The art installation people the We is seen in ghostly green light through the windows of Sibley Hall. (Anson Wigner / AAP) Campus & Beyond Peek Inside the Galleries at AAP’s Freedom of Expression Show Stories You May Like For Some Cornellians, It’s a Big Red ‘Biennale’ in Venice Works of Art, Inside and Out: The Johnson Museum at 50 At the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection, History Is Always in Style The exhibition of works by students, faculty, alumni, and others is a highlight of the University's 2023–24 theme year By Beth Saulnier A wooden "mobile library" showcasing banned books. A brightly hued fabric installation that evokes the Latinx experience, on the Hill and beyond. A piece of silent performance art comprising live writing on a blank white canvas by its two creators. These and many other thought-provoking works have been on display in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning's galleries during the month of March for the Cornell Council for the Arts' Freedom of Expression Exhibition. Viewers take in Reflexiones by architecture student Osiel Aldaba ’26. (Jason Koski / Cornell University) Mounted in various galleries in AAP, the show is among the major events of the University's first-ever theme year: "The Indispensable Condition: Freedom of Expression at Cornell." (Other events have included a fashion exhibit in Human Ecology and a performance of the opera Scalia / Ginsburg—inspired by the friendship, despite stark ideological differences, between Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54. Currently underway: a competition to create a theme-year ice cream flavor!) Tim Green ’24 (left) and Milan Taylor ’24 present their performance art piece Memorandum of Understanding during the exhibition's opening reception. The piece consists of them communicating via writing on canvas—for hours at a time—while visitors observe. (Jason Koski / Cornell University) The show features more than a dozen works by students, faculty, alumni, and other contributors—drawn from nearly 50 submissions—in a variety of media including painting, fabric, video, 3D printing, and performance art. In Bookmark for Freedom Pages, a wooden sculpture doubles as a shelf displaying banned books on a variety of topics—both commenting on the danger of book bans and suggesting a practical way to defy them. Stories You May Like For Some Cornellians, It’s a Big Red ‘Biennale’ in Venice Works of Art, Inside and Out: The Johnson Museum at 50 A work titled people the We comprises video installations, a reimagined American flag, and a large, reordered depiction of the first three words of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. "Who belongs and who doesn’t?" it asks, according to the exhibition's online catalog. "Whose dreams are whose nightmares? How can notions of nationhood be projected as a process rather than a settled thing, place, or entity?" Beauty Standards by Michele Cheng ’25 & Seiyoung Jang.Bookmark for Freedom Pages by Victoria Lee ’26.A view of photos titled Bywalker by PhD candidate Nicolau Spadoni, from inside Echo Chamber by visiting critics Emma Silverblatt & Ryan Whitby.Data Tactics, Information Control, and Colonization Strategies in the Data Center Technocene by teaching fellow Eduardo Cilleruelo Terán.people the We by MFA student Adrian Aguilera & Betelhem Makonnen.The Braided Garden (foreground) by Chiedza Musiiwa ’25 & master's student Mia Wang.The Lexicon of Freedom by MFA student Sopheak Sam.The Civic Playground Project by faculty members Leighton Beaman & Zaneta Hong.A detail of Dialectics by teaching fellow Imani Day ’11.Barbie (foreground) by Fabia St-Juste ’24. The video installation Beauty Standards contemplates how Asian women are often sexualized by the Western gaze, while Barbie comprises (among other items) issues of a glossy, high-fashion-style magazine created by a student as a way of entering a space historically closed to Black people and immigrants. “We invite you to consider the practice of free expression and envision a world without it,” says exhibit coordinator Tina DuBois. “What might become of creativity? Would authentic art cease to exist?” Top: The art installation people the We is seen in ghostly green light through the windows of Sibley Hall. All photos by Anson Wigner / AAP, unless indicated. Published March 27, 2024 Comments A. Lehman 7 Apr, 2024 This exhibit, as described here, is saturated with the identity – oppression narrative. As such, in stark contrast to the name of the exhibit, it reflects a single oppressive point of view. Perhaps this is because of what the writers chose to highlight— let us hope Cornell is better than this. Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Campus & Beyond Institute of Politics and Global Affairs Wrestles with Today’s Thorniest Issues Bear Hugs With Online Clothing Business, Nigerian-Born Alum Gives Back Campus & Beyond Economist Works to Reduce Surging Rates of Gun Violence