Do It. (A Peculiar Art Show)

Close your eyes. When I say Art Show, what do you see? I know I picture white walls everywhere, a room so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Lining the walls are pictures and/or paintings with curious spectators trying to uncover the true meaning behind the image presented in front of them.

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight I went to the Do It art show that took place at Ithaca College in the Handwerker Gallery. I can honestly say this show was like no other. There was artwork everywhere, on the floor, in the corners and on the walls. And every piece of artwork was done by someone here on Ithaca campus, not an artist or photographer whom had talent that was hard to reach. Even walking in, this show was inviting and warm, the pieces were asking to be looked at by everyone. I even remember there being snacks like cupcakes and fruit and recall a worker telling a little boy to try dipping his broccoli in chocolate. Not the kind of art gallery you pictured when you first closed your eyes, huh?

 

My first favorite piece of art that appeared in the show was instructed by Kathryn Andrews. The instructions said that you have to create a piece of art that resembles the real world and you were supposed to try to replicate it as close as possible. With having taken an AP Art History class in high school, I knew immediately they were trying to copy Pollock. I think this was most interesting to me because having studied Pollock, I think it would have been very cool to have gone through the exact process he did when creating his masterpieces. Although, they did deviate a little from the painting by adding pink when Pollock usually used dark tones and they also used artist paints where Pollock used House paint for his projects.

 

My second favorite piece was one where the entire process of it, from beginning to end, was a work of art.  The instructions on it were “Get 180 pounds of a local wrapped candy and drop it in the corner”. The people who had participated in this one had to take the candy and wrap it up themselves and then place it in the corner one by one. Then, as the show went on, people were allowed to take from that pile and eat it. So from the initial wrapping of the paper to the gradual decline in the numbers of candy lying on the ground, it was all a piece of art that anyone could take part in. I think I liked this piece the most because its not a type of artwork you would usually see in an art show. I think it was welcoming even though it was different and I think that it made a statement that things don’t have to be hung up on a wall and expensive to be called art. It was just a different piece that you would never see in an art show and that is why I liked it so much.

 

Needless to say, I was very pleased when walking out of this art show. It had a welcoming environment that offset the general assumption of what an art show is like. The fact that it was a show that was completely made by students and others on campus was the most impressive part. It proves you don’t have to be an amazing artist to make art.

 

 

For more on the Handwerker Gallery you can visit:

 http://www.ithaca.edu/handwerker/