Stairwell display carries totems’ spiritual power
By Came Dennett
fm«jfa<d Associate i.d>tor
Anyone who has used the
CMC Ballroom staircase this
month has probably noticed an
unusual art piece in the me//a
nine display case
The pint e has four white
panels set m .1 black back
ground and each panel has cut
outs of photos from fashion and
business magazines When a
light shines from behind each
successive panel, observers can
see what lies on the other side
of the photo
The piece's title Is "Totems,"
because the eai h panel's im
ages are stacked in totem form,
an idea not uncommon in ari,
said John Chapman, ihr artist
who crated and installed the
piece
Chapman said lie is not an
expert on the subject, but N'.i
live A merit an totems usually
ini orporated images of animals
and mythological 1 nurtures,
carrying a .spiritual;power
Advertising and capitalism
carries that kind of spiritual
power now. he said
Chapman said some observ
ers might think he pasted to
gether two magazine photos to
get the desired effet t, but w hat
shows through from the other
side is exactly how he found it
m the magazines
‘The ways that
magazines
advertise suggest
that we desire
certain things for
our bodies. The
media have a
tendency to
corrupt our own
sense of desire.’
John Champrnan,
mstanation-format artist
I think that its truthfulness
is i entral to the piece, he said
' ! h.ui to hunt, hut I didn't hunt
that hard
Advertising and the media
can have a powerful effec ! on
our society. Chapman said
The wavs that magazines
advertise suggest that we desire
certain things for our bodies.''
he said 'The media have a ten
dency to corrupt our own sense
of desire
Chapman said humans natu
rally desire things such as food,
shelter and companionship, but
media images lead humans to
desire material goods
In capitalist societies. Chap
man said, people become like
products, and products become
like people When people start
to think of objects as having
human qualities, they become
like the objects
For example, the piece in
cludes a picture of a woman
crouched down that reveals a
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sports i iir when lit from be
hind
Chapman also points to one
cutout photo of .1 woman's eye
When the light shines through,
several eyeliner pencils show
through Another cutout shows
a woman's painted lips
"Is the makeup there to make
.1 belter person, or is the person
there to sell makeup7'" he asks
Although he is trying to ex
pose some of what he thinks
are advertisers motives. Chap
man does not think he is doing
a disservice to advertisers "I
don't think they are aware of
what shines through the page,
he said
(Chapman said he rarely
watches television or looks at
magazines, and is always sur
prised when he does at "how
much the image ante gets
upped
"I've stolen all these pu turns
to use them against themselves
the wav they are used against
us.' he said
Chapman said he has heard
people complain that "Totems
has tiKi many images to look at.
vet he had hoped to int lude
more
1 would have liked there to
in' more images of militarism
twhmd the IxHfit's. and images
ot sickness, espet iully AIDS,
ho said
In 19.90, (Ihupman created
and installed l ight Bar k l ight
AIDS a trrn|iorarv mural fur
the front outside KMU stair
well Tho work hung for two
months tieforo it was irrepara
blv damaged hv vandals
( hapman Is an installation
format artist, designing and in
stalling pieces for spe< ifi< sites
fry invitation
I like transforming a spate
Ill'll W UK nv ev IT \ < 1.1 \
he said 'Offering them .1 trails
formed spin i' (jin's ihiMii .1
sense of surprise 'iinl possdul
nv "
Exhibits like "Totems rv
pose Chapman's work. to .1
broader uudlerue tli.m would
norni.illv attend an exhibit at
an art gallery
Chapman is a former Culver
sitv student who ended Ills
studies three r redds short ol a
hai helor of line arts in visual
design
I learned what I needed to
learn." he said
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