• CREATE AN ACCOUNT
  • LOG.IN
  • CONTENTS
  • CLASSIFIEDS
  • ARCHIVE
  • INFO | ADVERTISING | CONTACT US

  • Home
  • News
    • News Main Page
    • NewsFlash
  • A&E
    • A&E Main Page
    • Movie Times
    • TV Listings
    • A&E Blog
    • Art Galleries
    • Best Bets
  • Opinion
    • Opinion Main Page
    • Endorsements
    • Blogs
    • Columns
    • Voices
    • Letters
    • In Memoriam
    • Obituaries
  • Events
    • Today
    • Search
    • Submit
    • Best Bets
  • Living
    • Living Main Page
    • Outdoors
    • Travel
    • Sports
    • Peeps
  • Food & Drink
    • Food & Drink Main Page
    • All Restaurants
    • Delivery
    • All Bars & Clubs
    • Drink Specials
    • Open Now
  • Sports
  • Outdoors
    • Outdoors Main Page
    • Outside Insider
    • Spotlight On
    • Features
  • Classifieds
    • Real Estate
    • Jobs
    • Autos
  • Obits

    A gallery visitor interacts with Alejandro Casazi’s “Empatheia Ballare.”


    Dreamtigers: Students Think Big in Group Show

    UCSB MFA Exhibition at CAF


    Wednesday, June 17, 2009
    By Charles Donelan
    Article Tools
    Print friendly
    E-mail story
    Tip Us Off
    iPod friendly
    Comments
    Bookmark This
    del.icio.us. del.icio.us.
    Digg! Digg!
    furl furl
    google google
    newsvine newsvine
    reddit reddit
    technorati technorati
    Facebook Facebook
    Yahoo! My Web 2.0 Yahoo!

    Each of the five participants in this show — Calico Brown, Alejandro Casazi, Elizabeth Folk, Nathan Hayden, and Carrie Maseredjian — is energized by the kind of “thinking big” that Jorge Luis Borges had in mind when he imagined that in his dreams he might “cause a tiger.”

    Calico Brown uses photography, digital video, installation, and site-specific work to express ideas about such topics as climate change and the loss of archaic knowledge through globalization. Whether she is transposing highly pixelated images of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Southeast Asia into soothing pictures of palm trees, or a making a serpent of driftwood, Brown wraps her highly evolved eco-consciousness in gauzy layers of digital noise.

    Alejandro Casazi’s installation “Empatheia Ballare” presents a charming mix of low-tech, multimedia, and body art. White balloons hang from the ceiling, and small speakers attached to the underside of the balloons emit a vibration that, when the balloon is held in one’s arms, allows for the synchronization of heartbeats.

    In Elizabeth Folk’s “Just Play! Restaurant,” visitors are invited to enter, via a game show, one or more of three miniature restaurants made mostly of felt. Folk’s original plan included actually serving food, but was nixed by a provision in the health code.

    Nathan Hayden’s “We Will All Be a Little Bit Special on the Inside” solicits participation in his drawing/writing process, which involves creating small art objects on torn slips of paper. Hayden’s project extends from the wall of the gallery to the street, where he walks with people while continuing to generate these images. Hayden has a great presence and tremendous facility with the medium he has chosen, making a risky proposition into an audience favorite.

    Carrie Maseredjian is engaged in a complex process of classification that involves the letters of the alphabet and virtually every element in her life. The process manifests in the gallery as a structured array of objects deployed across the space — all the way from a rack fitted with memory objects in the middle of the room to a small packet of Equal hidden above an “EXIT” sign. The work takes time, but creeps up playfully.

    Related Links

    • More Visual Arts
    Story Help (Click-ability)
    Double-clicking on any word or phrase in this story will open a reference window with definitions and links to other reference material.

    Comments

    Discussion Guidelines

    Post a comment

    Username:
    Password: (Forgotten your password?)

    Comment:

    EVENT CALENDAR

    Previous Month | Next Month

    Today's Events Best Bets Submit an Event

    Local Weather

    Currently:
    Clear Sky
    Temperature:
    50.0°
    Wind:
    3 NW

    Surf Report
    • Specials
    • InPrint
    • Top Emails
    • Best Of 2009
    • 2009 Election Coverage
    • Wedding Guide 2009
    • Blue Green Guide 2009
    • SBIFF 2009
    • Tea Fire 2008
    • Local Heroes 2008
    • Calendar of Fundraisers
    • Local Bands
    • High Noon in the Garden of Controversy
    • CAMA Presents the Shanghai Symphony
    • Elings Park Expansion Shot Down
    • Before I Be Your Dog …
    • Flobots Return with New Record, New Vision
    • Autism Attacked Alternatively
    1. Eating Animals
    2. Montecito Pet Shop to Sell Only Rescued Dogs
    3. Producer Must Pay Landscaper
    4. Nothing to Hide Anymore
    5. High Noon in the Garden of Controversy
    6. Teacher in Trouble
    • CREATE AN ACCOUNT
    • LOG.IN
    • CONTENTS
    • CLASSIFIEDS
    • ARCHIVE
    • INFO | ADVERTISING | CONTACT US
    Google
     
    Independent.com Web
    Copyright ©2009 Santa Barbara Independent, Inc. Reproduction of material from any Independent.com pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. If you believe an Independent.com user or any material appearing on Independent.com is copyrighted material used without proper permission, please click here.
    This is our Privacy Policy.