CSUB Gallery Animated Over Latest Exhibit

Chris Page , The Bakersfield Californian

October 3rd, 2002

Does computer-generated art belong on an art gallery's walls?

That's the question one can't help but ask after viewing the current exhibit, "Animated Art," running through Oct. 17 at Cal State Bakersfield's Madigan Gallery.

To be sure, what's on display is amazing stuff. Curated by Kathryn Hackman, who curated the space's 2000 "Plugged In" show, the exhibit ranges from fractal art to video games and computer-generated animation movies.

But that's stuff that's otherwise relegated to screensavers, TV screens and those cute Pixar short films, right? Gallery walls are for paintings and, well, more analog stuff, right? I haven't quite decided for myself.

Watching the beautiful short film "Henry's Garden" -- made by Hollywood digital effects creators Moon Seun and Kevin Geiger -- projected onto a white wall at the CSUB gallery, I couldn't help but wonder when the DVD might be released, so I wouldn't have to drive to a gallery to see it.

Likewise with the art offerings taken from the Xbox video game "Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee." Though the exhibit offers concept drawings and a looped film of the game's excellent "cut scenes" (animated shorts between game levels), all I wanted to do after seeing it was go home and finish that pesky level I've been stuck on for the past week.

Showing computer art on real-world walls has the potential to devalue art galleries. After all, we make the effort to seek out galleries to see work we couldn't otherwise find in our everyday lives. Landscapes illuminate places we've never seen (or at least never seen so beautifully), while abstracts allow us to let loose our imaginations and emotions. Why would anyone want to frame his or her screensaver, or drive to a gallery to see it?

The other side of the argument is that putting the computer-generated stuff on gallery walls helps to remind us that, yes, this too is art and should be appreciated as such.

Argument aside (come to your own conclusion after seeing the exhibit), there is much to love about "Animated Art."

The entrance to the exhibit is lined with works by Bakersfield College and CSUB artists, who rendered pigs, cars and sci-fi machines with 3-D computer software.

And "Henry's Garden" is an absolute masterpiece. It tells the story of an adorably oafish ogre (imagine if Marlon Brando had been cast as the shaved, white weirdo in 1995's "Powder") who sees his lush little garden obliterated by the rolling wheels of civilization, only to find flowers sprout determined in the middle of the new city.

Sure, "Henry's Garden" is a fable protesting "progress," but the animation itself is vibrant and dreamy. It's well worth watching. There's no word on a DVD version just yet though, so you'll have to check out the exhibit.