The Chicano Mural…. here to stay

by: samantha bathauer

Maybe it is because I do not live on campus, but one day I remember I was walking around Peterson Hall and all of a sudden I saw this HUGE mural and thought to myself… “has this always been here?” I had no idea where this mural had suddenly sprung from! I just had to take a moment and stop and look at it to take it all in. It is a busy work of art that represents so much more than just a couple of faces and places. It represents a population that has made an impact on Southern California and the UCSD community, as well as minority groups that has been long underrepresented in UCSD campus life.  This mural had a definitive date in which is was supposed to be moved, however, after recent activity on campus, it has been decided that it has found its home in front of Peterson Hall.  It truly is a magnificent piece of artwork that captures the essence of a prominent aspect of San Diego culture.  It is good to see UCSD moving in this direction and we will hopefully be seeing more of this type homage to other cultures underrepresented at UCSD, but who play a meaningful role on campus.

How do you feel about the mural? Do you think it is a progressive step for UCSD?

New Addition to Stuart Art Collection Coming Soon!

by: samantha bathauer

Sun God, blue fences, talking/singing/silent tree, stone henge, snake path… all things us UCSD students recognize when they are brought up in conversation as things from the famous Stuart Art Collection.  We have come to love these little art pieces found around our campus and have accepted them as part of our campus culture.  Now, we have a new piece that is looking to find a home amongst the other member of the Stuart Collection… it is called “Fallen Star”.  According to the website:

The Stuart Collection has a new and extraordinary proposal from the artist, Do-Ho Suh, an important artist who lives in Seoul, Korea and New York City. He has developed a remarkable body of work across the globe and recently had two major related works on exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This will be his first major permanent outdoor work in this country.

Do-Ho’s work explores the notions of home and displacement, the relationship between the personal and the collective, and the cultural meaning of space.  This is particularly relevant in the context of increasing globalizaztion and considering California’s highly mobile population.

For the Stuart Collection, Suh has proposed Fallen Star : a small house which has been picked up by some mysterious force (perhaps a tornado) and “landed” seven stories up on EBU1 in the Jacobs School of Engineering on the UCSD campus.  The house, as can be seen in the image, is cantilevered out over the edge of the building. This could also be a “home” for the vast numbers of students who have left their homes to come to this huge institution, the university, which has nothing even resembling a home.  It promises to be an unforgettable image and experience.

As stated above, we are in a time where people can easily pick up and move half way around the country/world to live and go to school or work.  What happened to staying close to the nest?  It has become incredibly easy to have the ability to move to where we need to go to for certain obligations. After growing up in southern California my whole life and attending school in San Diego, I have grown to love the culture and lifestyle of this community.  When I studied abroad for six months, it was such a culture shock. It was much different than I was expecting.  Although I enjoyed my time abroad, I was happy to be back home to a familiar way of life because of the familiarity that this was my home and culture.  With this accessibility, however, to just be able to pick up and move, does it have the potential of leading to a universal culture… perhaps dominated by Western ways?  This potential addition to the Stuart Art Collection is looking ahead to a globalized world, starting this easy ability to move from one place to another.  The location for this is interesting as well… on top of an engineering building.  Not to dis the engineers out there, but they are not usually thought of to be the welcoming committee. To place this personal, warm, and familiar house on top of the engineering building says something as well.

How do you interpret this new (potential) piece of the Stuart Art Collection? Do you think it is appropriate to place it on an engineering building?
What is your favorite Stuart Art piece that is already on campus?

New Mural in the MCC

By: Katie Nivison

If you have been in the Media and Communications Center this Spring Quarter you may have noticed a new visual art piece on the first floor of the building. This mural was done by a senior seminar class in the Communication Department and is a colorful collage that incorporates many current issues that have been of great concern on our campus this past school year.

Some of the issues that are incorporated into the mural are the March 4^th: Day of Action, past and present wars, budget cuts, political demonstrations on campus, and the battle against racism in the UCSD community. It has all of the University of California campuses painted into the mural and provides a message of the importance of free speech and taking political action. It also stresses the value of a unified community not only within UCSD but will all of the University of California campuses. This mural is a great example of student activism. It is great to see a thought provoking work of art that has a message that is loud and straightforward. It is a reminder to those who pass by it to take action and get involved.

Have you seen this project? What are your thoughts on some of the issues that it presents and how do you think past issues tie in the current ones in the mural?

Have you seen other murals like this one around campus? Do you think that we need more student projects like this on campus and in other department buildings that have heavy traffic? Do you know of other UC Campuses that are creating murals like this one?

Justice in Palestine Week~End the Apartheid

BY: Agnes Radomski

From the UCSD MSA website http://www.ucsdmsa.org/:

“As a faculty member at UCSD since 1986, I have rarely seen a more sophisticated and tempered demonstration of student activism as the Justice in Palestine calendar of events that took place last week. The centerpiece of the events–the impressive wall on Library Walk–was a superior educational experience that provided the campus community with both empirical and artistic data with which to analyze an extremely complex political issue…”

Professor Jorge Mariscal

UC San Diego
May 16, 2010

In week 7 of the spring quarter, 2010, The Muslim Student Association (MSA) organized the Justice in Palestine Week-End the Apartheid.  A mock wall was erected along library walk and several speakers came to the campus including Professor Norman Finkelstein, Professor Angela Davis and Professor Hatem Bazian among others. They all spoke about the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel.

While a controversial topic, the MSA were able to display the  apartheid wall along library walk featuring illustrations, pictures and writing expressing persepctive on the issue.  Whatever feeling one may have about the long and complex history of the region and conflict, there is no doubt that the organizers of the event were able to fully express their views. The display was set up in a heavy trafficked area allowing students to stop and observe the wall. In addition fliers were handed out spreading the message of the weeklong event and the many speakers that would be presenting their views about Palestine and Israel.

While heading down library walk on Monday the 10^th, the first day of the event I was handed one of the fliers. I noticed right away that Norman Finkelstein would be speaking that same night and arranged to go. I was introduced to Finkelstein through an online independent media source known as Democracy Now! so I knew how important of a speaker he was on this topic. I also knew that he himself was a controversial figure so I was pleased to be given the opportunity to hear him speak. When it comes to any type of controversial issue the college campus should always be a place that welcomes free expression and debate. Others share this sentiment.

From MSA website:

From the speak-out on Library Walk and the presentations by the invited guests, to the construction of the mock Wall that anchored the week’s festivities, the entire event was not only impressive, but provided an exceptional laboratory of learning. Admittedly, the issue of Palestine is replete with controversy and often difficult to present to American audiences, even on university campuses. Organizers of the week’s events revealed extraordinary skill and professionalism in reaching out to different constiuencies and presenting perspectives on the conflict often unheard and silent…”

Professor Gary Fields
UC San Diego
May 18, 2010

Were you able to attend any of the events put on by MSA? If so tell us about your experience.

Do you feel that there is artistic freedom on the UCSD campus when it comes to controversial issues?

Art and the commemoration of an anti-war protester

BY: Agnes Radomski

There have been many events on campus in recent history that have sparked action among the student populous in the form of protests, walkouts, and artistic expression. While it may be difficult to see the silver lining at times, the racially motivated events starting with the Compton Cookout have provided students with a platform to speak out about issues affecting them and their education and demand reform.

While observing the once ordinary wall that has been transformed into a mural downstairs in the Communication and Media Building something in particular popped out at me.

I am sure many people will recognize the different events and themes that are addressed through the artist’s expression but will they recognize Winnie? Seeing the painting of a small figure engulfed in flames with bold capital letters that spelled out UCSD made me ask myself that same question.  But I didn’t ask “is this Winnie?” I didn’t know his name but I knew about him. During my first quarter at UCSD, in one of my introductory Communication courses, a professor told us about Winnie. He also mentioned that it’s not an event that is widely discussed around campus.

George Winnie Jr. immolated himself on May 10, 1970 at Revelle Plaza in protest of the Vietnam War. He was just 23 years old. Next to himself he placed a sign that read “In God’s name, end this war.”

There is a plaque that commemorates him but it is not widely known about. Another UCSD student wrote about this, and his thoughts about Winnie’s death at his blog: http://www.flickr.com/photos/littlepuppydog/3060007954/.

Winnie’s death is something every UCSD student should know about. While the plaque may be in an area that not everyone treads the wall in the Communication building will at least expose Winnie to comm students and others who enter the building.  And for those who will see the painting and may not know who he is, I hope that it will spark their curiosity to atleast find out.

Did you know about Winnie and did you know that he is part of the mural in the Communication and Media Building?

Is this art enough to spread the word about how Winnie died and for what reasons or do you think he should be commemorated somewhere on campus that everyone will see?

Were you aware of any other events or artistic expressions that have taken place on campus in Winnie’s name?

http://socialarchitectures.pbworks.com/The-Invisible-Shape-of-University-Past

In what ways have you seen students express themselves about the two wars we are currently in?

March 4th @ UCSD: Do UC us?

BY: LIVIA MARATI

March 4th, 2010 was a call for all students,teachers,parents, and their organizations and communities across the country to massively mobilize for a Strike and Day of Action in Defense of Public Education. Education cuts are attacks against all of us, particularly in working-class communities and communities of color. Through UC schools participating in  strikes, rallies, walkouts, occupations, sit-ins, teach-ins throughout the state, March 4th became a historic turning point in the struggle against the cuts, layoffs, fee hikes, and the re-segregation of public education.

Student responses @ the rally held in front of Giesel Library

The events at our school were tied to both budget cut issues and race issues due to events that circled around the Compton Cookout. It brought about a variety of issues that speaks volumes about our current campus climate and show how UCSD students respond to controversial events.  The rally held in front of Giesel Library included student made art and posters and spoken word performances (see below) from the UCSD Arts Collective.

Did you attend the rally? What did you think about how the topics were presented?

SHARE with us any art that you have created or have seen dealing with the events of March 4th!

Arts in Action: Real Art for Real Change

BY: LIVIA MARATI

Arts in Action came about because a few of us sat down and said, ‘We believe that this campus needs a place for its artists to respond to the racial emergency and events of last quarter,’” event organizer Heather Ramey said.

These feelings inspired the dance department to respond through artistic expression. Throughout the “Arts in Action: Real Art for Real Change” week, students were encouraged to speak out for their colleges, create and share art, and express themselves through alternative means.

Some of the campus wide projects this week featuredcommunity murals, art displays, and site specific performance art. Performance marches were also organized to invoke the tradition of arts activism creating change for Civil rights, Women’s rights, Gay rights, and Chicano rights. Additionally, using a mix of political songs from different eras and incorporating a variety of dance styles, members of the dance department organized a flash mob routine that was performed throughout campus. Organizers used the internet as a way for people to learn the dance number and find out information on performance times and ways to get involved.

This creative event forced people on campus to take a look at student reactions to recent racial tension, and sparked a conversation about diversity and artistic expression.

Check out video of the  flash mob performances at the Arts in Action website!

http://www.artsinaction.us/flash-mob-dance.shtml

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!

What other artistic ways have you seen students and the administration respond to the racial events on campus?

Did you participate or witness the flash mob performances? Let us know your experience and responses!