Kalle Akers
Staff Writer
The face of photography changed dramatically in the past couple of decades as the digital camera is found more frequently in the hands of “used to be” classical photographers. From now until Dec. 10 the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine is featuring Photos and Phantasy, an exhibit both aesthetically eccentric and subtly beautiful.
Though Generation Y is defined by its love of technology, some have yet to come full circle with it becoming commonplace in the art world.
The display includes both un-tampered and digitally manipulated combinations of painting, sculpture and photography.
John Baldessari, Robert Rauschenberg, Ennelies Strba and Melanie Pullen are among the multiple high profile artists featured.
Rauschenberg is an accomplished experimental photographer whose work is recognized by its exaggerated shadows and tones, simple shapes and striking arrangements. He is fascinated by fabrics and utilizes them in many of his works.
Swiss photographer Strba’s work reveals her concern with notions of time and history and with the interconnectedness of private and public realms.
Baldessari who crafted “Horizontal Men,” analogizes his work with the way he sees words.
“As soon as I see a word, I spell it backward in my mind. I break it up and put the parts all back together to make a new word.”
Fashion connoisseur, student, and museum employee Julia Kwamya said she loves the Photos and Phantasy exhibit.
“My favorite is Melanie Pullan,” Kwamya said. “Her stuff is beautiful and morbid at the same time.”
Pullan’s piece entitled “Dorothy,” depicts a barrel in an overly saturated and bright green field. Two legs protrude from the barrel, sporting shockingly red Dorothy look-alike heels. Pullan’s work is based on recreations of crime scenes and she satirically includes distracting high-fashion themes running throughout.
“It’s kind of creepy,” Kwamya said. “But I like it.”
Pullen explained that much of her work is intended to make people examine the way people react to the news and all of the violence that television depicts. She said that people see and hear horrifying things while the television is on, and the next second there is a commercial distracting you, trying to benefit off of it and sell a product.
“Society is desensitized,” says Pullen. “The music, the swipes, the editing- it’s like a cherry on top,” says Pullen.
Museum Director Michael Zakian explained that most of the explanatory labels that describe each work of art are written by graduate students at Universities offering degrees in art history, such as UCLA and USD.
He says the trend in the last decade has been to expand the variety of voices commenting on each piece. He pointed out that the artists could intend a different meaning to be derived from their work than what is expressed in the labels.
Some works segue a glimpse into the fantastical imaginations of artists who twist, turn and cut up images until they no longer make sense in a way that is traditionally understood. Others trick the eye into believing that ordinary objects and scenery are more beautiful than the average person ever took the time to recognize.
There is almost a sense of deceit and let down upon realization that the image was tampered into its breathtaking state. It is almost like the discovery that the women most other women believe they want to look like in fashion magazines are actually airbrushed and trimmed down to the fallacy of ultimate perfection. It’s a lie that steals the integrity of what is naturally beautiful.
Zakian said that today’s art is often experimental.
“I don’t bother asking the ‘is it art?’ question,” Zakian said. “Is the time you put into it worth what it gives you back? With all art, the quality of the work will always be judged by how it affects people.”
Part of the college experience is being affected- figuring out what you recognize as truth, what makes you question things, and what makes you feel nothing at all. The Photos and Phantasy exhibit a free opportunity to do just that.
12-02-2006