After its opening on Wednesday, Oct. 14, students can view artist Nichola Kinch’s “Gerrymander Menagerie” until Thursday, Nov. 19 in the Gorevin Gallery of the Holy Spirit Library.
The exhibit focuses its content on the upcoming presidential election. Visitors must first enter through a large red curtain, which is meant to symbolize a stage, voter’s booth and circus tent. Inside, there are three separate displays which use film machines and optical toys which “portray the political arena as a full-blown circus.”
“Horse and Pony Show” was the favorite of sophomores Maya Williams and Alison Ercolani. In this piece, both symbols of the political parties are shown in a zoetrope.
“I think that is very interesting,” Williams said. “It starts as a donkey and then, as you spin it, it becomes an elephant and then back to a donkey.”
“It was interesting just to see how if you looked at one perspective it was completely changing, but if you looked over just a little bit, it was just a blur,” Ercolani said.
Another piece, “Flock of Drones,” is a machine invented by Kinch herself.
“A viewer turning a small crank mechanizes the machine,” Kinch said in an email. “The animation presents a flock of drones with tiny spinning propellers flying through the sky.”
Sophomore Lindsay Dobbins visited the exhibit for her drawing class and because she was interested viewing in the distinct art. She said that she really enjoyed the “Clown Alley” display. The pieces were made out of PVC pipes and carved so that once light shines on them, the shadow resembles current presidential candidates.
“I was really amused by the carvings of the politicians,” Dobbins said. “I think it was really cool how you can project an image just from different shapes to actually look like a person.”
Associate professor of studio art, Nick Jacques, was highly pleased with the outcome of the exhibit. Jacques curates all of the different art displays that take place throughout the year in the Gorevin Gallery.
Jacques contacted Finch over the summer in an effort to find a different type of exhibit that could fully take over and change the area. After meeting, they decided that “Gerrymander Menagerie” was the best fit for the audience and the space.
“I think it looks fantastic. It’s something that we’ve never done before,” Jacques said. “I have wanted for a while to find someone who can transform the space and I’m really happy with it.”
This was Ercolani’s first visit to an exhibit in the gallery and she very much enjoyed the experience.
“I felt really artistic. I felt like I could go home and draw something,” Ercolani said.
Dobbins also said that she liked the exhibit, as it opened her eyes to a different type of art.
“It made me really want other people to see this kind of work, because I didn’t realize someone could be so passionate about the type of work I saw today,” Dobbins said. “It was different and I think it made me appreciate art in a different way.”
When asked if they would attend another exhibit, both students did not hesitate.
“I absolutely would,” Dobbins said.
“Yeah, I would,” Ercolani said.
