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JULY 3,1497 - AUGUSTA FOCUS
6A
ArTPeat
On the eve of the release of his
debut “solo” album on Ruff House/
Columbia Records, the Fugees’
Wyclef Jean cheerily makes an
observation that’s at once obvious
and profound. “This is the first
time kids get to hear Clef — you
know, Clef standing by himself as
Clef,” he says definitively. “Soit’s
like you get to feel what Clef is
about. What does Clef stand for?
What does he represent? I think
people heard the Fugees eclecti
cally. But they never heard, “This
is Clef’s side; this is what he repre
sents.” It’s important for kids to
know that, yeah, we’re positive,
but there’s a twist to it — we’re
not soft. It’slikethe Bibleisin one
hand, the gun is in the other.”
Before theinternational success
of the group’s multi-platinum
sophomore set, The Score, the
Fugees (Refugee Camp) ap
proached hip-hop’s worldwide
sound-stage with a seemingly con
tradictory point-of-view/frame-of
reference; they collectively
emerged from the depths of their
New Jersey studio, The Booga
Basement, with Clef leading the
attack, an acoustic guitar in one
hand, a microphone in the other.
The mission was simple: to bring
the plight of American ghetto
youth — native-born and trans
planted alike — to a worldwide
audience. Needless to say, with 11
million plus copies of The Score
moved into the hands of hip-hop
aficionados and music lovers from
the U.S. to Europe to the Carib
bean to the Eastern Hemisphere,
that mission was accomplished,
setting the foundation for the next
phase of Refugee Camp conscious
ness. Wyclef Jean Presents the
Carnival is, for all intents and
purposes, the fulfillment of hip
hop’s “next level” prophecies.
“I think The Carnival goes
straight to the streets and that’s
what I was trying to,” confesses
Wyclef. But The Carnival is not
Traveling blacksmith exhibition to stop in Augusta.
The Gertrude Herbert Institute
of Art will host an exhibition en
titled “At the Anvil: A Celebration
of Blacksmithing in Georgia” from
July 11to September 12. The open
ing reception will be held at the
Institute on Friday, July 11, from 6
-8 p.m. One of the 20 participating
blacksmiths, Dan Tull from
Newnan, Georgia, will be available
throughout the opening reception
to demonstrate and talk about con
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the rehashed scenario of a com
mercially successful artist trying
to recapture ghetto-glory and
street-credibility; norisit a screed
against musicindustry disillusion
ment, or anything of the kind. The
Carnival is the result of evolution,
determination and a staunch work
ethic coming at a career point
temporary blacksmithing in Geor
gia. The July 11 exhibition recep
tion is open to the public.
The exhibition was curated by
Jackson Cheatham, a Thomson,
Georgia printmaker and a member
of the Gertrude Herbert Board’s of
Trustees. It was organized by the
Madison Morgan Cultural Center
in Madison, Georgia and will travel
to the Chattahoochee Valley Art
Museum in LaGrange, Georgia af
ter closing here. The exhibition, a
total of 42 pieces, was selected by
Mr. Cheatham through personal
visits with the artists. .
The tradition of blacksmithing is
very popular throughout the state.
There are over 200 Georgia artists
who are registered members of two
active blacksmithing guilds and/or
the National Artist-Blacksmiths’
Association of North America. The
artisans range from a transplanted
Soviet Georgian, traditionally
trained, to the art school trained
sculpture artist to the self-taught
smith,
Participating artists all from
Georgia are: -
- Mr. Ivan Bailey - Decatur.
- Mr. Wilby Coleman - Valdosta.
(Left) Garden Gate
by Andrew Crawford
[t's Our Pleasure.
where all too many artists become
lax in the wake of global promi
nence. The Carnival also puts a
whole lot of fun back into the hip
hop ethos.
“‘Hardcore’ is supposed to be a
reflection of hard times,” explains
Clef. “I think we forgot :fibout
that when we got caught up in the
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-Mr. David Cornett - Pine Moun
tain,
-Mr. Andrew Crawford - Atlanta.
- Mr, Michael P. Dillon - Roswell.
- Mr. Al Fouche - Jackson.
- Mr. Jonas Hauptman - Atlanta.
- Mr. Heath Ivie - Farmington.
- Mr. John E. Kierbow Jr. -
Woodbury.
- Mr. Keith Kilby - Jefferson.
- Mr. Igor Lipko - Kennesaw.
-Ms. Corrina Mensoff - Cumming.
-Mr. Morgan Miller - Montecello.
- Mr. Jeff Mohr - Watkinsville.
-Mr. Robert Clark Powell - Smarr.
- Mr. Thomas Prochnow -
Buckhead.
- Mr. Alan Rogers - Oxford.
- Mr. Bob Rosenfelt - Hoschton.
- Mr. Tom Sheets - Atlanta.
- Mr. Dan Tull - Newnan.
Gertrude Herbert
Institute of Art information
Partial support for the exhibi
tionsand programs at the Gertrude
Herbert Institute of Art is provided
by the Knox Foundation and also
the Georgia Council for the Arts
through the appropriations of the
art e music ¢ literature e theatre
image of hardcore, not hard times.
We got caught up in the image of
‘We gonna be mad, we ain’t gonna
dance, we gonna put the skully all
the way to our face and in every
video we gonna do that.” And to
me that’s fake.”
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Georgia General Assembly. A
portion of the Institute’s general
operating funds is provided by the
Greater Augusta Arts Council
through appropriations from Au
gusta-Richmond County. Hours at
the Institute are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Tuesday through Friday and from
10a.m.-2p.m.on Saturday. Dona
tions of $2 for adults and $1 for
children and senior citizens are
encouraged.
DRAGON*CON
Sci-Fi, comics
convention lives
up to expectations
By Lillion Wan
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
ATLANTA
Dragon*Con, the largest south
eastern science fiction and comics
convention, took place June 26 -
29 in Atlanta. Imagine a whole
meeting room set aside for strictly
Star Trek discussions hour after
hour, all day long, for almost four
whole days. Think of a huge ex
hibit hall with over 200 tables full
of collectibles toseeand buy. Imag
ine the chance to ask questions
directly from stars of popular TV
series such asStar Trek, Star Wars
and Battlestar Gallactica. Then
you have a small idea of what
Dragon*Con was all about.
This reporter was able to attend
only two of the four full days of
Dragon*Con activities. There was
not enough time to even sample a
lot of the different events sched
uled. Over 27 rooms were set
aside for specific programming
including a room each for kids
(yes, a place set aside with specific
activities geared for them for a
welcome break from otherwise
adult programs), Star Trek dis
cussions, Star Wars panels,
Babylon 5 talks, a video room,
British TV discussions, a writers’
room (for very informative panels
on writing and publishing) and
several rooms set aside for various
gaming events. Over 400 guests
were scheduled though several of
them had to cancel at the last
minute due to unavoidable rea
sons such as health problems. The
biggest cancellation was that of
Charlton Heston. A fan was heard
to moan, “And mother only let me
come to the convention because
God’s Moses was goingto be here.”
Several unscheduled guests pro
vided a pleasant surprise for con
vention attendees. Best known
among them were Lou Ferrigno of
Incredible Hulk fame and Julie
Newmar who played the original
Catwoman role on Batman.
Various stars were also
autographing and selling some
color and/or black and white pho
tos. For the uninitiated fans: Be
aware that stars at this event will
usually sell 4x6 photos for $5, Bxlo
b&w photos for $lO and color pho
tos for sls each. Autographsalone
on other items may cost up to $lO
each. Prices varied depending on
the stars.
Authors and artists of various
science fiction books and comic
books were present for discussions
and autographing. Dark World
Comics & Entertainment company
Paine College seeks vendors
for “Evening of Jazz” concert
Paine College is seeking vendors
to participate in its Eighth Annual
“Evening of Jazz” to be held Sun
day, August 31, 1997, from 5 - 10
p.m. at the Jessye Norman
Amphitheatre at Riverwalk Au
gusta. This annual evening of de
lightful music is the major Labor
Day activity in Augusta and usually
attracts over 1,000 people. Four
local bands will participate in this
year’s activity. The “Evening of
Jazz” will benefit the 1997 Paine
College-United Negro College Fund
Joint Campaign.
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G-NINE, a new comic book
title by Atlanta-based Dark
World Comics & Entertain
ment, was introduced to
conventioneers.
in Atlanta introduced their new
comic book, G-Nine, due to debut
inJuly. Targetingages 16 - 39, the
company’s approach is to provide
quality entertainment with its
comic book and accompanying
music CD and related merchan
dise that is reflective of urban hip
hop culture. The comic is a re
freshing new work that will fea
ture an African American for a
superhero. Watch for more details
about G-Nine in an upcoming
Artßeat feature in Augusta Fo
cus.
The huge dealers’ room was the
main attraction. With about 189
dealers and exhibitors spread
throughout, it was a maze of col
lectibles, displays and nice give
aways. The Del Rey book com
pany was giving away copies of
current sci-fi books as well as pro--
motional items such as frisbees
and colorful pencils. Companies
selling games for Star Trek and
Star Wars gave away a free
collector’s pack of trading cards
and posters. A pack of X-Files
game cards was given away to
people who took the time to play
through a demonstration of the
game. Stars were also set up at
tables throughout theroom at vari
ous times to autograph.
The Dragon*Con in 1996 was
attended by over 14,000 fans of
science fiction, fantasy, gaming,
comics, British TV, silking and
other related areas. This year’s
con was staffed by at least 900
volunteers for 40 different pro
grams in preparation since the
crowds grow in numbers through
theyears. If you are a fan of any of
the above-mentioned categories,
make plans to attend Dragon*Con
in Atlanta in 1998.
Vendor fees are $65 if paid before
August 1,1997. After August 1, th
fee will be SIOO. The fee entitl
each vendor to a space approxi
mately 6' x 10'. All vendor s
are easily accessible to patrons thal
will be in attendance. Vendors
responsible for their own set-up:
and may set up as early as 11 a.
ontheday of the concert. Electri
outlets are limited and will be
signed to those who pay the vend
fee first. For more informatio
contact the Office of Institutio
Advancement at (706) 8221-8233.