I felt as though my stake in this event was immensely
personal. At most of the events I attended, I was too busy mentally ordering
students to behave themselves to actually pay attention to the artists.
And they did behave themselves, for the most part.
Students came out of the woodwork to run a do-it-yourself art table in
the library lobby, show up at artists' receptions, and ask perceptive
questions at lectures.
After Karen Finley's controversial performance
I was excited to hear other students thoughtfully debating her work. I
was overjoyed to see students enthusiastic about Portland filmmaker Vanessa
Renwick, puppet theater Tears of Joy, installation artists Pete McCracken
and Jeremy Bitterman, and Portland band Norfolk & Western. And there
was student art everywhere-- every corner was jammed with an interactive
'zine, a shadowscape sculpture, or a collaborative mural.
The culmination of RAW was the masquerade ball
on Saturday, February 17. Three DJs, all Reed students, took turns spinning
records after student performers sang, danced, and improvised. Costumed
students danced as hundreds of ping-pong balls fell from the student union
ceiling.
By that time, I was too tired to be giddy. I did
feel something of a warm glow, though, watching the festivities from my
vantage point in the student union balcony. It's a safe bet that a year
from now not many Reed students will remember all the details of the 2001
RAW. Still, I felt for the first time that I'd helped create something
with and for the people I go to school with.
It was nice.
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Jamie Ford '02 used streamers and
the vent in front of Eliot Hall to make his Kinetic Motion Machine.
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Bridget Dubois '04 and Simon
Hiarides '04 nest in Spiderweb, an installation by Anna Freundlich
'03
Miriam Posner '01 is a senior writing
her history thesis on the relationship of film celebrity and consumer
culture in the 1920s and '30s. She is an intern in Reed's news and publications
office.
Orin Bassoff '04 describes himself
as an "exploring student and photographer." He is from northern California.
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