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4undefined : book six

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Subscribe now at: www.undefinedmagazine.com

{substance} undefined : Book Six : May - June 2010

features:

Preach Jacobs

dialogue:

Southeastern Piano Festival

Spoleto: Old is new

Robert Carter

6 : Editorial Comment : A pro and con look at the Columbia Museum of Art's new lighting fixture

16 : Ten Summer Wines

2 4 : Art alternatives in Charleston

3 0 : Forget that you have read this

undefined magazine is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or in part, without the publisher's written permission.Write us at: undefined Magazine 709 Woodrow Street : 321 : Columbia, SC 29205 803.386.9031

©2010 All Rights Reserved

These pages are the labor of many talented hands, from writing, design and editing, to sales and marketing. We encourage youto contact us with any feedback or story ideas at our website. Please support the artists, your community leaders andadvertisers. For advertising information please contact us at: 803.386.9031 or [email protected]

Nikolai Oskolkov

The photographer JoAnn Verburg has been living part of the year in Spoleto, Italy, for two decades. She was introduced to the city by Nigel Redden, director of theSpoleto Festival USA which was an outgrowth of the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto. She was taking a honeymoon trip to Italy and Redden helped her find a placeto stay in Spoleto. She has returned the favor by creating an exhibition of photos of the city. The show, “Interruptions,” opened at the Pace Magill Gallery in New Yorkin March and will be at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston May 28 through Aug. 22. The narrow streets and alleys of Spoleto were captured by Verburg using alarge format 4-by-5 camera. The show consists of 16 works each 4 by 6 feet. Verburg has shown extensively and was subject of a career retrospective at the Museum ofModern Art in 2007. The Gibbes Museum is at 135 Meeting St. Go to gibbesmuseum.org or call (843) 722-2706 for information.

on the cover

Janet Kozachek

Living in art

Barry Sparks

undefined : Book Six : May - June 2010

Hello again. We can’t tell you how happy we are to be here.

Since our last issue of undefined, we have been hard at work –

really, for the first time as a team – creating this brand new

issue that you hold in your hands. Don’t get us wrong – the last

issue was fine, but we were just getting the team in place.

You’ll see that one of the changes we’re enjoying is that we

are now covering all the arts: music, theatre, dance, visual arts,

design, literary arts, and the occasional food or bottle of wine –

what we like to call the art of indulgence. Another change is

that we are exploring more of what’s happening in the arts

throughout the Carolinas. We want you to know about it all.

During the creation of this issue we’ve sent hundreds of

emails to one another, had a bunch of meetings (fortunately sev-

eral were held at the outdoor tables at Hunter Gatherer), and

we’ve done our share of bumping heads. We’ve all badgered peo-

ple to buy ads and begged for money. We’ve given a lot of thought

to how we can pay for this and maybe even, at some point, pay

ourselves.

We’ve gone to a hell of a lot of art shows, dance performanc-

es, concerts, plays, poetry readings; you can’t cover the arts sit-

ting in front of a computer all the time. We’ve had some great

experiences and a few disappointments.

We have greatly benefitted from the help of some excellent

writers and photographers who have joined our labor of love for

little more than a thank you. So, officially, thank you Kristine,

Shani, Joshua, and Kaitlin.

The result for now is this issue. If you want to see more, buy

it, read it, tell your friends, tell your granny, send money.

A message from the editors.

5 undefined : book six

1. Cynthia Boiter : Associate Editor

2. Jeffrey Day : Associate Editor

3. Mark Pointer : Associate Editor

4. Kristine Hartvigsen : Writer

Kristine is a writer and editor living in

Columbia.

5. Joshua Beard : Photographer

Joshua is a freelance photographer in

Columbia. You can view his work at

www.jbeardfoto.com

6. Shani Gilchrist : Writer

Shani is a freelance writer who blogs at

camillemaurice.com.

7. Kaitlin Ohlinger : Writer

Kaitlin blogs about wine at

thewinesnob.wordpress.com

8. McKenna Kemp : Design Intern

McKenna Kemp is a graphic designer in

Columbia, SC, and a recent graduate of the

University of South Carolina.

contributors

1.2.

3.5.

8.


When I heard there was a move afoot to purchase a chan-delier by Dale Chihuly for the Columbia Museum of ArtI held my tongue - as if as I am capable of doing such a

thing.What I say now is: wrong shape, wrong size, wrong color,

wrong use of money.Orange-red and yellow are some of my favorite colors, but

something much more cool and refined – say blue andclear and gold – would be more appropriate. The sym-metrical piece that’s big at the top and pointed atthe bottom (it looks a bit like an inverted flame)rather than adding some dynamism to the spacereinforces it. The piece really isn’t large enough todominate the hole in the floor it occupies between themuseum lobby and the second floor - it exacerbates a prob-lematic space.

Shortly after it was announced that the Contemporaries, agroup of youngish museum supporters, were going to raise$360,o00 to purchase the chandelier I was talking to someoneinvolved in the process.

“One word,” I said, “diagonal.”My one-word suggestion addressed two points: a diagonal

shape would put some movement into that dead space betweenfloors where the chandelier would hang and it would refer tothe Baroque paintings that are the museum’s most significantholdings.

First I want to make itclear that I admire theContemporaries for raisingmoney for the museum. Notthat long ago, the group’smajor mission was pitchingbeer bashes in the street infront of the museum attend-ed by people who had neverbeen into the museum and didn’t intend to start once they gotdrunk. The group has changed for the better.

I also want to make it clear I do not hate Dale Chilhuly’s art.Arts writers and critics like to pummel certain artists andChihuly is one of them. Much of this animosity seems to derivefrom the fact that the artists in question are popular, rich anddon’t do the hands-on work of making glass, but supervise a largestudio/factory. That’s not art criticism.

This chandelier has nothing much to do with the ColumbiaMuseum of Art or its collection, a problem exacerbated by theother generic aspects of the museum: the design of the building with that wing-like thing perched atopit; the looks-like-it-was-picked-from-a- catalog fountain (whichcost $500,000 only $100,000 of which was originally donatedfor a fountain) on the corner of the barren plaza fronting themuseum (which the museum doesn’t own); and the rented exhi-bitions that dominate the museum’s schedule.

The museum hasstruggled for years

to create animage or“brand.” What’sironic is theimages it hasused to do this –the shape of thebuilding, thefountain, nowthe chandelier

– focus on things thatdon’t have much to dowith the museum.

The Columbia Museumof Art owns very good art-works by European mastersBotticelli, Bernardo Stozzi,Francesco Guardi, Canaletto,Tintoretto, Peter Claez, NicholasMaes and Claude Monet, as wellas a significant collection ofAmerican artists from theColonial era to today. And asmuch as it looks like a flame,that overgrown lighting fix-ture in the lobby is dim bycomparison.

Museum chandelier misses museum mission

“...wrong shape,wrong size, wrongcolor, wrong useof money.”

Jeffrey Day

7 undefined : book six7

Most anyone who has taken a freshmanlevel art history class knows the storytold by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of

the Most Excellent Italian Painters,Sculptors, and Architects from Cimabue

to Our Time, of the Florentine mayorwho visited Michelangelo as he was

nearing completion of the David.After surveying the great artist’s

progress the mayor comment-ed that the David’s nose wastoo wide. Michelangelo, whowas brilliant in more ways

than one, simply climbed to thetop of his ladder and out of sight

of the mayor, clinked his hammeragainst his chisel a few times without

touching the marble, descended, and said,in so many words, How’s that? The mayor squinted his eyes into the air, nod-

ded his approval, and declared the sculpture tobe perfect.

The moral of the story? For some of us, even the great-est of human accomplishments aren’t complete until we’ve put

in our two cents worth.When the Contemporaries of the Columbia Museum of Art

raised upwards of $360,000 to install an original chandelierdesigned by artist Dale Chihuly, there was no way everyonewould be happy. Such is the nature of art and humanity. But thedegree to which some people have derided the acquisition isperplexing.

For most of us, given our modest contributions to the endeav-or, we got a bargain. As public art goes, it’s not every day that acommunity can point to something so unique, interesting,and in most people’s opinions, beautiful, and say, Look what theroyal We did! Call me Pollyanna, but that makes me feel goodabout what the Columbia arts community is capable of, and itmakes me excitedly wonder, what’s next?

My esteemed colleague across the page points out that a goodthing about the acquisition of the Chihuly is that, rather thanspending time and money throwing yet another party to cele-brate how young and attractive the members of theContemporaries are, they put their money where their art is. Icouldn’t agree more. The acquisition of the Chihuly chandelieris another example of the renaissance in contemporary art thecity is currently experiencing – the art scene, for lack of a betterdescriptor, is transitioning from being patron-oriented to beingartist-oriented. People are becoming more interested in the arton the walls than what other people are wearing to view it. Andmore artists, rather than cloistering themselves away in theirstudios, are becoming patrons themselves. Visual artists are col-laborating with performing artists; performing artists are show-

ing up at galleries. This is community. This is progress.The significance of what the Chihuly adds to the museum’s

collection must not be understated. Columbia Museum of Artjoins the good company of such institutions as London’s Victoriaand Albert Museum and the Tower of David Museum inJerusalem, among others.

Dale Chihuly is also an artist of distinction and his story isinspirational. A Fulbright Fellow who studied glass in Venice,Chihuly was blinded in his left eye in a car crash when he was 35years old; three years later he injured his shoulder in an accidentand was never able to hold a glass blowing pipe again. Ratherthan succumb to his infirmities, Chihuly, like Matisse beforehim, became the choreographer of his art, rather than the

dancer. Chihuly designs and members of his studio implementand assemble – the result is that even though many of the man’sfacilities were lost from him, the world doesn’t have to lose histalent.

That said, there is no accounting for taste, either good or badand, for that matter, preferences and proclivities are as subjec-tive as anything gets. The critic and social thinker John Ruskinonce said of James McNeill Whistler’s “Nocturne in Black andGold” that it was like “flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face.”Maya Lin’s design for the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial inWashington, DC, which evokes a large gash in the earth symbol-ic of the damage of war, was panned when the design was firstrevealed, yet three million people per year visit it with respectand honor. And when the Centre Georges Pompidou firstopened in Paris’s Beaubourg district in 1977, the Parisian recep-tion of its industrial style and distinctive exo-skeletal architec-ture was decidedly cold and unwelcoming. Yet, the architectRichard Rogers, who along with Renzo Piano designed thePompidou, was given architecture’s highest honor in 2007, thePritzker Architecture Prize, for his work on the building and,even more importantly, more than 150 million art lovers havetoured the modern art the Pompidou holds since it opened. Thismust mean something to the Parisians.

And so, with time, maybe the curmudgeons and the naysay-ers and the people who genuinely don’t like the design of ourChihuly chandelier, with its color scheme of gold, orange, andred, meant to emulate a Carolina sunset, will come to see ourcity’s newest acquisition as something that means something tothem.

If not, maybe if we move it a little to the left? There. How’s that?

Museum chandelier is right on target

“The significance of whatthe Chihuly adds...mustnot be understated.”

Cynthia Boiter

UM: Your name is Preach – what are you religious about? PJ: The things that mean the most to me pretty much cross-pro-mote each other. I can't be passionate about writing withoutbeing passionate about making music. My life evolved around it.I interviewed KRS-One years ago and he said something pro-found to me about hip-hop being a religion. And without sound-ing corny or cliché, I understand it. My life is structured aroundhip-hop culture. The way that I dress, the way that I carry myself,the way I view the world will always have a hip-hop perspec-tive. I want to be a voice for the voiceless, which I think definesthe origins of hip-hop. Okay, you have black and brown people inthe inner cities and they can't afford a guitar and drums to have

a garage band, but they find a way to create their own music; away to have their own voices. That's hip-hop. And that's what Itry to do. I'm more hip-hop than I am African-American.

UM: How have you come to find yourself where you are at thismoment in time?PJ: You end up making tons of decisions during your life that,even though you don't think they are big deals, they groom youfor what you are to become. I wish my bank statement had a fewmore commas in it, but the process I’m in now is one that Iwouldn't trade for the world. There's a slow grind that's consis-tent and the sacrifices I've made to pursue my art are nothing

Preach Jacobs

9 undefined : book sixinterview: Cynthia Boiter photography: Joshua Beard

Singer, songwriter, rap artist, writer, photographer, and general man on the scene,

Preach Jacobs sat down with Undefined to talk about where the 26-year-old some-say-

genius is standing on the earth these days. A quiet mixture of dignity and defiance,

Preach Jacobs has his feet in Cosby-land and the palms of his up-stretched hands in the

Wu-Tang Clan. He released his latest album, “Maple St. Sessions,” last fall. This is what’s

going on with Preach today.

10 questions

less than acts of faith. Knowing that the work I’m doing will bearsome fruit and allow me to use my voice to do some good. WhenI have my moments of doubt, I look at the work and realize I'mright where I need to be.

UM: So, you feel good about your music?PJ: Getting signed in 2009 and having some support from alabel is the professional accomplishment I’m most proud of. It'sgratifying to find someone willing to put their name on yourproject and support it. The label that picked up "Maple St.Sessions," my latest project, is called R2 Records out of England.They are an indie label that fits my sound well. My first album, “Garveyism," was released in 2007. I consider itmy first official release because it was the first time I had anexecutive producer, a budget, and direction. I studied (pan-African hero) Marcus Garvey extensively growing up and after Ireleased the record I actually tracked down one of his sons andsent him the album along with my writings. He called me backand we spoke for hours. I still have a message on my answeringmachine that he left three years ago. I'm never deleting it.

UM: Who were and are your influences -- both personally andprofessionally?PJ: Gordon Parks is on the top of the list. When I got into pho-tography, I was drawn to Parks' work. He documented black lifein America so well and was the first person to do it for a majorpublication. His lens basically summed up the rural south withhis photo essays. And his pics of Malcolm X and Muhammad Aliare some of the best that I've seen.

Of course there are tons of musical influences like MilesDavis, Fela Kuti, and Gangstarr. But personally, the people whohave made the most impact on me are my parents – how they'vealways been dedicated to each other. They've been married 35years and it's great to see them joke around and enjoy the com-pany of one another. That kind of dedication and discipline wasgreat to be around growing up and it has had a profound effecton me.

UM: Say something to impress me.PJ: It's difficult to say something to purposely impress some-one. Even though being an artist, it's sometimes necessary, espe-cially when you don't have a manager or publicist to help withyour craft. It's all me doing the work. Usually if I want to impresssomeone, I try to have my work speak for itself. My approach hasalways been to have a "fuck it" attitude. Check out the video.Listen to the music. Hang with me and have a conversation. I'ma man of many shortcomings, but expressing myself isn't one ofthem.

UM: We understand that, but you have worked with a lot of inter-esting and sometimes famous people. Tell me a story. PJ: I have a few people that I've come into contact with that I'mpretty proud of. Poet and Professor Nikki Giovanni and I werepen pals for a while. It was probably about six or seven years agowhen I heard that she was a professor at Virginia Tech, so Idecided to look online and I found her info. I sent her a copy of

my music and writings and, to my surprise, she wrote me back.We corresponded a few times. She's very humble, sharp, and fullof energy. I actually framed the letters she sent me and they'rehanging in my apartment.

UM: You’ve been writing for a while?PJ: Yeah, my first published article was in a hip-hop publicationcalled Elemental Soul, and I interviewed MF Doom. I was fif-teen years old at the time. Now, I write for HYPE magazine, thelargest hip-hop publication in South Africa; a fashion and musicmagazine called Vapors, based out of Los Angeles; and probablya dozen more. I just started my own online publication dedicat-ed to hip-hop and soul music called Mo Betta Soul (www.mobet-tasoul.com).

UM: You're a good-looking guy. Is there a Mrs. Preach?PJ: There's a Duke Ellington quote that goes "music is my firstmistress and she plays second fiddle to no one." That's notentirely true for me but my work has gotten in the way of thingsgetting serious for me. There is so much work that needs to bedone first – while I can – and then hopefully a young lady willbe waiting for me at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully at theGrammy's or something. But the idea of marriage and kids, eventhough as a hopeless romantic I find it so appealing, is also a bla-tant contradiction of what I'm trying to do now – travel theworld doing my art. But balance is the key, and I'm working onit.

UM: How do you respond to the word “desperation?”PJ: I avoid it at all costs. If I ever try to create music or art outof desperation then I need to stop. When ego or money becomesthe motivation to make art I have defeated my original goal. Ihad this moment a few months back where I was thinking aboutworking on a new album that would feature some of hip-hop'sbiggest producers and emcees: a project that would take money,time, and patience. I then thought to myself "when I put thisrecord out, if nothing major happens then I'm going to retire." Ihad an interview with a magazine later that day and I was goingto talk about "retiring" and I got angry with myself. Nobody willlose a job if I stop doing music. No one cares. So, why would Italk about quitting? I think it was my own self-righteousnesswanting people to beg and plead that I don't stop doing music.That's all bullshit and that's what doing art out of desperationmeans. Just do you work and let it speak for itself. Ego has noplace here.

UM: What's next?PJ: Keep pushing the music and touring. Stagnation is my kryp-tonite. Keep busy and keep the faith.


12undefined : book five


Paris to Russia toChina to Irmo

Not long after pianist Marina Lomazov was hired by theUniversity of South Carolina School of Music, she and thethen-dean were having lunch when he told her he’d like

her to start a piano festival. “I said, ‘Ok,’ not knowing anything about doing a piano fes-

tival,” Lomazov said. Now leading the Southeastern PianoFestival into its ninth year, Lomazov has by necessity and incli-nation become an expert on piano festivals. What started as aweek-long summer piano camp for students from the eighththrough twelfth grades has grown to include a concert series byoutstanding pianists from around the world that turns Columbiainto a piano town.

The June festival will import performers, most of whom willalso teach, from Italy, Russia, and China. Audience memberscome from throughout the Southeast with a strong showingfrom Augusta, Hilton Head, Savannah and the Midlands ofSouth Carolina.

“It draws an audience that really loves piano music and they’llcome a long way to hear it,” said Lomazov, a native of Ukrainewho has an active touring career.

During the usually brutal June heat one can escape into thecool confines of the University Music School Recital Hall to bewashed over by the music of great composers performed mostlyflawlessly by great players. Among those who have played at thefestival are the fleet-fingered and exuberant Yakov Kasman; thediva-esque Olga Kern; Christopher Taylor, known for his

astounding ability to play hours of music from memory and withpassion; and John Nakamatsu, who won the Gold Medal in the1999 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

This year the performers and teachers come from varied back-grounds which form a framework for the festival.

Italian Roberto Plano was a finalist in the 2005 Van CliburnCompetition and has performed with the Berliner Philharmonicand at the Ravenna Festival and been featured on NationalPublic Radio’s “Performance Today.”

Two are from China: Jacqueline Bei Hua Tang, who teachesat the Shanghai Conservatory and whose students are among theworld’s top young musicians, and Tian Ying, another VanCliburn gold medal winner.

A native of Moscow, Oxana Yablonskaya overcame hardshipsheaped upon her by the Soviet government. In the 1960s shewon a string of top prizes throughout Europe, but her concertcareer was strictly limited to the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloccountries due to the many artist defections during that period.When she asked to emigrate, she was fired from the MoscowConservatory and forbidden from performing. In 1977, she wasallowed to leave the Soviet Union after a petition drive wasorganized by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. Fourmonths later she made a triumphant return in a New York con-cert at Carnegie Hall. She has continued a concert career andteaches at the Julliard School.

“Each year there’s something to the lineup that provides a

feature

Piano fest fills summer with music

story: Jeffrey Day


thread,” said Lomazov, who studied at the Kiev Conservatory, theJulliard School and the Eastman School of Music. “Sometimesthat’s by design and sometimes it just happens.”

The thread that wraps this year’s concerts together is that theguest artists are from major “schools” of piano performance:French, Russian and Chinese.

The French, from which Plano emerged, developed at theParis Conservatory. Those who come from this background areknown for a refined and light touch. It’s “elegant and precise,”Lomazov said.

“The Russian is a lot more earthy,” she said.The Chinese combines the Western Europe and Russia tradi-

tions, along with a stereotypically intense level of technicalexpertise.

The pianists from each school are inseparable from the com-posers of the regions – some of whom were also dazzling

pianists. Paris gave birth to such composers as HectorBerlioz, Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy and MauriceRavel and Russia produced Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov,Modest Mussorgsky, Igor Stravinsky and SergeiRachmaninoff. China has been the source for some cel-ebrated pianists during the past 20 years and Chinesecomposers have developed distinct voices in recentyears.

“To hear the differences back to back will be aunique experience,” Lomazov said.

The festival’s birth in 2002 was rather low key; itwas mainly a week-long workshop for students.

“That first year we didn’t have much of a budget atall,” Lomazov said. “We had one guest artist and myteacher, Natalya Antonova, came for free.”

Since then the festival has grown tremendously:there are more and bigger-name guest artists; concertsevery night; larger crowds.

Part of the success has been due to Lomazov’s ownappeal. Standing six-feet-tall with a shock of short darkhair, she’s a fiery and dramatic pianist who tours inter-nationally. Lomazov is beloved and has a number ofgroupies in the region and her solo concerts, appear-ances with orchestras and duo concerts with her hus-band and Music School colleague Joseph Rackers regu-larly sell out. At the end of last year’s Piano Festival, shewas given a Steinway grand piano by her supporterswho had secretly raised $60,000 to buy it. Along withplaying more traditional repertoire (Tchaikovsky,Rachmaninoff, Beethoven) she is also active in per-forming new works and this summer, for the thirdtime, Lomazov is performing at “Keys To The Future,” aNew York concert series focused on contemporary solopiano works.

Her high profile has been a boon for the festival,especially when Lomazov is trying to raise money for it.

But training young artists is still the heart the festi-val. Only 20 students are admitted; most are from theSoutheast, but this year students are coming from 17states. The festival accepts about a third of the studentswho apply and a quarter are repeat attendees, although

they still have to go through the same rigorous audition processas first-time applicants.

“Some of them prepare for two or three years,” Lomazov said.Along with getting lessons from master musicians, the stu-

dents also take part in the Arthur Fraser International ConcertoCompetition with prizes of $2,000, $1,000 and $500. The win-ners of the contest, named for the founding music director ofColumbia’s South Carolina Philharmonic, get to perform withthe Philharmonic.

“It’s been really exciting to see the festival grow and grow soquickly,” said Leo Svirsky, who won the top award in 2006 andhas since played at the Library of Congress and the Kremlin.“The festival is something unique for young musicians. It’s rarefor young pianists to get such a high level of instruction andwork with musicians of such a high caliber.”

Catherine Con with Marina Lomazov


The 2007 co-winner Ivan Moschuck, who will perform at this year’s festival,recently won the Gilmore Young Artist Award. As with the MacArther “Genius”Award it can’t be applied for; they find you. The Baltimore Sun called an April con-cert of “hefty and finger-busting” music by the 19-year-old Peabody Conservatory stu-dent “a very impressive demonstration of talent and potential.”

A fellow Peabody student, Sejoon Park, won the festival competition in 2006.In late March the 19-year-old Park was one of the youngest musicians in the HiltonHead International Piano Competition which is the fifth-ranked piano festival in thecounty.

“When he came, you could tell this kid was clearly destined for greatness,”Lomazov said.

Many audience members fill the Music School recital hall to hear the lineup ofmedal-toting musicians, but others come to see the young players. (The classes areopen for those who want to come and watch.)

“They’re in shape, young and energetic,” Lomazov said. “You can come and thensay, ‘I heard them when.’”

Not all the young musicians who attend the Southeastern Piano Festival are goingon to be concert pianists.

Joey Montoya of Summerville attended the festival when he was senior in highschool –just received two bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and math at theUniversity as well as a certificate in piano performance. Although Montoya decidedagainst a music career, his primary piano professor Joseph Rackers said that’s notbecause he isn’t good enough: he is. Another festival alumnus, Elizabeth Nyikos,started USC as a piano major, but found that her passion is music history. Her origi-nal research in medieval music earned her scholarship which allowed her to pursuea master’s degree in musicology at Oxford University in Great Britain.

The festival helps along good, young pianists– whether they plan to go on to con-cert careers, become teachers or simply play for the sheer love of it. “The festival’sservice isn’t really to the star students,” Lomazov said. “They would have gone on togreat things anyway.”

The Southeastern Piano Festival takes place June 13 – 19 at the University of South CarolinaSchool of Music, Assembly and College streets, Columbia. Tickets for the guest artist concertsat $20 for adults, $10 for senior citizens, $5 for college students and free for those younger than18. For more information and a full schedule go to http://sepf.music.sc.edu/ or contact the

School of Music at (803) 777-4280.

Marina Lomazov


Ten Spring WinesSpring tastes like green grass, blue skies, music in the street. It tastes like fresh fruit,crisp greens, smoked meat, rain. It tastes like breezy afternoons on the porch, and latenights under soft skies. Spring tastes like wine. Undefined offers you ten reasonablypriced wines and one splurge for your springtime pleasure. Cheers from Undefined.

Opala Vinho Verde2009, Portugal Vinho Verde literally means green wine. Thegrapes are picked young so they are low in alcohol (9%) and thewine itself is meant to be consumed young, too. Don’t stick iton a shelf and forget about it. Drink it up – it will quench yourthirst. Light, spritely and effervescent, with hints of apples,pears and citrus. It quite literally beckons to be consumed out-side on the porch on a warm spring day. ($10)

Hugues de Beaulieu Picpoul de Pinet2008, France, Languedoc. Ummm… excuse me, what was that? The name itself is a mouthful, so forget about all the Beaulieubusiness and just call it Picpoul. Pick. Pool. A convenient way of remembering that this is the perfect pool wine. Pretty, delicate,smooth and light with green apples, lemon, and a vaguely briny finish, like a crisp spray of ocean water on a warm spring day. ($11)

Clara C. ProseccoNV, Italy. This is a fun, clean, crisp sparkler with an airy, floralfeel to it, offering the essences of lemons and limes, notes ofgreen apple and a touch of honeysuckle swimming in just theright amount of bubbles and a fresh, bright structure. ($14)

Domaine de Nizas Rosé2009, France, Languedoc is a delicious rosé, made of Grenache,Syrah and Mourvedre grapes. Rose is made from red grapes, butthe skins – which contain all the color – are only allowedcontact with the juice for a short time leaving the resulting winea lovely pink color and a flavor that more resembles somethinglight and white. Remember, not all pink wine is a whitezinfandel and this one is full of the flavors of dried berries, whitechocolate, spice, and white flowers. Not your Grandmother’srose. ($15)

Lioco Chardonnay2008, California, Sonoma is a lovely unoaked Chardonnay witha mouthful of tropical fruits like mangos and pineapples, apri-cots, tangerines, and peaches. A rich wine, despite the lack ofoak, Lioco is perfect with grilled fish and stands up well with alight butter sauce or any kind of tropical fruit concoction. ($18)


wine

story: Kaitlin Ohlinger photography: mark pointer

Michael David “Petite Petit,”2007, Petite Sirah/Petit Verdot, 2007, California, Lodi callsfor a big juicy burger, barbecued ribs, or a bacon-wrappedfilet. Atomic levels of fruit are found in this blend of PetiteSirah and Petit Verdot – blackberries, figs, cloves, vanilla,cedar and black cherries are followed by a huge and surpris-ing whiff of bacon. ($16)

Coelho “Paciencia” Pinot Noir2007, Oregon, Yamhill.This may be the best Oregon Pinot you’ll taste this year. Sometimesunderestimated at first pour – it is quite light in color and without aforthcoming bouquet – but, give it 15 minutes in the glass and it willwow you with wild strawberry, vanilla, brambly raspberry, black teaand earth. Refined, polished and substantial, this wine screams forgrilled Salmon with fresh mixed greens. ($34)

Fattoria del Felsina "Fontalloro,"2006, Italy, Tuscany. This Sangiovese earned the #13 spot on Wine Spectator’s 2009 Top 100 list, and a 95-point rating as well. Thisis a true showstopper – deeply concentrated with rich and powerful tannins, enticing, expressive notes of chocolate, grilled herbs, tar,smoke, and lovely dark fruits. It goes on for days. Majestic, polished, epic. The Fontalloro must be experienced to be believed. Treatyourself to a bottle with grilled red meat and an acidic sauce – and savor every drop. Sip, swirl, breathe, sigh, relax. ($50)

Martin Codax “Ergo” Tempranillo2007, Spain, Rioja and the Monte Oton Garnacha, 2007, Spain, Campo de Borja. These two wines are perfect for grabbing on theway to a friend’s house or an impromptu gathering in your own backyard. Both are fruit-forward, juicy wines, the Codax bursting withplums, black cherry, and licorice with a perfect acidic backbone. The Monte Oton is a bit grapier and robust, with red raspberryflavors and hints of darker fruits and spice. Don’t deliberate too long on what to eat with these two juices – they go well with justabout anything from the grill. ($10 each)


During the 1970s, opera composer Gian Carlo Menotti wassearching for a place to hold an American companion tohis Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, which he had

started in 1958. When he arrived in Charleston he knew he’dfound the spot. Something similar had happened nearly 70 yearsearlier, when the Michigan artist Alfred Hutty came toCharleston and wrote to his wife “Come quickly, have foundheaven.”

Hutty was part of the Charleston Renaissance, an art move-ment that included a number of local artists and writers such asElizabeth O’Neil Verner and Dubose Heyward as well asNorthern natives Hutty and George Gershwin. This was a resur-rection of Charleston following decades of neglect after the CivilWar and a devastating earthquake in 1886.

By the 1970s, the city was again languishing, but the arrival ofMenotti and the Spoleto Festival in 1977 heralded anotherrebirth.

With its age-weathered buildings, many churches and lineupof remarkable restaurants the city is a perfect setting for such afestival. Nearly all the venues are within walking distance of oneanother and the scenery between them is lovely. The wealthy-resident vibe is balanced by sweetgrass basket makers workingon the streets and the tourist traffic tempered by College ofCharleston students on skateboards.

Menotti, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner best known for hispopular operas, liked to introduce rising stars at the festivals inItaly and Charleston. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Joshua Bell and

soprano Renee Fleming all performed at the Charleston festivalearly in their careers. The festival presented world premieresand co-commissioned “Peter and Wendy” by the Mabou Minestheater company and musical/theater works “Monkey: Journeyto the West,” “Hydrogen Jukebox” by Philip Glass and AllenGinsberg, “Three Tales” by Steve Reich and “Empty Spaces” byLaurie Anderson. The festival has frequently hosted the U.S.debuts of groups including Kneehigh Theatre from Great Britainand the National Ballet of Georgia.

For far too many people the Spoleto Festival brings up imagesof blue hair and staid classical music concerts with pricey tick-ets. Yes, more traditional pieces get a staging, but they’re compli-mented by a feast of new works. For every “Giselle,” being per-formed by the National Ballet of Georgia, there’s a GilliamDance, cited for its “delicious strangeness.” Set against the cham-ber music series are groups including the Ebony Hillbillies, anAfrican-American string band, and Bassekou Kouyate, a masterof the African lute from Mali. Music director EmmanuelVillaume will conduct performances of Beethoven’s SymphonyNo. 8 while Die Roten Punkte takes audiences on a late-nightjourney with a German punk duo. The festival is mounting aone-year old German opera as well as “Flora,” the first opera everdone in the American colonies (in 1736 in Charleston).

Oh, and those expensive tickets? A ticket for “Flora” will setyou back $100 to $150 (it is nearly sold out anyway). Howeveryou can get into “Giselle” or an orchestra concert for as little as$10 and a chamber music concert for $25.

feature

story: Jeffrey Day

Old is new


Operas look back and forwardThe 2010 Spoleto Festival looks back to the early years of

Charleston when it was one of the major cities in the Americancolonies, home to some of the richest people in the world (aswell as tens of thousands of enslaved people.) And what impor-tant and wealthy city doesn’t have art?

The first opera staged on these shores was “Flora” in 1735 andthat was in Charleston. The next year it was re-mounted at thenewly opened Dock Street Theatre. The opera is being revivedfor the just-completed $16 million renovation of the DockStreet.

“I’ve been thinking about us doing ‘Flora’ for years and years,”said Nigel Redden, festival director.

The other opera is the opposite of the light-hearted and near-ly 300-year-old “Flora.”

Wolfgang Rihm’s ”Proserpina” is based on theRoman myth of the goddess who is abducted byPluto, god of the underworld, and had its worldpremiere in Germany last year.

“Flora” unveils the three-year-long renovation ofthe Dock Street Theatre, a 1936 replica of the orig-inal theater (although it has walls dating back to1800.)

“It will be better than it was in 1936,” Reddensaid.

Before Evans and Schmidt Architects started therenovation, Joe Schmidt wanted to talk to chambermusic series founder Charles Wadsworth about theplans.

“I had to catch him right before a concert andI went with my notebook primed to take a bunchof notes,” Schmidt said.

“All he said was ‘Just don’t screw it up.’”That comment, which Schmidt posted on his

office wall, became the guiding principle for theoverhaul.

The building on Church Street had problemsquite obvious to anyone who had seen a perform-ance or performed there: not enough bathrooms,noise from the air conditioning system, and fourspace-stealing columns in the orchestra pit.Handicapped access was terrible. There were noelevators and now there are three.

“It looks like a three story building, but it hasnine different levels,” Schmidt said.

Many changes won’t be obvious such as theinstallation of tempered glass and nearly invisiblestorm windows (per historical authenticity regula-tions). But theses improvements will greatlyreduce how often ambulances siren screams,garbage truck rumbles, and airplane dronesintrude on the Mozart and Mendelssohn.

Those enjoying concerts will also be safer. Oneof the exterior walls has a significant bulge andeven a small earthquake (and Charleston is earth-

quake prone) would have brought the building down. The bulgeis still there, but has been reinforced.

The Dock Street got a test drive during a festival fund raisinggala in April.

Wadsworth told Schmit, “It’s 30 percent better and it wasnearly perfect before.”

They didn’t screw it up.

An old opera renewed and a new host forchamber music

The opera that will reopen the theater wasn’t the easiest thingto track down. “Flora” is a “ballad opera” with popular songsfrom the era (kind of like “Mama Mia” today) and about half adozen versions were found in archives in the U.S. and GreatBritain.

Composer Neely Bruce, an expert on 18th century music, has

Geoff Nuttall, Director of the Chamber Music Series


been working for most of a year to reconstruct “Flora” which isabout a young woman finding her true love. The opera is beingdesigned and directed by John Pascoe, who has directed often forthe Washing ton National Opera and the Festival of Two Worldsin Spoleto, Italy.

“We’ve aimed for authenticity – within reason,” Bruce said.Portions of the opera were performed at the April gala. “We had some trepidation that the opera might be a little too

thin – it has a gossamer story,” said Redden. “It was charmingand I think the full production will be enchanting. After all, itwas staged regularly for 80 years and at that time things didn’tstay around that long.”

The Dock Street will also welcome back the chamber musicseries, one of the most popular festival offerings, and introducea new series director. Geoff Nutall, first violinist forthe St. Lawrence Quartet, replaces Wadsworth, whoretired after the 2009 festival. Nutall is known for hisfiery and physical playing, his sharp suits and ever-changing hair color.

“I’m psyched about it,” Nutall said of his new role.While Nutall said “we’re not trying to force new

music down people’s throats” more contemporarymusic and some new musicians will be part of theseries.

The St. Lawrence Quartet will of course be on stageand the group’s former second violinist and co-founder Barry Shiffman will be back as well. Otherregulars returning are Todd Palmer, clarinet, StephenPrutsman, piano, and Alisa Weilerstein, cello.

A new face, but one that is familiar to lovers of thevoice, will be Dawn Upshaw. Upshaw, who is friendswith Nuttall, has performed at the MetropolitanOpera 300 times and is the recipient of a MacArthur“Genius Grant” Fellowship. This is her first time at thefestival where she will premiere a piece written forher by festival composer-in-residence JonathanBerger, who has written six pieces for the St.Lawrence Quartet.

The music is an outgrowth of an opera Berger hasbeen working on for several years and will be workingon for several more. It consists of all the arias forfemale voice in the opera, said Berger. Having a talentas huge as Upshaw will show the songs in the best pos-sible light; it also motivated Berger to finish themusic.

The chamber series will stick with its policy of notannouncing in advance what’s going to be played ateach concert. The aim of that has been to make surepeople don’t just come to the “star” works or perform-ers and to ensure the chamber music audience, whichtends to be older and more conservative, doesn’t skipall the concerts with contemporary music.

“This kind of eclecticism is a positive thing,” Nutallsaid. “Give yourself and the music a chance and you’lldig it.”

A new opera with Charleston influencesIf “Flora” is a quite old opera, they don’t get much newer than

“Prosperpina” by Wolfgang Rihm, whose music is highly regard-ed around the world but not frequently performed in the U.S.The first production was almost exactly a year ago in Germany.

The opera for a soprano soloist, female chorus and stringorchestra is based on texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethedrawn from stories about the Roman goddess Proserpina (betterknow as the Greek goddess Persephone.) She’s the gal whocaught Pluto’s eye and was forced to set up housekeeping withhim in the Underworld.

Although “Prosperpina” is brand new, the set borrowed itslook from an old Charleston house. Set and costume designerMarsha Ginsberg visited the circa 1800 Aiken-Rhett House in

Noel Coward’s “Private LIves” by The Gate Theatre of Dublin


Charleston decades ago, when it was a private home. The set isvery much inspired by how the house, now a museum, current-ly looks – original but without elaborate restoration and nearlybereft of furniture.

“It’s a domestic space that’s also a wasteland,” said directorKen Rus Schmoll who is making his opera directing debut atSpoleto. “She’s not from there.”

Schmoll came to the attention of Spoleto production manag-er Nunnally Kersh when she saw his New York production of“The Telephone,” for which he won and an Obie Award.

The original staging of “Proserpina” last year “was a veryGerman thing” set in a gynecologist’s office, said Schmoll,who is best known for his edgy downtown New York produc-tions. While the festival gave him free rein in deciding what to

do with “Prosperpina” Redden suggested heskip the doctor’s office setting.

The lead role will be filled by HeatherBuck, who was in the Spoleto production ofPascal Dusapin’s “Faustus” in 2007.

“I thought ‘My first opera and only onesinger. Great,’” Schmoll said. “Then I was like‘Oh hell what am I going to do with her for anhour?’” What he did was add Pluto as a char-acter, lurking around in the corners of theAiken-Rhett House version of Hell.

“The audience needs something to hangits hat on,” he said.

Before he heard Rihm’s music he figured21st century music, German composer –tough stuff.

“This music is beautiful,” Schmoll said.“It’s super challenging to sing, but it is quiteaccessible and very romantic at times.”

As much new music as oldSpoleto is one of the few multi-disciplinary

festivals in the nation, but it is first and fore-most a classical music festival. Even so theclassical music offerings are quite varied.

For those who love more conventionalstrains of sound, music director EmmanuelVillaume leads the Spoleto Orchestra, madeup of young musicians from around the coun-try, in two concerts: “La Valse” by MauriceRavel and “Also Sprach Zarathustra” byRichard Strauss and Symphony No. 6 byBeethoven with Mozart’s Symphony No. 35.The Westminster Choir will sing “CoronationMass” by Mozart and Verdi “Te Deum.”

“Music in Time” brings things up to datewith a concert of music by those involvedwith the operas – Rihm and Bruce. The hotyoung chamber group Brooklyn Rider will dotwo concerts featuring music by ClaudeDebussy, Phillip Glass, Osvaldo Golijov, John

Cage, and younger composer who may be strangers to manyaudience members.

Although the jazz series this year really is mostly jazz (notalways the case), Polish pianist Leszek Mozdzer will shake thatup a bit with his takes on Frederic Chopin, Duke Ellington andNirvana.

Music also plays an important part in one of the theaterworks: “Block Ice and Propane.” Cellist Erik Friedlander pro-vides music, a slide show and running dialogue about the longtrips through tourist traps, truck stops and the homes of odd rel-atives he and his family took when he was a child. These are nottypical vacation snapshots – his father was acclaimed photogra-pher Lee Friedlander.

“Dance” by Lucinda Childs


Dancing through the centuriesThe Gate Theatre from Dublin will also be back with another

one of its well-turned-out comedy of manners, in this case NoelCoward’s “Present Laughter.” Those who love the Gate’s take onthese plays will no doubt love this one; for everyone else it mightbe better to check out “Die Roten Punkte,” a play with loudmusic about a rock band that looks remarkably similar to theWhite Stripes. And although “Oyster” by Inbal Pinto andAvshalom Pollak Dance Company from Israel is billed as dance,it is just as much theater – as well as carnival sideshow.

More dance brings the National Ballet of Georgia (the coun-try, not the state) performing “Giselle.” This is said to be the lasttime company director Nina Ananiashvilli – who is in her mid-dle 40s - will perform the role (unless she decides to pull aCher.) Another dance legend, Lucinda Childs, recently took alook back at her 1979 collaboration with composer Philip Glassand artist Sol LeWitt called simply enough “Dance.” Last year inNew York her company re-invented this signature work withnew dancers along with video footage of the original staging inwhich Childs danced. Redden had seen the original and lastyear’s restaging and felt it would be a good fit for the festival.

In a big change up this year, the orchestra will not close outthe festival at Middleton Plantation as it always has. Insteadfinale features the African-American string band the Carolina

Chocolate Drops. The group did three sold out shows at the2008 festival; demand was so great a performance was addedand the concerts moved outdoors.

“We wanted to re-examine the formula,” Redden said.

Risks and rewards Not everything at the festival turns out to be great. There are

some highly-hyped productions that fall short, but for every oneof those something flies in out of the blue and carries the crowdaway. The way the festival is set up encourages visitors to takein a variety – classical music masterworks, alternative dance,South American jazz, solo theater pieces.

Regardless of what you’ve seen - good, bad, indifferent - whenit’s over it’s not really over. You’re at the Spoleto Festival, anoth-er performance is only a couple hours away and you’ll be spend-ing those hours in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

For a complete schedule, prices and ticket ordering go tospoleto www.spoletousa.org

Carolina Chocolate Drops

“Block Ice and Propane” by Erik Friedlander


more to do

Art alternatives in Charleston add some fresh visions to spring and summer

The Spoleto Festival USA is partnering this year with theGibbes Museum of Art to present photographs of Sploleto,Italy, by JoAnn Verburg. (See cover image.) For the firsttime, the festival is also promoting an exhibition at the

Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. Butthere are several places that will offer

some alternatives – whichare also alternatives tojust about all the art in

the city.

The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Artat the College of Charleston moved into a new

home in the recently completed School of the Arts buildinglast fall. It is a huge space which allows the almost-always

terrific shows to really stretch out. “Call and Response: Africa to America: The Art of Nick

Cave and Phyllis Galembo” is the Spoleto and summer-time show. Cave creates colorful “soundsuits” made offabric, beadwork, embroidery, and natural materials thatlook a bit like the costumes African dancers wear. Galembotakes photographs of dancers and masquerades from Benin,

Nigeria, and Burkina Faso.

The show remains on display through June 26. An openingreception will be held May 27 from 5 to 7 p.m. and a gallery tour

with the artists takes place May 29 from 2 to 4 p.m.Gallery hours are Mon through Sat from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

161 Calhoun Street(843) 953 5680

City Gallery at Waterfront Park is mounting an

exhibition titled “Contemporary Charleston” for the third time.The 2010 version matches ten visual artists with ten poets tocreate a batch of new works. Among the artists and writers tak-ing part are Lynne Riding, Ellie Davis, Julio Cotto, JonathanSanchez, Max Miller, Hirona Matsuda and Marcus Amaker KatHastie, Jocelyn Chateauvert and Dennis Ward Stiles.Through July 3. 34 Prioleau St. (843) 958-6484


Redux Contemporary Art Center is just a

couple blocks north of the Halsey Institute. The small space ishome to a number of resident artists as well as a gallery. Reduxis showing works by Cory Oberndorfer, a pop art muralist andlarge-scale painter. Oberndorfer will create paintings in thegallery space as well as on the façade of Redux inspired by rollerderby skaters. The work taps into his three favorite things:“sweets, pop culture and bad-ass women.” The artist will beworking at Redux through May 26 when the show opens with areception from 6 to 9 p.m. The show up through July 10.136 St.Philip St. (843) 722-0697.

story: Jeffrey Day

27 undefined : book sixstory: Cynthia Boiter

artist

Since Marie Taglioni first danced en pointe in La Sylphidein 1832, little girls have revered ballerinas, both idolizingand idealizing the dancing divas that seem to defy gravi-

ty by floating across the world’s stages on the tips of their toes.But the assumption that only girls aspire to the heights ofartistic elegance is as dated as the myth of bra-burning anderroneously ERA-enforced unisex bathrooms. For everyfemale ballerina there may be her male cavalier; for everyGiselle, an Albrecht; for every Sugarplum Fairy, a NutcrackerPrince. But rules are made to be broken, which is exactly whatLes Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo did in September, 1974,when a small cadre of male dancers formed the first all-male,drag professional ballet company of its kind. Finally, littleboys could fantasize about growing up to be ballerinas andhave their dreams come true, too.

In classical ballet, nuance is everything. From a perfectlypositioned epaulement croisé to a precisely controlled batte-ment fondu développé, any balletomane knows the sure signof a virtuosic performance is the subtlety by which the dancerbrings personal interpretation into age-old and tightly script-ed choreography. Certainly, Robert Carter, the most seniorand, arguably, the most beautiful of the members of the worldfamous Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, performing atSpoleto Festival USA, long ago internalized this ability.Dealing with the hair on his chest is another story altogether.

Born and bred in Charleston, South Carolina, Carter beganhis ballet training at the age of seven with the Robert IveyBallet in downtown Charleston. Always fascinated withpointe shoes, Carter would beg the girls for their cast-offs and

clomp about the dance studio in his classmates’ dead (wornout) shoes. Finally, Ivey told the young man that if he wasgoing to wear the shoes he might as well learn how to wearthem correctly, and he encouraged the boy to sign up forpointe classes along with the girls. For four years, Carter didjust that – learning to rise and eventually to dance en pointealongside his female classmates until he was old enough toleave the program and move on to a position with a profes-sional company. Carter trained during a summer with theJoffrey Ballet in Chicago before joining the Florence CivicCompany, in Florence, South Carolina, and eventually, theDance Theatre of Harlem in New York City. He enjoyed histime with both traditional companies even though neither hadan interest in having men dance en pointe.

Finally, in 1995, the call came from Les Ballets Trockaderode Monte Carlo or the “Trocks” as they are casually called andCarter took his place among the corps of lanky, hairy, andsomewhat oddly shaped ballerinas. He had found his home.

“It would be nice to say that I had always dreamed of beingin the Trocks, but no, I had admired the company, but I neverreally aspired to be a part of the company,” Carter explains.“Yet, here I happily am fifteen years later, and I am spoiled!”

Having always been highly attracted to the old, traditionalRussian repertoire with its emphasis on lower back strength,clean lines, and courtliness, Carter found the Trocks’ reper-toire, focusing primarily on the choreography of MariusPetipa and George Balanchine, albeit en travesti, both chal-lenging and gratifying. “On stage, I’m a bit of a diva,” headmits.

Robert Carter


Like all company members, Carter adopted two fictitiouspersonas under which to dance: the female ballerina OlgaSupphozova, who ostensibly has a history with the KGB, andher male counterpart, the dashing Yuri Smirnov. Under theguise of the two apocryphal stars, Carter has performed inboth whimsical parodies and danced serious roles, staunchlyhonoring the manners and conceits of the requisite styles, insome of the most prestigious halls in the world. Think theBolshoi Theatre in Moscow and Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet. Inthe month before the Charleston performance the Trocksdanced throughout Italy and Spain with a final three-nightstop in Budapest. No matter where the troupe performsthough, Carter prefers dancing en pointe and in Olga’s shoes.

“Let’s face it,” he snorts before breaking into decidedlyunfeminine laughter. “Nobody joins the Trocks to do themale parts.”

In fact, from the beginning, Les Ballets Trockadero deMonte Carlo was formed as an outgrowth of America’s GayRights Movement, specifically the faction centered in NewYork City’s post-Stonewall Greenwich Village. The company’sfirst shows were staged very late at night and very far offBroadway. Today’s 16 members hail from Italy, Israel, Mexico,Portugal, Germany, and throughout North America – and allare uniformly gay. But that hasn’t always been the case, nor isit a requirement.

“We’ve had straight guys join the company; some came outof the closet once they found themselves among friends – oth-ers really were straight and we all got along great,” Carter says.“But we’re not just about being gay. I mean, we support gaypride, and we’re proud if somewhere, there is someone whosees us as role models, or whatever. But that’s not our main

goal. We are about the dance. We are about the quality.”While comedy plays a role in many of the Trocks’ perform-

ances, particularly the exaggeration of characteristics stereo-typical of dancing divas – narcissism, vainglory, and larger-than-life swishes and swaggers – the modus operandi of thecompany is the never-ending quest for perfection in the per-formance of great classical and, these days, even modern cho-reography. To that end, Carter still considers himself a stu-dent of technique and performance; and the people he studiesare ballerinas.

“When I see a woman dancing a part that I also perform, Idon’t always compare myself to her, but I do pick apart thedetails of her dance; her costume, the way she holds her head,the angle of her lines,” he says. “I try to look for little detailsthat I might either incorporate into my style, or ditch altogeth-er.” A fast turner, Carter most admires the work of SylvieGuillem of Paris Opera Ballet and London’s Royal Ballet fame– also an exquisite turner and an independent spirit as well.

In many ways, Carter leads the life of a typical ballerina. Hecuts the shanks of his size 6 ½ E pointe shoes to exaggerate thearch of his feet, and he uses Jet Glue on the interior of the toesto extend the life of the expensive slippers, just like most everyother female ballet dancer in the world. His number one fanis his mother, and his father finally came around to supportinghim though he doesn’t care much for the art form itself. Heshares a room with a company mate during the 40 weeks ayear the Trocks travel, tires of living out of a suitcase, andmisses the comforts of his New York City home when he’sgone. A seasoned dancer, he knows his strengths and hisweaknesses and is candid about them with himself and others.

“I am pretty, and I do dance prettily,” he admits. “Because of

Les Ballet Trocaderos de Monte Carlo


my longevity and my abilities, I’ve had the pleasure of dancing a lot of lead roles, and Ifind this humbling. It makes me continue to work harder to have people praise mywork.” Typical sentiments from an atypical artist.

But according to Carter, it is this atypical aesthetic that communicates the messageof the Trocks so well to the audience; the idea that men can dance en pointe and do soboth beautifully, and with a sense of humor.

“The beauty of the company is that we all have such diverse styles and personalitiesand gifts,” he says. “We enjoy a level of artistic freedom that makes dancing, and watch-ing the dance, twice as enjoyable, no matter what brings you to the theatre.”

Carter’s years with the company have allowed him to witness a great deal of change,both within the troupe and without. Today, society is more accepting of men andwomen who make their own paths by walking them, rather than following the standardroad laid out before them. A gentleman in a tutu many never be a common sight, butit is met with less acrimony now than it was in times past. Offstage among the Trocks,Carter has taken on the role of Auntie Olga to newer and younger members of the com-pany, offering words of wisdom, pats on the shoulders, and hugs when needed.

“I want to see all of us do well,” he says. “When I joined the company it was a differ-ent group of guys; not nearly as close knit as we are these days. No one took the timeto help me, so I like to be able to do what I can to make new guys feel welcome.”

With the progress he has seen, would Carter encourage a young man of today with afascination for pointe shoes and a strident work ethic to set his sights on dancing withthe most famous drag ballet company in the world? Without a doubt.

“Do it,” he says. “And don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t.”

Robert Carter as Olga Supphozova


The first thing to remember upon reading this article onSpoleto Festival USA’s dance offerings for 2010 is to for-get everything you read as soon as you read it. That is

what Avshalom Pollak would have you do, particularly beforeattending the Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak DanceCompany’s presentation of “Oyster.”

“I don’t want the audience to know what to expect whenthey come to a performance,” Pollak says. “That would influ-ence their perception and detract from the purpose of thepiece. Everyone seeing the performance should have the free-dom to construct their own pure reaction to it.”

Based very loosely on the short story, “The MelancholyDeath of Oyster Boy” by Tim Burton, the best thing about“Oyster,” according to Pollak, is that it is ripe for so manydivergent interpretations. “One viewer may think of Oyster asa person – a shell outside, but soft and fragile inside. Andsomewhere in there, is a pearl,” he says. Yet he readily admits– in fact, hopes – that another person will see something alto-gether different. “Even after 10 years and more than 300 hun-dred performances,” he says, “the show is different to meevery time I see it. It is as if the piece is alive.”

A fusion of dancers and actors, the Inbal Pinto andAvashalom Pollak Dance Company bring equal parts comedyand drama, circus and the absurd to the stage. Fantastical cos-tuming and make up suggest bizarre creatures with humancharacteristics and the power to evoke unusually human audi-ence responses.

A contemporary classic, Lucinda Childs’ conceptual mas-terpiece, “Dance,” set to an original score by Phillip Glass, pre-miered more than 30 years ago but was recently revived at theBard College Summer Festival in July 2009. The minimalist,postmodern choreography sets dancers on the stage separatedfrom the audience by a scrim on which dancing figures areprojected in a black and white film. Live artists dance with,and in response to, the ghostly projections to create an other-worldly sensation for the audience.

In the film by artist Sol LeWitt, Childs is featured in alengthy solo during the second movement. When the piecewas originally produced, Childs, like all the dancers, per-formed along with her virtual self on the screen. However, atalmost 70 years-old, neither Childs nor the original cast per-forms, providing poignant commentary on the passage of timeand the transience of pattern and motion.

For a more traditional approach to dance with all the trap-pings of Russian choreography, broken women, and heart-breaking men, the National Ballet of Georgia, directed by andfeaturing the former Bolshoi prima ballerina and AmericanBallet Theatre principal dancer, Nina Ananiashvili, will pres-ent “Giselle.”

With a history that goes back to 1850, the National (or State)Ballet of Georgia disbanded in the early ‘90s as the formerSoviet Union fell. In 2004, Ananiashvili accepted the call fromthe president of Georgia to re-from the company as its star anddirector. The epitome of a poor and struggling dance compa-ny, many dancers, including Georgian ex-patriots, returnedfrom as far away as the United States to dance for no compen-sation alongside their country’s native daughter. Married tothe Georgian politician, Grigol Vashadza, Ananiashvili is asmuch a diplomat as she is an artist, even serving, along withformer Ukraine President, Viktor Yushchenko, as godparent toGeorgian President Mikheil Saak’ashvili’s son, Nikoloz.

The ballet “Giselle” takes its inspiration from a poem byHeinrich Heine and tells the story of a weak-hearted youngwoman who falls in love with the wrong man, then dies whenshe learns he is betrothed to another. Upon her death shejoins a group of jilted young female spirits, called wilis, whotake their revenge upon the men who hurt them by attempt-ing to dance the cads to death in a beautiful forest glen. Theballet is romantic, visually beautiful, and danced to the musicof Adolphe Adam. It is everything the classicist could desirefrom a ballet and its evening performances will be danced bya living legend, both in ballet and Georgian history.

As innovative and unpredictable as “Giselle” is classical andsteadfast, Gallim Dance, directed by the 28-year-old AndreaMiller, presents a ferociously physical suite of dances called, “ICan See Myself in Your Pupil.” With no specific technical cur-riculum and neither ballet nor contemporary dance terminol-ogy in use, Miller says she uses “imagery” to choreograph hercompany’s pieces, which she describes as “90% choreographyand 10% improvisation.”

According to Miller, “I Can See Myself in Your Pupil” wascreated out of a unique opportunity to have an evening-lengthpiece at a theatre. “I had been creating short, five-to-eightminute pieces and I collected them together as vignettes. Thedance grows from beginning to end, with all the pieces beingconnected to what it means to be awkward – as dancers and aspeople in relationships,” Miller says.

Miller will be arriving in Charleston fresh off of a residen-cy at the contemporary dance Mecca, Jacob’s Pillow inMassachusetts’ Berkshire Mountains, and a stint setting newchoreography on Cathy Marston’s Ballet Bern in Switzerland.Her emphasis on imagination, inspiration, and the mind/bodyconnection, both in choreography and in the pedagogy sheuses to direct Gallim Dance, will present a fresh perspectiveon contemporary dance and should provide for a stimulatingSpoleto USA debut.

dance

story: Cynthia Boiter

Forget you have read this.

33 undefined : book sixstory: Kristine Hartvigsen photography: Joshua Beard

PROFILE

The stake was poised over the man’s heart. One man heldthe wooden spike, the other brought down the hammer.Blood spurted violently from the man’s chest. As the blood

pooled on the stage, witnesses to the killing, dressed in theiropening night finery, walked out of the theater with shockedlooks on their faces wondering how the Columbia City Ballethad pulled off such a grisly scene in “Dracula: Ballet With aBite.”Barry Sparks, the ballet’s technical director, readily confesses tothe bloodbath. In the 21 years Sparks has been with the Columbia City Ballet,“Dracula: Ballet With a Bite” remains his favorite productionand the stake to the heart of the blood-sucking count is one ofthe proudest moments of his career.

“My crowning achievement was that stake,” he said.“Oftentimes, these things are done with blood bags. But Draculais bare-skinned, bare-chested when he is killed. So I came upwith a stake that actually looks like it shoots blood out of hischest.”Given that Sparks is charged with lighting and visual effects forall Columbia City Ballet productions on the characteristicallymodest budget of an arts organization, the results are impres-sive. “That stake, for example, cost about $15,” Sparks explained. “Itreally was a giant veterinary syringe loaded with brown pancakesyrup, blue Dawn detergent, and red food color. When the stakewas thrust down, the syringe pressed out the ‘blood’ quite dra-matically.”

The genius effect is actually not inconsistent with Sparks’early ambition to be a physician.

“I planned to go to medical school, and when I was gettingready to apply, I needed a part-time job. So I started workingbackstage at the old Carolina Coliseum,” the 58-year-old Gaffneynative said. “I loved it. I never thought about going to medicalschool after that.”

The product of a blue-collar upbringing, Sparks worked hisway through college, acquiring a variety of electrical and con-struction skills from odd jobs while earning his biology degree.Those skills gave him an advantage when he went to work atCarolina Coliseum.

“The bug was sudden and intense,” he said. “And my biology

degree prepared me for the sort of analytical things you have todo in theater as far as lighting and scenery.”Setting the stage in a way that best accentuates the performersand their grace in movement takes much more than simplelighting.

“To see movement, you need to make it three-dimensional,”Sparks said. If there’s a signature sort of style that I have, it’s thatI try to cross lighting colors, with blue on one side and amber onthe other.”

Columbia City Ballet is not the only organization benefittingfrom Sparks’ talent. The lighting guru plies his creative trade allover South Carolina and beyond, including neighboringWorkshop Theatre, Claflin College, and the University of SouthCarolina Opera, as well as Hilton Head Ballet, Michigan BalletTheater, and the Mohawk Valley Ballet in Utica, New York.

“I work with at least 30 groups in a given year,” he said. Being a workaholic comes with the territory. During one

recent week, Sparks worked at Workshop Theatre until 1 a.m.,went home for a few hours of sleep, and left for Hilton HeadBallet at 5 a.m. Seventeen-hour work days are routine for Sparkswho says he recharges during the long drives in his truck.

“I guess it’s the redneck in me; I love driving big trucks,” hesaid.

Sparks has been lighting designer for Columbia’s WorkshopTheatre for 16 years now and worked with the Hilton HeadBallet, a civic company on the coast of South Carolina, for about10 years. He enjoys a particularly close relationship with direc-tors John Carlyle and Karina Brock-Carlyle, who have dancedwith the likes of Rudolph Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

“They are quite a team. John is the front person, loud andfunny. Karina is more introspective,” Sparks said. “I love workingwith them.”

In the early days, while he was still working at the CarolinaColiseum and before he would meet his future Columbia CityBallet boss, Sparks attended a birthday party for the director ofthe Koger Center for Arts in Columbia at which everybodyspoofed a member of the local ballet community. Sparks donneda pair of tights and gave a swishy impersonation of ColumbiaCity Ballet artistic director, William Starrett.

“I guess it was foreshadowing of our long-term relationship,”Sparks noted. Not long after, Sparks went to work full time at

Barry Sparks

the ballet company over more than 20 years, he and Starretthave developed a close, respectful, and sometimes tumultuouscollaborative relationship.

“William is brilliant, but he is oftentimes hard to work for. Itell him this to his face, often with expletives!” Sparks asserted.

“We can tell each other exactly what we think of each other,whether it’s high praise or not. We still butt heads a lot, becausewe both have our own strong opinions. Over the years, Williamhas gained a lot of trust in me. We don’t agree all of the time, butthat is what a collaborative effort is about. If everyone agreeswith you all the time, you are not really breaking any newground.”

For his part, Starrett calls Sparks a truly exceptional creativepartner. “Barry always surpasses my expectations,” Starrett said.

“You could say we have a combative relationship sometimes. What that extends from is the passion. It is very rare in this

industry that the technical person is so passionate about theproduct. You can’t imagine how dedicated he is.”

“I care a great deal about surprising Barry. I don’t want him

to think I am resting or that all my creative juices have dried up,”Starrett explained. “I want to keep surprising him.”

John Whitehead, executive director of Columbia, SouthCarolina’s Columbia Music Festival Association, agrees withStarrett’s assessment of Sparks’ worth. “Barry is one of the mostknowledgeable stage technicians in this community,” he said.

“He is always willing to share the resources that he has accessto, and, because of that spirit of cooperation, it is very easy forpeople like me and others to share what resources we have withhim. … The dollar is tight and always has been in the perform-ing arts.”

When he’s not on the job, Sparks loves to be at home with hisfamily cooking up big southern meals. Ever the workaholic, heshows no signs of slowing down despite chronic back pain.

“I have a hard time telling people ‘No,’” Sparks said. “It is real-ly a good thing that I love what I do. I can’t imagine stopping thisof my own free will. I still can outwork people half my age. Mywork in theater is the best endorphin that there is.”



artist

Nikolai Oskolkov enters a South Carolina watering hole,unusually dark during the weekday lunch hour, andorders a sweet tea from the barman just like any other

local guy off the street. The only difference is that the accenthe orders with is more monotone than drawl; more Sovietthan Southern. Despite the fact that he has spent the betterpart of his 25 years in South Carolina, Oskolkov was born andlived his early life in Russia – and that is where a sizeable seg-ment of his heart remains. Tall and blond with an angular faceand eyes that are both penetrant and diagnostic, the visualartist and musician comports himself like a gentleman on adiplomatic mission. He is here to talk about his work whichhe believes in – there is no need to be unduly modest. His latemother, an artist, taught him to be both critical and discern-ing regarding art when he was a child in Moscow. Oskolkovknows enough to know that he is good.

A child of glasnost and perestroika, Oskolkov grew up dur-ing the waning years of the former Soviet Union. He lived in

a communal apartment in southwest Moscow, but played inthe countryside on state-issued Soviet land. He attended amusic school and studied violin, but hated both. Not long afterBoris Yeltsin took power, ending socialistic rule in Russia,Oskolkov moved across the Atlantic to live briefly in Canadawith his mathematician father. A year later, father and sonrelocated to the South Carolina midlands where Oskolkovenrolled in public school, learned about liberalism and privateproperty, and before he knew it, adopted a new homeland. Across between a comrade and a good ol’ boy, Nikolai Oskolkovmay have made himself at home in South Carolina, but henever forgets from whence he came. Dixie Commissar – thename says it all.

“I have a lot of respect for symbols, and the name “DixieCommissar” – the name of my band – is symbolic of the partsof my life that are most important to me,” Oskolkov explains.“My favorite hat is an old Russian Civil War cap; my car lookslike something from the KGB. I’m from a nation that no

Nikolai Oskolkov

story: Cynthia Boiter photography: mark pointer


longer exists, but I don’t want to forget those symbols; theyrepresent where I am from. But this is where I live now,” hesays. “This is my home.”

Though he had no formal training as a youngster, Oskolkovrecollects art as always being part of his life. “I always playedat art when I was a kid, and I always got in trouble for it,” hesays, recalling teachers who beratedhim for drawing in class at HarbisonWest Elementary School. The movefrom the faltering Soviet Union tosocialist Canada and then to conserva-tive Irmo, South Carolina was difficultfor the young Oskolkov, but he says hehas no bad memories of the time.

“You can’t ask for a better place tolive than Columbia. It’s equidistancebetween the ocean and the mountains.It’s not paradise,” he says. “But it’s apretty good place to be.”

The richness of the Southern cultureand landscape influenced Oskolkov to attend college at theUniversity of South Carolina, where he was a MagellanScholar and studied with Professors David Voros and DeannaLeamon. As a student he worked for four years at City Art

Gallery and he credits co-owner Randy Hanna with providinghim an extended education and moral support to pursue art asa career. “I learned a lot about the business of art from Randy,”Oskolkov says. “A lot of young artists don’t have that advan-tage.”

Oskolkov’s first major showing at Columbia’s Gallery80808/Vista Studios in 2008 was titled, “Heart and Veins of

the South,” and the reality of monetaryreward for his passion confirmed hisdecision to pursue art. A five monthstint living with fellow artists on thecoast of South Carolina exposed himto new topography to add to his collec-tion of scenarios from a widely trav-eled life. He returned to Columbia,which he affectionately calls a “rubberband town” in the spring of 2009 andpresented a joint exhibition withfriend and fellow artist, OlessiaMaximenko, entitled, “Peace andCelebration.” Oskolkov credits

Maximenko with guiding him to, “primarily paint Southernsubject matter,” as she recognized it as his strength and pas-sion.

Revenue from his second major showing allowed the young

His ability to focuson the good ratherthan the ghastlymay be the mosttranscendent of hisconsiderable talents.

Nikolai Oskolkov at work in his studio


artist to purchase a vehicle and the musical instruments thatwould enable him to return to the auto-didactic approach tomusic education he had enjoyed prior to college. “I tookpiano from a Latvian woman who rapped my knuckles whenI erred as a boy,” Oskolkov says, “but mostly I am self-taught.”True to his Soviet roots, he chose a small, portable, three-stringed Russian folk guitar called the balalaika. “It’s a bitobscure here in the United States, but still popular when youfind it,” Oskolkov says. “I kind of like that about it. It remindsme of my other home.”

During the past year of expanding the scope and tech-nique of his art, Oskolkov’s pursuit of music has informed hispainting. “I wanted to learn about folk music so someonetold me that I should visit Bill’s Pickin’ Parlor in WestColumbia. It was visually shocking,” he says. “There werethese old dudes with banjos literally on their knees, and theywere excellent musicians.” Oskolkov partook not only of thetraditional Southern music, but sketched and photographedthe musicians as well. Relationships with other artists andmusicians grew out of his blue grass connections, furtherdeepening his understanding of regional Southern cultureand art.

“That is what life is really made for,” says the unusually wiz-ened young man, “connecting with people through your artand your passion.”

His most recent showing in spring 2010 at Gallery80808/Vista Studios allowed Oskolkov to exhibit with hisfriends and fellow graphics artists, Dre and Sammy Lopez, aswell as to showcase his band, Dixie Commissar.

“I want music to be an integral part of my art shows,” hesays, “preferably my own music because I know how themusic fits with my art. Besides, I like drawing various com-

Nikolai’s mother. She was a “Soviet hippie”.


munities together – musicians, visual artists, art lovers, what-ever. It fits in with my appreciation for a hybrid of cultures.”

From his paintings to his lyrics to the musical instrumentshe plays, Oskolkov constantly channels the two cultures hehonors. Often depicting imagery of both the Old and NewSouth, his work in representational art has a strong sence ofplace, be it his paintings of blue grass musicians whichapproach caricature, without stepping over the line to theridiculous, or his landscapes featuring organic icons of aSouthern connection to the land including live oaks, Spanishmoss, vast fields, and rutted roads.

“I am influenced by the Russian school of symbolism, but Ithrow a lot of who I am and where I came from into my art.Around here, a lot of people like for art to make statements, soI try to respect that cultural need,” he says.

Born to a homeland that crumbled, and emigrated to a landwith a history of hate and a climate some folks, the artistincluded, call Heaven, Nikolai Oskolkov is a little cheery tohave seen what his 25 years have shown him. His ability tofocus on the good rather than the ghastly may be the mosttranscendent of his considerable talents. But his appreciationfor a sense of place is authentic. “I love it here,” Oskolkov saysfrankly. “It is my home.”


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design

Out of the Box

The child’s painted foot presses the carpet

Mother sets to work with needle and fine silk thread

Embroidering over her young one’s first misstep

Poking, stroking, weaving, and conniving

The mind of the hand that guides the needle

is trying, teasing, seizing, and crying

The deed done, an imprint still remains

In innocence it has no shame

and even the pontiff’s vestment can have a stain

Sliding, gliding, treading, and threading

The eye of the needle fast upon the print

Is whipping, stitching, pleading, and bleeding.

Woman Doing Embroidery with Foot Art


artist

Janet Kozachek

Janet Kozachek once painstakingly made a cast of her bodyand covered it in a mosaic of glass and other objects. Aftervarious sectioned body parts were sold to art collectors

(including a hand piece to a hand doctor), all that is left is a bluefoot, which stands on the floor of her Orangeburg home andserves now as a modestly intriguing flower pot.

The human figure is a recurring presence in Kozachek’s art-work. Regardless of race or geographic origin, humans world-wide share common physical blueprints, neuroses, and even dis-tant ancestral memories. In a mosaic, the individual pieces areassembled into a dynamic whole. Likewise, the collective humanexperience unites us, and this is poignantly expressed inKozachek’s creations.

Having received her formal education on three continents,being conversational in Mandarin and passable with Dutch, andGerman, the New Jersey-born artist and art educator brings aglobal perspective to her work. Her knowledge and skills mergecontinents and disciplines − visual art, literature, and music −in a sort of reverse Pangaea.

Even within the broad sphere of visual art, Kozachek moveseasily from painting to mixed-media mosaics. One of the defin-ing projects of her career to date has been a series of 118 paint-ings, each with a corresponding poem.

Kozachek recently transformed the series, originally titled TheMonologues, into a book titled Moments in Light and Shadows. “At 118 images I stopped,” Kozachek wrote in the book’s intro-duction, “if for no other reason than I was reminded that the19th century Japanese printmaker Hiroshige completed his ownpoetic descriptions and prints, One Hundred Views of Edo, atthe number 118, a good enough reason to say ‘enough.’”

Kozachek took the writing/painting approach because she’dhad some success as an essayist for Evening Reader magazineand wanted to blend the two.

“I originally thought of doing a book based on the paintings,with a full essay for each. But it soon became very tedious, so Iput the project aside,” Kozachek said. “Then I found some veryshort poems I had written a very long time ago, and it occurred

to me that, for the book, I could have a poem for every painting.It seemed to have a better relationship.”

Most of the Monologue paintings feature an anonymous soli-tary figure in an interior setting that contains one or morethought-provoking accoutrements that lead the viewer to pon-der the person’s circumstances.

While living and studying Chinese art in Beijing during themid-‘80s, Kozachek learned how that culture tightly integratespoetry and painting.

“Chinese art is closely tied to literature,” she said. “I studiedpoetry for a long time but not in my native language; I studied inChinese. And when I first started writing poetry in English, Iwas writing Chinese structures. … I am very interested in anykind of language, like Chinese, that is both visual art and lan-guage concomitantly.”

Culling from that experience, Kozachek embarked on thepoems for Moments in Light and Shadows with abandon as shecontinued to produce the paintings.

“I really like lyric poetry,” she said. “Most people write proseand free verse. I do that, too, but I also like experimenting withinteresting meters.”

Kozachek found particular inspiration for the poems fromthose who sat for the portraits.

“In talking to live models, sometimes they would use a partic-ular gesture again and again, like a fingerprint,” she said. “A lotof the poetry came from listening to and observing the models.” Kozachek also wrote poems that did not yet have paintings toaccompany them. Trying to do the opposite, to produce a paint-ing in response to a preexisting poem, she said, proved more dif-ficult.

“It could be argued that modern poetry was invented by thepainters,” wrote poet and critic J.D. McClatchy in his 1989 text,Poets on Painters. It’s a book Kozachek references. In the book of essays by notable scribes, William Butler Yeats isquoted observing painters’ changing sensibilities: “We wereinterested in fall of drapery and the play of light without con-cerning ourselves with the meaning, the emotion of the figure

story: kristine hartvigsen


itself. How many successful portrait painters gave their sittersthe same attention, the same interest they might have given to aginger beer bottle and an apple?” Indeed, Kozachek keenly directs attention to the figures in TheMonologues as well as the sitters’ relationships with objects intheir surroundings.

“As I composed the first poem for the first painting, the wordsuttered by the people who sat for me came back, as did theirstance, and their gestures,” she wrote in the introduction to herbook. “I recalled that theyseemed at first like quietreceptacles. … Many of thequiet ones became likeactors in stills from silentmovies – my text superim-posed upon their visages.Hapless thespians theywere, recruited for artisticexpressions that had nobearing on their reality.”

Many of the models didtalk during their sittings,however, sharing deep,sometimes intimateaccounts of their formativeexperiences. And in themidst of creating a digitalarchive of her works and viewing the small square paintings sideby side on an indexing sheet, Kozachek saw categories begin toemerge. She organized them into five sections for the book:Plagues, Games, Journeys, Celestial Beings and Lesser Gods,and, finally, Mysteries. Part of the “The Monologues” collectionwas shown in early 2009 at Gallery 80808 in Columbia.

Page-TurnerWhen she began publishing essays and, subsequently, the

poems, Kozachek enjoyed daily access to expert resources.“Being married to an English professor helped,” she said.Kozachek’s husband, Nathaniel Wallace, has a doctorate in com-parative literature and is on the faculty at South Carolina StateUniversity in Orangeburg. “It was hard at first when he wouldedit my essays. There were so many things wrong with them. Heis very much the linguist in the family.”

The multi-talented couple was introduced, in fact, throughtheir roots in yet another arts discipline – music.

“I studied piano for a number of years and practiced in a pianostudio where one of the musicians told me he had a job for me,”Kozachek said. “My job was to turn pages (of sheet music) for aconcert at Mercer County (New Jersey) Community College,where Nat was playing the flute. I liked the music and wanted toget a copy of it from him because I wanted to play the piano part.… Eventually, we practiced some duets.”

Kozachek and Wallace have filled their bohemian Orangeburghome with paintings, mosaics, masks, pottery, photographs,myriad books in several languages, musical instruments,antiques, and the organic sensibility that accompanies a simple

clay pot with fragrant tea steeping. They are outwardly informalwhile still valuing the decorum of academia and the fine arts.

The residence hums with creative energy, and now evenWallace is exploring the visual arts through photography. (Thecouple is showing together at Gallery 80808 through June 1 inan exhibition titled “Locations/Dislocations: AbandonedHomes and Unsheltered Souls.”)

“Over the years, we have eased into each other’s territory,”Kozachek said. “I have become more of a writer, and he has

become more of an artist.” In a downstairs convertedgarage, Kozachek keeps anun-air-conditioned studiothat stays fairly cool duringall but the very hottestdays of summer. The clut-tered space resembles alaboratory for all its rowsof shelves that hold glassjars filled with “speci-mens” – materials sortedby color and texture – foruse in her mosaics.Kozachek fuses her ownglass and hand-cuts thestones used in her assem-blages. And she steadfastly

shares her passion for good materials with her students.“I always have my students learn by developing a joy and love

of the materials they use. And we try to use recyclable materialsin clever ways,” Kozachek explained. “The first thing that wouldturn someone off art is using ugly or poor materials. I probablydon’t make the most profit I could by teaching, but I wouldn’twant to use bad materials and I don’t think my students shouldeither. It’s just like with cooking. If you don’t cook with goodmaterials or ingredients, it just doesn’t taste right.”

The respect Kozachek holds for students of all ages is evident.And she is the first to admit she learns much from them.“The thing about art is that learning always involves an incre-mental gaining towards proficiency. You make quantitative leapsin artistic development, and, because of that, it is possible thatyour students can leap ahead of you just by experimenting,” shesaid. “I give my students a very long leash because they come upwith ideas that I haven’t thought of.”

Swept AwayIn 2005, Kozachek lost several original oil paintings that were

being stored in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. It bringsto mind Tibetan Buddhist monks who create elaborate colorsand mandalas only to ceremonially destroy them when finishedand casting the materials into a river or moving water in thebelief that all material things remain transitory in nature.Nonetheless, the idea of Kozachek’s paintings somehow drag-ging along the ocean bottom in the Gulf of Mexico is profound-ly saddening.

“I lost a lot of artwork to Hurricane Katrina. It was stored in a


low-lying house,” she said,adding that, while she feltthe loss personally, shefelt it even more for apatron who had pur-chased one of the paint-ings and lost even morethan that. “I repaintedone of the lost pieces andgave it back to the originalowner as a gift becauseshe was so devastatedabout losing everything. Ifelt that if I had the powerto give even one smallthing back, I should doso.”

Yet even in the destruc-tion of beautiful things,new and unexpected materials can emerge. Ask any beachcomber about the unusu-al objects they’ve found washed ashore. Kozachek is cognizant of the potential foundeven in the minute detritus of life. She has an eye for fine detail that surfaces againand again.

Even years after drawing them, Kozachek glanced through old sketches and mar-veled anew at some of the intricate patterns and meticulous and time-consumingdetails she chose to incorporate. It’s as if she were rediscovering and appreciating herown art in its most basic form.

“Every now and then I will allow myself the privilege of getting lost in details,which we don’t often do because, in a market economy, obviously, time is money,”she lamented, “which means that artists actually are at a disadvantage if they do real-ly detailed work.”

The same could be said of creative writing and the struggle not to take details toofar for fear of losing impatient readers. But patience is a virtue. Just as photographerswill wait for the perfect moment to press down on the shutter, Kozachek exercises asimilar restraint to achieve a stronger vision. For example, her pencil initially mightremain idle during a formal sitting with a figure model while those around hersketch madly away to capture the likeness.

“As an art student, I always liked drawing the figures after they finished model-ing, when they began putting on their robes and stretching,” Kozachek said. “Whenthe models would take a break, that is when I would start drawing. They were somuch more interesting then.”

Kozachek has an unwavering confidence that her art will emerge at the right timein the right order. She trusts her instincts and moves where the energy takes her.

“When it is suitable to paint, I paint,” shewrote on her Web site. “When it is betterto assemble, I assemble.”

And she never worries over that elusiveperfect piece that will triumphantly com-plete an unfinished mosaic.

“The piece that I need comes into my lifejust at the right time,” she said. “I might gowalking and find it on the side of the road.I tell students not to worry about not hav-ing enough materials. The special piecethat you need will appear out of nowhere.It will just appear.”


design

On the evening that Fred and Elaine Delk chatted withtheir friend Clark Ellefson about refacing the cabinets inthe kitchen of their 1929 Melrose Heights home, they

had no idea they were embarking on a road that would endwith a very different sort of kitchen, one that made artworksan integral part of the family meal. The remodeling projectresulted in a living art space reflective of the family’s artistictastes.

Ellefson, who has been friends with the Delks since the cou-ple moved to Columbia 15 years ago when Fred became exec-utive director of the Columbia Development Corporation,often dines with the Delk family. One evening he made an off-hand comment that the fairly traditional kitchen, with ele-ments reflecting the Craftsman style of the bungalow, wouldbe better without the glass cabinet that hangs suspended overthe kitchen island. Months later, after following his adviceand realizing how the removal had opened the kitchen, thecouple asked Ellefson if he would help with the cabinets.

A total kitchen renovation “just sort of happened over aperiod of time,” says Fred Delk. “We finally just threw cautionto the wind and said, ‘let’s do the whole thing.’”

The project became one of those happy partnerships inwhich everyone knew each other well enough to trust andcommunicate easily with one another. Since moving toColumbia, the Delks have often turned to Ellefson, who hasdeep roots in design and architecture, to give guidance in their

aesthetic purchases. They felt comfortable turning the entireproject over to him, as they had spent the past several years incasual conversation about art, architecture and design history.

There were many other reasons for the couple to feel com-fortable with Ellefson. Ellefson has quite the design resumeand is a constant student of art and aesthetics. The long-timeColumbia resident is the owner and principal designer atLewis + Clark in the Vista, which sells distinctive postmodernlighting. The works are carefully crafted out of fine art papers,hand-worked steel, glass accents and hand-finished wood.The lamps are often shown at craft fairs and have becomefamous for the sleek and colorful look that mixes the playfulwith the pragmatic.

In addition, Ellefson is well known for furniture, architec-ture and interior design. In these aspects his style harkensback to the Memphis Group, a 1980s Italian design movementthat emerged as a reaction against the stark sameness of 1970sindustrial design. His work can be found in the strikinglypost-modern home of Marvin Chernoff, as well as at suchvenues as the Art Bar on Park Street and in the South CarolinaState Art Collection. Visitors to the Columbia Museum of Artare welcomed by a receptionist sitting behind a counterEllefson designed and built.

Everything that Ellefson creates is done with an attitudeleaning toward shocks of color and unexpected lines. Hiscombination of the suggestive and the pragmatic is demon-

Living in Art

47 undefined : book sixstory: shani gilchrist photography: mark pointer

strated by the water motif that he ultimately brought to the Delkfamily’s kitchen. It is not immediately obvious until one standsback to look at the tile backsplash that sparkles down into asmooth granite counter, which then falls into the blue pool ofcabinets below. The exposed grain of the oak and mahogany ply-wood was turned on its side, evoking a lazily swirling pool.

During the construction process the Delks watched inamazement as their friend appeared at their house with paintcolors custom mixed. He would measure spaces to ensure every-thing was within easy reach, with each pragmatic space contain-ing artistic elements bringing the kitchen together into a livingart space.

With the exception of a bowl for the kitchen, custom-createdby South Carolina artist Jeri Burdick, all of the art has been col-lected over the years. Two central pieces that mix the practicaland the poetic are actually Clark Ellefson projects the Delksalready owned: a large cabinet built in the shape of a kimono andthe dining table that the family uses for its daily meals.

“We found this at a yard sale, actually,” Elaine beamed as shegestured toward the glass table. The table base has distinctechoes of the Frank Lloyd Wright prairie school era in itsproportions and lacquer. There is also a curve to the base that issubtly repeated in the curve of the kitchen island and thestainless cabinet pulls.

Ellefson’s kimono cabinet is the first piece one notices uponentry to the kitchen. Placed against the far wall, the piece’s open“T” shape looks like arms welcoming guests to the room from

under a shiny silver moon of a clock over its shoulder. To the leftof the kimono is a gold, sun-like mirror that sets on the cycle ofthe moon.

Other works of beautiful practicality are found throughout thearea, such as the shelf space holding the family’s collection ofceramic heads. The side of the shelf opens out to reveal a cubbyspace for storage. The watery blue drawers are actually lackingpulls; instead each has a row of three holes that blend in,eliminating extra hardware that can snag belt loops and fastmoving fingers during meal preparation.

The friendship between Clark Ellefson and the Delk family isone that has always been heavy on creative conversation. As thegroup started down the unplanned road to an artistic livingspace, past conversation about art and design took on tangibleshapes. The team took their aesthetic sensibilities that haddeveloped over the past several years and combined them withthe practical needs of a busy family. The result: a truly livable artspace that is now the epicenter of their busy daily lives.

The cabinetry work for the Delk’s kitchen was created by artistBilly Mustard. Billy specializes in contemporary design andfabrication, architectural and sculptural metalwork andwoodwork. (803.920.8009 - [email protected])

Shani Gilchrist is a Columbia-based freelance writer who is alsothe owner and editor of the design and lifestyle blogCamilleMaurice.com.

"Then what are we fighting for?"

-Winston Churchhill (When told the British arts budget

might be eliminated during World War II.)

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undefined magazine book 6

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