May 5, 2016
CITYSTYLE
Interactive gallery bends gender roles with men in heels Story and photo by Darrell James Photo and image editor @darrelljames_
Omar Reyes/Viking/ @salar0895 DANCE, DANCE: Students socialize and dance in honor of the Cambodian New Year during an Earth Day community gathering at the PCC Horticulture Garden on Friday, April 22.
Earth honored with events First sustainability week at LBCC celebrated alongside Cambodian New Year festivities. Story by Omar Reyes Staff writer @Salar0895 and Carlos Ochoa Staff writer @carlosochoalbcc To conclude the first sustainability week at LBCC, the Associate Student Body celebrated Earth Day by hosting a community gathering at the PCC Horticulture Garden for about 50 people on Friday, April 22. “I’m glad to see the Earth Day celebration all put together and it’s so chill to see the end result,” said Cindy Macias, 19, a child development major. Sustainable water containers, drinks and cake were served during the event while the local band, Rhythm of Rosie, performed. Fay Pizano, 20, an environmental science major, said she felt the event went well and was glad to see people of all ages attend. Pizano said, “The whole week, I felt, brought people’s attention to the fact that it was Earth day/Earth week. People were intrigued by sustainability week and it
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brought awareness to sustainability week.” In addition to celebrating sustainability week, the Cambodian Student Association planned to host a Cambodian New Year celebration in the Horticulture Garden on the same day and time as the Earth Day celebration. Both groups decided to incorporate the Cambodian New Year into the Earth Day community gathering and many participants engaged in traditional Cambodian dances including “Ramvong” (which means “circle dance”) and “Saravan” (which means “flapping”). Shannon Trisler, 21, a business major, was the person behind the idea of having a sustainability week at the college. Trisler is also the first representative of sustainability for the ASB Cabinet Enjoying the collaboration of the two events included David Saenz, 21, a psychology major. Saenz said, “Shannon (Trisler) and her committee did a really good job putting this together. This community gathering was a great way to end the week and because there are a lot of clubs involved throughout the week, it made a good impression to encourage other clubs to collaborate.” Student Council Vice Chair Patrick Gore said the primary goal of sustainability week is to spread awareness about the importance of sustainability at the college and to inform students and employees of existing efforts of sustainability at the college such as the recycling efforts pushed around the college.
The LAC Art Gallery welcomed students, employees and visitors to the closing reception for artists Cheri Gaulke and Michael Arata on Thursday, April 28. The featured exhibitions introduced viewers to different perspectives relating to feminism and human rights. Both galleries allowed anyone present to participate in the artist’s presentation, which moved visitors to become more involved with the work displayed. Gaulke took visitors on a walk in high heels in her exhibition titled “Peep Totter Fly.” In her gallery, visitors were allowed to try on a pair of red high heel pumps, which represented the cultural blind spot the shoes have carried through times. Either male or female could try on the vivid red shoes, but males were encouraged more while making the popular phrase “walk a mile in my shoes” more a reality than words said. Gaulke said, “I’m always interested in art that raises awareness about issues. In this piece, I wanted to give people, in particular men, who have never had the experience of wearing high heels that experience and hopefully my work makes people think and make better choices in the future.” An undecided major, Jody Sushi, 19, said, “It’s really interesting to have artists come in and explain their process. I also liked how the artist challenged visitors to break the gender barrier.”
Arata presented viewers with another interactive gallery that creates discussion of the topic of how content relating to people’s privacy can be presented on the Internet and how it’s sometimes inappropriate to do so. Titled “Texas Style Beauty Contest-Miss M,” the display was inspired by an Internet story read by Arata about 10 female sex offenders who were tried in Texas and photos were put on display. Arata said people who are on trial shouldn’t be seen as public figures for entertainment. Mugshots of the women were displayed, but the faces were blurred to keep their identities private, though below the photo was an abstract painting depicting the person. An additional presentation where visitors were asked to throw foam blocks at the artist to represent how society can put such people on display, just to stone them figuratively. Arata said, “I feel it’s really crazy to take people who are incarcerated and turn them into a show. It just shows how stupid the Internet can be.” Fine arts major, Michele Learner, 59 said, “Both exhibits challenged serious ideas, they were really conceptual and interactive. There was a lot to get from them but you had to put something in.” The LAC gallery will be opened for the Student Art Exhibition of 2016 from Wednesday, May 11, Thursday, May 26. Gallery hours are Monday and Thursday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday noon to 8 p.m. and Saturday, May 21, from noon to 4 p.m.