'Tethered Fragments' unites Mason Gross artists in spectacular showcase

The Undergraduate Annual Exhibition, a long-running tradition for the student artists of Mason Gross School of the Arts, opened its doors to the public on October 21. The reception occurred just three days later, celebrating all students who contributed to the show from the art and design program.

This semester, the theme and name of the show is "Tethered Fragments." With this title, students created a display of artworks that showcase all the small elements of humanity that make us human, or the "fragments" that are all "tethered", or connected, inside of us. This was decided in a cooperative effort between all of the senior thesis classes this semester, including students from the fine arts program and the design program.

With such a wide range of styles and materials, it was important that they chose a subject that each artist would be able to make something for. This way, each student could have the opportunity to show off their personal style, but not in a way that made the show seem incohesive. With each artwork being an interpretation of one theme, the exhibition was diverse, but not disconnected — the artists were working toward the same goal, in their own way.

To elaborate on the theme, the seniors divided the show into nine distinct sections that branch off the main idea of "Tethered Fragments": conflict, human psyche, experienced perspectives, memory, nostalgia, the spectrum of personhood, alternative realities and fictional stories, verdancy and influx.

Each theme has its own room, with all the artworks in that area. The rooms flow into each other through wide, open doorways, showing their connectivity. That way, visitors can see the smaller themes as separate entities, but understand how they all work together. 

At the entrance, visitors are first given a map of the 10 themed rooms, as well as a packet with the names of each work of art and artist in a room. These papers are works of art themselves, created by graphic design students.

Unlike traditional art galleries, where the viewer simply looks at each work while walking around, many of the artworks in "Tethered Fragments" are interactive. One of the first artworks encountered is "Dance: A Visual Experience" by Sierra Weitz, a Mason Gross senior, where viewers are invited to put plastic bags over their shoes, step in paint, put on complimentary headphones and dance on a platform decorated with the words, "Dance on me."

An installation from Jake Gorrie, a Mason Gross senior, titled "What Do You Wanna Be When You Grow Up?" allowed visitors to take an unmarked bag, containing three "trading cards" that depict careers like doctor, teacher or artist. Sammi Wu, another Mason Gross senior, cultivated "How does your emotion LOOK like?" an emotional questionnaire that gave visitors different colored circles that they then printed out and put up together on a wall.

All of these displays allowed the viewer to become a part of the art, helping to create it or taking something away from it.

The fine arts were not neglected, either. The show contained many impressively detailed and abstract works in oil paint, pastels, acrylic paint and colored pencils.

These Rutgers artists show an innovation that sparks hope for the future of art, as they incorporate modern technology to create interactive experiences while also perfecting the traditional fine arts.

Not only does the exhibition give an excellent show to visitors, it also gives the young artists the valuable experience of having their work displayed in a gallery. Creating work for a specific show or theme is something that artists will need to do after they graduate, so this experience allows them to develop skills that will transfer into their careers outside of Rutgers.

Kaitlyn MacDonald, a Mason Gross senior, highlighted the feeling of accomplishment she gained with each showcase.

"As a senior, I feel very complete. I feel like I gained what I could through Mason Gross and will continue to do so in the spring," MacDonald said. "I'm very excited for the spring one, because we're going to have the rest of this semester and all of next semester to complete full-on projects, so that we can leave Mason Gross feeling accomplished."

There's also a room at the exhibition with students' works of art being auctioned off, allowing them the opportunity to sell their work. With these real-world experiences, Mason Gross is making sure that its students have the tools and the portfolio they need to succeed.

But, simply looking at the work can't capture what it's like to actually be at the show, which will be open until Wednesday. The exhibition, located in the Mason Gross Galleries on Livingston Avenue, just a short walk from the SoCam 290 Apartments bus stop.

It's free to attend, and even if you don't leave with a new decoration for your apartment, you'll leave with a new understanding of Mason Gross students and what they are capable of.