Art is alive and interactive at UNM and now, anyone walking through the SUB can experience it first-hand.
An exhibit assembled by emerging artists from an advanced sculpture class opened Friday. Nine sculptures are positioned in various locations throughout the SUB and will be on display until Nov. 17.
Each sculpture is unique in style and focus.ˇ
"We usually do some sort of pseudo-show every semester," senior art student Justin Powell said. "This time we're branching out and stepping into the real world with our pieces."
At Friday's reception, the culmination of weeks of preparation was celebrated with food and discussion. Viewers had a chance to examine pieces and talk to the artists.
Senior art student Margaret Carlson's creation requires viewer participation.ˇCarlson constructed a makeshift wall that stands about 10 feet. Holes were cut out of it and pieces of fabric cover them.
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At the reception volunteers stood behind the wall and manipulated the fabric with their hands and faces. Carlson's only request was that the volunteers not interact with the audience.
"They're not supposed to be humans," she said. "They become machines in a sense. Yet they still have human qualities, and I can't control what they are going to do. The point of the piece is that individual people work on their own terms."
Niles Mahlman, a senior art student and glassblower who works at Albuquerque Glass Arts Studio, exhibited a piece of torch-worked Pyrex filled with neon.
"There's a possibility of other life forms out there and this is a representation of what else might be living in another time frame and dimension," he said. "It speaks about technology, the evolution of materials and the evolution of species. It's kind of bizarre."
Mahlman's piece is dangerous to anyone who might tamper with it because of its high voltage. Vandalism is a concern for the art students. Still, they are happy to have the chance to show their work in a nontraditional setting.
"It's important for art students to step into the real-world realm," Powell said. "It allows more interaction between the general public and the department."
Mahlman said that artists taking their pieces out of the gallery allowed for a broader range of viewers.
"It was a chance to get exposure from other people that don't normally think inside the art world," he said. "But we're also open to more criticism. There's a danger in being exposed to more of a public element."
Genevieve Chevalier, a graduate student in sculpture who is on exchange from Montreal, said it was amusing to watch students walk through the SUB and interact with the exhibits on Friday.
"It is really nice to see people who wouldn't normally come to a gallery," she said.
Her sculpture consists of two sound boxes. Tango music comes from one box and lovebirds sing from the other. She said she had the concept of a conversation between the two boxes in mind when she created the piece.
Students said the members of the SUB administration helped make the show happen.
"He's been so cool," Powell said, referring to Tim Backes, associate director of Business Operations for the SUB. "He pushed for the event to happen. I think he wants art in that building."
So far it's up in the air whether there will be other exhibits in the SUB, but the art students are just happy the hard work is over and they can sit back and watch viewers' reactions.
"I'm exhausted," Carlson said at Friday's reception. "I feel like I've given birth today."
