Courtesy photo.

When you walk into an art exhibit, you probably don’t expect to go surfing.

But this is the case at “DANM Artists Take Over the Museum of Art and History.”

A virtual surfboard experience constructed by Daniel Christopher, Lyes Belhocine and Drew Detweiler illustrates the endless possibilities offered through the fusion of technology and art. This fusion is the focus of UC Santa Cruz’s Digital Arts and New Media (DANM) exhibit which opens tomorow.

The show features a variety of interactive technology and art by current and former DANM students. Mobile technology, interactive designs and web-based applications are just a few of the modes utilized to create interactive works. Not only does the exhibit offer a hands-on experience, it also explores the idea of seeing technology as art.

DANM’s exhibit opening will be a one-night affair at the Museum of Art and History (MAH) in downtown Santa Cruz on Friday from 5–9 p.m. A collage animation workshop will be held from 6–8 p.m., along with a guerilla grafting demonstration at 6 and 8 p.m.

DANM students have displayed work at MAH before, and it has since become a prime place for them to showcase student art.

“Artists want to show their work, and they want to show it in the best place possible,” said Felicia Rice, DANM program manager. “These students and alumni all have experience, so this is wonderful that they took the initiative to plan the event.”

“There are a lot of digital artists in the area working, so we were able to bring the alumni and current students together. It’s also a great way to reach out to the larger Santa Cruz,” said Drew Detweiler, a UCSC DANM research associate and 2010 graduate of the DANM program.

“It’s all interactive and hands-on,” Detweiler said. “It’s not like looking at art on a wall. You can pick up the objects, touch them … it’s a very participatory experience. I think people will be excited by the variety of work, from web-based applications to VJ tech to participatory activities. People will see things they wouldn’t be able to see otherwise.”

Although the exhibit explores the boundaries of technology and art, the pieces displayed are centered around themes different people can relate to, like music, skateboarding and animation. This means that the exhibit attracts an eclectic crowd, bringing people together to experience art through the eyes of digital artists.

“When you hear the word ‘digital,’ it brings up a lot of different ideas,” Rice said. “What you will learn is that the field is very broad. DANM is a wealth of possibilities for applying technology and rethinking how these tools are used in an art context.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at DANM Artists Take over Museum

Photo by Olivia Irvin.

Along with its permanent rooftop sculpture exhibit and other modern art pieces, the Museum of Art and History (MAH) at the McPherson Center is currently offering a space for UC Santa Cruz students to display their work in an upcoming presentation by the Digital Arts and New Media Master of Fine Arts degree program (DANM MFA). 

DANM will present the work of 10 graduate students in a two-part exhibition. The first part, called “interACTIVE,” runs through June 24, while the second, called “interACTIVATE,” will open May 29.

“We were lucky to be invited to show the work of our DANM graduates at the MAH,” said Felicia Rice, media representative for the DANM project. “This is our fourth graduating cohort, and we have previously shown at the Digital Media Factory on the Westside and … a huge digital arts festival in downtown San Jose.”

The pieces are created with digital and new media technologies, creating new sights for museum visitors not familiar with art media.

Nada Miljkovic, who is completing her final quarter in the two-year DANM master’s program, will have work showing in both parts of the interactive exhibition. For interACTIVE, she will be presenting a Balkan folk song about the emotion and pain of arranged marriages in the style of sevdah, a traditional Bosnian musical form.

“Coming from the Balkans, my own family is full of forced marriages,” said Miljkovic, who was born in the former Yugoslavia. “I chose to do this piece in hopes that through the experience of the endurance piece some liberation may occur both for myself and the participating audience.”

For interACTIVATE, Miljkovic produced a short film on forced marriage — “Eva on Marriage” — that she also submitted to the Santa Cruz Film Festival at the Del Mar Theatre.

“It’s a real honor to bring this very specific music tradition, that some may categorize as folk music, into a institution of high art,” Miljkovic said. “My aim is to educate and entertain.”

Providing UCSC and Cabrillo artists a venue to display their work has allowed the MAH to promote art in the community. The museum currently holds the one-of-a-kind artwork of various regional, local and college artists from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, as well as the greater Bay Area. 

One of the current exhibits is showcasing the work of Bay Area artist Jerry Ross Barrish, whose medium of choice is reconfigured and recycled plastic sculptures.

The MAH is doing well despite financial troubles statewide. Membership fees and donations by visitors fund exhibits and new attractions, which in turn draw more total visitors.

“We’re aware that people are struggling in the community,” said Theresa Myers, the public relations and marketing manager of MAH.

Myers said that she does not anticipate an increase in the price of admission in the near future.

The MAH, which does not receive money from the state or county, receives funding solely from community-based grants. The majority of the museum’s funding comes from membership fees and the annual Stars fundraiser gala and auction. The auction, held every year in December at the museum, sells work donated by local artists. 

The MAH museum holds permanent and touring exhibits of regional artists, along with the rooftop sculpture exhibit. Many of the exhibits are composed of contemporary artworks and historical pieces owned by the museum. Throughout the museum’s three stories and rooftop, dresses constructed of Bubblicious gum wrappers are displayed next to old photographs of Santa Cruz residents at the wharf.

“By offering a place to hold the various artifacts,” Myers said, “the community is still able to interact.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at MAH: Undiscovered Haven for Arts