An art professor wants his February performance exhibit in Lakeside Dining Hall to help students, faculty & staff dispel stereotypes.
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Associate Professor Ken Hassell in the Department of Art & Art History has organized an exhibit that runs this month in the Lakeside Meeting Rooms.
And he needs your help to make it successful.
Inspired by acclaimed performance artist Marina Abramovic, whose work three years ago at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors, Hassell will recreate an exhibit that he said reflects the university’s goal of fostering inclusivity among its diverse communities.
Titled “The Artist is Present,” his project will feature two wooden chairs just feet apart on a small oriental rug. Hassell sits in one chair. Anyone from the community is invited to take the other for as long as they wish. Ideally, in the silence that separates two people facing each other, preconceptions and cultural stereotypes begin to melt in what Hassell himself describes as an “honest conversation.”
“We tend to identify people without really knowing them, and we think we know who people are because of visual clues, like the way they look, how they walk, the way they talk. We have stereotypes,” Hassell said. “Hopefully, by not saying anything and just looking at each other, we can dispel these ideas, and we’re on equal footing.”
Hassell’s exhibit runs Feb. 25-27, 2013, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Lakeside Dining Hall.
The power of the performance, however, will hinge on campus involvement. Hassell hopes to see hundreds of students, professors and staff members visit, and he recognizes that the unique nature of the performance might catch people by surprise. Unlike traditional art exhibits, he said, where the art is “given” by the artist and is “tangible” to the viewer, the effect of silent participation may not be realized right away.
“As an artist you can’t control what happens, but you hope people are open to the process,” he said. “The people who come to the artist are every bit as important as the artist himself. They are helping to make the art piece.”
Visitors to the meeting room will be able to observe the silent interaction between Hassell and participants who sit before him. Photos and video are permitted.
The performance exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Hassell at hassell@elon.edu or (336) 278-5719.