Arts in brief
Event
New program teams with Detroit artist to improve city living
Detroit to Ann Arbor Art Exhibit
At the Michigan Union Art Lounge
Through March 4
Art is never far from the city of Detroit. One of its native sons and artists Stephen William Schudlich is acutely aware of this fact. Collecting waste paper off the streets of Detroit is more than a way to save the Earth; it can become art. In a recent piece, Schudlich used the remnants of paper from the area surrounding the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Mack Avenue to form a map of Detroit's activities and habits.
In collaboration with the Semester in Detroit Planning Team - a program formed by the University's Ginsberg Center that incorporates academic learning with community service - Schudlich's artwork, along with other Detroit artists' projects, can be viewed in the Michigan Union Art Lounge until March 4.
The artwork on display provides observations of the community life within Detroit. Colored photographs, graphic design pieces, installations and acrylic paintings form the eclectic collection at the Union. These pieces vary in form and design, but they all closely examine the urban environments of Detroit.
The caption for artist Clinton Snider's piece perhaps exemplifies what this exhibit has set out to illustrate: "On one level, the painting is about the decline of modern civilization in Detroit, but on another arguably more important level, it is about the persistence of life even in the city's most desolate provinces."
Priya Bali
In concert
Indie backups take the main stage
Canasta
Tonight 10:30 p.m.
At the Elbow Room
Chicago's Canasta comes to Ypsilanti's Elbow Room tonight to show off its orchestral-pop chops. In the past five years, the group has garnered rave reviews, landed on bills with indie-rock heavyweights including Wilco, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Grizzly Bear. And the group even shared the stage with Barack Obama. The lush textures and eclectic arrangements of Canasta's full-length debut We Were Set Up (2005) made the band a favorite of the Chicago music community, as well as the local press.
Its follow-up is slated for this fall, but in the meantime, the band has put together a juicy holdover collection of remixes to fill out the interim. We Were Mixed Up - which goes up today on the band's website as a free MP3 download - contains 17 electronica-spiced, new and extended mixes of selections from We Were Set Up.
When the rock comes to town tonight - whether it be augmented with horns and strings by Canasta or just cranked up as nature intended by local acts the Beggars, Bulletproof and Sunday Painters - one thing's for sure: It will put to shame the plastic excitement of any political rally Canasta's ever played.
David Watnick
In concert
Alt-rock stalwarts return to Detroit
Foo Fighters
Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
At Joe Louis Arena
Since the Foo Fighters' debut in 1995, they've released 28 singles and six studio albums. With such an extensive list of hits, it's unlikely that you don't have at least one favorite song. It's even more unlikely that you wouldn't be able to enjoy yourself at a Foo Fighters show. You're in luck, because The Foo Fighters are coming to Joe Louis Arena Sunday in support of their Grammy award-winning album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.
Coming along for the ride are Gainesville natives Against Me! If you're at all familiar with Against Me!'s mostly folk-punk catalogue, it may seem like an odd choice for the Foo Fighters's opening act. But their latest release New Wave has broadened its horizons and taken the band out of small venues. System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian will also be making an appearance promoting his debut solo album Elect the Dead. Tankian's solo project features his backing band, the FCC, as well as more poetic lyrics and experimental instrumentation that mix for an ambitious sound that's not what one would expect from System of a Down.
While these artists seem like an unlikely combination for an arena rock show, each band's intensity and signature energetic performances give reason to bring these artists together.
Lindsay Chmielewski