Listen to a conversation between a student and an art professor.
Hi. Dr. Morten. I'm Karen Stern. I met you briefly about a year ago when I was applying to the university.You were on a panel of professors and you were talking about the art department.
Ah...and you are now a student here.I guess I said the right thing.
Yeah. Right now I am doing the intro-courses in the art department, but I am really interested in painting.
Well, I teach several of the painting courses so I hope to see you in the future.
Actually I was wondering: you are in charge of student art exhibitions at the university gallery, right?
Right!
So I know all the exhibitors are students, but I was wondering how you choose the works you exhibit every month. Is there like a submission process or something?Now, there is a submission process, yes.We a have gallery review committee, but we already have our exhibitions planned for the rest of the schoolyear.Generally our exhibitors are third- and fourth-year students, well into their coursework.
Oh; Well, I guess that will be something to look forward to then.Tell me, do you show all kinds of paintings?
Well, actually we started doing something different with the gallery this year.We are featuring a specific technique each month.Next month's exhibition, for instance, will feature drip paintings.
Really? Like Jackson Pollock?
Ah....so you are familiar with Pollock's work.
Well, sort of, though I've only seen photographs of it.I know he dripped paint onto the canvas instead of using a brush.I read he stretched out his canvases on the floor of a studio and then he climbed up on a ladder to pour paint, ordinary house paint, from a can onto the canvas.
That's right. That was characteristic of Pollock in the late forties, in what we call his drip period.And the object was to produce a constant stream of paint to create continuous lines, because as you know when you use a brush directly on a canvas you get broken lines.So, you like Pollock.
Yeah, I do. I like abstract works in general.There's a class on abstract art, right?
Actually I teach that class and drip painting was one of our themes last year. Some students from last year's class have continued experimenting with it and created some incredible pieces using everything from squeezed bottles to computer controlled sprayers.
Do they look a lot like Pollock's work?
Well, our goal wasn't to imitate Jackson Pollock.The object was to get students to look at different ways of applying paint to a canvas.But you don't have to enroll in a specific course to be invited to exhibit your work.It just has to fit the theme for one of our exhibitions.