Photograph by George Sakkestad
Vivian Lac, a De Anza College student, examines an assemblage on view at Euphrat Museum,
part of "Heartwork: Creating Something Together."
By Lester Chang
Many people think artists toil in solitude to create beauty. That image couldn't be further from the truth for artists tied to the Artship Foundation and Augustino Dance Theater, whose work is showcased in "Heartwork: Creating Something Together," an exhibit at the Euphrat Museum at De Anza College.
Most of the Oakland group's work, which includes a CD-ROM connected to the Internet and props from plays and paintings, fuses the energy and creativity of artists and individuals from around the world.
Collaboration has emerged as a pioneering art form, according to literature at the exhibit. In many instances, people came together with no notion of what they wanted to create, yet they departed later with an art project built on unity and planning.
Artship Foundation, started in 1988, combines art, sculpture, storytelling, performance and dance and sees art as a way to "awaken, inspire and aspire," according to literature which is part of the exhibit.
It also uses art as a political tool. Through community plays, the foundation has brought art and beauty to inner-city kids. It also has worked with local government to reclaim the Oakland waterfront.
Many of the themes push the notion that difference is acceptable. That idea comes across in the museum exhibit, in which the group's 10 or so presentations seem to have no common theme.
At the same time, depending on one's perspective, the pieces could suggest ideas about life, death and man's impact on earth.
The exhibit also features artwork depicting the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II and the retaking of federal land in Hollister by a Native American woman.
Also showcased are paintings of Chinese artist Zhunwang Zhao, whose large mural depicting life in Cupertino hangs in City Hall, a gift to the city.
A walk through the exhibit can be likened to finding a treasure chest and picking through the compelling treasures.
Hung prominently on a wall are two neon-framed computer graphic posters created by Oden Santiago for the play Growing Up Invisible, which dealt with the lives and struggles of the common man and woman.
Collaborating for the play, Augusto Ferriols, a founding member of the dance group, sketched faces to help people to gain insight into the characters and to relive their experiences.
Another group piece features two altars of twigs, a circular pink-colored cloth with tadpole-shaped copper pieces, bread, spoons, shells, dried fruits and paintings.
What visitors may glean from the display will depend on their artistic perspective, said curator Jan Rindfleisch.
The altars may represent a cave or a coat, suggesting that either would provide protection against the elements; the cloth could represent a cathedral rose window; and the swirling tadpoles might represent people, animals or objects passing through time, Rindfleisch suggested.
A vest made of 32 multicolored wool gloves might point to the collaborative slant of the group and the exhibit. Artist Ferriols created the vest for a project that put artwork in storefronts at Jack London Square in Oakland.
Another eyecatching piece is a sedan chair created by Slobodan Dan Paich for an ancient Chinese dance in which a disabled woman dancer becomes a woman of the future.
Another presentation, "It's Gonna Take More than a Crane," focuses on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and suggests the futility of nations to solve world problems through nuclear might.
The display, a collaborative effort by Ellen Beep, L. Tomi Kobara and Norine Nishimura, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the bombings.
It includes a ball of wire, and thousands of folded white paper placed on a sheet of plastic with rock salt. The words "It's Gonna Take More than a Crane" are scrawled on a wall above.
The crane carries significant meaning in Japanese folklore. According to Japanese tradition, a person who folds 1,000 origami paper cranes will have his or her wish come true.
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr commemorates the plight of one Hiroshima victim, 12-year-old Sadako Sasaki, who died as a result of radiation from the bombing. She folded 644 paper cranes before she died in 1955. Her classmates folded the remainder. Sadako has become a heroine to Japanense children because of her struggle.
"The artists are basically saying that that it will take more than folding cranes to solve the issue of nuclear war," Rindfleisch said.
Another exhibit with a political slant is "Indian Canyon," a pictorial and informational display documenting the federal government's return of 123 acres in Hollister to the Costanoan Indians, the indigenous people of the area.
One of the recipients of the land, Ann-Marie Sayers, and others have recreated a Costanoan village that includes a sweat lodge, a garden and a roundhouse.
A collaborative display features the painted photographs of Lissa Jones and Curtis Fukuda, who explore the mysteries of spirit, life and death. The twosome traveled often to Mexico to document life in Oaxaca and focused on the Dia de los Muertos (the Day of Dead) bread and flowers.
Through his work, Fukuda, who grew up in East San Jose, said he found "commonality" between the rituals of Asian and Hispanic culture.
A reception will be held at the museum, on the campus of De Anza College, between 6 to 8 p.m. on March 14.
This article appeared in the Cupertino Courier, March 13, 1996
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.