Six Cal State Long Beach artists exhibited several pieces on urban individualism at the University Art Museum on Thursday evening in hopes of exposing their personal depiction of life among the inner walls of the city.
A diverse group of students and community members gathered to share in the work of such emerging and established artists as Joel Tauber, Pato Herbert, David Burns, Matias Viegener, Austin Young and Sandra de la Loza.
CSULB grad students Marielos Zeka and Joan Mace chose the theme of the event and the specific works that would be displayed by individual artists.
“The first semester grad students all proposed an idea,” Zeka said about how particular themes were chosen for the displays. “Eventually we all decided together and, as a group, we built it up so we could each contribute.”
The theme was urbanization and life in the city through the eyes of the individual artist.
With only the constrictions of four white walls, each artist transformed their space into an explosive emulation of inner city life — or at least, how they chose to interpret it.
At the entrance, Herbert placed a concrete canvas of gold and black writing featuring such phrases as, “I am resilient when I keep myself busy and don’t succumb to my thoughts,” and, “I am concerned my addiction will hurt my family.”
These phrases, along with dozens more, were also spread across the lawn in front of the UAM in forms of small black and gold flags.
According to Mace, she and her colleagues walked all over campus and stopped in on a variety of classes to ask students to fill out anything they wanted on the flags, as long as it began with the phrases, “I am resilient to…” or “I am concerned that…”
Mace said the activity was meant to give students a voice.
“We want to be interactive and collaborative with the public,” she said. “The most important part of the exhibit is giving the viewer a sense of empowerment. Instead of being static, we wanted to be dynamic.”
In addition, Tauber created a movie display entitled Tree Baby, which chronicled his project to save a Sycamore tree outside of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
De la Loza’s sketch of a map of Los Angeles considered certain power structures as well as significant history within the city itself.
Burns, Viegener and Young’s demonstration, “Fallen Fruit,” targeted certain areas as well as the area surrounding the CSULB dorms that was once Native American territory.
For the three hours that each work was on display, many students seemed to retain a positive message.
“It’s really interesting,” freshman business major Even Lu said. “There’s a lot of modern art and some really good stuff. I would totally come back if I had the opportunity.”
Zeka said she hoped the audience would work directly with the artist.
She said, “We want the public to be allowed to become involved with the intricate process of the artist and his practice.”
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