Artistic interpretations come together within the confines of Ohio State’s Hopkins Hall in its recent art exhibition displaying the impassioned work of two talented men.
Assistant professor of design Jeffrey Haase reveals his year-long exploration of OSU’s eminent Oval with a multi-sensory design exhibition while esteemed theatrics artist Leandro Soto displays his mythical, yet political, Cuban artwork.
Haase uses an alternative technique to convey an essence of The Oval many at OSU take for granted with his “The Oval: Perceptual Sensorium” exhibition.
“This environment needed to be researched,” Haase said during the exhibition’s opening discussion Monday night. “We think of The Oval as a place, but our personal mapping of the area relies on many more things than we think we perceive.”
Haas takes advantage of the senses with his artistic interpretation of the heart of the university.
Nearly 800 photograms, pressed with autumn leaves from The Oval, line the walls of the exhibition room as sounds of airplanes and student traffic echo in ears, giving the sense of actually being on The Oval.
Haase calls The Oval “the footprinted soul of OSU.” Part of his Sensorium exhibition includes a video which shows Haase walking along a string that outlines The Oval’s “boundaries.” A mile or more of string lies in the center of the exhibition room, surrounded by piles of leaves and debris, giving off a damp autumn aroma.
“It’s interesting because the debris organizes itself as scattered as humans do,” Haase said. “Even the photograms curl each day as the leaves do.”
From sunbathing to hacky sack to classes in the sunshine, The Oval remains a central area for OSU’s student population today.
Although the name dates back to 1893, when a master plan of the campus proposed a central open space, the name did not become official until 1929.
Historic and visual values are also evident in Leandro Soto’s “Radical Cuban Theatre” exhibition, which shares Hopkins’ space with Haas’ Oval. Soto will be in residence during November with the OSU Department of Theatre. Soto, who left his native Cuba in the late 1980s, moved to Mexico and then made his way to the United States.
After a trip back to Cuba, Soto saw how unfair the politics and lifestyles were for his people and decided to make an artistic representation of their struggles within his art.
“It’s about freedoms,” Soto said. “After I went back, I saw how hard it was, and returned to the U.S. vowing to never let my freedoms go again.”
Soto’s political character in his theatric art, Liborio, represents a survivor of the Cuban people who will never escape to freedom, but who strives for a life within the economic ups and downs.
“He represents those without possibilities,” Soto said. “It is sad, but it is true.”
His artwork mixes Cuban culture with politics and myths with a dash of American pop-cultural influence. Soto’s brilliant blues and character drawings illuminate the walls of Hopkins Hall Corridor. Soto made a permanent donation to the gallery, with his glass-cased piece titled “Liborio wants to escape.”
The gallery exhibitions, “The Oval: Perceptual Sensorium” and “Radical Cuban Theatre,” will be presented free to the public through Nov. 15 in Hopkins Hall, 128 N. Oval Mall. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. More details are available at 292-5072.
