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THE THIRD ACT’
"The Third Act: Contemplating Aging"
at the Athens Institute for Contemporary
Art—opening with a reception on Saturday,
Jan. 18, 7-9 p.m.—explores aspects of con
temporary aging with a focus on the final
three decades that have recently been added
to the average human life expectancy.
"Confrontation with mortality causes dis
comfort among the a-philosophical or a-re-
Ligious. Ironically, this has been abetted by
medical science's admirable accomplishments;
in 1900 we lived an average of 47 years!" says
exhibit curator and ATHICA Director Emeritus
Lizzie Zucker Saltz. "We tend to forget that
just a half-century ago, during the pre-antibi
otic era, most grew up with an intimate famil
iarity with death, as most children witnessed
one or more loved ones succumbing to an
infection as common as strep throat."
lip-sync the stories of elderly people on the
subject of aging and death, highlighting gen
erational incongruities and the disparate per
spectives held between young and old people.
The expressionist paintings of Lisa
Freeman compress the span of a lifetime into
a single image. While many of her subjects
have petite, childlike frames, the emotional
wear on their faces—sunken cheeks, circles
under the eyes and general frailty—suggest
decades of experience beyond their years, ulti
mately making their ages indefinable.
Karen Hymer's photo gravures render
up-close images of the aging female body
as abstract landscapes. Turned off by mass
media's unfair standards of beauty and normal
ization of age-reversing products and proce
dures, Hymer celebrates the signs of aging as
a natural part of mortality worthy of respect.
Tom Hussey’s “Reflections Series”
Though scientific advances have extended
life expectancy, ethics are still playing
catch-up with how to approach and value old
age. "The lay public tends to conflate aging
itself with death and the bodily deprivations
preceding that, rather than on an awareness
of the varying aspects of the third act stage,
its rewards as well as its challenges," says
Zucker Saltz.
After mysteriously receiving an EKG strip
tracing the final hour of her ailing step
mother's life, artist Malena Bergmann was
inspired to create "Final Hour: Compline," a
14-foot long kinetic sculpture. The massive
piece—which served as the initial inspira
tion for Zucker Saltz to curate "The Third
Act"—centers on the strip as it scrolls from
heartbeat to flatline, surrounded by wheel
chair parts and medical tubing, alluding to
the extreme lengths the scientific and medical
professions go through to prolong life.
Similarly inspired by the experience of
caregiving, sculptor Ann Rowles presents
painstakingly crocheted body parts focusing
on the areas of her mother's body afflicted
with ailments.
Cecilia Kane contributes a selection of
self-portraits from her "How Am I Feeling
Today?" series as well as photo documentation
from "The Mother Hole," a performance project
in which she meditated on the nature of death
every day for five weeks while digging a deep
hole in a former marble quarry.
In Peter Nelson's moving eight-minute
video, On Dying, a series of young adult actors
Taking a more cheeky approach, John
English presents an installation of faux anti
aging products, poking fun at culture's obses
sion with preserving youth and its deep denial
towards the inevitability of growing old.
David Noah presents striking black and
white portraits of lively local elders who have
either shared true accounts from their lives at
"Silver Box: Living History," an event held by
adult storytelling series Rabbit Box, or have
shared original poems during the open read
ing series, Word of Mouth. His body of work
aids in the appreciation of how the community
benefits from the insights of these elders.
The staged scenes in photographer Tom
Hussey's "Reflections Series" show elderly
individuals gazing into a mirror that reveals
back a memory of them at a younger age.
Originating as a commission for a pharma
ceutical campaign combating Alzheimer's
disease, the series focuses on the importance
of reflecting back and coming to terms with
one's personal journey.
Several events are scheduled to foster
discussion on the topics of aging. On Friday,
Jan. 31 at 8 p.m., Noah and English will
host a "Third Act Writers Read." On Sunday,
Feb. 23, from 2:30-5 p.m., a "Symposium on
Contemplating Aging" will feature Dr. Anne
P. Glass of the UGA Institute of Gerontology.
The exhibit will conclude with an artists' panel
discussion and reception on Sunday, Mar. 2,
from 4:30-6 p.m.
Jessica Smith
PERFORMANCE I TUESDAY,
JAN. 14 & WEDNESDAY,
JAN. 15
The State Ballet Theatre of
Russians Sleeping Beauty
UGA Fine Arts Theatre • 8 p.m. • $50—$60
First premiered in 1890 in St.
Petersburg, Russia, Sleeping Beauty is
the second of composer Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky's three beloved ballets—the
first being Swan Lake and the third being
The Nutcracker, which the State Ballet
Theatre of Russia performed in town last
month. Based on the Brothers Grimm ver
sion of Charles Perrault's La Belle au bois
dormant, Sleeping Beauty follows the story
of Princess Aurora, who falls into a 100-
year slumber on her 16th birthday by the
curse of evil fairy Carabosse, and must be
awakened by the kiss of handsome Prince
Desire. With a company of 60 dancers, the
production features lavish sets, beauti
fully detailed costumes and authentic
choreography by
Yury Grigorovich, the
artistic director of
Moscow's Bolshoi
Ballet. The Performing
Arts Center will pres
ent a free lecture 45
minutes prior to each
performance. [Jessica
Smith]
EVENTS I JAN.
MLK, Jr. Day
of Service &
Exhibition
Multiple Locations •
FREE!
For over a decade,
volunteers in Athens have pledged to make
MLK, Jr. Day "a day on and not a day off"
by spending the afternoon bettering the
community through local service projects.
HandsOn Northeast Georgia currently has
over 30 different project sites—for which
online registration in advance is avail
able at handsonnortheastgeorgia.org—for
the 12th annual MLK Jr. Day of Service on
Monday, Jan. 20. The Lyndon House Arts
Center presents another way to honor Dr.
King through a gallery exhibition called
"Visions of Martin Luther King, Jr.—Love
Is..." which features collaborative literary
works presented in artistic formats. The
exhibit will be on display Jan. 14-23, and
an artist reception will include children's
projects and a talent showcase in con
junction with the Lyndon House's annual
Sunday Celebration on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2
p.m.-4:30 p.m. [Jessica Smith]
MUSIC I THURSDAY, JAN. 16
RiFF RAFF
Georgia Theatre - 9 p.m. - $20
What more can be written about RiFF
RAFF (born Horst Christian Simco and also
known as Jody Highroller, in case the one
moniker wasn't silly enough)? The guy is
a maniac. His backstory is a novel unto
itself. He has an unhealthy obsession
with pop culture, and pop culture has an
unhealthy obsession with him. His fashion
sense is beyond the pale. His associates
include Diplo and Andy Milonakis. He may
or may not have directly inspired James
Franco's character in Spring Breakers. Most
importantly, he raps. And—this fact is
often lost under all the surface-level
virality—he's actually not half-bad at it.
His upcoming debut, Neon Icon, is said to
feature a who's-who of hip hop, includ
ing Drake, Mac Miller, 2 Chainz and Action
Bronson. 'Cause, see, the guy is dead seri
ous. Or is he? [Gabe Vodicka]
MUSIC I FRIDAY, JAN. 17
Howe Gelb, Jay Gonzalez
Normaltown Hall ■ 8 p.m. - $8
Best known for heading up the
long-running desert-folk outfit Giant
Sand—whose discography is as vast as a
Southwestern sky—Arizona-based song
writer Howe Gelb is currently touring
behind a stellar recent solo release. The
Coincidentalists 11
slow-burning tracks
offer raw glimpses
into the songwriter's
tangled psyche.
Musically, the album is
stripped-down, even
as Gelb outings go.
With the assistance
of M. Ward and Sonic
Youth's Steve Shelley
(and guest spots from
like-minded trouba
dour Bonnie 'Prince'
Billy and Scottish
songstress KT Tunstall),
the record churns qui
etly underneath Gelb's
quietly arresting voice,
which both probes
and puzzles. The
Coincidentalist com
mands the listener to pay attention like
few albums do. [Gabe Vodicka]
MUSIC I SUNDAY, JAN. 19
The Paul Collins Beal,
The Arcs, The KG. Minns,
Parasite Diet
Hi-Lo Lounge - 9 p.m. - $7 (adv.), $10 (door)
Paul Collins first hit the scene in the
mid-1970s as the drummer for L.A. power-
pop progenitors The Nerves, the band that
wrote "Hanging on the Telephone," a tune
that Blondie would go on to make famous.
As the frontman of The Beat (which
changed its name to The Paul Collins Beat
in order to avoid confusion with England's
The Beat, also known as The English
Beat—still with me?), Collins continues to
churn out hooky, punk-influenced rock and
roll well into the 21st Century. An under
ground legend in his own right, Collins will
play Athens in what has been a years-in-
the-making endeavor for organizer Nate
Mitchell. The bands that will warm the
stage—Nashville's Parasite Diet and locals
The Arcs and The V.G. Minus—all owe no
small debt to Collins' past work. Read a
Q&A with Collins on flagpole.com. [Gabe
Vodicka]
16 FLAGPOLE.COM • JANUARY 15, 2014