FEBRUARY 24,1>89 — THE DECREE — PAGE 3
Play gives disturbing view of society
By HUGH CORBIN
Since Dr. Steve quoted my
feelings about violence in our
society, I have been wondering if
we in America are being infected
with some kind of aggressive vi
rus whose effects are graphically
portrayed on the six-o’clock
news each evening.
If this were really the root
cause of the growing statistics of
violence then we would be fran
tically supporting research to find
and destroy the evil bug. But the
roots of violence in our society go
back to the very foundation of
this country — the massacre of
native Americans; the thousands
lost on the slave ships; the seven
years of fratricide that gave us
birth. And this has continued
through to the bloodiest civil war
in history and the 50,000 killed in
Vietnam.
Mohandas Gandhi predicted
that mankind in this century
would either adopt non-violence
or would become increasingly
violent even to our own destruc
tion. His words seem to be com
ing true. Violence is so pervasive
that we may speak of a “culture of
The North Carolina Wesleyan
Wind Ensemble is planning three
concerts this spring. They will
perform on campus on March 2
and at Tarry town Mall on March
10. There will be a later concert
in April on the campus in Rocky
Mount.
The Wind Ensemble is com
prised of students, faculty, and
members of the Rocky Mount
community. The group consists
of about 20 members who spe
cialize in music for chamber
winds, especially that of the
18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
The concerts include music of
Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss,
Dvorak and Jacob.
The Wesleyan Wind En
semble invites new members to
join. The group practices weekly
on Thursday evenings. If inter
ested, contact Mike McAllister
at 977-7171.
Michael McAllister, assistant
professor of music at Wesleyan,
is the group’s conductor. McAl
lister, who is in his second year at
Wesleyan, is a graduate of Cali
fornia State University at
Review
violence.” It dominates our news,
our entertainment and the fact
that today some form of crime or
violence is the critical experience
of one of every five Americans.
And too there is the vast potential
violence of our nuclear industry.
We are amused by our chil
dren playing with imitations of
the weapons we produce. We
know that kids are not seriously
developing “killer instincts”
from these toys, but what does it
say for our level of civilization
that our childrens’ games are
about war and killing each other?
More and more households have
private weapons and most mur
ders are family related. Yet we
resist all efforts to remove hand
guns in the name of “freedom”
and “civil liberties.”
The question of violence is
particularly relevant to Black
History Month. Apart from the
monumental, institutionalized
Northridge. He received his
master’s degree in music from
Southwestern Louisiana. Now
the principle horn for the Tar
River Orchestra, McAllisters has
also played with the Baton
Rouge Symphony Orchestra and
has completed a tour of Europe
and Japan. McAllister teaches
courses in music theory, music
history and music appreciation at
Wesleyan.
(Courtesy of NCWC Public
Information.)
(Continued from Page 2)
room at home. My social studies
homework included reading
about World War II. I turned the
page and saw a picture of Hitler
youths burning books. I raced
into the den for the afternoon
paper and compared the Nazi
burning to the photograph of our
own god-fearing youths tossing
vinyl discs into the fierce fires of
violence of slavery, we find our
selves surprised by the extent of
killing and terror that accompa
nied the civil rights struggle in
our own recent history. And even
though we celebrate the life of
Martin Luther King there is al
ways the violence of his assassi
nation and the continuing ques
tioning of his non-violent phi
losophy.
Today, on the Wesleyan cam
pus, we again sense the conflict
between Malcolm X’s protest
and struggle on one side and
King’s self-sacrifice and recon-
By DELL LEWIS
The Green Hill Center for
North Carolina Art began its
19&9 schedule with “Passionate
Visions: Outsider Art from the
Collection of North Carolina
Wesleyan College.” The exhibi
tion opened at the Center’s in
terim gallery at 327 South Ehn
Street in downtown Greensboro
on Jan. 14 and will run through
March 4. A public opening was
held Friday, Jan. 13 from 7-9
p.m.
“Outsider” art (also called
contemporary folk, naive or vi
sionary art) is made by artists
who often work in isolation out
side of the mainstream art world.
Often, these artists are eccentrics
with little or no formal education.
Many times the artists are
spurred into art making through
inspiring religious visions, trau
matic illness, or the advent of
retirement
The works included in “Pas
sionate Visions” are made from
common or found materials that
are used in unexpected and pow
erful new ways. Concrete sculp
ture by Rocky Mount native Ver
non Burwell, furniture by Leroy
indignation and retribution.
I learned lessons at that mo
ment that I’ve never forgotten.
Censorship is censorship by any
other name. The fear of allowing
open debate about what you be
lieve in often leads to attempted
eradication of the opposition.
That eradication is hardly ever
wholly successful.
Ironically, however, my
newspapCT article was not about
ciliation on the other. It is hard
for African-Americans to re
member that King’s programs
always started with strategies of
negotiation as well as confronta
tion and civil disobedience. The
non-violent philosophy was
based on accepting the opponent
as inherently capable of good
ness while Malcolm saw the op
ponent as inherently evil.
Also on the campus is True
West. A provocative, violent play
whose simple message in the de
terioration of an idealistic writer
into a materialistic murderer. An
Person, and wood carvings by
Arliss Watford are all highly per
sonal expressions that range from
the fanciful to the startling. The
exhibition includes over 50
pieces by 14 artists and marks the
first time that a concentrated
amount of outsider art has been
on view in the Greensboro/
Guilford County area.
All of the works in “Passion
ate Visions” are from the Robert
Lynch collection acquired last
year by the college. Lynch as
sembled the collection, one of the
largest of its type in the country,
over the past ten years. Lynch, a
Harvard educated lawyer turned
poet and a native of White Oak,
N.C., returned to Isetta House,
the home that his grandfather
builL Here he amassed a collec
tion that illustrates his passion
for and deep understanding of
these outsider artists and their
work.
Bill Calhoun, public rela
tions coordinate for the Center,
said, “There has been a great deal
of publicity about the show
which has resulted in good atten
dance.” “It tends to capture the
attention of passers-by,” he
added. Calhoun said that the
the new Nazis. I complained
about Lennon’s ^logy. Insur
ing the ever-increasing profits for
his record company had blinded
him to the much more valuable
principle that he has the right —
as an artist and as a citizen — to
say what he pleases.
And now I regret that the Ca
nadian government banned The
Satanic Verses, that B. Dalton
and Waldenbooks refuse to sell
allegory for America? A fable for
our times? The offensive lan
guage is the least in the play’s
celebration of violence. The de
struction of values, character, the
house, the plants and an innocent
typewriter, underscores the help
less commitment to the culture of
violence.
Not a pleasant play but a very
disturbing one. Was this an ap
propriate production for a college
theater? Definitely, if it disturbs
and awakens us to what is hap
pening in our country.
display
show came about through the
collaborative efforts of curator
Linda Moss and guest curator
Roger Manley.
Manley, a photographer and
folklorist living in Durham,
N.C., is one of North Carolina’s
leading authorities on outsider
art. A past recipient of a National
Endowment fw the Arts Visual
Artists Fellowship in 1984-85,
Manley has served as folklorist
for the McKissick Museum, Co
lumbia, S.C., and a consultant for
the Jargon Society on the South
eastern Visionary Folk Art Proj
ect. One of his most recent proj
ects has been the exhibition and
symposium on visionary artist
Annie Hooper at North Carolina
State University.
Funding for the exhibition and
related programs has been par
tially provided by the Grassroots
Arts Program, the North Carolina
Arts Council and the United Arts
Council of GreensbOTO.
Green Hill Center for North
Carolina Art is a non-profit exhi
bition gallery and educational
agency exclusively featuring the
contemporary visual arts of
North Carolina.
the book, that French, West Ger
man, Greek, and Turkish compa
nies will not publish it, that
Rushdie has apologized for Mus
lim distress caused by the bode.
Right on! Viking Penguin for
announcing another edition. The
Ayatollah and his thugs are dan
gerous enough without allowing
them to dictate to the world what
an artist can say and what I can
read.
Wind Ensemble sets
three spring concerts
Censorship uneffecttve, unacceptable
Art collection on