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Teresa Liu, a senior photography major, and Yutaka Blizman, an SJSU alumnus, look at the exhibit "Untitled," ten 12-inch cyanotype prints on cotton created by Photography 113 student Michelle Bubziak.

Everything from napkins to hot dogs utilized in 'not your typical art show'

By: Joseph Akeley

Posted: 11/19/08

Twenty-five pieces of art encompassed Gallery 3 in the Art Building for the Alternative Processes Gallery Show on Tuesday, which continues this week.

A variety of art, ranging from photography booklets to a dress made out of napkins, are featured at the show.

Jorge Barragan, a senior design studies major, made a booklet of pictures that illustrated graffiti.

"It's a form of expression because a lot of people think of graffiti as something bad, but in reality it is still considered art," he said. "Even if they are doing it illegally, it is still considered art. So, a lot of people discredit it, look down on it, but I think it's fabulous."

Barragan said he was inspired by graffiti as a child, which has led him into his art skills.

"It came from one day walking on the tracks when I was young and being able to see all these other people doing graffiti, which inspired me to go home and draw and basically start doing my own graffiti," he said. "And from there, I did drawings and paintings, and now, I am in graphic design."

Hedwig Heerschop lectures for Photography 113, a class on alternative photo media that produced all the art in the gallery. Although she is currently still working on her master's in fine arts, she said she was honored to be able to step in for instructor Brian Taylor, who went on a sabbatical leave for this semester. She said that she was proud of her students work.

"I think it looks great," Heerschop said. "It's beautiful show. It's very inventive. It has a little bit of everything. They did a great job."

Heerschop said each project uses one of three disciplines that were used in the 1800s and early 1900s: cyanotype, VanDyke and gum bichromate prints.

She said cyanotype prints are blueprints that are often used for architecture, VanDyke prints are brown prints and the gum bichromate prints are colored prints.

Senior photography majors Alex Alvarado and Vicky Carmichael said the gallery is not your typical art show.

"It is not just pictures on the wall, it has a lot of variety," said Alvarado, whose work was also featured in the show. "They put their work on fabric, they put their work on glass, water-colored paper holds it really well, and my friend used a napkin as cloth."

"It has a little bit of everything," Carmichael said. "I really like the glass art. I am surprised they got it to stick because usually glass doesn't want to."

Jennifer Ang, a senior marketing major, said she is not planning on being an artist, but the skills she has learned in the class apply to her job.

"I know that a big part of marketing is getting your product out so people see it, so it helps with the advertising, it helps with the creativity, it helps with the visual," Ang said. "It's not just selling things to people. You also have to make things attractive."

Students were venturing through the halls to look at other art shows in the Art Building. The projects of fine arts seniors Crystal Stader and Lydia Richardson and photography graduate student Dina Ropele were all featured in different rooms.

Ropele videotaped herself eating hot dogs on four different occasions and presented the four different videos on four different televisions.

"In the piece, I stage a hot dog-eating contest with myself for eight minutes to see how many hot dogs I can eat," Ropele said. "So, it is kind of referencing a lot of different things: the American consumer culture, food obsession, over consumption and sexual desire because a hot dog is a phallic symbol."