Monday, Jan. 19, 1998
Performing art students give show
By ANDREA ROBINSONCollegian Arts Writer
The Statue of Liberty is outlined on a wall wearing a bra. A picture
of a bull standing in a field is posted. Above a desk is an eye
test that would normally be in a doctor's office. Instead of the
letters being random, they spell the phrase, "Hegemony of
the Eye," over and over again.
These things cannot be found in an art museum, but in the office
of Charles Garoian, associate professor of art education.
Garoian is the coordinator of "Back Talk: An Evening of Performance
Art," which takes place from 7 to 10 p.m. tomorrow at the
Paul Robeson Cultural Center. The show is free and open to the
public, and will include eight to 10 individual performances by
students of Garoian's Art 497C class. This is the sixth year that
the performance art exhibit will take place.
"By writing and producing their own performance, the students will act out their own cultural history, which has been created by their life experiences, communities they belong to and their families," Garoian said.
Daniel Bartasavich (senior-sculpture) washes the feet of his instructor, Charles Garoian, as part of his final performance piece in Art 497C last semester. Eight to 10 members of Garoian's class will exhibit their projects in a free show tomorrow. (Courtesy of Charles Garoian - click for full size image)
Tomorrow's performance will also involve those in attendance,
with audience members bringing in parts of their own histories
while interpreting what each piece means, Garoian said.
On stage, performers will be examining several social topics through
their art.
Daniel Bartasavich (senior-sculpture) is doing a piece about the
power struggle in society.
"It will question the roles we have amongst each other,"
Bartasavich said.
Gina Franzetta (sophomore-English and women's studies) is also
taking on problems in society.
"My performance will deal with date rape and will use audience
participation," Franzetta said.
Jeff D'Angelo (sophomore-computer science), a student in Garoian's
class, does not believe performance art can be classified.
"Performance art is a chance to define new media for the
art world altogether," D'Angelo said. "This promotes
creativity and fails to allow art to be classified."
D'Angelo, like some other students from Garoian's class, will
not be performing tomorrow. However, the class does have ongoing
exhibits at the Patterson Building and Zoller Gallery. Individual
students have also created outdoor sculptures which reside behind
the Visual Arts Building.
"The performance (tomorrow) is like visual poetry," Garoian said. "We want the audience to read between the lines."
