Panem et circenses is the buzzword that is going around in the University Gallery and it focuses on the instillation piece titled “Slices”.
“The title of the piece is ‘Slices’, which is what they call cat scans, because it is a cross section, but it also applies to slices of life and slices of reality,” said Brenda Feher-Simonelli, Gee library assistant and artist.
As far as the floor and the Latin phrase go, according to Feher-Simonelli, she received the word through her daily subscription to the Oxford English dictionary online.
“It’s so serendipitous that this word that describes the piece so well and came to me on the day of the opening,” said Feher-Simonelli. “The floor is supposed to be in a state of flux for the duration so I can manipulate it however I want it to be. “
“It’s multi-layered so there is a play on words in this piece,” commented Feher-Simonelli. “I have a book, and I write and draw at the same time so if you love words, you love playing with words and what they mean and how you can apply them to your visual vocabulary.”
An instillation piece means the viewers are also participants.
This piece is about opposites, so you can walk around both the inside and the outside of the exhibit.
The piece combines fabric, acrylic paint and chalk dust, which has been placed on the floor to allow movement for the piece.
“The white images are human cat scans and they are of the mid-abdominal region, which is symbolic in itself,” said Feher-Simonelli. “Certain parts have been eliminated and other parts have been exaggerated, so they aren’t photo real. They are another method of photography but instead of usual portrait photography, it’s of the inside instead of the outside.”
“The Latin phrase panem et circenses means ‘bread and entertainment,’ which is what the Romans used to appease the masses, feeding them bread to prevent uprisings and such,” said Feher-Simonelli.
According to the artist, each piece for the most part symbolizes pleasure, recreation and abundance. It combines positive things with the scans, which are really symbols of pain.
“It’s that contrast between the two images and motifs,” said Feher-Simonelli.
There are also design elements that come into play and when designing something like this you keep things such as repetition in mind, explained the artist.
“This piece has the repetition of circular motion to it, just like when you have a cat scan, it is a circular motion. The viewers go in a circular motion while viewing the piece,” said Feher-Simonelli.
“You also have rectangles that are repeated in the gallery itself, the tapestries and the shadows”
The artist earned a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pa., as well as studying abroad at the Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.
“I have always liked to make things,” said Feher-Simonelli. “The whole space is the piece of art that combines theatre, sculpture, paint, and fabric. It’s about the people leaving their traces behind.”
The university gallery will be hosting “Slices” through Thursday, Feb. 8 and is open Monday through Friday 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. or by appointment.
The university gallery show is free to the public and to the student body.