A student connects to the art on display at the “Please Do Not Touch” gallery. Art faculty have been working on the exhibit for months, and are showcasing random pieces of artwork.
staff writer
Since Oct. 24, the EWU art and design faculty have been showcasing an art gallery called “Please Do Not Touch.”
Art department lecturer Chris Tyllia has been the main contributor to the exhibit, and he does so with a twist. When students first walk into the exhibition they may be surprised by the exhibit’s informal presentation and unusual use of technology to portray the art.
Senior Nicholas Stewart said, “It looks last minute thrown together.”
However, it was not. The messiness of the exhibit and the fact that there is no actual artwork, was all done on purpose.
According to Tyllia, this exhibition is not of art, but rather “a collection of reproductions.” These reproductions are portrayed through many different technological devices that are used to show the art pieces, and the idea is to show the disconnect between the exhibitor and the exhibits.
In the event flier it explains that for most people, their picture of the Mona Lisa is a picture they have either seen in a textbook, on TV or on the Internet. Very few people have actually seen it in person, and those who have only see the contorted image of it due to the many layers of glass protecting it.
“This exhibit tries to point out the disconnect between the artwork and the observer by drawing more attention to ‘the things we need to see these things,’” said Tyllia. He said that this means more technology is used to present the artwork and focus is taken away from the art itself. In reality that is what most people’s images of artwork are, images portrayed by technology.
According to art professor Nancy Hathaway, the goal of this exhibit is when people walk out it should, “stress the importance to them of going to museums and galleries and seeing the actual artwork because it is a very different experience than seeing a picture of it, because a lot of times you don’t know what you are missing.”
When asked his feelings about this exhibition, Stewart said, “It is disheartening … It loses all its meaning when it’s just a projection, when it’s just a print, when it’s just a slideshow, when it’s just a bunch of cords lying around as opposed to having the real thing. … To me, I would rather see the transparency on the wall as opposed to it being projected.”
The point of this exhibition, according to Tyllia is, “When we look at something in a book, or when we look at something on a screen, we have to realize there is a disconnect between the actual thing and what we are looking at.”
The “Please Do Not Touch” exhibit will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., until Jan. 17.
