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12 The Pioneer Log MARCH 16, 2012arts

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA SARVET

BY CATERINA ZISCHKE-RINCON

Staff Writer

Apocalips, Lewis & Clarks slampoetry club, hosted its rst OpenMic o the semester on March 6,allowing novice and experiencedpoets alike to showcase their talents

on the Platteau stage.Unlike a usual slam, uesdays

perormers were not scored but were encouraged to simply sharetheir words with the greater LCcommunity, eliminating the pres-sure to receive high marks. Tenight was a ravishing display o witand emotion, combining heart-elt rhetoric with powerul peror-

mances that mesmerized the audi-ence.

Every poet had something di-erent to ofer, with topics rangingrom the personication o a bar-code, struggling to nd its identi-ty as it hovers on the back o a catcalendar, to a classic sentimentalballad o afection directed towardone poets lover.

Chris Leja (12), one o the co-presidents o Apocalips, has been

involved in slam poetry since he was 16. My avorite part aboutslam is the crowd response, saidLeja. I also really love seeing allthe wonderul poets around, aswell as the competitive aspect o itall.

Te Open Mic also eaturedKen Arkind, a National PoetrySlam champion rom Denver, Col.Arkind has toured internationally,appearing on CBS, NBC, the doc-umentary SPI! and Borders.comsOpen Door Poetry series with U.S.Poet Laureate Billy Collins.

Ive always been into writ-ing, said Arkind. Slam poetry isunique, though, because it is an in-stant art orm.

Arkind is also the Project Co-ordinator or the Denver MinorDisturbance Youth Poetry Slam, which works with Denver youth

poets ages 13 to 19 in the DenverMetro area.

Arkind encourages all aspiringwriters to practice as much as pos-sible to hone their skills. I youwant to be a poet, orce yoursel towrite, said Arkind. Read all thetime. Expose yoursel to that whichinspires you.

Every year, Apocalips chooses ahandul o its most talented teammembers to participate in a na-tional poetry competition knownas CUPSI, or the College UnionsPoetry Slam Invitational. Tisyears competition will take place

in Caliornia at the University oLa Verne, April 18-21.

PHOTO BY LARISSA BOARD

National Poetry Slam Champion Ken Arkind performs at Apocalips first Open Mic of the semester in the Platteau.

APOCALIPS WELCOMES KEN ARKIND

Dont miss...

FRENCH FUN GALORE!

Le Franais Dans Tous Ses tats

PROGRAM:

Play: ous lcole!

Dance:Zoomer Zoomer!

Dance: Vouleez-vous coucher

avec moiromMoulin Rouge

Play: V Show! Election prsi-dentielle dans le futur.

Song: Parlez-moi de lui

Arican Dance: Dcal Gwada

Wednesday March 21&

Tursday March 22

7:00 p.m.

Fir Acres Mainstage

Free admission!

CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE

Project Grow in North Port-land has 1.5 acres o armland anda large studio space. Teir goal is

to take severely handicapped adultsand turn them into proessionalshowing artists. Or, turn them intoarmers. We have our o their art-ists in the show.

All o these people have aunique story and a unique back-ground, said LeDonne. You will see them sharing their storythrough their art.

LeDonne and olles original-ly sent emails to studios aroundPortland but were met with no re-sponse. olles then decided to postinquiries or art on Craigslist. Ap-parently that is how a lot o artistsget shows, said LeDonne. Tatstarted an avalanche o people re-sponding to it.

Te show will not only serve asa way to represent the L.D. com-munity but also allows olles toshare a community that he hasbeen a part o or a long time. Inhigh school, I was pushed in the artdirection because that was the onlything I really excelled at. When Irst started at LC, I started takingart history classes and one ater an-other I ound that all these artistshave some lie background thatpushes them away rom society,said olles. It orces them to nd

another path or themselves and itsusually something creative.

LeDonne also eels emotionallyconnected to the project. I ell inlove with the SSS board when I gotto campus. I love talking to highschools, doing School Speaks, andsharing with them what its liketo go to college and have a learn-ing disability, said LeDonne. Itsgreat to let them know that they dohave options.

Creativity and Disabilities willrun uesday, March 20 and Wednes-day, March 21 from 10 a.m. to 7p.m. each day. Te show opening will

be on uesday from 4 to 7 p.m. andrefreshments will be served.

Creativityand

Disabilities

BY ZIBBY PILLOTE

Editor-In-Chief

Tis years Gender Studies Sym-

posium, whose theme is Objec-tion: Gender, Sex, Law and SocialChange ends with a bang tonightwith musical celebration MagicalGadgets. Te show eatures threebands, Glitter Fruit, Lynx and en-der Forever.

Glitter Fruit is a duet romPortland best known or their pro-gay perormances. Te band per-ormed last year at Lewis & ClarksHomomentum. Max Volume andRiley La Roux strings and accordi-on to create twee-esque love songswith a queer twist. Teir lyrics mir-ror their light-hearted perormance

Tender Forever, Lynx and Glitter Fruit toperform in Gender Studies Symposium

Part performance-

art mashups,

part cabaret-style

camp, part original

music...a brand new

collaboration.

style, singing songs with lyrics like,Who am I that I should be invitedor your touch? Im writing the sto-ry o how hard we tried. Te banddescribes themselves as part per-ormance-art mashups, part cab-

aret-style camp, part original mu-sic a brand new collaboration.Lynx puts a slightly diferent

spin on their music. Using moreinstruments, including banjo and

drum machine, Lynx creates ex-perimental pop music that will getyour eet moving, like a more ag-gressive version o Te Blow. Lynxhas played at SXSW, Coachella andhas collaborated with the likes oMatisyahu, Bassnectar and BeatsAntique. Lynxs stop at LC is only

one o many on a West Coast tour.ender Forever is the stagename o Melanie Valera. Valera hasbeen very active in the Portlandarts scene since moving here rom

France, working with the imeBased Arts Festival among otherthings. ender Forever has beenValeras project since 2003, andshe has worked closely with artistslike Mirah and Te Blow upon hermove to the Northwest. She de-scribes hersel as the biggest, sot-

est sound youve ever heard, and alisten to Valeras music proves thisstatement true. With simple melo-dies and structure, ender Foreveris still hard-hitting. Something

about the dark lyrics and simpletones makes the perormance hardto orget.

All three o these artists chal-lenge social norms through theirperormances, echoing the sympo-siums theme o social change. Tisis an exciting opportunity to ex-

perience three notable artists whohave made a large impact on thewest coasts queer music scene.

onight, 8 p.m., the Chapel, free

Portlands French expatriate Tender Forever has worked with Mirah and The Blow.