
from chocolate withdrawal when I
don't do my work. And even if that
weren't the case, I have a scholar
ship that I really have to keep if I
plan to stay at Guilford. (And god
knows, you wouldn't want me to
leave Guilford. . . Whose rants and
raves would you read then?)
So I'm an overachiever
slacker, which means I go home
on spring break and desperately
struggle to finish my two articles,
paper, project, and study for an
exam and complain about it all the
while." And you are the lucky one
who gets to read the my whining.
The Guilfardian
Features
can ceramicists:
Malcolm Davis,
Pete Pinnell,
Ellen Shankin,
Winnie Owens-
Hart, Randy
Johnston, and
Michael Simon.
These nationally
renowned artists
claim influences
COURTESY OF TERRY HAMMOND
rr'r__ m t*
tor of the state of a culture. As creates a challenge: to create our
cultures are
constantly in
fluencing one
another
through trade
and political in
teraction, the
line marking
what is specific
to the here and
now becomes
blurred. It is
the job of the
artist to draw
from what has been learned by This dynamic between the his
artists in the past, add to it, and torical influences of myriad cul-
A piece by Ellen Shankin
My, my . . . Life doesn't get
better than this, now does it?
I'm not telling you this be
cause I expect any sympathy. Far
from it. I'm telling you all this
simply because I do not want any
one to mistakenly think that I will
offer them sympathy when they
come to me, crying about the home
work they didn't do, their oh-so
painful sunburn, their woe-is-them
alcohol poisoning.
Sorry, dude. I really
couldn't care less.
So don't come crying to me.
If you ask me for headache medi
cine to ease the agony of your
hangover, I will probably laugh in
vour face and hand you some of my
Tiii J 1 - J,jfti-
mmmmrnrn
Michael Simon's work
make it into
something
meaningful in
the present.
Living in
the present in
America means
that we have
more influences
than almost any-
mil——
COURTESY OF TERRY HAMMOND
m VESCOTT
lYferch 16, 2001
tures and contemporary art is the
subject of the newest exhibit in
our own Hege Library.
For those of you who have
never attended an art opening at
Guilford, I assure you that it is
always worthwhile, and that this
show in particular will be well
worth the two-minute walk
across campus. And how can you
go wrong with free hors
d'oeuvres?
homework to edit. If you whine
about your sunburn, odds are I'll
make some snide remark about
what a cute lobster you'd make as
I search for some nice aloe vera to
shove down your throat.
Perhaps you're now think
ing, 'Wow, that girl's really mean.'
Nope, I'm not terribly nice, and
moreover, I'm bitter. But I'm not
as bad as you might think. They
are times when I am the most sym
pathetic person you'll ever meet.
(Ask my roommate I played
mommy for a week when she was
sick. I even walked her to the bath
room when she couldn't get out of
bed.) This just doesn't happen to
be one of those times.
Try me later though. Re
ally Come tell me your problems.
Pour out your heart. Bare your
soul. As long as it's not about
your fantastic spring break, I'll
probably listen, maybe even offer
some advice from the depths of
my vast wisdom.
And you never know if
your life's woes are up to a nice
Jerry Springer, soap opera-esque
par, they might even appear here
in this weekly column-thing. I
can always use "scintillating new
material," to use professor Jeff
Jeske's words. So really, if you
want a sympathetic ear and pub
lic ridicule, do tell me. And mean
while, here's some aloe vera. 1
hear it tastes good.
own
unique
culture,
which
will in
evitably
be a
product
of our
co 11 ec -
tive his
torical
back
grounds.
COURTESY OF TERRY HAMMOND