Tuesday, February 11, 1986
Daily Nebraskan
Page 7
O
Arts
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Diana of
Two works
to Sheldon
A landscape by George Inness, "Farm
house' (1894), and a bronze figure,
"Diana of the Tower" (1899), by Augus
tus Saint Gaudens were recently do
nated to the Sheldon Memorial Art
Gallery through the Nebraska Art
Association as part of that associa
tion's celebration of its upcoming cen
tennial, said president Art Thompsoa
The works were donated by a Lincoln
resident in honor of Lorraine LeMar
Rohman.
Inness, a 19th century landscape
painter, began his career in the detailed
style of the Hudson River School. After
several extended trips to Europe, how
ever, he was led to what one critic
called a "civilized landscape."
"Farmhouse," (from the last year of
the artist's life) is an example of
Inness' "signature style," form that
synthesizes the "material and the spir
itual'' of nature.
Nihilism
Nihilism. 1. a: a viewpoint
that traditional values and be
liefs are unfounded and that
existence is senseless and use
less. 2. a doctrine or belief that
conditions in the social organi
zation are so bad as to make des
truction desirable for its own
sake independent of any con
structive program or possibility.
Webster's New Collegiate
Dictionary
Stew
Magnuson
Some people have called me a pes
simist. Some people have called me a
cynic. But I like to think that I've grown
beyond these traits, that I've matured
in my negativism. I think I've found the
ultimate dark, despairing attitude
towards life, Nihilism.
Essential to nihilistic thought is the
firm belief that the world will soon
come to an end, and soon, like, before
next Tuesday (if we're lucky).
Nihilists are positive that the end is
near simply because there are so many
ways that the world can self-destruct.
Here's a list of the top ten ways the
world will come to an end, taken from a
Courtesy of the Nebraska Art Association
the Tower
donated
Gallery
Gaudens, the son of a poor French
shoemaker, developed a personal style
which overthrew the polished idealized
forms of Neo-classicism, and incorpo
rated a revitalized naturalism absorbed
from the masterworks of the Renais
sance sculptor Donatello.
The work given to the Sheldon marks
one of the sculptor's most notable
steps in this direction.
The original "Diana of the Tower"
was made for the top of the Madison
Square Garden, in New York where it
stood (in a version over 12 feet high)
until 1925. That work now stands on
the staircase of the Philadelphia
Museum of Art.
The two newly-acquired works are
currently on display at Sheldon in the
board room of the NAA. Sheldon hours
are Tuesday through Saturday from 12
to 5 p.m., Sunday from 2 to 9 p.m., and
Thursday through Saturday from 7 to 9
p.m.
threatens mankind, potatoes
readers poll in Nihilists Weekly, which
ceased publication last week due to
the editor's conviction that the "big
one" was just around the corner.
1. Nuclear war. Nuclear holocaust
has topped the reader's polls for the
past 40 years. Just because the super
powers are talking about reducing
nuclear arms doesn't mean this isn't a
threat. A nihilist will never forget that
any crazed terrorist can carry a nuclear
bomb inside a suitcase and wipe us all
out in a matter of seconds.
2. Greenhouse Effect. This
scientific theory says that the massive
amounts of pollution being released
into our atmosphere will trap solar
heat, melt the ice caps, and destroy the
environment. And don't think that just
because the earth is warmer you can go
to the beach everyday. The ocean's
level will raise 20 feet. No more
beaches!
3. The Next Ice Age. You've been
hearing about if for years. The whole
world will be covered with a sheet of
ice two miles thick. Scientists now all
agree that the Ice Age is coming, it's
just a matter of when. And anyone who
says the Greenhouse Effect is going to
melt away the Ice Age is just a lousy
optimist, and not to be listened to.
4. A Mad Scientist. You've seen
them on science fiction movies so don't
be so sure they don't exist. Remember
the hero in these films narrowly pre
vents the wholesale destruction of the
planet earth usually only by seconds.
What if the hero misses his train, or
Aram! if al
a full week
By Charles Lieurance
Senior Reporter
Albums by some of my favorite
bands hit the record stores last
week. With my arms loaded with
Johnny Thunders, The Violent
Femmes and The Church, I clois
tered myself away in my dorm room,
forgot to shave, bathe or perform
any other hygiene functions and
emerged Monday spewing opinion
and praise. I picked up The Cult's
LP, "Love," too, but my rage at its
total lack of ideas and energy is, as
yet, inexpressible.
Record Review
Johnny Thunders, "Que
Sera, Sera," Jungle Records
Out of the heroin-soaked land
scape of New York's "punk" scene,
staggers another of former New York
Doll Johnny Thunders' testaments
that life goes on. The title ("Whatever
will be, will be"); the opening cut,
"Short Lives (. . .make good movies)"
and Thunders' incessant clinging to
clumsily played, distortion-ridden
Chuck Berry riff, all serve to paint a
big happy face over "the needle and
the damage done."
Thunders has seen Sid Vicious
ride the pale horse of addiction into
the sunset with television's Richard
Lloyd, a couple of Ramones and Lou
Reed running along behind, trying
hard to catch up. All for the sake of
punk sincerity.
With a few former Dolls backing
him up and Patti Palladin sharing
vocals, Thunders isn't eulogizing
like Lloyd, or ignoring the horrific
mainline like the Ramones. He just
keeps pumping rock 'n' roll up the
big vein until the opium and self
destruction is flushed out.
Pere Ubu, "Terminal Tow
er," Twin Tone
"Terminal Tower" is an archival
collection of Pere Ubu songs from
1978 to 1982 and it contains some of
the band's most accessible tunes
right alongside screamingly bizarre
techno-oddities like "30 Seconds
can't get a taxi, and one of these
deranged geniuses actually succeeds?
5. Potato Blight. Without potatos,
let's face it, human beings could no
longer exist.
6. Armageddon. This Biblical ex
planation of the end of the world has
been popular for years with the reli
gious crowd. But true Nihilists believe
man is capable of destroying himself
without the help of God.
7. Sexually Transmitted dis
eases. Just when people were finally
getting over the guilt over having sex,
we get a slew of diseases. Soon there
will probably be a disease so deadly
that no one will engage in any sexual
acts and the whole human race will
simply die out
8. Overpopulation. Overpopula
tion is the direct cause of nuclear war,
famine, the greenhouse effect, sexually
transmitted diseases, crowded buses,
hassles with your roommate and the
common cold.
9. Alien Invasions by Creatures
From Another Universe. An out
side shot, but still a very real possibil
ity for some nihilists into low budget
films of the '50s.
10. Mass Hysteria Caused By
Any of the Above. As an example,
potato blight could send people into
the streets rioting when they realize
they can no longer eat french fries,
potato chips or tater tots. If they
believed that the Soviets were respon
sible for the blight, it could be the
issue that would set off "the big one."
mm
ml
r.
If
' t
Over Tokyo" and "Lonesome Cow
boy Dave."
Named after the surrealist play
by Alfred Jarry, Pere Ubu is Da Da
rock at its most profound; experi
mental, conceptual rock with a
point and a hook. The music is
genuinely entertaining, moving from
tightly structured pop and ska into
irretrievable madness within the
space of one of Thomas' patented
squeaks.
Now that New Wave has produced
such shock-troopers as Psychic TV,
Cabaret Voltaire and Scraping Foetus
off the Wheel, Pere Ubu may sound
like flagrantly Adamic old popsters
in comparison. But, hey, everything
starts somewhere. Whether Ubu is
the chicken or the egg is a mute
point.
The Church, "Heyday,"
Warner
"Heyday," The Church's sixth high
mass, despite some lulls in the ser
vice, does not disappoint.
W "h WW
s worth
v Dosfieoooig
;
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
The Church's albums rarely catch
you on the first try. All the beautiful
melodies and guitar filigree just
seem directionless. On the second
listen, things become clearer. Cho
ruses and verses become evident in
the sparkling mix. The magic number
three is essential to the conversion.
Hooks latch on and won't let go.
Every sound the tinkling percus
sion, the wash of horns and the
electric harp guitar sound create
a warm, hypnotic texture.
The flaws in "Heyday" are unfor
tunate and they break the sacred
mood too often. But most of the
highlights on the LP come in pairs,;
so there's always a good ten minutes
of euphoria before something dull
intercedes.
Violent Femmes, "The Blind
Leading the Naked,"
SlashWarner
See RECORDS on 8
Beth EmersonDally Nebrss&sa