SUMMER 2012 ISSUE No. 150 - Shrewsbury School

School News
E D RUSCHA AT WOLVERHAMPTON ART GALLERY
This year, a new Thursday afternoon activity has been created for any
Vth Former interested in Art History. The activity has included visits to
various galleries and museums in Liverpool, Birmingham,
Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, as well as lectures in school.
Ralph Wade (Rb) reviews the recent Ed Ruscha exhibition at
Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
Ruscha’s is the art of simple communication. All his work arrests
attention, whether it be by his bold language of strong perspectival
lines and primary colours or simply by the “noisy” nature of the
contents – most notably Honk (1962) which encompasses all three.
His most recent exhibition, in the Wolverhampton central gallery,
externalises the works even more with a shifting lighting scheme,
and Shakespearian quotes on the walls.
What, then is conveyed by
these methods? It is never
simple – the complexity of the
emotions or sentiments
conveyed necessarily stand in
deliberate juxtaposition with the
simplistic stylisation of the
subject matter. Take “Me”
(1989), for instance – the red
swollen characters, which
represent the only colour in the piece, sit overshadowed by a vast
mountain. It speaks of the unfounded arrogance which makes us
even consider supremacy over the natural world. The block capitals
of the “ME” have a certain petulance when you appreciate them in
the scale of the rest of painting – and it is sentiments such as these
that we are prompted to consider.
S OMETHING FOR EVERYONE –
HOUSE PLAYS FOR ALL SEASONS
Something appealing – something appalling - something for
everyone – a comedy tonight!
Ah, the Annual House Play! For whom? For what? So that upwardly
mobile thesps can have their fifteen minutes of fame? So that Mum
and Dad and Gran and the younger sister can bask in the
Housemaster’s assurance that ‘Terence was terrific as the butler in
those early scenes’? Or so that small boys can ogle the charms of
Emma Darwin Hall – those distant stellar beings who would never,
ever, otherwise give them a glance?
House Plays above all offer a glimpse of the beating heart that
lies just under the radar in every boarding and day establishment.
Heaven forbid there should ever be a House Play Competition. The
sense of celebration and communal satisfaction at a job ‘well done’
should be enough – not to mention the overwhelming sense of relief
for those who shoulder the blame. Aspiring directors – most of them
students – have learnt to cut their theatrical teeth, discovered that
herding cats is an easier task than persuading an amateur cast to
arrive on time or deliver their lines in any sort of order.
And still they come, week after week – with little more than four
days preparation in the Theatre, building sets or fixing lights, whilst
padding the corridors late at night, awake with restless worry.
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There are, however, times
when Ruscha slips slightly
into pseudo-profundity –
when a strong message is
compromised for the sake of
visual appearance, or simply
for the sake of greater
“sophistication”. I worry that
his “The music from the
balconies” (1984) is thus
effected, its effect is brought at the expense of any true expression.
Its bold juxtaposition of a disturbing J. G. Ballard quote with a sunny
cornfield shouts at the viewer – but upon closer inspection says
nothing.
Visually, Ruscha’s work is,
to my eye, attractive. It is an
attractiveness leant by
simplicity of colour and
subject matter. His palette is
of primary colours whilst his
subjects are mundane – they
draw in the viewer without
need for introduction, for they
are the colours and nature of
21st century life.
Ralph Wade (Rb)
In (and out) of the Ashton Theatre, House Plays dominate each
Lent Term. Mounting so many productions back to back is a real
credit to stage hands without number, not to mention the patience
and resilience of the doughty Theatre Staff. That Theatre Technician,
Alex Davies, and his student lieutenant, William Allott, have ended
Severn Hill in Hidden Meanings