UCLA art and non-art students were busy at the Hammer Museum
last week as they helped construct local artist Pae White’s
latest installation project.
“We had to tie extensions on the strings that hang from
the ceilings and put in hooks, climb ladders, hang things, punch
holes and really help her put it all together,” said Ragen
Moss, a second-year law student who volunteered to work on the
project.
The unique opportunity to hang an exhibit in a well-established
museum, as well as work with a respected artist, drew about 15
students to the project.
White’s exhibit, which will officially open in the Hammer
lobby on Feb. 8 and run until July 13, is curated by James
Elaine.
The exhibit currently includes four sculptures, including
“Grief,” which extends from the ceiling of the
two-story lobby down to the floor.
White’s hanging sculptures are like massive die-cut
mobiles. “Grief” consists of 700 brightly colored
strings hanging from the ceiling, with 3,000 die-cut pieces
attached.
The result is a spectacularly colorful hanging sculpture whose
strings dance in reaction to the slightest movement and create
detailed patterned shadows on the floor.
Students took over the Hammer lobby and worked in daylong shifts
to get the exhibit together.
A project of this proportion would not have been possible
without the students’ help, White said.
Among other things, the volunteers learned about the
frustrations an exhibit like this can cause.
“It takes longer than you would think and there are all
these little things that can go wrong,” Moss said. “You
really have to be flexible and adjust to it, and I personally think
(White) has done a good job with that.”
It is difficult to decipher the meaning of the pieces beyond
their aesthetic quality ““ this seems to be what White
intends.
“I’m really not interested in telling the viewer
what they are looking at,” White said. “The viewer can
bring a degree of agility to the work and let the work maybe take
them to other places.”
The convenience of this exhibition and its natural beauty should
encourage viewers to see the exhibit, Moss said. For those who do
not have time to spend hours at a museum, Moss hopes they will walk
through the Hammer lobby just to see what these ethereal sculptures
are all about.
“It interacts well with the environment. There is a
movement to it; as you walk by your body creates a wind that makes
the piece react to your presence. It makes the piece move,”
Moss said.
Because the exhibit is still a work in progress, the Hammer
lobby is filled with folded tables overflowing with boxes of
strings, die-cuts and glue. UCLA students will continue to
collaborate with White in preparing for the Feb. 8 opening.
“This show could not have happened without them,”
White said. “From untangling string to going 25 feet in the
air, they have been spectacular.”