Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Item 1 - Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

HL_WesternCarolinian_2016-09-29_Vol84_No01_11

Item 12 - Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

HL_WesternCarolinian_2016-09-29_Vol84_No01_12

Item

Details
- Format
  - Publications (documents)
- Type
  - Text
- Source institution
  - Western Carolina University
- Identifier
  - HL_WesternCarolinian_2016-09-29_Vol84_No01_11
Transcript

BF pF The Western Carolinian ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT September 29, 2016 Spoken word poet Elizabeth Acevedo Madeline Moore Junior Editor On Sept. 14 in the Uni- versity Center, spoken word poet Elizabeth Acevedo encouraged the audience at her reading to use a certain term whenever they heard something they espe- cially liked: Wepa! This is a Spanish term used to express jubila- tion or celebration. A poet and educator, Acevedo was born and raised in New York City by her Dominican parents and has an MEA in Creative Writ- ing from the Univer- sity of Maryland. Over the past twelve years, Acevedo has performed in well-known venues, acquired national slam poetry titles. given mul- tiple TED Talks, and even taught grade eight English. Her poetry has appeared in various magazines and publica- tions, including Puerto Del Sol and Poet Lore, and she is soon to release a chapbook, or small paperback book- let, titled Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths. Acevedos perfor- mance was compelling, chilling and incredibly powerful. Her work . reflected her pride and struggles with her cul- tural background and dealt with topics such as love, womanhood, sexual assault and race. However, even power- ful performers get ner- vous, a reminder that they are just as human as anyone else. Minutes before Acevedo went on stage she sat hunched over in a chair on the front row, contemplat- ing, with her head in her hands. Mentally preparing herself, she stretched to both sides and tousled her wild mop of perfect ringlets. After bouncing up on stage with a rhythmic... step only expected of a slam poet and a glowing smile, the first poem Acevedo performed talked of rats and their admirable qualities. It was inspired by a professor in graduate school that told the young poet rats were not worthy of writing about. All of our stories are worthy of poetry, said Acevedo as reasoning for why she wrote the poem. Another poem dealt with Acevedos Latina heritage. Remember who we are, where we come from, regardless of where that is, said Ace- vedo before performing the poem. This piece talked about the heavy conflict of growing up in Ameri- ca with a foreign family. Our stories cannot be checked into boxes, claimed Acevedo in the poem, promoting pride of all minority cultures and backgrounds. Acevedos poetry about womanhood and expressing issues on the objectivity of women in society spoke to many members of the audi- ence, prompting many snaps and sounds of approval. T grew up very aware of my body as an object, said Acevedo when explaining her own experiences. A few short poems addressed men who had catcalled Acevedo and the sometimes ridicu- lous phrases that were said to her. Other poems went deeper into the issue and discussed sex- ual assault along with the question of how to raise a son or daughter in our rape-culture society. Tt almost curdles my womb dry, these stories, said Acevedo in one of her poems; re- ferring to the rape and sexual assault stories she has heard. In one powerful line Acevedo declared, Her no is not a moan. Sexual assault was not the only current societal issue Acevedo discussed in her poetry. Racial tensions and the fear she and her black -husband have felt.as. minorities in our soci- ety are made realin her work. We keep on sitting at this dinner table, spoke Acevedo with contemp- tuous sadness. Tomb- stones of those that haven't died yet crum- bling in our mouths. Acevedo ended her set with a rap verse she wrote when she was Photo by Katie Greene/STAFI Poet, performer and educator Elizabeth Acevedo uses spoken word poetry to speak out about culture, race, and gender. 13 years old that she uses to give her confi- dence and build herself up when shes feeling small. She challenged the audience to write yourself a rap verse, claiming its ability to boost your self-esteem. Spit it to yourself, she said. When you need some affirmation. Other advice she gave the audience was that, We are better human beings when we create, encouraging everyone to spend time being creative and indulging in our inspirations. On this note, Wepa! rippled through the room both physically and silently in the minds of those who _.Were present. If you are interested in learning more about Elizabeth Acevedo and her poetry, visit her website, www.acevedo- poetry.com, or follow her on social media un- der the tag @acevedow- rites. Be on the lookout for her chapbook which is scheduled to be re- leased at the beginning of October. Photo by Katie Greene/STAFF Elizabeth Acevedo performing on Sept. 14 Rae he - a ae bran . Madison Klein Staff Writer The irony of a journal- ist sitting in the presence of Joey Skaggs is proof of a lifelong legacy of satire and media activism. Art of the Prank was presented at Western Carolina University as a prescreening event held by South Arts, Inc. The film is on tour with the South- ern Circuit and has yet to be released elsewhere. The film portrays Skaggs work throughout his lifetime and current work that serves a purpose: it reflects underly- ing political and cultural issues. The University Center theater seats were filled with young artists of all talents from Western Carolina on Sept. 13, including art, sculpture and filmmaking students. The enthusias- tic audience awaited the preview of the documentary Art of the Prank, a debut from filmmaker Andrea Marini. The documentary follows artist Joey Skaggs during the process of one of his most challenging media hoaxes hes ever put together while relying on film festi- vals for his success. Joeys art goes beyond one single prank, Marini emphasized. The notorious trickster is famous for the satire in his work often involving the me- dia in some form. His work is done in three stages, which the documentary outlines by a chain of events. Skaggs explained in the film that first is the hook, then the line, then the sinker or rev- elation. Skaggs targets the media as a way of holding up the mirror to society which reveals the truth about how irresponsible the media can truly be when it comes to handling information. Some of Skaggs most fa- mous work includes fictional pieces such as Celebrity Sperm Bank, The Cat- house for Dogs and Por- tofess. Skaggs informed the audi- ence that his inspiration comes from the cultural hy- pocrisy and how it is blindly supported in the media. Skaggs topics are often ones that he believes needs to be evaluated by everyone for himself or herself. Ac- cording to Skaggs, culture is a slow evolutionary process. Not much has changed since he first began performing. My fights are still the same, he declared. The timeline of triumphs and challenges of the film gives the audience a sense of reality for any pursuing artist. The beginning of the film shows Skaggs transi- tion of moving from Hawaii to Kentucky to take care of his sick mother. Every day Skaggs is enraged by modern media and his passion lives on. The work that goes into constructing his next hoax is built around having other daily challenges in life and how important it is for him to finish what he started. The type of audience of Marinis film is quite the op- posite from Skaggs original audience in the 60s and 70s. Skaggs referred to the crowd as a new audience because many of his hoaxes involve references the younger generations have not lived through to fully understand. Regardless, one of Mari- nis goals of this documenta- ry was to inspire younger generations and young art- ists. The journey of the process of the hoax is what gave the documentary such charac- ter. The idea that it could fail and the whole project could fall through is just what any artist should expect. Sometimes a failure is the better story, Skaggs reas- suringly added. The launch for Art of the Prank is the most crucial step for the crew and their main focus is making sure its a successful one. Netflix has already expressed inter- est in streaming the film, but for now, the film follows an academia route, showing to other young students and pursing artists. For more information about Joey Skaggs, you can visit www.joeyskaggs.com. For more about filmmaker Andrea Marinis, visit www. andreamarini.net. For more information about the South- ern Circuit, go to http:// www.southarts.org/touring- arts/southern-circuit/. WHO HAS TURNED THE MEDIA HOAX INTO AN ART FORM ART OF THE ATS x Lt ARTOFTHEPRANK-THEMOVIE.COM ()PROKIMA PER reA contact: info@artoftheprank-themovie.com Courtesy of www.artoftheprank-themovie.com

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Description

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.
Details
- Creator
  - Western Carolina University
- Format
  - Publications (documents)
  - Text
- Type
  - Text
- Date
  - Date original: 2016-09-29
- Extent
  - Dimension: 22.5" x 11.25"
  - Pages: 12
- Subject - Topic
- Location
  - Jackson County (N.C.)
  - Cullowhee (N.C.)
- Source institution
  - Western Carolina University
- Source Collection
  - WCU Students Newspapers Collection
- Identifier
  - HL_WesternCarolinian_2016-09-29_Vol84_No01
- Repository
  - Western Carolina University Hunter Library

Western Carolinian Volume 84 Number 01

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Western Carolina University Publications