Saturday, June 4, 2016

Event -- Todd Madigan Art Gallery

The Todd Madigan Art Gallery at the California State University, Bakersfield displays artwork by CSUB students. Several of their works use technology as part of their medium and presentation.

 
The first thing that you see when you are entering the museum are strange objects, such as this one, which have been created from bits of garbage. They are part of a series called Trash Preserves by Licet Romero; this one is called Personal Preference. My interpretation of what this artist is saying is that, even as humanity technologically advances, we generate a large amount of waste that is slowly polluting the earth. One way to counteract this is to recycle this waste, for example by turning it into art.


What appear to be iPads are, in fact, constructs of wood, glass, and paper made by Enjoli DeWester. Entitled Conflicted, they depict a traditional form of artwork, nude portraiture, but are designed to look like images on a tablet. The traditionalism of the art contrasts with the overall modern appearance.




This miniature "room" in the center of the gallery is called For the love of music, in the name of art, by R. Mayte Mendez. It contains a large number of music-related items from around the 70s, but one wall is notably bare and features only an iPod. For better or for worse, the posters, record players, stereos, and other musical memorabilia have been replaced by one small device. A lot of personality and culture is lost in the process.

For these exhibits, Sensuals and Civil Rights respectively, Saige White created two audio-visual experiences. Visually, Sensuals features a variety of vivid clips; aurally, a woman's voice recites poetry in the foreground while another woman sings in the background. In Civil Rights, White performs a rap about the titular subject, while the video of her movements is edited to fit the beat. In both cases, White makes full use of her technological medium.

Selfie of me with two of the employees.

Sources

DeWester, Enjoli. Conflicted. 2016. Wood, glass, ink, and graphite on paper. Todd Madigan Art Gallery, Bakersfield, California. 

Mendez, R. Mayte. For the Love of Music, in the Name of Art. 2016. Found objects. Todd Madigan Art Gallery, Bakersfield, California.

Romero, Licet. Trash Preserves: Personal Preference. 2016. Found objects. Todd Madigan Art Gallery, Bakersfield, California.

White, Saige. Civil Rights. 2016. Video/Sound. Todd Madigan Art Gallery, Bakersfield, California.

White, Saige. Sensuals. 2016. Video/Sound. Todd Madigan Art Gallery, Bakersfield, California. 

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