Sometimes viewing art is negatively impacted by the opinions of others, intentional or subconscious.
Last week we were referred to specific galleries to write reports “because there’s good stuff there.” I disagree with “good stuff” being someone’s judgment before we’ve seen the work for ourselves, so I’m writing about the stuff we were pointed away from. “We Draw Good” is work by the Visual Communications graduating seniors, and it’s showing in the Kachina Gallery which is also a student lounge. The theme is the sketch and the process by which ideas come about.
I viewed this exhibit because, by not including it in the “good stuff” it deserved attention without bias.
It’s a little difficult to browse this exhibit during the day when the lounge is filled with people. Some of the tables are pretty close to the walls and the works, and you have to watch out not to trip of people’s laptop cords and backpacks. I came to see it when it was almost empty.
Viewing these pieces seems a lot like being inside someone’s head. You can see the ideas as they emerge and develop. You can see raw inspiration and searching through doodles. You see what’s usually unseen; the sometimes-ugly beginning.
The presentations were different depending on the work, and every piece was in a space in the gallery that was appropriate for it. From scattered paper to cards neatly arranged on a piece of mat board, presentation matched the work entirely.
There were many types of media in this exhibit and also various levels of development of ideas and images. Some images were just drawings or sketches. Others seemed more finished and intended for exhibit, such as the tiny papercraft scenes by Margarita.
Some of the pieces could have been made more interesting with the addition of a story or small narrative to explain the existence of the work. One such piece was called “Bigaro Journal Project,” and it seemed to be a collaboration between a few artists. It was made of a large sketchbook with sketches on the pages. The images didn’t seem to relate to each other or be particularly well-developed.
The papercraft scenes I mentioned before seemed to have their own stories without an explicit narrative. Like actors on a stage in a scene, the (very small) paper characters showed emotions through four constructed panels. In wooden frames, paper was suspended in layers to create depth and detailed scenery for the characters. Two of the four frames had titles written on them, in a few words describing the scene and sometimes naming the character.
One piece I enjoyed in particular was entitled “My Lively Mind.” Made of paper (which looked like scanned sketchbook pages which were then printed and glued together), the piece begins with one small single sheet glued to a piece of glass in a frame hanging from the wall. It’s then a chain of papers that are the same size, some attached on the short side, and others on the long side, creating a waterfall of paper that usually goes down and sometimes sideways. I think that’s a really neat way to add a 3-D element to a piece, and I’m considering taking that as an inspiration and trying a similar idea on my next project.
