Category: Entertainment

Seniors sell art at museum

By Alanna Henderson, Managing Editor

Going once, going twice, sold. With only four days since the opening of the senior art show, 13 pieces have been sold out of 169 total displayed.

The spring senior art exhibit is on full display at the Ross Art Museum until May 13.

The 2017 theme is refraction, which features 13 Bachelor of Arts and Fine Arts senior majors, showcasing their best pieces of work throughout their time earning their degree.

Every senior spring art show, there is a theme or title of the show. Refraction originates from a take on the definition—about a beam of light traversing through many different mediums or mediums of varying density.

The theme is a symbolic re ection on the current graduating class and their experiences verses trying to combine everything together. The focus of the show is about the students as individual artists.

Seniors Louise Goodpasture and Wyatt Hall were the co-chairs of the senior art show. “It’s nice to gain this type of experience…” Goodpasture said. “[The show] teaches you the etiquette of selling yourself to galleries, and knowing how to act professionally and graciously with a museum.”

Goodpasture has sold a set of cups with detailing’s of birds. While not every piece on display is for sale, there are high hopes of selling almost every piece by the end of the show.

10 percent of the proceeds are donated back to the Ross Art Museum. The artist based on mediums and materials used will often determine the prices, but they can discuss the values with professors if desired.

Students will often begin thinking about what to showcase since determining the major. There is a wide variety of art currently on display and each year, the pieces in the show will vary. Some senior shows could include majority sculptures and other years, more displays of photographs. In this years art show, there are a wide variety of pieces for viewing and selling.

Senior BFA major Lexy Immerman has several pieces on display at the show in- cluding graphic work, a book layout, photographs, and metalwork.

“My pieces are unrelated… but I do want people to appreciate the design of everything,” Immerman said. “I want people to see the creative solution I applied and go, ‘Oh, that makes sense, I see why she did that, and it works.’”

Admission to the show is free and is open to Ohio Wesleyan students and the Delaware community through graduation.

“I love talking to people, and seeing how they receive my work…This was the rst opportunity any of the seniors had to truly take a look at what our class does … I was really stunned by the talent in my class,” Immerman said. “I’m proud to be graduating with them.”

Budget Committee approves fall budgets

By Gopika Nair, Editor-in-Chief

Ohio Wesleyan’s clubs and organizations requested $200,668 for the upcoming fall semester and the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs’ (WCSA) Budget Committee funded $110,470.

President’s Club planned to bring Malcolm Gladwell, staff writer for The New Yorker, to kick off OWU’s 175th anniversary celebration. Because of lack of available funds, the Budget Committee funded the club $33,000 for a speaker, said treasurer Kristen Nooney at WCSA’s full senate meeting on April 17.

“We could only fund a certain amount and we figured alumni and other departments could help contribute to this if they [want to bring Gladwell],” Nooney said.

Overall, President’s Club requested $112,425 and was funded $55,168 to cover the costs of events such as the annual President’s Ball.

Additionally, the Campus Programming Board received $40,000 and Small Living Units were granted $7,000 for the fall semester. The total student activity fee remaining for next semester is $208,000 and the amount available for allocation to clubs and organizations is $119,400.

WCSA also pays for the subscription of The New York Times and USA Today, both of which can be picked up for free from the Atrium in Ham-Will, Nooney said. Currently, 35 copies of each are available. But because not enough people pick up copies, WCSA is reducing the amount to 18 next fall.

“I would vouch for a few more [copies],” WCSA member Michael Barr, junior, said. “I know enough people who do grab The New York Times every single day and I would consider myself one of those people. I think it’s important to have a source of news at this point in time that can be accessible to anyone.”

Dwayne Todd, vice president for student engagement and success, added that WCSA doesn’t pay for newspaper copies that go unread.

WCSA President Chris Dobeck and Vice President Michael Sheetz also drafted an initiative to reduce the cost of break housing for international students and students from the West Coast. The letter, addressed to President Rock Jones, suggests that the administration consider granting all students free housing for breaks that last less than 10 days.

In addition, the senate voted to sign a proposal for the Ohio Wesleyan Sustainability Plan, which is currently supported by Tree House and the Environmental and Wildlife Club.

The next WCSA meeting will take place at noon on April 24 in the Crider Lounge at Ham-Will.

The BEAT: Calvin Harris continues new direction

By John Bonus, Transcript Reporter

With yet another single released, Calvin Harris is showing signs of a new production style and artistic direction.

It’s been a little over a month since Harris released his funky single “Slide,” featuring singer Frank Ocean and hip-hop group Migos. And now he’s back at it again with another unique pop collaboration, “Heatstroke”.

This new track features a variety of artists, including Young Thug, Ariana Grande and Pharrell. Young Thug carries the first verse while Grande and Pharrell mainly sing the chorus, creating a melody that hits very high notes.

The single is similar to Harris’ last release in that it incorporates a disco-pop sound that is very danceable.

“Slide” was Frank Ocean’s first appearance since the release of his summer album “Blonde.” The combination of his singing with verses from Quavo and Offset of Migos made for a popular single, hitting No. 34 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in its rst week.

Both tracks are a step in a different direction for Harris. He has been making electronic dance music for years, which has made him the richest DJ in the world, according to Forbes. These new songs are both de nitely pop, and are possibly an indicator for what type of music is to be expected from the producer in the future.

“Slide” came out on Feb. 24 and this most recent one, “Heatstroke,” was released March 31. One would think a new Calvin Harris album is on the way, however there is not.

According to Complex Magazine, Harris doesn’t plan to make an album at all. Instead, he plans to release
10 singles throughout the year, with ‘Slide’ and ‘Heatstroke’ being the rst two. While the reasons for this are not confirmed, Complex looks at this as a marketing strategy for Harris. There may be more money to be earned spreading these types of singles out over time, rather than in one single album release.

Album or not, we can be positive that a new Calvin Harris has arrived, and has a lot more in store for us in the coming months.

Beeghly Library hosts series of blind dates

By Aleksei Pavloff, Sports Editor

Students and faculty at Ohio Wesleyan University were able to participate in the english department’s “Blind Book Date,” an event where participants weren’t allowed to judge a book by it’s cover: literally.

The English department’s Nancy Comorau organized the “date,” which was held last Friday in the Beeghly Library. Here, students had a chance to get familiar with books they did not know existed.

According to Assistant Professor of English Amy Butcher, the event was thought up to celebrate the english department and encourage students to take classes in the department. Some of the books that were included have appeared before in syllabi of the department’s classes.

The blind book date consisted of students and faculty walking from one table of concealed books to the next. On top of each lay a hand written description of the book beneath it. The meaning for this event was to let OWU students pick something unfamiliar when it came to reading stories.

“It was essentially a way to encourage students to perhaps step out of their comfort zone and nd a book that might not be something they would pick up again,” said Butcher.

The books put on display did not favor one genre over the other. Butcher said that each professor in the department was asked to write down a few books they thought were powerful, and that deserved to be shared.

Some books included “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, which is a Tony Award winning play.

Butcher said that partnership with the library on campus was helpful in making sure that the students know it has many diverse books and stories to choose from.

Tragedy bleeds onto the Main Stage

By Liz Hardaway, Arts & Entertainment Editor

If you listen closely you can hear wedding bells chiming in the Chappelear Drama Center.

Federico García Lorca’s “Blood Wedding,” or “Bodas de sangre,” is being shown on the main stage, using colorful, surrealist design and lighting to display this Spanish tragedy. The play was translated and adapted by Edward Kahn, the director of the play as well as a professor of theater and dance, and Eva Paris-Huesca, an instructor in modern foreign languages.

“Blood Wedding” is a contemporary play that exhibits the tragic battle between passion and tradition. Telling the tale of a soon-to-be-bride, played by senior Alexia Minton, the audience learns of her ex-lover Leonarda, played by freshman Rose Jonesco, returning to the bride’s life right as she is preparing to marry her boyfriend, played by sophomore Ares Harper.

“It’s been a great learning experience…the role itself is exhausting to play because there’s such a roller coaster of emotion which is partially, at least from my character’s perspective, part of what makes it so engaging to watch,” said Minton.

The play takes place in 1932 in rural Andalusia where, despite many progressive actions made by the Spanish government, the public remained close minded. Lorca was a gay playwright and poet.

“One can sense the personal struggles of the playwright, who once pondered whether ‘living one’s instinctual life to the full’ was the only possible path to happiness,” said Kahn in the director’s note of the playbill.

The play will be shown at the main stage of the Chappelear Drama Center on April 6-8 at 8 p.m and April 9 at 2 p.m. General admission is $10, and faculty/staff, seniors and non-Ohio Wesleyan student tickets are $5. Student admission is free with an ID.

The Mowgli’s talk creative process and Bishop Bash

By John Bonus, Transcript Reporter

Bishop Bash is around the corner and Ohio Wesleyan’s Campus Programing Board is bringing The Mowgli’s, an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California.

Two members of the band, Katie Earl and Josh Hogan, talked about the origins of the band, their creative process, and what they plan to bring to Bishop Bash in an interview with The Transcript.

Q: How/when was the band formed?

A: We developed in the LA music scene in 2009. A lot of us (members) knew each other in the years leading up to that. Around that time, we were playing a lot of shows together and opening up for each other’s bands. The band came together in this big art scene in LA at the time.

Q: How did you come up with the band name?

A: Mowgli is actually the name of a dog that we all knew that had a crazy personality, and we all saw a little of ourselves in him, and that dog was named after the “Jungle Book” character.

Q: How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it before?

A: We try to make upbeat music that people can relate to and that people have a good time listening to. That’s our main goal. Sometimes that creates a pop sound, and sometimes it makes a more rockin’ sound. We just try to make people feel happy and that they aren’t alone.

Q: So is that what you’d say your music is about? Are there a lot of themes in your music?

A: Yes, there is definitely a theme of unity in our music. We definitely explore the themes of connecting with other people. We try to let people know they aren’t alone and drive a theme of self-love. The themes have also definitely expanded in the past couple year; we just try to write from a place of honesty and hope it reaches our listeners.

Q: What is the creative process like for your band?

A: It’s definitely something that changes all the time. Our first album’s process was nothing like the second album’s process and the third was different from that, so it’s something that is always changing. A lot of the last record was written on the road. It has changed a lot based on circumstances and we’re looking forward to seeing how that process continues to evolve.

Q: Are you working on any projects right now?

A: We just released an album in September. We’re going to continue to tour in support of that with The Maine and then who knows? There are a lot of songs and music projects that are in the works because it’s just a group of creative people who are always writing and exploring their abilities so a lot of cool stuff will continue to happen with our group.

Q: What artists and music have inspired your sound?

A: That’s a pool that’s also always expanding. We all listen to a variety of music and pull from that. So that question can change depending on the member you ask. Some of the bands/artists that we like are Portugal the Man, The 1975 and other groups.

Q: Do you play a lot of college shows? And do you notice a big difference between playing colleges and regular shows.

A: Yeah, we play a lot of college shows. It’s always really fun because college kids work so hard during the week 
 for something like a night out at a show. So the audience is always really fun and energetic and a really good time.

Q: What are some of your goals as a band in the short and long term?

A: We have so many hopes and dreams, but one specific goal for us this year would be to go international. That’s such a dream of ours and while we love touring the U.S., we really want to take the show we’ve worked so hard on to another country that isn’t Canada. We also really want to have a long career in this business. Within our band we have so many musicians, and in our fantasy, everyone will have their own project that they’ll end up doing, but at the same time we’ll still have this band, kind of like Wu-Tang Clan.

Q: What should OWU students expect from The Mowgli’s at Bishop Bash?

A: When we come out to play a show, we work hard to bring our A-game. We’re going to do our part to bring a great show and we hope a lot of people come out, so we can make sure everyone has a lot of fun.

The Beat: Drake beats streaming records with “More Life”

By John Bonus, Transcript Reporter

Drake continues his reign as the biggest hip-hop artist in the game with his record-breaking release of “More Life.”

The Toronto rapper released the 22-track album (which he refers to as a playlist) on Saturday and it broke streaming records on both Spotify and Apple Music.

“More Life” was streamed 88.9 times on Apple Music on its first day of release, which is more than any album has ever streamed in one day through the service, according to Billboard.

The playlist also received more than 76 million plays on Spotify, which is the most an artist has ever been streamed in one day. Both records surpassed the ones previously set by Ed Sheeran.

Drake has released four studio albums so far in his career and while this looks like a fifth, he’s chosen to call it a playlist, not an album. According to The Atlantic, this is because many people were involved with the project and it became more like a project created by many artists rather than just Drake. Some songs barely feature Drake at all; instead, featuring artists do a large bulk of the vocals.

The project has a lengthy and eye-catching list of features. He collaborated with some of the biggest artists in hip-hop including Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Travis Scott, Migos’ Quavo, Young Thug and more.

Drake seems to draw back to his roots on many of the tracks in the playlist. His last two projects were seen as a victory lap and featured a lot of boasting over hype instrumentals. “More Life” features serious and emotional tracks and feels much more like “Take Care,” Drake’s second studio album released in 2011.

With 22 tracks the album is very dense and hits a variety of themes. It acts like a rollercoaster hitting many highs and a lot of lows which makes the tracklist diverse and interesting.

Playlist or album, “More Life” has been another smash hit for the most popular artist in hip-hop right now.

Queer Film Festival showing its last movie

By Liz Hardaway, Arts & Entertainment Editor

The International Queer Film Festival is closing the curtain after a successful first season.

Since it began showing lms in early February, the festival plays movies to better represent queer people from around the world through cinema.

The upcoming lm, “The Handmaiden” will be featured in the Benes rooms at 7 p.m. on April 4. The lm is a mystery-drama that takes place in early 20th century South Korea. Sook-Hee, played by Tae-ri Kim, is hired as a handmaiden to Japanese heiress, Lady Hideko, played by Min-hee Kim. This critically acclaimed lm directed by Park Chan Wook uses historical context to discuss sexual exploration and love.

“Queer people have existed always and everywhere,” said junior Ryan Bishop. “We would like to see cinema move toward a point where queer characters can be main characters in any genre, any role, and their queerness might not be [the] center, but is validated and explored in the depth it deserves.”

The lm was based on Sarah Walters’ novel “Fingersmith,” a lesbian romance set in Victorian England.

“Beautiful Boxer,” a lm from Thailand that was shown Monday night, tells the story of Muay Thai kickboxer Parinya Charoenphol, played by Asanee Suwan. Charoenphol identities as khatoey, “a third gender known in Thailand with similarities to identifying as a transgender woman,” said Bishop.

“Beautiful Boxer” shows the protagonist’s childhood in poverty, her days as a travelling monk and her journey to raise enough money for gender-af rming surgery.

“Beauty and the Beast” invites you to “Be [Their] Guest”

By Liz Hardaway, Arts & Entertainment Editor

It’s a tale as old as time…revived.

Bill Candon’s brought-to-life Beauty and the Beast stars grown-up Hermione Granger, Emma Watson, as Belle, and CGI’d Dan Stevens as the ferocious, gentle giant, the Beast.

Catering to viewers’ nostal- gia for the early-90’s ick, the lm takes all the best parts of the original Disney cartoon and fills all the plot holes that gnawed at the back of every child’s brain 26 years ago. The lm follows the basic storyline, music and all, but finally reveals what happened to Belle’s mother. It also cleaned up the messy timeline of when the damning spell was cast and when Belle stumbled into the castle.

The movie even raised controversy for Disney’s rst openly-gay character, LaFou, played by the hilarious Josh Gad. Some theaters chose to ban or edit the film.

The film takes the general essence of the characters depicted in the cartoon-version, and totally revamps them with intricate CGI animation. LumiĂ©re, played by Ewan McGregor, and Cogsworth, played by Ian McKellen (i.e. Gandalf as a clock), get a makeover in delicate gold designs that combine their character’s strong personalities and the object each is slowly morphing into.

One can’t help but feel welcome when the entire kitchen of lively objects sings “Be My Guest” through the screen. Even Watson looks impressed at the various cutleries doing the can- can as napkins gracefully glide through the air.

Since its opening day last Friday, the lm has grossed over $350 million making its debut weekend one of the most successful opening weekends ever.

Essayist John D’Agata visits campus

By Liz Hardaway, Arts & Entertainment Editor

Things got personal last week when John D’Agata came to visit.

American essayist John D’Agata held a writing salon in Sturges, as well as a reading of his work in Merrick Hall on Feb. 21.

In the evening, D’Agata read an essay from “About a Mountain.” In this essay, D’Agata explored the suicide of Levi Presley, who jumped from the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. D’Agata took creative liberties with some of the facts of the event, receiv-
ing mixed reviews and criticism from fact-checkers, including Jim Fingal, who he wrote “Lifespan of a Fact” with.

“I needed to trust that if I put in the work, and really had gotten to know [Presley] as well as I could…that I had to trust my-
self and trust the reader that they would trust me; that where I took liberties were the appropriate places, and I wasn’t tarnishing him,” said D’Agata.

Agata began his writing salon by reminding the students that attended of the literary importance of lists. He stressed their ability to reveal characters, comic and tragic elements, as well as the culture of a piece.

“[My Netflix queue] offered too much information, it told a story about me that I wasn’t comfortable being told,” said D’Agata.

He used the opening from “Bridget Jones’ Diary,” where the protagonist lists her New Year’s resolutions for what she will do and will not do. He also discussed an excerpt from Joan Didion’s “The White Album,” where

D’Agata explained that her list expressed how then-journalist Didion created a genderless armour in a male-dominated field.

“There’s a story there…some lists are both informational and poetic and literary and sometimes historical,” said D’Agata.

“[D’Agata] weaves his essay like a story,” said senior Alyssa Clark, who opened for D’Agata’s reading in Merrick Hall. “[He] turn[s] it into something familiar, and redefined my preconceived notions of what an essay entailed…a piece of art that is much more than what it originally seems.”

Known for his books “Halls of Fame”, “About a Mountain” and “The Lifespan of a Fact,” D’Agata has written six books, and is an English professor at the University of Iowa.

D’Agata is currently working on a translation of a book by ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch, as well as a new collection of his own essays.