The Seattle Pacific Art Center Gallery opened its first exhibition of the year after remaining empty and unused during the fall quarter. The mixed media sculptural installation, “I Walk Walking to the Corner I Walked” by guest artist Daniel Chang incorporates light, form and text to provoke thought about words and their meaning.
Every year, Seattle Pacific University invites a guest artist to do an exhibition in the gallery space at the art center. Associate professor of art and Gallery Director Zack Bent is responsible for locating and inviting the artist.
“I reached out to [Chang] last April,” Bent said. “I stumbled upon his work [and] at the time, we were still offering illustration. He’s a designer, illustrator and artist, and I was like, that’s us, that’s what we do here. So this is a perfect person to come in.”
Chang is an associate professor of art at Biola University and teaches classes that are a part of the school’s design and illustration concentrations.
The first challenge of bringing this project to life was getting all the material from Los Angeles to Seattle.
“That is the non-glamorous side of art making,” Chang said. “Shipping and storage and all of those logistics. So once all the art making was over, the challenge was getting all of the pieces together in a small enough and affordable enough container to ship them up here.”
Arriving at SPU on Saturday, Jan. 20, Daniel hoped to finish the installation by Sunday night. The timeline proved too ambitious and the finishing touches were done on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 24.
“I’ve never installed any work with so many people around because it’s [not just a gallery], It’s a school,” Chang said. “It was interesting to work and have students walk in and out. It was like I had an audience while I was installing.”
Although the installation took more time than first anticipated, it went smoothly.
“He had a solid game plan,” Bent said. “It was really seamless [and] came together really quick.
Thorough planning by Bent and Chang during the project’s conception were vital to the smooth installation process. Numerous emails, calls, images and videos exchanged by Bent and Chang during the planning phase allowed for a smooth installation once Chang and his materials arrived at SPU.
“This installation is very site-specific. Zack sent me pictures, did a video walkthrough and sent me measurements,” Chang said, “[I made] a one-inch to one-foot scale model of the space [and made] small little versions of the sculptures so I could visualize it.”
Chang was invited to bring a new perspective and help further educate the art students, not just to do the installation. He also spoke during breakout sessions on the Day of Common Learning and reviewed portfolios of senior art students on Tuesday, Jan. 23, in the printmaking studio between classes.
Senior visual communication major Brianna Ingram was one of the students who spent time with Chang working on her portfolio.
“Daniel was so kind and gave amazing feedback that shifted the way I think about designing. Him also being a professor helped show he really understood where I was at in my learning process,” Ingram said.
Senior visual communication major Erin Carty was another student who spent time with Chang. While the tight-knit community of the art center is great, Carty found having fresh eyes on her work to be useful.
“The people who look at my work here have seen my work before,” Carty said. “It was interesting to hear from someone who didn’t know the context of my projects. I think it is great to have [a] different perspective.”
Chang found the time with the students to be valuable.
“I enjoyed the time with the students and saw some great work. I just hope that my perspective was useful,” Chang said.
While Chang is back in California, he hopes the installation’s lasting effects on him will also extend to those who see it.
“The hope is that the show statement points to questions that linger in the minds of everyone that comes to see it and for them to develop their own questions that hopefully open up their imagination,” Chang said. “It was nice to be able to come and take a peek [at SPU] because it fills my cup and renews my energy for when I go back to Biola.”
The exhibition is open to the community Monday-Thursday from 9 p.m. to 4 p.m., Jan. 25 through Mar. 8, or by appointment. Read the exhibition, description and artist biography here and view more of Daniel’s work on his website.
