Kyle Guthrie
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The Gallery of Contemporary Art is hosting the annual Visual and Performing Arts Senior Show exhibit “Et Al.,” which opened on April 17.
The on-campus gallery features a collection of artwork ranging from sustainability to personal existentialist experiences.
This annual event aims to teach in-depth lessons about curation and arrangement. The theme varies from artist to artist depending on what they’re trying to convey.
Caitlin Goebel, sophomore and GOCA gallery and installation assistant, explained the goal of the exhibit and what was expected of the students.
“The emphasis behind it is for the students to kind of take control and learn everything that goes into exhibiting their work,” Goebel said.
“I think it’s a really strong show, and that there are a lot of students who have really become artists. They are learning to express themselves really well,” she said.
One exhibit by VAPA student Stormie Vialpando revolves around the idea of video game addictions and features game characters such as Bowser, Mario and Wario in expressionistic pieces of art.
“I went on this tangent of how I could prevent [my nephew] from getting lost in these virtual game worlds because he really started to love them,” she said. “I’ve really started working on the sociological aspects of it, how video games become almost like a religion to them.”
Matthew Lemon’s project “Disposable Exposure” focuses on the personal lives of eleven students as seen through disposable cameras.
“I basically gave out eleven disposable cameras to people and said ‘take pictures of your life.’ Some I gave limitations to, like one is for dogs, one is for cats, one is for a felon [and] one is for a cop,” he said.
“I told them to ‘have at it and do your own photography’ and then send them back to me, and luckily I got 100 percent participation and 100 percent of the cameras back.”
The pictures are placed in a collage showing the facets of the photographers’ lives.
Margie Rick employed recycled materials for her artwork as part of her goal to raise awareness for recycling.
“I believe that it’s important as an artist to recycle more materials and use found objects in assemblage rather than using new materials to make art,” she said.
The exhibit is at GOCA 1420 in Centennial Hall, and will be open through May 16. The exhibit is open Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m.