Brooke RobertsonIt is Saturday night and I am seated in the exhibition space at the San Luis Obispo Art Center awaiting the start to a film titled, “Splendid Splinters: The Armand LaMontagne Story.” The low hum of small talk dies down as attendees get adjusted, sipping glasses of wine provided by the Art Center. Assistant director Muara Johnston begins to speak about the night’s features and also previews a few upcoming films to be shown in the gallery. I have no idea what to expect, but after looking at the beautiful woodwork on display I can imagine that the film may offer explanation to a world I previously knew nothing about. It is not the only feature of the night, though, because we will also get to watch a short film titled, “Real Men Knit,” thrown in at the last moment by Johnston because she “likes to show at least an hour and a half.” I am in for a treat, and at five bucks a pop if you are a member ($7 if you are not), it makes for an inexpensive night on the town.
The Art Center is making an effort to “broaden and deepen” people’s understanding of their exhibits by adding a unique component: film. Since October, the Art Center has been showing rare and hard-to-find documentaries one Saturday night a month to supplement their current exhibits and provide an extra bit of understanding for viewers who may need a more interactive approach to absorbing the gallery’s information.
Johnston said that she feels it is important to bridge the gap between people who come into the exhibit “with their eyes glazed over,” not truly connecting with the work, and a greater experience and understanding of the art on display. With a doctorate in film in the works, Johnston turned to documentary to field her goal.
“The Art Center is primarily an exhibition space, but also an educational space,” she said. “So we decided to do movie nights, which would allow people to learn something more about the exhibition that’s up, and it wouldn’t necessarily be exactly related but it would be related in some capacity.”
The medium of documentary films provided a non-competitive way to bring movies to the Art Center. Johnston said the intent of the movie night is not to compete with any other local theaters, but rather to showcase films that people cannot just order easily from Netflix or rent at Blockbuster. So far the idea has been a success.
“We have had really good turnout and a really nice response from people,” said Johnston. “When we started, my hope was that we would get five people and we got 10 the first time, then we got 20 and the next time we got 30, so it has been growing little bit by little bit each time, which is wonderful and people seem to really enjoy it.”
As a film enthusiast myself, to say that I enjoyed the experience would be to cheapen it. Love is more like it, and not only because of the smart and unique choice of film, but because the entire experience was so inclusive: you are surrounded by physical art while being romanced by an enthralling documentary shedding light on your surroundings. Johnston was right when she said it would “broaden and deepen” my understanding of the works because I am sure that had I only viewed the pieces briefly, I may not have been as affected by the medium (wood) and the talent that goes into manipulating it. As I left, I felt as though I had learned a great deal about the art, which after all, is the whole point according to Johnston.
Filmgoer Bob Staller, 81, said that he and his wife knew about the movie night from the San Luis Obispo Art Association. Staller found a personal connection within the short film on male knitting, because he recalls knitting in grammar school for the servicemen during the war. He said that although he probably won’t knit again anytime soon, it is something that he is very interested in.
“It was quite a treat,” Staller said of the night. “The kind of movie we saw, having to do with the sculpture of human figures out of wood. I thought it was an amazing talent.”
When asked if he would be attending future movie nights, his answer was immediate: “Oh, yeah.”
On track with Staller, I have to say that I will also be attending future movie nights, and due to the upcoming film topic in February, Cal Poly students may see it as an opportunity to get involved in an ever-growing social issue: food.
Sounds simple, but it really isn’t. The Hungry Planet exhibition will focus on “what the world eats,” by taking a look at food consumption around the globe and what our intake and food choices really mean for the environment. According to Johnston, the film and display will be “more interesting than scary,” but will be an eye-opener no less.
“For the Hungry Planet show we have “The Future of Food,” a documentary by Deborah Koons Garcia, which is a remarkable film about genetic engineering about how it is not only affecting the growth of food sources but also how it affects our bodies. It is a really, really challenging, interesting documentary.”
“It discusses the global impact of how food is transferred all over the world,” she goes on. “And it talks about the nutritional content of food. We live in a world that it so different, but the one thing we share in common is that we have to eat. It looks at the differences, and it looks at the place of food in the global context. Something like 46 photographs will be in the main gallery, along with text, they will give insight to this issue.”
In the center of the Hungry Planet exhibit there will be a canned goods drive, and an artist will be on location creating a sculpture out of the cans people bring in, giving the community a chance to be a part of the art. The cans will be donated to the Food Bank Coalition, and Johnston said that they would really like to see student involvement in their endeavor.
Karen Kile, executive director of the Art Center said that the Hungry Planet exhibit deals with issues that everyone has to think about and that the topic was a natural choice for the difficult times.
“As this year evolved and harder economic times hit, people’s needs increased for basic everything,” she said. “It was easy to show a nice photographic exhibit that’s well done, but we thought, how can we add some layers to this so that people can say when they are seeing it, ‘What can I do? What can I buy and serve to my family?’ We have had all of these issues come up, genetic foods, etc. It is the right time to do it.”
“We are an art center that wants to present lots of different works,” Kile said. “But also offer a better understanding of what people are seeing. It is what we are supposed to be doing. It feels good doing it.”
For more information on upcoming movie nights and the Hungry Planet exhibit, visit www.sloartcenter.org.