Since last Tuesday, sophomores Liz Hockett and Peter Baryshnikov have decorated their living room just how they like it: chock-full of art.
The reason for the more than 26 pieces proudly displayed in the Fine Arts House’s (FAH) living room?
Their biannual living room gallery, a campus-wide event displaying any and all art submitted. The FAH living room gallery was originally started years ago, but was decommissioned after the installment of student shows at the Stevens gallery in Reid and Sheehan Gallery in Olin.
Last year, however, FAH RA Rachel Hahn reinstated the old living room tradition with the goal of giving the campus a completely unfiltered showing in which to display work.
“[The living room gallery] is a more casual atmosphere. It’s more relaxed, more open, more flexible [than Sheehan]. People who aren’t necessarily established artists feel comfortable,” said Hahn, a junior.
Among the artists that took advantage of the campus-wide call for submissions were a number of FAH residents, including sophomore Matt Coleman.
One of the most non-traditional submissions was Coleman’s multimedia piece, “untitled,” featuring a rapid-succession photo montage of pictures from his Apple laptop.
An aspirin bottle depressed the right arrow, keeping the montage going, and a pair of headphones attached to the computer played some of Coleman’s favorite music as gallery visitors viewed the piece.
Coleman said that the music paired with the images made the experience of the piece continuously changing.
“If you are listening to different music, then you are influenced differently by what you are hearing,” said Coleman.
Another FAH resident, sophomore Peter Baryshnikov, displayed black and white photography.
Baryshnikov cites the gallery’s acceptance of any work submitted as one of its best features.
“We really will accept anything, so I am a little disappointed we haven’t seen anything really crazy,” Baryshnikov said. “Lack of selectivity is a beautiful thing.”
Sophomore and gallery connoisseur Ari Frink said that he was impressed by the diversity of work present at the event.
“I think it’s really cool to see the variety and breadth of work that they got,” said Frink. “All of it is really quality.”
The event also featured an “unplugged” acoustic music session in the FAH dining room put on by the Environmental Awareness House. Junior Emily Percival, sophomore Aidan Beers and junior Allie Rood all shared their acoustic guitar and vocal talents.
The FAH living room gallery, fittingly enough, will remain open until participating artists remove their work from the walls of the living room: or until next semester’s living room gallery.
In the mean time, the residents of the house don’t seem to mind: they just love art.
