December 20 - Greenbelt News Review

Page 6 GREENBELT NEWS REVIEW Thursday, December 20, 2007
Recreation Department Hosts
Annual Holiday Door Contest
This year’s Greenbelt Recreation Department annual holiday door
contest was open to all city offices and had door entries from nearly
every department. The Greenbelt Police Record’s Department won
first place with their 3-D Holiday Tree door. Sarah and Beth Fendlay
from the Aquatic and Fitness Center won second place with their
“Merry Chris-MOUSE” door. Susan Ollinger from Public Works won
third with a Recycled Tree door (not shown).
PHOTOS BY CELESTE MAY
A Review
Robot Musicians on Display
Invite Viewers to Look, Listen
“Magnificent, fascinating, wow,
scary and I’m in love with your
art.” These are some of the
comments made by those who
have seen Neil Feather’s exhibit
“Quality Machines” at the Community
Center Gallery running
through January 27. All nine
robots have unique qualities and
their names, “Mom,” “Meow”
and “Drum Driver,” suggest
some of the distinct qualities
inherent in his creations.
Naturally “Mom” means different
things to different people,
as will this creation. Through
the use of electric motors, steel
strings, guitar pickups, amplifiers
and an occasional bowling
ball, Feather engages the
observer to contemplate and interact
with his robots. Whether
his machines are soloing or in
concert together, a penetrating,
yet oddly meditative quality is
created.
Though his pieces are semiautomatic
they have distinct
personalities and were designed
to be interactive; “subtle manipulation
can create a huge
variety of sounds,” he said. Interestingly
his formal art training
was in ceramics, specifically
Japanese style pottery. Upon
arriving in Montana for graduate
school and discovering a
rich after-market for machines
from the 50s and 60s, his robotic
musicians began to take
form. He indicated that certain
machines in America reached
their zenith at this time in terms
of functionality and aesthetics.
In the 21st century, he says,
many machines are meant to be
replaced after a relatively short
life and not meant to be seen
as objects with any significant
aesthetic value.
Influences
Feather’s musical influences
include John Cage, an American
composer who has described
his own music as “purposeless
play,” and Captain Beefheart,
also known as Don Van Vliet,
who rarely played a composition
the same way twice. Both are
considered virtuosos within the
world of experimental music
whose compositions can be unusual
for listeners to accept, as
our minds are trained to listen
for certain tonalities that are
easily absorbed that we associate
with certain feelings.
Feather has performed experimental
music for over 30
years and will be performing at
Greenbelt’s New Year’s festival
for the second year in a row.
This year he indicated that he
would have some robotic musicians
join him on stage, along
with human musician Robert
Berndt.
Feather said his goal is to
not fulfill expectations and that
being surprised is often more
rewarding, something we as a
society look for in sports but
often do not like in music.
He encourages the audience
to “enjoy the process of figuring
out what’s happening. Interesting
ideas and feelings can occur
by chance and this randomness
can allow the listener to go
through changes as the music
unfolds.”
by Brian St. George
Artist Neil Feather demonstrates one of his musical "Quality
Machines" on display in the Community Center Gallery through
January 27.
Greenbelt Federal
Credit Union
Happy Holidays and
a Wonderful New Year!
Season‛s Greetings and
Happy New Year to All
From your friends at
Generous Joe‛s
PHOTO BY MARK CRYSTAL