quasi public-semi private video documentation

May 3rd, 2012
Wurster ceramic courtyard
Art Department, UC Berkeley


Drawing from the skills and talents of four classes in the UC Berkeley Art Department, quasi public-semi private activates the Wurster Hall ceramics courtyard as a stage, a site for social and political engagement, an outdoor video projection space, and a gallery for installation. Beginning with a raw concrete courtyard, students from sculpture, media, and social practice-based courses will cultivate a video screening on May 3 from 7 - 10 pm and an ongoing, evolving exhibition of artworks, on view from April 30 -May 18, 2012. The interventions this semester will inaugurate an ongoing program of semi-public works curated and installed by the Department of Art Practice.

Participant classes:

Art 160: Media For Social Change
Art 130: Concept and Construction
Art 14: The Language of Sculpture
Art 8: Introduction to Visual Thinking

video documentation by Rich Nam

A Living Room

Our group is driven by the idea of sharing with others the numerous ways and places that people can grow plants and edibles Having plants indoors improve your health and happiness. They bring life into your homes and our installation emphasizes this by showing people how  to be creative with planting everyday objects. Anything really can be used as a container, you just have to have the will to make it work. Our Living Room stresses the notion of recycling objects, being creative with trash, and seeing the beauty in everyday objects.

Fund objects like jars, cans, bottles, shoes, briefcases, frames, books, and other junk can all be turned into a funky and fun planter. Our installation incorporates a media component that demonstrate how easy it is to plant things by showing people how we planted out found objects. We also made small instructional cards for people to take home that will have tips on where you can grow plants and some information about how to do so.

-Anastasia Sonkin, Anjali Rao, Gina Su, NJ, Yusuf Rafigzada

Beyond the Plate

There has been recent surge in the interest of food, where it comes from, how it’s produced, and about making conscious food choices, especially here in the Bay Area. Food choices are basically individual choices, ascribed to certain preferences and labels. Ultimately, the food choices we make are either for our own personal well-being or for the well-being of the environment or both. This idea of ‘voting with your fork’ assumes that change can happen through informed consumer choices and though this can be viewed as a powerful form of activism because we make choices three times a day, this film considers other forms of activism one can embody. Beyond the Plate explores creative solutions for reclaiming our food system. The film follows four groups of people who are engaged in alternative food practices– individuals who have aspired to go beyond their plates. This film uncovers numerous ways to restore harmony and balance in our relationship with food, land, and each other.

-Anastasia Sonkin

Awakening

It is only when we hit the bottom that we see what we really need. This is a story of a young woman who hates her life. She only lives to sleep and dream, dreaming about all the possibilities of who she can be- someone else but herself. Princess, knight, phantom thief, philanthropist, warrior, judo expert, teacher….. but who is she? Who can answer her, who can answer all the questions that life throws at us? This is a story written by the artist after hearing a true story of a girl who found God after her many attempts of suicide. This story connects the dots from her living an empty life cycle to waking up in hospital after her last attempt of suicide—- by setting her house on fire.

-Nancy Teresa

Genesis

Creativity is often mistaken to be natural or occur by chance. But imagination can be sought and discovered through an individual’s determination to be curios. Exploration and the acceptance of the unknown is often the most interesting gateway to interpreting the universe. This short explores the power of creative dreaming, through dance, paint, and music.

-Gina Su

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

An investigation of the complex relationship existing between the man-made world and the natural world, this piece explores the element of altered time and exposes the viewer to a unique sensory experience. The dichotomous relationship existing between urban and natural landscape is a unique visual experience of film, for the time-lapse imagery is unattainable for human eyes without the use of cameras. In this way, Andrew successfully deconstructs the modern city using the very “tools of its trade.”

Through his images, the complexity of the relationship between nature and the city is exposed. A clear meditation on the hyper-reality that modern man lives in, Andrew is nonetheless able to show the beauty that exists in both nature and the city. Continually captivating as subjects of exploration, nature is calm and quiet while the city is a circulating, humming machine. There are no conclusions in this film, just more questions and varying audience interpretations.

-Andrew RK

You See Berkeley

This collaborative piece portrays the unseen factory that is UC Berkeley. By juxtaposing and appropriating altered footage of students rushing around campus with assembly lines in technological factories, this piece addresses the nuanced life style of production at UC Berkeley.

-Andrew RK, Max Tarcher, and Rodrigo Kazuo

Sem Folego - “Breathless” 

This piece starring Daniel O’Reily and made by Max Tarcher is an adapted script from the French New Wave film “Breathless” directed by Jean Luc Goddard. Taking influences from Goddard’s unique camera work and existential dialogue this piece follows a young man on his journey to the city. Attempting to conform to society, he is swept along as though he were a fish out of water.

-Max Tarcher 

AMURICA HERE I CUM PART 2

This parody serves as a response to women’s place in media. Specifically, Anjali Rao has chosen to take on personas that she, as a first generation Indian American, would be inclined to identify with. Utilizing the all-American favorite snack “Cheetos”, she aims to poke fun at sexy mainstream images/advertisements/music videos, etc. Her research has been based off of Jean Kilbourne’s documentaries “Killing us softly,” which centers around gender representation in the media. Amurica Here I CUM Part 2 is a response to an earlier project in which she explored cross stereotypes from dual perspectives.

-Anjali Rao 

(Source: youtube.com)

Food Injustice

Growing up in West Oakland Anika didn’t witness a sustainable grocery store that stayed open more than 5 years. Many people in West Oakland live below the poverty line with no access to healthy grocery store. This documentary reveals some of the perspectives of people in West Oakland, 56 year old resident who has lived in West Oakland all of her witnessing mom and pop grocery stores decline to now, as well as a health professional at the West Oakland Health Center and a number of organizations who are helping to find solutions to this problem. 

-Anika Harris

Stress: Modern Epidemic

Today’s busy and competitive lifestyles have people experiencing high levels of stress in their daily lives. Probably everyone has some notion of what stress is, but most people do not know its real function and how harmful stress overload can be. This documentary is meant to create awareness on the kinds of lifestyles that lead to a situation of stress overload and to provide information on causes, effects, prevention, and healthy ways of releasing stress. The video considers the opinion of experts and contrasts that to the thoughts of Berkeley students in order to create a closer connection between a majorly student audience and the stress issues addressed in Stress: Modern Epidemic.

-Anakaren Santana

De Flower

This piece is a commentary on human trafficking and the degradation it causes. Since hands are one of the most expressive body parts of a human, they are used as a visual metaphor for the struggle and mutilation experienced by victims. With every angle and shape created by the hands, an expression is created, inspired by the blossoming and withering of a flower and maddening pain. Another layer of metaphor is the flower itself, a beautiful thing that represents a not-so-beautiful event, the deflowering and loss of innocence in a victim.

Class of Generation Y

Education has been a major influence to the lives of many and the institutions that foster this are deemed important to the growth of individuals. However, has this education system taught us to follow our dreams or adhere to a standard of success that may be different than our own? Through the narrative of a young UC Berkeley student ready to embark on another chapter in his life, the anxiety of not knowing your direction in life, the uncertainty of the future, and the pressures of societal norms of success are illuminated in this piece. Graduation from any institution shows a mark of development and accomplishment– but how true and significant is this?

-Yusuf Rafiqzada

Art of Flying

An experimental video installation of two people with very different lives. Introducing, Jamie Yoo and Nick Chen. This is a video shot on Nick Chen’s airplane located in Concord, California. It provides the viewer an up close and personal experience with flying, while exploring the intimacy between two people and the open air. 

-Melissa Yoo 

 Once Upon A Time

Fairytales and folktales have been part of children’s education for centuries. Many of our goals, beliefs, and behavior, knowingly or not, have been influenced by how childhood stories portray notions of good, evil, success, and happily-ever-after’s. Once Upon A Time takes a closer look into some key aspects of the fairytale/folktale genre and satirizes it in order to throw light in the connections of fairytale morals and

current social issues.   The urge of social climbing, the excessive value placed on achieving physical ideals of beauty, and how class systems push members of the lower classes into criminal behavior are some of the issues brought up in this satirical fairytale.

-Anakaren Santana, Anika Harris, Nancy Teresa