This Friday, the Hanes Art Center will premiere an exhibit by UNC seniors called "cl/us/ter," which features a diverse range of artistic forms and subject materials. The exhibit features work from seniors majoring in studio art and will be on display for two weeks following the initial reception.
The entire exhibit is tied to the Arts 500 senior seminar that serves as a capstone class to the studio art major at UNC. The class is taught by Jim Hirschfield and is filled with video artists, animators, painters, photographers and much more.
“We don’t have a set theme, mostly just because everyone is doing a different format or medium in the arts, so we're hoping that when people come, they see it as a cluster, but also see it as something that is structured together,” said Jubal Strube, a student whose work is being exhibited. “It’s a lot of objects come together and working in unison — even though it is a cluster — and that’s why we’re working really hard to make sure when people come in this Friday, that it works the best that it can.”
When it comes to "cl/us/ter," the students explained that there was much thought that went into coming up with the perfect name. One of the most critical aspects of the name was that it included the word "us." This was meant to illustrate that even though their work might be different, it is clustered together by the very fact that it is all their personal work that represents them as a whole.
While it is personal to the artists, they hope for maximum audience interaction and will be at the event to answer anyone’s questions.
“The show goes along with this idea of interactive art and relational aesthetics, which a lot of us are actually practicing,” student Samprati Prasad said. “We want people to focus in on the details and participate in our art and be a part of the art. So if people can take things from my piece, there’s little nuggets and offerings that you can take away with you, and I am not the only one doing that.”
The artists said that some particular standouts of the show portray the struggles of the mind and body, as well as how they are affected by the passage of time. One piece in particular conveys the passage of time through paintings of bananas.
Hirschfield said that teaching the class and watching the students prepare for the show has been an incredibly rewarding experience.
“This is a student effort, and they have done a fantastic job, and I don’t want in any way want to take any credit away from their participation,” Hirschfield said. “I certainly have a role as a faculty member to make sure things are moving forward ... but it is certainly a student effort.”
