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Consumption, waste addressed by artists |
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Thursday, 06 March 2008 |
 Students examine the artwork featured in the Looking Glass Gallery by senior art management and studio art major Jennifer L. Livingston titled “Contemporary American Lifestyles-Consumption and Waste.” Photo by Alisha Park
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by JULIA HARR
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
The Plemmons Student Union now has a living room fully equipped with a couch, television, and even a half-eaten box of Cheez-Its.
But if looked at closely, students might notice windows around the room peering out to a landfill scene; it’s not difficult to see there is meaning in this seemingly ordinary room.
The
Looking Glass Gallery has been transformed into “Contemporary American
Lifestyles-Consumption and Waste” - an installation art piece by senior
art management and studio art major Jennifer L. Livingston.
“These are pieces that involve the participant in the space in terms of using or touching the actual
material,” associate director of student programs Philip Arnold said. “It’s the use of non-artistic items to
create an artistic environment. They are very unique and require a great amount of vision from the
artist.”
Livingston said she started developing the concept a year ago and began physical work on the project
around a month and a half ago.
“The idea stemmed from some other projects I was working on,” she said. “It shows the lifestyle we
live as consumers contributes to excessive amounts of waste.”
“The origins of consumerism are in the 1950s. This room addresses those ideas in a more relative and
contemporary setting,” Livingston said.
Arnold says he believes he was able to convey the message the artist intended.
“Ultimately it’s not so important what Jennifer intends - it’s what the participant experiences,” Arnold
said. “We often think art occurs in the studio; in the event of an installation, it occurs when it’s viewed.”
Zachary N. Cassaro, a senior music education major, attended the opening event for the installation
project.
“I was very amazed at how much of an actual living room it felt like,” he said. “It was so cozy inside
and then you look out the windows and there is an overwhelming amount of trash.”
He said it was a nice contrast to how clean the room was compared to the outside world.
“We are such a throw-away society,” Cassaro said. “Overall it was an experimental approach was
different but more engaging.”
The pictures of the landfill are stock photos from a landfill in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The other items
in the room either belong to Livingston or were borrowed.
“It felt like I was moving into the gallery,” she said.
Livingston works as a gallery assistant for both the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts and the
Catherine J. Smith Gallery.
Livingston competed with five or six other students for the chance to occupy one of the gallery’s four
sessions this semester, Arnold said.
“A really interesting element is the comment book in the gallery,” Arnold said. “It allows student to
share their response and the artist gets the benefit of feedback.”
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