Red meat is rarely seen on the plates of Friday diners in Louisiana, and it is certainly never seen on the window panes of their houses. One Midtown house was an exception this past Friday. It hosted The Nine: Give It Up, Give In, a one-night art show by nine, mostly graduate, student artists. The residence was artistically transformed by Tyler Mackie, Lindsey Maestri, Kenneth Lantz, Jimmy Quadros, Cara Kearns, Mallory Feltz, David Carpenter, Japheth Storlie and Cody Arnall. Windowpanes were aglow with the images of assorted meats, a bear dangled the entrails of small children from the ceiling and pasta flowed out the kitchen sink and onto the floor in what seemed to otherwise be a normal studio apartment. Tyler Mackie, studio art graduate student and owner of the apartment, said she wanted to blur the lines between where art started and household objects began. “I just liked the idea of artists coming together and installing in a domestic space,” she said. Danielle Wheeler, Show spectator and University alumna said she enjoyed the fact that she could walk around the space. “It’s definitely less constrained than other shows,” she said. Each of the nine artists claimed a space in the apartment and created a related installation on the theme of “Give It Up, Give In.” That phrase, also printed on souvenir underwear, encapsulated the theme of excess and denial, Mackie said. When planning the show date, she said those themes fit perfectly with the idea of Mardi Gras and Lent. “After Mardi Gras seemed like a good time because we’re in that recovery from excess,” she said. That is also why photography graduate student Japheth Storlie decided on the meat installation. He originally intended to tease his fellow vegetarian artists, and the show’s date on the first Friday of Lent provided more incentive. “Some of The Nine are vegetarian, and I started out by just teasing them,” he said. “I like to josh with people about their beliefs.” Jimmy Quadros, student in residence with a degree in sculpture, had a different take on the idea of excess for his piece entitled “Inconsequential Bear.” With two childlike dolls lying in a chair, having their insides ripped out by a skeletal ceiling bear, he said his inspiration came from the idea of time wasted staring at the ceiling. Quadros said he would like to see more artists getting involved outside the traditional gallery setting. “There really aren’t that many spaces available to artists in Baton Rouge,” he said. “We’re really hoping to inspire people to do shows like this.” He said he would like to see undergraduates get involved and that shows are not demographic or school specific. “We’re very interested in invigorating the arts community,” he said. “I think Baton Rouge is on the cusp of becoming something great.” Mackie said underground shows like this one are very important for the city. On her refrigerator was a quote by author Jed Perl. “In a world where the art market seems to have more intellectual cachet than art itself, there may be nothing more difficult than finding a way for artists and audiences to come together and actually, simply, look at art.” Mackie said The Nine plan to do another house show in April.
—-Contact Lauren Walck at [email protected]