STREET BEAT

Why did you choose Pierce?

When it comes to the work of a\\ Erika Lizée, art is not merely bound to a typical canvas, and at Pierce College’s Art Gallery, ”Gazing into the Great Unknown,” helps turn the gallery itself into an art piece.

Lizée, a Chicago-born artist, now resides in the San Fernando Valley and has worked on many projects ranging from paintings, drawings and, more recently, a combination between a 2-D painting and a 3-D installation.

One of Lizée’s most notable installations is a piece titled “Transfiguration,” located at the Los Angeles International Airport. It is a combination of painting and installation, while having an aspect of symmetry as well.

Monika Ramirez Wee, the Pierce College gallery director, hosted “Gazing Into The Great Unknown,” as well as a large reception on Sept. 13 where many inquiries could speak to Lizée, as a means to encourage and inspire Pierce College’s many art students.

“The reason why I selected it was because I thought it would be something interesting for our students to see,” Wee said. “I liked the fact that it was combining both installation and painting. We teach painting, we teach sculptor, we teach ceramics and I thought ‘Oh, this is a way students could see something I could do.’”

Opened to public viewing on Aug. 27, the work itself, built upon themes as perception, transforms the gallery into an otherworldly place, where the painting leaps from one part of the wall and seeps into another.

“Yeah, it’s that idea of installation work really,” Lizée said. “You go into a space and (for me) I’m making the work, and the work changes based on the space. So it’s always kind of interesting to see how people come into that space and how the work impacts them, especially when they are familiar with that space and then kind of seeing ‘Oh, this is different."

The piece itself was installed in the gallery within a two week period in July, utilizing help from students to build the project under Lizée’s guidance. Jesse Johnson, one of the Gallery Assistants, was thoroughly interested by the project due its uniqueness.

“It’s super interesting,” Johnson said. “In my opinion, it’s really different than other galleries, because at other galleries there might be a picture, and then you walk, and there is another picture, but you walk in here and it’s the full on wall, it goes all the way around. Honestly, you don’t know where it starts or ends.” dmalone.roundupnews@gmail.com

However, the gallery not only brought in attendants of the exhibition and reception, but also curious students like Daniel Tupper.

“I noticed the door was cracked and I wanted to see what was happening inside,” Tupper said. “Then I saw Jesse over here, and he said ‘Come on in’. It was very warm and welcoming and then I saw the shapes and it caught my attention”, Tupper said.

While being up for some time now, the exhibit “Gazing Into The Great Unknown” will only last until Sept. 27 before being retrofitted once again.

Joshua Becker, an astronomy tutor, decided to help out with the event the first time he took astronomy. Since then he has become an astronomy tutor and has been one for four semesters.

“Saturn is usually the coolest, just because all the different things you get to see on it. You can see the different layers in its clouds, you get to see its moon Titan, and then the moon Enceladus clearing out a ring through its larger rings,” Becker said.

Fabian Chavez, a biology major, discovered the event through his friend. Chavez has never looked at stars through a telescope before.

“I see it all the time [the moon] but I’ve never seen it through a telescope. So, using the telescope will be pretty cool. I’ve never used one,” Chavez said.

“When we were walking up I saw like a, I don’t know if it was a shooting star or comet. I saw it and I was like ‘wow, that's pretty cool’ I saw it coming up in the parking lot.” Chavez said.

The next Telescope night will take place on Nov. 15 at 6 p.m.

The astrony Program also has two planetarium shows planned for the semester. The shows are two hours long, and have limited seating for 48 in the planetarium.

The shows will take place inside the planetarium, the big blue dome, on Wednesday, Oct. 17 from 4 to 6 p.m. and Friday, Dec. 7 from 5 to 7 p.m.

The show offers audience participation, with the second half open to questions. Doors open 15-minutes before show times, and seating is on a first-come first-served basis.