Attendees munched on pink and green frosted cakes Monday night at the Zoller Gallery underneath a video screen showing a similar cake -- except this one was made out of dirt and baked by a nude woman.
Jackie Tufford (graduate-visual art) and Marie Rim (graduate-painting) held a reception for their thesis exhibition at the Zoller Gallery in the Visual Arts Building. The exhibit is on display through March 17.
The lively reception featured several multi-colored cakes served by students clad in black outfits and silver wire hoop skirts. Erik Larson (sophomore-theatre design and technology) said he enjoyed the chance to serve dessert while wearing metallic eyeshadow and heels.
"It was a real collaboration. Jackie gave me complete freedom with hair and makeup," he said. "She told me to live it up, hit on people if I wanted to."
In addition to the costumed cake-servers, three other students stood on pedestals as living art, costumed in full bodysuits and wire. The characters posed for pictures, interacting with each other as well as playing patty-cake with attendees.
The refreshments and costumed performers were present as part of Tufford's portion of the exhibit, which also included a video and video stills that incorporated the characters and dirt cake.
Rim's paintings incorporated a mixture of canvas, fabric and string in pastels, purples and reds. The largest painting, placed in the middle of the gallery, bore the message "My entire heart is but a constellation in your universe but for you I will shine my brightest," written in cracked paint.
Kelly Gallagher (senior-film and video) and Pete Schuster (senior-philosophy, film and video) said they were equally impressed by both Tufford's and Rim's portions of the exhibit.
"It's the first time I've seen anything with so much texture and mixed media," Schuster said.
The gallery was divided into two sections, with Rim's paintings surrounding the refreshment area and Tufford's video stills and costumed performers placed toward the back. At the very end of the gallery was a screening area for Tufford's video, titled ".Metanoia."
The 26-minute video opened with a nude woman making a cake from eggs, milk and soil, followed by sometimes violent narratives showing the costumed characters in various seasons.
As two of the characters played patty-cake, one suddenly began beating the other to the ground.
The screening area was full, with many viewers sitting on the ground or standing.
The video's conclusion was met with applause and exclamations of "wow."
"I'm glad [the video] actually worked," said Tufford, laughing. "I think it went really well. It's been fun."
