"If Artists Ran the Media" Gallery Review

The C33 gallery at Columbia College Chicago "If Artists Ran the Media" depicts many different types of artwork that try to go against the biased views of the media that are usually shown in the news, but as well as other forms of media. These artists portray the real truth in a sense what the real news should be. They take the messages that are sugar coated or hidden from the audience and break away from the status quo and make a statement of truth through their artwork. This gallery for the most part gave a sense to the theme that it was trying to portray, but in some cases there were pieces that I was not sure if they really belong. Although it had it's flaws, overall it was a very successful gallery and most of the pieces were recognizable and related to the theme.

One of the best examples that I viewed and enjoyed in the gallery was the piece "Sorry Iraq" by Steve Cejtin and it was a mixed media with inkjet print. It was a very large piece that illustrated the conflict in Iraq between the groups of people and the US's involvement. It was made to look as the game sorry which reinforced the different players of the game like the Sunnis and the Shiites. All over the board there were references to war, disease, and death along with many pictures of suffering Iraqis in the background. This is a strong piece that people in the news would probably rarely show and it is true that the US does not know how much Iraq has suffered throughout the years. The United States believes that they are helping Iraq, but at the same time they are also hurting it.

There were two pieces made by the same artist, Ralph Carlie Browne, whose pieces I felt didn't seem to go with the rest of the pieces in the gallery. The two pieces that he made were " A Peculiar Programmed Plummet" and "Shit on the Wire". These two pieces were both acrylic on canvas. He used the idea of media and how everything that you see in the media is not always the whole truth and you don't always get everything you should know or see. I did not know this until I read the card next to the piece of what it actually meant to see how it related to the gallery. Although they have a connection to the gallery, I feel like they are out of place. All of the other pieces had a certain idea chosen from the media, which made up their piece. These two pieces just the theme in mind instead of picking like the Iraq. Overall, the gallery was very interesting to visit. I enjoyed seeing all the different pieces the artists came up with. The gallery runs from December 3, 2008- February 20, 2009. So I recommend anyone who is interested to see it. It is worth the time to see the talent brought to these pieces and the idea of how it would be if artists ran the media.

Music Review

I give a thumbs up to Mindless Self Indulgence new album if. Compared to their other albums, this one seems to be a lot more upbeat and has a lot of interesting lyrics that have brought out their style of music. I give a thumbs down to Panic at the Disco's new album Pretty Odd. The band has really changed their style of music to what seems folksy. Their songs became a little boring, but I liked one of their songs called Nine in the Afternoon. Overall their album isn't very good. They seemed to be more interesting when their music was more upbeat and more towards alternative music. They may have thought that changing their style would help make their music sound better and gain more listeners, but in reality they may have lost a lot of listeners because of this new style.

Here are the two album covers of the albums I have reviewed.

If you would like to listen to some clips of their songs from these albums visit:

http://www.amazon.com/If-Mindless-Self-Indulgence/dp/B0016AK3DW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1233075656&sr=1-1 for the if album and http://www.amazon.com/Pretty-Odd-Panic-at-Disco/dp/B00132D808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1233075781&sr=1-1 for the Pretty Odd album and click on listen to samples to listen to these albums.