Eileen Townsend reviews Chris Miner’s video installation, The Gospel According to a Young American.
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Month: February 2014
Construction is set to begin on improvements to Charjean Park after city officials broke ground on the project Monday morning.
The park is located close to the intersection of Airways and I-240, adjacent to Airways Middle School. The 18-acre park is now an undeveloped field of grass with few trees.
Plans for the park will add a walking trail, basketball courts, a pavilion, a playground, a new parking lot, new trees, and barbecue grills. The project is budgeted to cost a little more than $582,000.
On hand for the ground breaking Monday morning were Memphis City Council member Wanda Halbert and Memphis Mayor A C Wharton who both noted that upgrades to the park have been a long time coming. Administrators and students from Airways Middle were also at the ceremony.
Improvements to the park are expected to be complete by this fall.
Charjean Park, Denver Park in Frayser, and Tchulahoma-Holmes Park in South Memphis will all get major upgrades this year. Twenty-five other Memphis parks will see more minor improvements in 2014.
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Questions Answered?
Frank Murtaugh raised some questions about the Tigers in his preseason story for the Flyer. Today, he looks at how they’ve been answered.
- Justin Fox Burks
- Commissioner Steve Mulroy
The Flyer has learned that Shelby County Commissioner Steve Mulroy will be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Shelby County Mayor and will pull a qualifying petition for that office from the Election Commission on Monday.
Mulroy, who has also considered open judgeships, both state and federal, in the last few months, has expressed an interest in a mayoral race for some years.
The commissioner, a law professor at the University of Memphis, is in his second term as representative on the Commission of District 5. Term-limited, he is ineligible to run again for that office.
Mjulroy has a reputation as a liberal, and, while on the Commission, has taken the lead on numerous initiatives, ranging from ordinances dealing with living-wage, ethics, and homeless issues to passage of the county’s first anti-discrimination resolution in 2009.
He attracted national attention last year when he became an altruistic donor of a kidney to the UT-Memphis Transplant Institute, thereby enabling a near-record “chain” of 28 available organs to needy recipients.
Mulroy joins Shelby County Commission chairman James Harvey, former County Commissioner Deidre Malone, and former School Board member Kenneth Whalum Jr., as prominent Democrats who have drawn petitions with intent to challenge the reelection of Republican incumbent County Mayor Mark Luttrell.
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OMG! Where is Susan Eating?
It’s the 16th weekly edition of Susan Ellis’ award-winning game show, “Guess Where I’m Eating.”
For this week’s contest, a place we frequent …
The first person to correctly ID the dish and the restaurant wins his or her choice of a $50 gift certificate for Folk’s Folly or $50 gift certificate for Gould’s.
To enter, submit you answer to me via email at ellis@memphisflyer.com.
The answer to last week’s contest is the Indian Tea at India Palace, and the winner is … E.J. Friedman!
It is difficult to confess. Confessions can be genuine, but the “confessional” is a codified genre, with all the perks and failings of a genre. Starting with St. Augustine and perhaps continuing to James Frey, the confessional has seen some high and low points.
Chris Miner, the video artist and director of Crosstown Arts, knows this well. The artist’s latest show, “The Gospel According to a Young American” is a comprehensive retrospective of almost 15 years of video art. Over 40 videos, broadcast on 20 boxy televisions, comprise a record of Miner’s confessions— about marriage, faith and understanding. The pieces vacillate between Miner’s raw, un-ironic self-professions and deftly ironized portraits of his surroundings.
At its best, the work is both on-its-knees and conscious of that well-worn pose. At its weakest, (and, perhaps, in the most genuinely vulnerable pieces, such as when Miner critiques his Mississippi heritage) the work seems to not know to whom it is addressed: God? Fellow men? The artist himself?
The exhibition, open through February 15th at Rhodes’ Clough-Hanson Gallery, is loosely arranged like a church: pew-length tables and TVs are arranged in wings around the gallery, while a single alter-like television sits centrally in space. There is a small side-gallery with humble fabric benches and several televisions placed on low pedestals.
The televisions loop Miner’s grainy clips, all shot on a camera and in a style that the digital generation has dubbed, reductively, ‘VHS.’ Miner favors a slow pace— single frames with minimal action, shots of old photographs, or frames of an unmoving landscape. If there is action in the shots, it is only to show the minuteness of human movement in an otherwise unerring stillness.
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In The Best Decision Ever Made, Miner speaks over progressive shots of his late grandmother’s Mississippi home. It is a small, pre-war white house, the sort that still has a root cellar and outdoor laundry line. He films the neighbor’s dog pacing behind a wire fence, the sunset coming through winter oaks, the backyard garden shed and his grandmother’s immaculately blue kitchen. He speaks at length about the difference between his grandparents lives and his own, ungrounded experiences (“I’ve been to three different colleges and two different grad schools…I’ve had five serious relationships with women, none of whom I lived in the same city with more than three months…”)
There is an incredible moment in which Miner talks about his first time masturbating in his grandparents pink bathroom, and how, as a child, he imagined someone watching him through small holes in the door of a nearby laundry cabinet. He films the door. He films the holes. He films from inside the holes, looking out. The camera’s gaze explicitly mimics that of the silent, watching divine.
The show’s longer pieces allow the artist time to present a complex picture, and to guide the viewer through multi-layered (but rarely meandering) introspections. Many of Miner’s shorter pieces are performative, such as Via Dolorosa (As Made Famous by Sandi Patti), in which the artist dresses up like a Christian-channel church marm and sings Sandi Patti’s end-of-times dramatic ballad about the life and death of Christ. Via Dolorosa is a great piece— funny, uncanny and accessible.
Others of Miner’s short works are less successful. In, Understanding the Complex, Miner interviews a white woman (assumably living on a military complex) who tells stories about how the racial diversity of the complex has shocked her. The woman, framed from a low angle, sits in a black recliner. It appears that her left hand is disabled— a detail that could only be captured from that specific angle. Miner is not present in the video.**
The problem with this piece, and several others like it (one where an old man, surrounded by plaques that say “JESUS” and hunting ephemera, speaks colloquially about his health; one where Miner’s mother takes his elderly grandfather on a tour of a Native American craft museum), is that they are a part of the same self-reflexive project as the works that actually feature Miner. They are included as a part of his “Gospel.” But, unlike the works in which Miner turns the camera on himself, they lack the important, slippery, narrative quality makes a confession into something more than just a confession.
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Remembering Pete Seeger
Memphis attorney Bruce Newman is the host of “Bruce’s Folksong Fiesta” on WEVL. Newman was lucky enough to meet Pete Seeger, who passed away last week. Enjoy his story and see his memento from one his idols. – Joe Boone
Pete Seeger and “The Banjo”
By Bruce Newman
On November 9th, 2012, Pete Seeger and the Clearwater Foundation (Pete’s “clean up the Hudson River” organization) honored David Amram with the “Power of Song Award” at New York’s Symphony Space Theatre. I was invited by Doug Yeager, a longtime, New York City-based, folk-artist booking agent. Yeager has helped me over the years produce various folk concerts in Memphis, including an April 2000 fundraiser for the Solomon Schechter Day School called “Woody & Me” (Richie Havens, Odetta, Tom Paxton, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Josh White Jr., and Oscar Brand) held at Theatre Memphis and filmed by WKNO. I was delighted to watch the Clearwater Awards ceremony and the concert that followed from a backstage perch, but who knew? At these events, you just never know what may happen.
I was wearing my WEVL cap, and, yes, people really did want to know about our community radio station. Most well-versed folk musicians understand that the fairly recent history of Stax, Sun, Hi, and all related popular labels and artists put Memphis on the popular music map in a very public way. I say recent; it is also well-known by folk music lovers that what long preceded the above was black folk music and Delta blues, and much of this (Leadbelly, by example) eventually travelled up to New York City and became part of the Greenwich Village folk scene. The true essence of this; I did a concert here in Memphis in September 2000 with Dave Van Ronk, and all he wanted to do was go to Clarksdale, Mississippi, and the surrounding areas to get some vibe from his idol, Mississippi John Hurt.
At the Clearwater Awards, I was standing in a small circle chatting with Guy Davis, John Sebastian, Peter Yarrow, Josh White, Jr., Tom Paxton, Henry Butler, and some others. Sebastian pulled me into a very small men’s room so that I could get a quick MP3 WEVL radio station ID.
So, when I came back to the group, my mind wandered as I glanced over the heads of these famous folkies, and I saw “THE BANJO” on a stand through the open door of a small backroom. In 1948, Seeger wrote the first version of his now-classic “How to Play the Five-String Banjo”, a book that many banjo players credit with starting them off on the instrument. He went on to invent the Long Neck or “Seeger banjo”. Yes, this appeared to be the banjo that says “This Machine Surrounds Hate & Forces It To Surrender”. This is the banjo which is as equally as famous as Woody’s guitar that says “This machine kills Fascists”.
Bruce Ginsberg, a neighbor of Pete in Beacon, NY, was also in the group, and he offered to take me back, and there was Pete, tuning the famous instrument, the one that played on all the pro-union, civil rights, and classic songs as recorded by the Almanac Singers, The Weavers, and with Woody. He let me hold it, and, as anyone who has held that thing has expressed, it was a moment I will never forget, mostly because he was and still is, I imagine, a gentle soul.
Several years earlier, I had invited Pete to Memphis to be part of a Work o’ the Weavers program, and he wrote a personal, longhand and very polite decline with his signature banjo, proving that some things (not all) were better in the old days. If I wrote to Daft Punk or Bruno Mars, what would the reply be? I cannot even get Carole King to return my calls.
It is now well known that Arlo Guthrie spoke to Pete Seeger an hour before he died last Monday evening. Arlo made a comment later the next morning. “Well, of course he passed away! I’m telling everyone this morning. But that doesn’t mean he’s gone.”
And so, Pete Seeger, the real icon, whose songs are much connected to the South, lives on in the music and lyrics of tens of thousands of guitar and banjo players.
Bruce Newman
Pete Seeger’s note to Bruce Newman
- Larry Kuzniewski
- Nick Calathes had a career night against the Bucks on Saturday
Grizzlies 99, Bucks 90: The Nick Calathes Game
Saturday night’s game started uneasy. No one had heard much concrete information about the ankle injury Mike Conley suffered on Friday night at Minnesota, and no one wanted to speculate how long he was going to be out. All anyone knew was that the injury looked bad, and it would be a while before Conley returned to the court.
Then the game started, and true to form this season, the Grizzlies struggled. Against teams with a below average pace of play this year, the Grizzlies have typically not done well—as evidenced by both wins over Milwaukee, which have been much closer than they needed to be. Saturday night, it was more of the same, with defensive lapse after defensive lapse, lots of physical play under the basket with the Grizzlies’ bigs banging with Zaza Pachulia and Larry Sanders (hey now!) and Miroslav Raduljica.
For most of the first three quarters, the mood in the stadium was one of frustration: the problems the Grizzlies were having with the Bucks didn’t seem to be a direct result of Conley’s absence. Nick Calathes started at point guard and through the first part of the game was completely adequate, hitting a couple of shots and distributing the ball well. The Grizzlies’ problems seemed to be on the defensive end.
And then something clicked.
In the last 15 minutes of play—from the 3-minute mark of the third quarter through the end of the game—the Grizzlies scored 46 points. Calathes started it with a layup and and-1 free throw to cut the Bucks’ lead to 64-56, and by the end of the third, the Grizzlies only trailed 69-67.
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The fourth quarter continued in much the same manner. Calathes hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter alone, winding up his long-range shot every time Milwaukee left him open. Zach Randolph got going inside. James Johnson and Jon Leuer got in on the act, too, drawing the Bucks’ D away from the basket. It was a scoring outburst the likes of which are hardly ever seen on the Grizzlies’ end of things.
And yes, it was “just the Bucks,” but this is a team against which the Grizzlies have struggled, and considering that Calathes was getting booed by the home crowd simply for checking into the game a few weeks ago, for him to play 40 minutes and score 22 points on 8-12 shooting is a considerable achievement, one which surely will boost Calathes’ confidence as the drives the offense until Conley returns from injury.
The Mike-less Week Ahead
And speaking of that injury, the Grizzlies now face an important week of the schedule without their All Star point guard.
Tonight, a road matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder and a Kevin Durant who is hopefully returning to Earth after a January spent up among the clouds with the Basketball Gods. The Thunder just lost to the Washington Wizards, ending a 10-game win streak (a streak that started immediately after the last time the Grizzlies defeated the Thunder in Marc Gasol’s return).
On Wednesday, the Grizzlies play the Mavericks at home in a game of vital importance for both teams’ playoff hopes. Dallas is currently behind the Grizzlies in the standings based solely on win percentage, with the Grizzlies in the 8th and final playoff spot and the Mavericks in 9th. The Griz have yet to beat Dallas this year (part of their dreadful 0-10 start against divisional opponents) and a win would be of the utmost importance for gaining some space in the standings. After those two games, the Grizzlies travel to Atlanta on Saturday for another tough one.
Overall, this is going to be a bad week to be without Mike Conley. The word on the street Saturday night was that he’ll probably be out until the All Star break—seven games total—and of the seven (the first of which was Saturday night’s Milwaukee game), these three are the most important. After this week, the Grizzlies face the Cavs, Wizards, Magic.
Whether or not Calathes can duplicate his Saturday night outburst against stiffer competition, the Grizzlies will have to do everything they can to win with him at the point. There’s no “good week” to be without Conley, but this one seems especially rough.
Whither Darius Morris?
Ron Tillery of the Commercial Appeal tweeted last night that the Grizzlies were close to signing guard Darius Morris to a 10-day deal:
PG Darius Morris (2nd 10-day with Clippers expired Jan. 26) is meeting Griz coaches tonight in OKC and expected to sign MEM 10-day 2morrow
— Ronald Tillery (@CAGrizBeat) February 3, 2014
Morris is one of the guards the Grizzlies worked out back in December after the injury to Quincy Pondexter, and has just finished his second 10-day contract with the Clippers. You can look at his numbers so far this year at Basketball Reference.
It was clear that the Grizzlies would have to add a point guard after the Jerryd Bayless deal left them with only two on the roster. What wasn’t clear was whether Calathes could comfortably step into the backup role or whether the team would have to shop around for veteran help. The fact that the Griz are looking for young guys on 10-day deals says to me they like what they’ve seen out of Calathes so far and think he can be the backup for the duration of the season. Or, at least, until the trade deadline.
As soon as more news breaks on the Morris deal, I’ll update the blog.
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About Those Questions . . .
Last October, as part of our annual “Hoop City” issue, I presented ten questions for the 2013-14 Memphis Tigers. The answers would, in theory, determine how the season would be remembered. With February upon us — the NCAA tournament less than seven weeks away — let’s revisit three of those questions and see how close we are to the answers.
• Can a lighter Shaq Goodwin be a stronger player?
Two words: And how. The Tigers’ quartet of senior guards seems to be the opening talking point after every game. But it would take a remarkable two months of basketball from one of those guards for Shaq Goodwin to not be this team’s MVP.
- Larry Kuzniewski
- Shaq Goodwin
As a freshman starter — playing at 270 pounds — Goodwin averaged 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in 20.7 minutes per game, hardly the numbers expected from a McDonald’s All-American recruited to be the post presence Memphis sorely lacked over Josh Pastner’s first three seasons as head coach. But as a sophomore — playing closer to 240 pounds — Goodwin leads the Tigers in rebounding (6.7 per game) and is second to Joe Jackson in scoring (12.5). Against Houston on January 23rd, Goodwin scored 12 points in the first five minutes. With a pair of thundering dunks, Goodwin basically scared the Cougars straight before the FedExForum crowd had shaken the unseasonable chill outside the arena. It would be Goodwin’s fourth game this season with at least 20 points and his 13th in double figures, matching his total for such games as a freshman.
“It’s all about focus,” says Goodwin. “Not bringing anything not to do with basketball on the court.” And about those guards: “We’re an inside-out team, so when we establish our presence in the post, it opens up the floor for our shooters.” Let’s consider Shaq Goodwin’s presence established.
• Just how strong is the Tiger backcourt?
This has become a thorny subject in the FedExForum media room (thornier after Tiger losses). If you want to quicken the pulse of the relentlessly positive Tiger coach, suggest he’s relying too heavily on the quartet of Joe Jackson, Chris Crawford, Geron Johnson (all starters), and Michael Dixon (off the bench). “When our four guards play poorly collectively, we’re gonna struggle,” said Pastner after the loss to Cincinnati on January 4th. “When they play well collectively, we’re a team that’s tough to beat. That’s a fine line.”
- Larry Kuzniewski
- Josh Pastner and Joe Jackson
In that loss to the Bearcats, the foursome missed 15 of 17 three-point attempts, as ugly a collective shooting display as FedExForum has seen in some time. In the loss to UConn, the best guard on the floor was clearly the Huskies’ Shabazz Napier (17 points, 10 assists). But the quartet has delivered in big wins over Oklahoma State, Louisville, and Houston (combining for ten three-pointers in the win over the Cougars). Each of the guards has scored at least 13 points in a game and dished out at least five assists. Johnson is second on the team with 5.3 rebounds per game. With Goodwin in foul trouble last week at UCF, the guards accounted for 51 of the team’s 69 points. It may not be the best backcourt in the country, but Memphis leads the AAC in assists (17.5 per game) and steals (9.7). Pastner’s right: This team will play as deeply into March as its senior guards allow.
• Are the Tigers a tougher team than they were last season?
Following the 21-point loss at Oklahoma State last November, chopping blocks were being dusted off all over Memphis. With Pastner’s name on them. Less than two weeks later, the Tigers beat those same Cowboys to win the Old Spice Classic in Orlando. After the dud against Cincinnati to open the new year, the Tigers’ strength relative to the rest of the American Athletic Conference was called into question. Five days later, they traveled to Louisville and beat the reigning national champions.
This team has its weaknesses, many of them exposed last Saturday at SMU. Outside shooting is inconsistent, at best. (Keep your eye on free-throws, too. Games are won and lost in March at the foul line and this team has slung some uncontested bricks.) Defensive breakdowns near the basket are too frequent. The rotation is thin, freshmen Nick King and Kuran Iverson not getting the minutes many expected. But let’s not question the team’s toughness. They’ll take a knock-down, as they did most recently in Dallas. But they tend to rise.