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Visual Arts
Fragile Bridges: Mike Walsh exhibits at Maude Kerns.
Books: Booknotes
Gardening
Mats & Mountains:
Rock gardening isn't really about rocks.
Morsels
Cornvalley Dining:
Eugene's alter ego dishes up decent grub.
PLUS: Booknotes.
Fragile
Bridges
Mike
Walsh exhibits at Maude Kerns.
By
Kathleen Caprario
Can indigenous art truly be contemporary,
or should it remain an anthropological curiosity, its only value to
be found within its historical context? Is contemporary art solely
the domain of Western aesthetics, training and thought, or can we
find meaningful and sympathetic expression in artworks created by
people rooted in different cultural perspectives and traditions? These
questions of cultural and aesthetic identity are eloquently addressed
in Eugene artist Mike E. Walsh's site-specific installation, Bridges:
Fragile Circle, currently on exhibit at the Maude Kerns Art Center's
Stage Gallery.
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Celia
(Wayne Bund) and Rosalind (Lauren Armstrong) disguise themselves
in the forest of Arden.
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A public reception for the artist will be held from
6 to 8 pm Friday, April 12 at the Art Center, 1910 East 15th Ave.
Regular viewing hours are 10 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Friday and
noon to 4 on Saturdays.
According to Walsh, the "fragile bridge that exists
between all indigenous native cultures and contemporary Occidental
societies" is one that he has crossed and metaphorically explored
since visiting Australia in 1999. One issue that has inspired the
Australian series (which includes more than 100 artworks) and Walsh's
appropriation of Aboriginal imagery in Bridges: Fragile Circle
is Occidental Australian culture's refusal, particularly in the contemporary
arts, to recognize work created by reputable tribal artists in the
same way that it values artists who work in a Western-influenced style.
To emphasize that point in this installation, eight miniature, shelf-
mounted Plexiglas vitrines containing an appropriated Aboriginal art
image are presented as archeological artifacts. The images, reproductions
of painting fragments, are then manipulated as plastic covered wires
(from Australia) are embedded into each painting's surface. The actual
paintings used by Walsh are based on ancestral Aboriginal myths and
stories known as "Dreamings" created by some of Aboriginal art's most
prominent practitioners, including Charlie Tarawa Tjungarrayi.
He notes that "The history of the Australian aboriginal
culture is not all that different than that of the Native American
Indian. Both cultures have endured the systematic taking of their
lands by a dominant-foreign race." It could be added that its current
creative voice has been relegated to that of a historical convention.
Walsh asks the viewer to rethink the struggle of native peoples to
preserve their identity in the face of modern civilization --
and that the global encroachment of civilization is an issue immediate
and salient to all, including those from historically dominant cultures.
The means by which he makes that request involves
a carefully designed and beautifully articulated arrangement of items
that engages the viewer on multiple levels: social, political, historical,
symbolic and aesthetic. He intends to deconstruct cultural layers
through the presentation and juxtaposition of various objects. Block-like
houses, representing Occidental culture and its insatiable acquisition
of tribal land, rise from a ground of shredded paper that mimics the
remains of inequitable treaties and land agreements made with the
Aboriginal people. The houses are on fire; their painted flame-like
marks speak of the Aboriginal desire to limit the influence of contemporary
Australian society in their world. Other items, both found and fabricated,
relate in similarity and in contrast throughout the installation.
A broken, dark wood hand offers itself, palm up, to the viewer's reception.
Vessels of a similar rich hue contain salt and act as ceremonial repositories;
they are symbols of the earth and the Aboriginal people's connection
to it. Concentric circles, some broken and divided, are a repeated
motif throughout the installation and echo a popular tribal form.
A chain attached to a doll-size wood sled has as its passengers more
of the featureless houses. It cuts through an Aboriginal "Dreaming"
circle as it drags behind it a spherical float found by Walsh on a
Melbourne beach. The float has been embellished by Walsh with a small,
painted silhouette of the Australian continent. As a relief to the
depiction of so much disparity between cultures, several ladders extend
upward along the walls and signify hope amid conflict. The layout
of the selected items combines to create an intensely poetic statement
by one of the region's most prolific and sagacious artists.
Although Bridges: Fragile Circle is the culmination
of Mike E. Walsh's inquiry into the dichotomy that exists between
Aboriginal and Occidental Australian societies and his last installation
dealing with this specific theme, issues of identity and community
are extant in Walsh's work. His past artistic concerns, including
AIDS, the environment, and gay culture, continue to provoke and engage
the viewer. Bridges: Fragile Circle will remain on exhibit
through May 10. Don't miss it.
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Book
Notes
Author, theologian and ethicist Daniel
Maguire speaks on abortion and contraception at 7 pm on 4/12 at
the McDonald Theatre. ...Writer David Sedaris will perform
at 7 pm on 4/21 in the Silva Hall, Hult Center. 682-5000. Also, Sedaris
will be in Portland on 4/25. (503) 227-2583. Poet Marvin Bell,
author of 15 books of poems, reads at 7 pm on 4/23 in the Eugene Public
Library, upstairs. Free.
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Mats
& Mountains
Rock
gardening isn't really about rocks.
By
Rachel Foster
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Sebring
Rock Garden at Alton baker Park.
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In the last decade, fashionable gardens have embraced huge leaves,
gaudy colors and plants of questionable hardiness. Several years without
a serious freeze in the Willamette Valley have inflamed the trend
to "Tropicalismo," creating a rush on banana trees, New Zealand flax
and giant rhubarb. Not everyone buys the tropical look, of course.
At the other end of the scale there's a group of trend-resistant diehards
with a penchant for the teeny-weeny. They are called rock gardeners.
Rock gardening isn't really about rocks. The construction
phase is admittedly compelling, and there are a few people who make
inanimate "gardens" entirely out of stone. For plant lovers, however,
rock gardening is all about growing rock plants, which are also known
as alpines: In nature many of them live in the treeless alpine zone
of mountainous areas around the world. The pinnacle of the rock gardener's
art is to grow (and successfully bring to flower) some little plant
that is adapted to the harsh life on a mountain-top and that hardly
anyone has ever grown before. Hiking into the mountains to find unfamiliar
plants, taking photos and raising things from seed are all part of
the fun for true enthusiasts
Growing rock plants does not absolutely require rocks.
Classic rock gardening arose from a desire to imitate the mountain
homes of alpines. Rocks are aesthetically pleasing, providing a scale
and mass that the plants themselves can't deliver. They also have
practical horticultural benefits. But it's drainage that is all-important.
Many rock plants will happily grow in or above retaining walls, or
in a suitably gritty soil mix just mounded on the ground or in containers.
The point is that the plants need a certain depth of coarse soil through
which water moves very freely. Some rock plants are drought tolerant,
but most need a reasonable amount of water. They just hate to have
it linger around their roots.
Once you have a suitable home for them, growing rock
plants is quite easy and has some advantages over more conventional
gardening. If you have ever been confronted with the job of dividing
a large clump of Miscanthus sinensis, you will see the merit
in growing plants that remain much smaller than you are. Secondly,
with rock plants you can fit a lot of variety into a small space.
Most people include miniature bulbs in their rock gardens, and dwarf
shrubs and conifers that can grow as little as an inch a year. Lastly,
the plants themselves are very appealing. They tend to be colorful,
with disproportionately large flowers, and they often trail nicely,
or grow in tight, densely textured mats and cute, pattable bun shapes.
The Northwest is an interesting place to be a rock
gardener. West of the mountains, wet, mild weather is the norm at
a season when mountain plants expect to be dormant and covered in
snow, and this presents some challenges. On the other hand, low-humidity
summers with cool nights give us a big advantage over East Coast and
Midwest gardeners. And, of course, we live on the edge of a mountain
range full of plants that are barely known to horticulture. One way
to find out more about this arcane branch of gardening is to visit
the Sebring Rock Garden in Alton Baker Park.
Public rock gardens are rare in the U.S. This one
was built a few years ago as a joint project of the city and the local
chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society, with a grant from
the national organization. Local businesses chipped in with donations
and club members donated time and plants. Not surprisingly, the larger
rocks pose an irresistible temptation to children and mountain bikes,
resulting in some gaps near the summit. Geese removed a number of
plants after they were planted, and a couple of years ago most of
the conifers were dug up and stolen. The garden has been a success
in spite of everything, so go and see it. This month the garden should
be colorful with rock daphne, Persian candytuft, geraniums, silene
and phlox. In May it will be dazzling.
Would you like to help out at the garden and learn
more about rock gardening? There is a maintenance day scheduled at
the Sebring Garden from 1 to 3 pm Sunday, April 21 . The garden is
just west of the main parking lot at Alton Baker Park, in sight of
the new foot bridge. Bring gloves and suitable clothing. There will
be brief tours of the garden at 1
and 2 pm. For information on on-going maintenance, contact Marietta
O'Byrne at 935-3915.
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Cornvalley
Dining
Eugene's
alter ego dishes up decent grub.
Le
Bistro French Restaurant
150 Madison Ave., Corvallis,
754-6680.
4:30-9:30 pm, T-SA. $$-$$$$
Newsflash: There's some seriously good food in Corvallis.
This will come as something of a shock to many Eugeneans who, when
they think of Corvallis at all, usually think of some backcountry
folk, most of whom are obsessed with a family of large rodents badly
in need of orthodonture. Cornvalley, as it is often called, seems
a place where one would go to shop for sheep dip, chawin' tabaccy
or new overalls, and good food might be mutton stew or fresh beef
jerky.
Amazingly, the residents of Beaver Country actually
have, many of them, touch-tone phones, televisions, and indoor plumbing.
Some even have computers and recognize such terms as Internet and
software. A precious few are apparently familiar with such arcane
culinary concepts as pasta and paté.
In fact and in truth, Corvallis retains many of the
charms that Eugene long ago sacrificed on the altar of "progress."
For example, to reach Le Bistro, a fine little restaurant specializing
in "French country cuisine," drive downtown (still lively though dying
slowly) to the corner of S.W. Second and Madison. On three of the
corners sit lovely old brick buildings, all on the National Register
of Historic Sites: the first (dated 1889) houses Five Star Sports;
the second, formerly the Benton County State Bank, now the Madison
Building, hosts Lucidyne behind pink granite pillars and arched windows;
the third was the old Corvallis Hotel (1927), now studios for students
and home to Avalon Wine, Gift and Gourmet (excellent taste here) and
Le Bistro.
The restaurant is small, maybe 15 tables dressed in
white cloths topped by traditional bistro-style white butcher paper,
lighted by individual electric(!) lamps, surrounded by cafe chairs.
The place feels warm, with a color theme of cream and red. Chef Robert
Merlet, hospitable French gent, operates the kitchen. His son, Yannick,
hosts and runs the floor. Service is smooth and professional, wine
list is modest but selected with good sense of food matches, and the
menu is, as advertised, country French -- good food, treated
simply but with respect for fresh ingredients and individual flavors,
served without too much fuss and fanfare. Recently, we opened our
dinner with a delicious cream of broccoli soup, followed by imported
venison paté (rustic and flavorful) on a bed of baby greens with
a homemade garlic dressing and garnished with slices of really yummy
homemade pickles, served with a crusty (but flavorless) French baguette
and a slab of sweet cream butter. The entree was "fresh" halibut (never
order the "fresh" fish on Tuesday; it was fresh on the previous Thursday
or Friday -- my bad) with a shallot/cream reduction on mashed
potatoes with fresh asparagus; the sauce, spuds and asparagus were
terrif. Bet the fish was great on Friday night.
Ron Kuhn, owner of Eugene's Briggs Hill winery, joined
me for dessert and tasting of his lovely Muller-Thurgau. Ron calls
Le Bistro "a real little treasure," and he's right. Entrees priced
in the $14-$18 range, desserts at $4.50, cocktails available.
Wheelchair accessible, smoke-free. -- LS
Ambrosia
Restaurant and Bar
174 E. Broadway, 342-4141.
11:30 am-10 pm SU-TH, 11:30 am-2 pm, 5-10:30 pm F-SA. $$$
It's a little like Christmas every day at Ambrosia.
Calzone in your right stocking. A selections of pizzas in your left.
Rich historic-looking brick masonry suggests Yuletide pizzazz. It's
warm inside, even cozy, despite the vast, multi-tiered interior and
lofty prices. A thick deep brown bar spans the inside of the east
wall, shiny and visited by bottles, pints and mixers. Fine wines make
appearances with specials and scampi. Chase it all with rich mousse,
cheesecake, or just grab a handful of mints on your way out. If you
posture gently, you can trade your bread butter for olive oil and
vinegar. -- BF
Mazzi's
3377 E. Amazon Dr., 687-2252.
Lunches, 11:30 am-2 pm M-F; dinners 5-10 pm daily. $$-$$$
The Mazzi family has made this place a Eugene landmark
for more than 30 years, serving a traditional Italian menu with southern/Sicilian
flair. It's a family place in style, too, offering a wide selection
from pizzas to a variety of pastas, to meats and fresh seafood, all
at very reasonable prices. The place feels cozy, warm, relaxed, but
the service is quick, smooth and professional. These are folks who
know what they're doing, love what they're doing, and have been doing
it very well for a long time. Full bar, good wine list, tasty desserts.
-- LS
Morsels is a revolving feature that tries to capture
the atmosphere as well as the cuisine of some of our favorite places
to eat in and around Eugene, along with food news. Suggestions?
Call Ben or Marina at 484-0519 or e-mail cal@eugeneweekly.com
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