Waves of sweet basil, the feeling of grains beneath one's feet and soil buried deep into the cracks and crevices of the skin are all forms of art, according to two UF fine arts students.
With their art installation, "Opposing Growth," Rachael Kerley, 29, a student in the department of art and technology, and Giang Lien Pham, 25, a sculpture student, hope to change the average perception of art.
The exhibit, which is held in the art gallery on the second floor of the Reitz Union, begins at 7 p.m. today.
Guests are welcome to smell and taste herbs, walk barefoot across exhibits and take home sprouts growing hydroponically in recovered water bottles.
"You're not a detached viewer anymore," Kerley said. "We're inviting action, and in that we are highlighting that action as art."
The exhibit comprises five pieces all intertwined by themes of life, nature and society. One of the pieces, an herb garden, represents the trend of urban gardening and a return to knowing food and where it is coming from.
One of the main inspirations behind the exhibit was the lack of human interaction with the environment.
"It's alive, and our connection to it is dwindling," Kerley said. "That is a big part of the thread that runs through each piece: trying to connect to this living entity all around us."
After collaborating on previous projects, Kerley and Pham realized they had similar goals and views regarding contemporary and instillation art and wanted to showcase this viewpoint to the Gainesville community.
The artists feel so strongly about the human interaction involved with their work that they were happy to find someone had walked across one of the exhibits, leaving footprints in the soil.
"I really like works that are interactive and works that the audience can touch and feel," Pham said. "We always have this idea that art should be portioned off, or roped off and viewed from a distance, but I like the intimate experience."
The exhibit will remain open to the public, free of charge, until Sept. 13.
"I want to make this exhibition opening an event," Pham said. "It's not just another opening where you go and view it, and the art is just passive. This is an event, and there is something happening."
Art in an interactive exhibit titled "Opposing Growth" is displayed in the gallery on the second floor of the Reitz Union. The exhibit will be open to the public until Sept. 13. Read the full story on Page 4.
