When:
Sunday, January 22, 2017
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM CT
Where: Norris University Center, Dittmar Gallery, 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208 map it
Audience: Faculty/Staff - Student - Public - Post Docs/Docs - Graduate Students
Cost: Free
Contact:
Debra Blade
(847) 491-2348
Group: Dittmar Memorial Gallery
Category: Fine Arts
What is the purpose of celebration? Is it empty, bound to disappoint, or is it ritualistic punctuation of the mundane? Are routine experiences less important than celebratory moments that require preparation and planning, the anticipation of which is akin to emotional foreplay? Embracing the Chaos explores these ideas and calls into question what is truly important and how meaning is assigned to experience. Each piece is a case study utilizing carriers of celebration such as cake, sprinkles, and gold leaf in an attempt to understand the paradoxical hierarchy of experiential value.
The exhibition explores cultural, socioeconomic, and environmental issues such as waste, consumerism, feminism, and social identity. Unpacking cultural associations of celebration, the work capitalizes on the role of tactile and olfactory senses in creating lasting memories and solidifying interpersonal bonds. Homage is paid to monotony, banality is exalted, and celebration is subjugated with chaos. The work teeters in an ambiguous chasm between expectation and reality, desperately attempting to capture fleeting moments while simultaneously surrendering to the inevitability of change.