By snoadmin
Uncomfortable feelings at both ends describe the sensation at this week’s student art galleries displaying sculptures, videos and one intriguing performance art piece.
A collaborative group exhibition is featured in the Gatov Gallery. The dimensions of the gallery space vary by the artist. Some of the artists chose to display sculptures such as a sequence of artificial human torsos hanging down from the ceiling or smaller pieces such as a printed tumbleweed and tiny cards near the entrance.
All senses are being triggered at the gallery including an interesting video presentation that adheres to emotional distress. The video loops the face of artist Gabrielle Roth with, what look like, razor blades fixed underneath her eyes. Each time she blinks, both the artist and the audience feels the pain.
“It’s so painful but I can’t stop looking at it,” said Gloria Casillas, fourth year liberal arts major.
The audible discomfort of Roth’s pain irks the viewer each time her blinking provokes pain.
Not only is the gallery visually attractive, a corner of the gallery seemed to have taken a liking to patrons’ noses. A mock-kitchen by artist Colin Lindsg exhibits a long, wooden table in front of the kitchen upon which sat a warm Crockpot with some sort of soup. The delicious aroma caused patrons to question whether or not they could serve themselves, seeing as there were paper bowls and plastic spoon mixed with real silverware on the adjacent shelf.
Also unique in this gallery is the cluster of anonymous artist statements posted on the wall. Each evokes the artist’s interpretation of art.
One such artist statement reads, “We must choose what we believe and how we believe it. Most of us speak of what we do not understand and what we understand we are unable to communicate.”
The Werby Gallery displays a stimulating performance art piece that encourages viewers to experience it for themselves in the gallery is entitled “Two Years Since Last Tuesday” by artist Patrick Ballard. Aside from the flashing television set uttering seemingly random words every half-second and an out of place wig on a faceless mannequin head, sits a willing person with his head inside of a hovering black box. The unique performance entitled “Head Theatre.”
Ballard describes the overall installation as a theater set in which someone would stick their head in aided by objects and his own manipulation from the outside of the box.
“I did not daydream. I was completely concentrated on the moment,” said Todd Gray, one who is familiar with Ballard’s art work and was willing to stick his head in the box. “It was almost like a puppet show; a disjointed, schizophrenic, cut-up puppet show. No blood but disembodied parts.”
Ballard also acknowledges viewers watching those experiencing the “Head Theatre” as the association with a sense of disembodiment.
“I understand it’s kind of daunting to put your head in a box and you don’t know what’s in there,” Ballard said, “But I don’t want to be intimidating in the sense that I’m concealing what’s going on so I thought it was really important to perform on the outside as thought it was backstage.”
In a display of a minimalist approach, geometric shapes consume the Dutzi Gallery holding of sculptures and illustrations by Roth in an individual BFA exhibition entitled “Shhhhhhhhh.”
On one wall are small ornament-like pyramid shapes hanging from strings over small blocks. On the other wall is a collection of slightly bigger pyramids plastered to the wall.
On the opposite walls hang graph paper with additional 2-D geometric illustrations drawn with sharpies, ballpoint pen and graphite. The gallery is definitely more quiet and calm than Roth’s video presentation.
The weekly student art galleries run Monday through Thursday from noon to 5 p.m.
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