2/3 in the Summer Salon by Elizabeth Machmeier

It’s hard to believe that August is almost here, and that I will be headed back to DePauw to start my senior year in less than eighteen days. This summer has gone by quicker than summers past, as a result of the exciting events that have established a timeline for me from beginning to end. But it isn’t time to reminisce yet—another exciting music event in the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery’s Summer Salon series has yet to take place (in addition to a First Thursday, two more Saturdays, and the task of planning a fall gallery opening: plenty of fun ahead in August!) But before this Saturday’s concert leaves a mark on my summer timeline, I wanted to highlight some moments from the gallery’s two Summer Salon events. The events of 2012’s Summer Salon: The film, “Grandma Pushed the Button,” by Waschering Maschine, Cello/Veena concert by Michelle Kinney and Nirmala Rajasekar, and music performance by Chris Koza present three wonderfully unique approaches to music/performance.

At the screening of “Grandma Pushed the Button,” I had no idea what to expect. Prior to the show, I met one of the members of Waschering Maschine, Reid, and he summarized the film for me to some degree. He said the film was based around the invention of the washing machine, and is set to an original score by his group “Waschering Maschine”. The music flowed beautifully with all the tempo and mood changes throughout the film, reassigning meaning to a variety of film clips and images, while emphasizing the instrumentals of the group. If it weren’t for the variety of mediums that Anita brings to the gallery, I may not have seen this intricate and collaborative artistic compilation. The Q & A at the end of the film clarified the process that went into “Grandma Pushed the Button,” and revealed the improvisational talents of Waschering Machine’s three members.

As Anita mentioned on the gallery’s Facebook wall, the concert put on by Nirmala and Michelle was truly entrancing. I had never heard a veena played before, and was pleasantly surprised by how perfectly the cello and veena paired together, accompanied by an Indian drum. I even ended the night by purchasing a CD by Nirmala and Michelle. The music was simply beautiful, and fit well with my love of stringed instrumental music. The difference between a performance of a new age film like “Grandma Pushed the Button” and a concert of traditional instruments seems drastic, but they each represent the gallery perfectly: the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery has more traditional works of art, such as Patrick Kemal Pryor’s or Betsy Ruth Byer’s work, but the gallery also holds the golems by Karl Unnasch, and the modern lamps by Atom Pechman. It is the unique personality of the gallery that makes it such a delight to visit, work at, and enjoy the events that occur throughout the year. I can’t wait until I can add a bit about Chris Koza’s August 4th performance—it’s sure to be another excellent addition to the Summer Salon.