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New installations to open in Anderson Gallery
By KRISTIN E.M. RIEMER
Reporter Contributor
Two new exhibitions by UB master of fine arts students—"Brain Wash, a video installation by Pei-Yun Lee, and "The Talking Cure," the installation of a graphic novel written and designed by Christopher Mostyn, will open in UB's Anderson Gallery on April 8.
From "The Talking Cure," 2004, Christopher Mostyn
Both installations will open with a reception from 6-8:30 p.m. and will remain on view in the second-floor gallery through May 9. Autographed copies of the Mostyn novel will be available for sale during the reception. Both installations are free and open to the public.
The installation "Brain Wash" videotaped moments in which Pei-Yun Lee spent lying in the waters off Grand Island and northern Taiwan last December.
"I simply lay there and let the frigid waves brush against me," says Lee, who was born and raised in Taipei and has been living in Buffalo since 2002. "My hair would move with the rhythm of the current, and after five or six minutes, I would emerge from the water, just as my body was becoming still and numb. The choice to experience water during winter was painful, but it left me with an everlasting impression," she relates.
From "Brain Wash," video still, 2003, Peiyun Lee
"Brain Wash" documents these moments in the water and the artist's search for balance between two cultural experiences. Audio accompanying the video features Lee speaking in both English and Chinese. Throughout the English segments, she lists the new things that she has learned while living in Buffalo. In contrast, the Chinese segments are a series of jokes.
Lee has been a graduate teaching assistant in the UB Department of Art for the past two years. She holds a bachelor's degree in photography from Shih Hsin University in Taipei.
Her installations and performances have been exhibited in the UB Art Department Gallery, Hallwalls, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, and the Visual Space Gallery in Taipei. "Brain Wash" is her first solo installation in the United States.
Christopher Mostyn's "The Talking Cure" consists of a 40-page book printed on monochromatic blue pages that has been installed in the gallery along a painted pattern of roots originating from a central tree.
The novel's storyline revolves around an argument between a pessimistic robot and an unidentified optimist. Through their narrative, the two explore the rationalizations used to support extreme attitudes about life. For some, it is blind optimism that ignores the harsh realities of life; for others, it is grim pessimism that filters out the beauty and blessings in each day.
Mostyn explains that "The Talking Cure" represents in many ways his desire to relate his Biblical understanding to the reality of his everyday experiences. "I have joked that I am a pessimist with optimistic tendencies," he says. "I want to believe the best about people, but I know too many people. For me, this work was about trying to figure out what I could about my own attitude."
Mostyn studied art and design from 1987-89 at Monroe Community College before transferring to Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Mo., where he received a bachelor's degree in 1994 and a master's degree in biblical studies in 2000. He is pursuing a master of fine arts degree at UB.
Mostyn has worked as an illustrator and muralist since 1990. Group exhibitions include shows at the Mercer Gallery in Rochester, the UB Art Department Gallery and the One-Hour Gallery in Buffalo. "The Talking Cure" is his first solo exhibition.
The UB Anderson Gallery, Center for Museum Studies, is located on Martha Jackson Place, off Englewood Avenue near the South Campus. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday,