The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 20, 1966 Page: 2 of 12
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'Made of Iron' exhibit highlights vibrant gallery displays
By CLINT GOODSON
Thresher Fine Arts Writer
The recent Houston cultural
scene, abnormally active and,
typically, designated by the loc-
al Cultural Establishment as a
"boom," has included a really
prodigious amount of activity
in the graphic and plastic arts.
"Besides the highly commend-
able Chillida exhibition at the
Museum of Fine Arts, there are
a number of smaller but still
really worthwhile shows around.
Foremost among these is the
"Made of Iron" exhibit at the
University of St. Thomas. It is
the most recent example of that
school's continuing policy of ar-
ranging interesting and diversi-
fied shows for a fairly apathet-
ic public. Most Houstonians are
only vaguely aware of St.
Thomas' existence, yet its Fine
Arts department is outstanding
and highly active.
Art And Artifact
"Made of Iron" traces the
uses of iron through history in
an exhibition of artifacts and
art objects. Among these are
medieval plates or armor, helm
ets, and knives.
It also presents a number of
modern sculptures in iron by
noted artists, and even includes
a mobile in iron by Alexander
Calder. Fernand Leger and Ed-
uardo Chillida are among the
represented artists.
The Contemporary Arts Mu-
seum is presently showing "Art
in America," a travelling sur-
vey of recent American art. If
this exhibit seems less impres-
sive than others around, it is
probably because recent Ameri-
can art relies heavily on pop
motifs and techniques that are
not easy to appreciate. It still
is worth a look.
Bank Exhibits
The most surprising exhibits
in town are at five banks; each
has borrowed from the collec-
tion of the Fine Arts Museum
in observance of Houston's
Festival of the Arts.
Sculptures and drawing of
David Hayes are at Bank of
the Southwest, 910 Travis.
Three stabiles and a mobile of
Alexander Calder are on exhibit
Bela Siki shines through
By STEPHEN FOX
The Houston Symphony Or-
chestra was quite disappointing
to one acquainted with the
pre-recorded concert. However,
perfection has been, I think,
farther away from some pro-
fessional orchestras at times.
It seems that the choice of
program pieces was not suited
to the Houston Symphony. All'
the works played required ex-
tensive precision for adequate
performance, and precision
seems to be one of the major
weaknesses, if not the major
weakness, of this group.
Thus, they should not have
played Rossini's "La Gazza
Ladra", Bartok's Third Piano
The Rice Thresher
Sandy Coyner, Editor
Phil Garon, Managing Editor
Chris Curran, News Editor
Dennis Bahler, Make-up Editor
'PiMtcifrCc "Peo-ftte
Roger Glade should be allowed to
change his college membership.
The fears of the., college,, masters ar§
totally unjustified. Allowing adjustments
when a student would clearly benefit from
a change by no means exposes the system
to chaos. The masters underestimate their
own judgment; for if they would retain
for themselves the power to determine
college memberships, they can surely pre-
vent capricious or continual shifting.
There will be times when the princi-
ples upon which the college system is es-
tablished must prevail over personal con-
siderations, but only when the principle
is clearly endangered by a ready acquies-
<•< nee to individual desires.
One of the strengths of the college
system is its structuring to keep the col-
leges balanced among each other by a
heterogeneity of membership. Yet the
system progresses because of competition
among colleges; the colleges develop
differing structural emphases and oppor-
tunities, and slightly different personali-
ties; and there is no reason why a strictly
limited number of membership changes
should endanger the balanced hetero-
geneity.
The college system succeeds when it
Itt&Key fat caC£e<pe&
Too much of the time and energy of col-
lege officers has for years been devoted
to performing routine work. The colleges
have remained unable to reach their pro-
mised potential because of the burden of
busy-work that is involved in self-gov-
ernment.
Some of the colleges now have avail-
able to them the services of a secretary,
and all of them have new funds for new
student jobs. These steps are only a part
of what needs to be done, but in the right
direction. They can only help the develop-
ment of the system, when it had reached
a point of apparent stagnation.
makes undergraduate education richer
and deeper, when it provides special oppor-
tunities and a healthy afmsophere. Some
flexibility of membership will promote
this goal; extreme rigidity will in some
cases preclude it.
If the masters will not accept the
responsibility for providing the flexibility
which will correct principle when it harms
the system's intent, perhaps the Under-
graduate Affairs Committee can invest
it in some other group, such as the Inter-
college Court or the Committee itself.
Sc&edutivup &c&aaC
The Student Senate has raised for fac-
ulty consideration the problem of calen-
dar revision. What is needed is a joint
faculty-student group to open discussion
about Rice's entire academic calendar, and
the several current systems in operation
at different Universities, including the
quarter and trimester systems
The problem is too complex, and the
available alternatives too various, to be
handled through established channels,
where proposals are made by one group
and evaluated by another. Calendar re-
vision involves many sweeping considera-
tions: an odd opening date for the se-
mester may conflict with standard sched-
ules of summer activities; but most im-
portantly, a shift to a different length
semester or quarter would involve the
restructuring of the entire curriculum and
all courses, an overwhelming prospect but
one worth investigating.
Discussion may reveal that other cur-
riculum revisions, especially those con-
cerning course loads and distribution re-
quirements, are far more important at this
time than creating a tension-free Christ-
mas vacation. But the calendar has never
been thoroughly and publicly examined at
Rice, and the Senate proposal opens a path
for an adequate analysis.
at First City National Bank,
1001 Main.
And eight examples of Jean
Tinguely's motion art are mov-
ing continuously in the lobby
of Great Southern Life Insur-
ance Company, 3121 Buffalo
Speedway.
Periphery
Jean Robert Ipoustegui and
Marisol (Escoban) are repre-
sented as well, at Southern Na-
tional Bank, 921 Main, and at
Capital National Bank, 1300
Main, respectively.
These are generally well done,
and all but the Tingueleys can
uninspiring
Concerto, and especially not
Brahms' Second Symphony.
Intensectional precision was
decidedly pooi", while on the
whole, intra-section unity was
not bad. However, the violin
section seemed, at times, to
contradict this statement.
The first violins were the
worst offenders, botching fre-
quently in the Brahms. They
were even considerably off on
the easy-moving sections
throughout the program.
The performance of Rossini
was totally dumbfounding. Bet-
ter has been heard from Kansas
City. Precision was atrocious
and intonation was poor. The
woodwind sections gave only
mediocre efforts. Pickar rend-
ered a somewhat bland clarinet
solo and the flutes and double
reeds botched fluently.
Bela Siki, pianist for this
concert, is really to be com-
mended. His interpretation of
Bartok was marvelous. He was
truly the light of the concert.
Feeling literally overflowed
be seen in a short visit down-
town. While you're there, go
inside Neiman-Marcus: there's
a fairly extensive and varied
exhibition of paintings, includ-
ing Picassos—some of them ev-
en have price tags. That alone
makes the visit worth your time.
And if you still crave more,
try some of the private galler-
ies around. Most notable among
these are the Kiko and David
Galleries; the former is at pre-
sent exhibiting an interesting
artist named Soshana, and the
latter is usually a good bet any
time.
Symphony
from his playing. Such a shame
it was not a piano concert.
The musicians appeared to
be tiring near the end of the
concert, for the quality of the
Brahms was greatly inferior to
that of the first two numbers.
Mistakes became quite numer-
ous and tonal quality depreci-
ated tremendously. More notice-
able was the overly stringy
tone of the cellos and violas.
Possibly the most noticeable
fault was the near-total absence
of bass. However, this may be
some freak occurence, the fault
of plush, extravagant Jones
Hall. The bass violins were al-
most inaudible from the second
row and totally such from the
rear of the hall.
But be not discouraged by
these critical comments. Im-
provement seems promising;
and even if there is no improve-
ment, the symphony is well
worth one's time. Next week's
composers will be Berlioz,
Debussy, and Brahms. Go.
Ballet reveals vibrance of Mexico
By DONATA F. MEBANE
Thresher Reporter
The Ballet Folklorico of Mex-
ico opened last night at Jones
Hall offering an appreciative
audience an evening of delight-
ful entertainment.
The skillful company of 75
dancers celebrated the history
and folklore of Mexico from
Aztec civilization through the
Revolution to the present times
in a sequence of fast moving
scenes.
The choreography by Amalia
Hernandez was especially out-
standing for its remarkable
lighting effects and its variety
of bright costumes. In one cap-
tivating ballet the Revolution
was loudly brought to life by a
chorus of peasants singing their
hope and despair, and in dances
by "soldaderas"—the female
soldiers who fought side by side
with men in the revolution.
The religious sensitivity of
Mexico was humorously expres-
sed in a colorful parody of a
medieval morality play entitled
"Masks of Guerrero" where dev-
ils and angels fought and danced
side by side in the honor of
man.
Easily one of the most fascin-
ating dances of the evening was
the wedding dance, an absorb-
ing performance not only for
the grace of the dancers but for
the spectacular beauty of the
costumes; a true phantasma-
goria of colors on a vivid white
background.
Throughout the entire per-
formance, the gaiety, exuber-
ance, richness and variety of
Mexican life and folklore were
beautifully and ably portrayed;
the ballet is truly a memorable
encounter with the Mexican
culture.
What do you mean there isn't any key?
THE RICE THRESHER, OCTOBER 2 0, 19 6 6—P A G E 2
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Coyner, Sandy. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 20, 1966, newspaper, October 20, 1966; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth244981/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.