Hammer’s ‘wasteland’-themed Arts Party considers material reuse, artistic inspiration
"Students touched prickly plants to inform their swirls of black ink at the Hammer Museum’s annual Arts Party.
Dominic Fike headlined this year's Arts Party at the Hammer Museum. "Wasteland" marks the second year the annual event has included live music for attending students. (Anirudh Keni/Daily Bruin) Students from around Southern California came together Friday night to explore the museum’s galleries and participate in student-led workshops. The event also included poetry readings, DJs and live music. This year’s theme, “Wasteland,” centered the night on issues concerning climate change, eco-friendly lifestyles and reusing materials in artwork, said Jarrett Lampley, fourth-year design media arts student and member of the Arts Party student planning committee.
“’Wasteland’ is kind of reusing different things, and different ways of repurposing materials,” Lampley said. “Whether they were found or thrown away or whatever it may be, and that’s kind of what a lot of the artists are doing too, they’re creating.”
A portion of the event highlighted the waste produced from overindulgence in a world of mass consumerism, said fourth-year English student Katheryne Castillo, another member of the Arts Party committee. However, Castillo said the event also celebrated sustainable practices – in particular, the reusing of products that would otherwise go to waste.
Lampley said many of the artists, as well as the musical performers, drew from pre-existing materials or art, playing into the concept of reuse. Lawrence Jung, who goes by west1ne DJ, takes popular songs and remixes them with house music, Lampley said. The committee selected artist Dominic Fike as the headliner because of his changes to pop music and unconventional ideas, with a hazy sound and screeches to conclude songs, he said.
“I think (the artists’ works) revolve around the idea of questioning different institutions … in the context of music, somebody that’s questioning what pop music is and kind of restructuring that,” Lampley said."— Katelyn Olsen, Apr. 20, 2019
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Daily Bruin website.
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