`EGG' cracks into the arts on WTTW

NEW YORK They need no egging on. Any question about "EGG" sendsJeff Folmsbee and Mark Mannucci into a zesty exchange describingtheir cool new weekly program.

For instance: What are some things that "EGG the Arts Show" isn'tmeant to be?

"It's not the last word on art," executive producer Folmsbeereplies. "It doesn't attempt to be definitive."

"We are not authoritative-we are inquisitive," producer Mannuccideclares as he joins Folmsbee for a break at Thirteen/WNETheadquarters. "We want to ask questions, and we want to entertainwhile we're asking 'em."

"It's not mediated," Folmsbee explains. "We work real hard tocreate a structure where the artists can speak for themselves, so theaudience can make up their own minds whether the work has value."

"It isn't a show for people immersed in the art world," Mannuccisays. "It's a show for the rest of us, who want to learn more aboutthe arts and see things we've never seen before, in a playful way."

"It's not snooty, you know," muses Folmsbee. "So many art showsseem snooty to me."

A few things "EGG" is:

A welcome new fixture on PBS. Beginning a new season of 26 half-hours this week after its limited run a year ago, it airs in Chicagoat 11:30 p.m. Sunday on WTTW-Channel 11.

Topical. Calling itself an arts news digest, "EGG" concentrates onartists whose work is accessible to the public (at the end of eachprogram, and on the extensive "EGG Online" Web site, viewers can findtips on where).

Far-flung. "We want to make the point that art isn't just thestuff that's hanging on the museum wall," Folmsbee says. "Art is allaround you. It's wider than you imagined. Part of life."

Droll and irreverent when it counts. You've had a whiff if you'vecaught the commercials touting the show's return: a man walkingaround in a suit of hen's eggs. This is the shared sensibility ofFolmsbee and Mannucci, two award-winning arts-and-culture producers.

The say they chose "EGG" as a title because the egg is a perfectwork of art from nature and a symbol of beginnings and endlesspossibilities. It's also a source of endless puns.

Finally, "EGG" is shrewdly concocted. Each edition gathersexamples of people making art, all under a whimsically unifying theme-such as "Flight," "Body Language," or, when the show probes themysteries of conceptual art, "What's the Big Idea?"

"The Desert," airing May 20, covers the annual Burning Man ritethat draws 30,000 to Nevada's Black Rock Desert, the abandoned Armybase in Texas that was transformed into an arts retreat called theChinati Foundation, and the desert crossroads of Las Vegas, wherefine art has emerged alongside keno and 99-cent breakfasts.

A particularly enchanting episode is "Hair," which airs April 29.It visits Wenda Gu, a "hair artist" who has intermingled samples from500,000 donors worldwide for creations that celebrate our common butdiverse humanity.

It salutes the virtuosity of David Orlin, violin bow maker. "Youcan be bald, but you cannot play the violin without hair," says LevPolyakin, assistant concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra and acustomer of Orlin's.

And it travels to Apple Valley, Minn., for a behind-the-sceneslook at a community theater production of (what else?) "Hair."

This week "EGG" hatches "How to Be Happy."

Discover serenity in the tiny trees of 82-year-old bonsai masterHarry Hirao. Attend a sing-along screening of "The Sound of Music."Lend an ear to yodelmania as practiced by rancher Wylie Gustafson oftiny Dusty, Wash. And get happy courtesy of visual artist Jeff Koons-he of the 42-foot-high flowering "Puppy" sculpture.

It's just part of the bracing invitation "EGG" makes to itsaudience: Take a new look at the arts! Don't be chicken!