Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / Nov. 8, 2013, edition 1 / Page 8
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* I * * ^ t. # » * FEATURES 8 WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM gma Fall fuzzy fun: No Shave November’s return BY SHELBY SMITH The whisker race has begun. As of Nov. 1, participants in No Shave November have begun to grow their facial hair without interruption. The annual phenomenon of No Shave November is more than just an opportunity for a catchy alliteration. The month-long event has origins in ancient Greek culture with Aristotle introducing the idea that there should be a long period where men refrain from shaving their beards. It has become what it is today through college culture. Typically known as the "Halloween- Hangover" month, November typically yields un-eventfulness until Thanksgiving. That's too long and too cold to wait for something exciting. "On Halloween night it's a custom for me to completely shave down my facial hair to start with a blank slate," said junior Jordan Musick, "I like doing it to gauge how fast I can grow (my beard), like a benchmark." \^^th dropping temperatures fast approaching, growing a beard also proves to be quite sensible. "It's like a woolly scarf that grows on your face," said sophomore Patrick Withrow. However, this reason is not enough for many people who do not appreciate furry faces that the month yields. This is particularly true for many women, including the girlfriends and wives of NSN's participants. "You may be wearing it, but I gotta look at it," said senior Vita Price. "If it doesn't look good, get rid of it." However, not all women can be classified into this group. In fact, some women even participate in abstaining from shaving not just in November, but as a lifestyle.. If you have been at Guilford for a good amount of time (and have seen the many posts about it on Guilford College Confessions), yoii will definitely recognize that there are many females participating in a lifestyle that is typically classified as a '^oy's club." "I am not intentionally participating in No Shave November but I don't shave," said sophomore Kiera McNicholas. "Part of me likes the idea of females participating in No Shave November because it may expose others to the idea and reality of not shaving. "I am a little ticked off that having body hair is more acceptable during No Shave November, like that is permission to not shave even though it is a choice to shave or not." After all, putting away the razor for either men or women is practical for warmth during the cold months, and the time and money it takes to shave can be tedious. However, keeping’ a hairy body, including a beard, neat and clean is work in itself. Many participants feel that it is less work to shave every day because proper maintenance of a beard is crucial. After all, Aristotle once said in the "Nicomachean Ethics" that "no man can be trusted if he is without a beard ... Beard growth training is as important as proper ethics training." That ethics training, in the case of NSN, is making sure you do not repulse whoever is around you. Director of Friends Center, Campus Minstry Coordinator and unofficial Resident Beard Expert Max Carter has tips for the upcoming month from his own experience of nurturing his 42-year-old beard. "I wash it with olive oil soap in the shower each morning and then comb it," Carter said, "I trim it a bit each time I get a hair cut." His top three tips for beard maintenance are: keep it combed, keep it clean and keep it out of the zipper of your coat. Beard growing can have its trials, but has proven to be worth it for NSN participants. Just watch out for the neck beard. "I have a slight bald spot on the right side of my jaw line," said Musick "And tiie neck beard only brings itchiness and sadness. But my beard grows stronger with each passing winter." While no one can grow a beard as impressive as Carter's within a month, every participant can still be successful in their furry endeavors. Check out our poll online! WWW.GUILFORDIANXOI^ Would you participate in No Shave November? check one C]Yes QNo Do you think No Shave November is a good idea? check one nYes n No FYE students and passersby create meaning in sounds of ‘Mobile Devices’ BY GABE POLLACK Junior and T.A. Raina Martens (top) and first-years Will Staples and Nora Prokosch pose with the “Mobile Devices.’ Where is that jackhammer? Why is that college kid holding a giant white horn? What is that noise? Assistant Professor of Art Mark Dixon's Sound as Art FYE students sparked those questions and more while roaming downtown Greensboro on Friday and Saturday night, displaying their semester's work: a performance art piece called "Mobile Devices." "(In 'Mobile Devices,' students) carry sound-making devices hidden inside sculptural representations of the sound," according to the Art in Odd Places website, "Performers mingle around Lewis Street letting their sounds and sculptures interact informally with each other and vidth the environment." First-year Nora Prokosch twirled across Elm Street, swinging her yellow bee-hive-like visualization of a jackhammer. "Is there really a jackhammer in there?" asked a curious little boy, peeking into the giant whiffle-ball-like sculpture as his Mom tugged him along. Meanwhile, first-year Harrison Carpenter moonwalked across the street with his rusty-colored rendering of the grinding sound of a stick sliding up a bass string. When asked what he thought of the racket, one man, jaywalking across Elm Street, replied blankly, "What noise?" For Dixon, this man's reaction, or lack thereof rather, may perfectly explain the inspiration for "Mobile Devices." "Sounds have become disassociated from their objects," said Dixon. "Any sound can happen in any setting." Over time, as we assume that the wide range of sound heard in a day derives more and more from the same thin slice of technology, we can become normalized to a mobile device- devised din. Like an old car engine rattling louder and louder,,we may not notice the clamor unless something shifts drastically. "We're turning the volume up on a fact of contemporary life," said Dixon. And thus, through "Mobile Devices," pedestrians find themselves listening to horse hoofs hopping, a cuckoo clock clattering and pee splattering against a urinal all on a single street comer. "The reactions of people can be very important in a performance art piece," said Carpenter. But if embedded in "Mobile Devices" is a desire to affect onlookers, we must also think about the other end of the feedback loop. What did spectators get out of "Mobile Devices"? Some appreciated the art for its sheer novelty value. "It caught my eye, which is unusual in this busy world," said dty-goer Alicia Warrick. Still others considered it a sign of Greensboro's burgeoning arts community. "Greensboro is being a little more adventuresome," said Greensboro-native Joy Dascalkis. Most though, without an explanation provided for them, appreciated the art, but did not understand it. "I hear noise and I see stmcture but, outside of that, I don't see what the connection is," said Coleman Sistmnk, an Atlanta local visiting Greensboro for A&T's homecoming festivities. So what exactly is "Mobile Devices," including both the performers' and passersby's perspectives? "Is that a unicorn horn?" asked Sistmnk, humorously searching for the meaning of "Mobile Devices," as he chatted with Prokosch and first-year Gabe Hughes on the street comer. "Is this a 'Save the Unicorns' campaign? Is that supposed to be Bane's mask? You know what, is that a blue penis?" As far as the sculptures and pieces' meaning go... No and yes. It is none of those things and all of those things. It is everything you want it to be and nothing you do not make it. Placing interesting art in public places, no meaning immediately supplied, "Mobile Devices" broadens the circle of creativity, encouraging all to join in and actively interpret their realities. In the process of this interpretation, the artist and the former bystander collaborate to make something entirely new. And is that not exactly what Dixon and company want out of their audience? To thmst back into view sounds and sights previously displaced. To get people to think about the noises they hear. To get people engaged. Do you see the jackhammer now?
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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