UC Berkeley Art Practice
Department of Art Practice at UC Berkeley

optimal

Worth Ryder Art Gallery | Class of 2023 First Year Show

OPTIMAL CONDITIONS

Works by: Irma Barbosa, Gericault De La Rose, Eniola Fakile, Juniper Harrower, Fei Pan, Tiare Ribeaux and Samuel Wildman, curated by Tausif Noor.

Curatorial Statement

Optimal Conditions presents works of M.F.A candidates in their first year of creative research and practice at the UC Berkeley Department of Art Practice. The exhibit explores themes of contingency and the limits of objectivity through sculpture, installation, video, and performance, unraveling dichotomies between empirical investigation and affective modes of knowledge production; fact and fantasy; visibility and erasure; and inherited traditions and self-actualization. Repurposing of ancestral mythologies, technological procedures, ordinary objects, and their own memories and experiences, the artists in Optimal Conditions assert that a shift in perspective and an attunement to the subtleties and complexities that exist in both the real world and in our most fantastical desires allows us to thrive in a present tense, one that may never offer an “ideal” state of conditions.

The exhibit is in the Department’s Worth Ryder Gallery at the Anthro and Art Practice Building (map).

Opening: Jan 26, 4-7 pm. To attend in person, please register here for a staggered visit time slot.
Refreshments will be available outdoors at Platform ArtSpace.

Open Hours: Jan. 26 to Feb. 17 2022, Mondays - Thursdays, 12 PM to 5 PM, or by appointment.
No reservations required, only one person or pod admitted at a time.

Performances:

Locations: The Worth Ryder Art Gallery is on the ground floor of the Anthropology and Art Practice Building on the UC Berkeley Campus, near the intersection of College and Bancroft Ave, Berkeley, CA 94720.

Platform ArtSpace
Bauer Wurster Hall, South Courtyard
UC Berkeley Campus

Catalog: Download pdfs of the soft copy and reviews.

Gericault De La Rose, In Between, 2022. Plywood, wax, fabric.

Irma Yuliana Barbosa, Ternura means tenderness, 2021. Mixed Media installation with found objects.

Fei Pan, Alternative Hypothesis of Science  # 01: 6 Ways of Moon Gazing, 2021. New media installation: Video, metal, PLA, mirror, eyepiece, finderscope. 

Fei Pan, Alternative Hypothesis of Science #02: Random Access Memory (RAM), 2021. New media installation: Video, metal. 

Fei Pan, Alternative Hypothesis of Science #03: Stories that have nothing to do with time, 2021. New media installation: Frames, moving images, code, sound.

Juniper Harrower, Disrupted Symbiosis, 2021. Acrylic, ink, Joshua tree seed oil, Joshua tree charcoal, pastel, string, on rag cotton watercolor paper and framed with jackrabbit homestead salvaged wood, 16”x20”.

Juniper Harrower, Pioneer Species, 2022. Salvaged wood, silk, ink, wire, sand, stone, grow light, Joshua trees, variable dimensions.

Juniper Harrower, Joshua Tree Death Dance, 2021. 3:50. Music arranged and performed by Jacob Harrower.

Samuel Wildman, A Small Domestic Crisis: Air Filter and Half n Half, 2021. Air filter, led flame bulb, ceramic tile, porcelain repair epoxy, 24”x30”x52”.

Samuel Wildman, A Small Domestic Crisis: Xmas Tree and Toilet Paper Holder, 2021. Nightlight, ceramic tile, christmas tree stand and ornaments, toilet paper and holder, branch from invasive species, 50”x28”x106”.

Samuel Wildman, A Small Domestic Crisis: Built Near the Water #3, 2021. Cardboard box, subway tile, bath fixture, drain, water pump, pvc pipes, 12”x12”x24.”

Samuel Wildman, A Small Domestic Crisis: Sink and Nightlight, 2021. Stainless steel sink, electrical box, outlet, night light, joint compound. Dimensions Variable.

Eniola Fakile, Mom, 2021. Mixed media.  Eniola Fakile, Mariane,2021. Mixed Media. Eniola Fakile, Tyler, 2021. Mixed Media. Eniola Fakile, Tom, 2021. Mixed Media.  Eniola Fakile, Eno, 2021. Mixed Media.  Eniola Fakile, Enzo, 2021. Mixed Media.  Eniola Fakile, Hammy, 2021. Mixed Media. Eniola Fakile, Greg, 2021. Mixed Media.

Tiare Ribeaux, Ulu Kupu, 2021. Video.

Photos by Shayne Huang unless otherwise noted.