A trio of passionate artists making a change through their art

Beginning in Spring Quarter 2019, an inseparable artistic trio decided to make a change in the Davis art scene, starting in their own house. Creators and artists of the event, Dominic Rivetti, Axel Steeno and Gabriel Laude, who goes by the stage name Viper, will be hosting their second exhibition of “Art Gala” on Nov. 16 at 849 A Street from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. This will be a free event, where they will be displaying, selling and creating a scene of local art that is not typically seen in town. 

“We wanted to have an event that was different from all the ones that are ‘normal’ in Davis,” Rivetti, a fourth-year anthropology major, said. “[Because of] the lack of art we found interesting around here, we felt that we had to make somewhere where people can come see art that we would want to see. We had to create what we wanted because it wasn’t here […] We’re trying to build a creative community in Davis.” 

The gala is meant to bring people out of their comfort zones — “You’ll be exposed to something different — some music you’ve never heard before, some art that nobody can just make,” Viper, a fourth-year political science major and the “motivator” of the group, explained. 

Starting at $1, artists will be selling their “hella rare” canvases and prints, according to Steeno, a fourth-year design major. With a plethora of art, music, snacks and creative people, the gala is a place for all. 

“I want it to represent youth, authenticity and creativity,” Rivetti said. “I want it to make people feel happy and vibrant. To meet friends and have a fun place to be happy and feel like there’s something really cool for them to be doing.” 

Last year’s gala was a success. While Rivetti performed his music, Steeno socialized with the crowd, explaining and displaying his art. A diverse group of people gathered in this unconventional Davis event, sharing their passion for art and creativity with one another. 

Each one of the trio have their part in making the event possible and showcasing their own creative individualism that they bring to the table. It’s ultimately a collaborative, creative and supportive experience for them all. 

“In terms of organizing it, we all just kind of do it together, brainstorm together,” Viper said. “It’s like free flow form.”

The trio has been collaborating since freshman year.

“Axel and I collaborate on almost everything,” Rivetti said. “We’ll both do our own stuff entirely, but we’ll tell eachother about it, like the methods we used, and then apply it to our own things.”

Steeno recycles old canvases from other artists and then repaints them or adds to them with his own spin. He incorporates elements from other pieces to create his own style. For example, hanging in their living room is a piece that Steeno’s mom painted, which he then added to — “[We’d] rather create than consume,” Viper said. 

“I either compose [music] using pianos, synthesizers and drums, or sample and make beats, techno or ambient music,” Rivetti said. “I just want to make people happy and be chilled out and not stressed, just have fun.”

Viper added, “You have to feel his sound.”

Art plays a vital role in all of their lives. The goal of the gala is to share that passion with members of the community. The artists stumbled on choosing one word to classify their overall genre, but then agreed on “rare” and “underground.” 

“Art you might see in cities that may not find its way to a smaller town like Davis — that’s what we want to bring,” Rivetti said. “I think if you start with house shows and start showing your art, build up from there, then start bringing it into the town of Davis itself, you can create a scene.”

The trio explained their future aspirations to progress the gala outside the comforts of their house and out into the Davis community and beyond. They hope to continue their collaborative work after graduating and travel nationwide to share their artistic talents together. 

“Davis needs a youth art scene… you want to see [an artist] who excites you,” Rivetti said. “We have styles that we found and love, we just want to share it with people, and if they appreciate it, that is really nice […] we would love to inspire people to do their own thing.”

The group encourage local artists to come to the gala, introduce themselves, show their pieces and get involved in future galas.

“If you want to be around creative energy and creative people, music and art, then come to this show,” Rivetti said. “It’s not a competition. Make a difference, try to be creative, think outside the box.”

The group highlights the importance of art in their everyday lives: How art makes them who they are, how they see the world and how they want to live. Whether it’s through classes they took at UC Davis or simply through a creative vision, they hope to continue creating and making a change. 

“Art is everything I find interesting in life,” Rivetti said. “Art makes me feel really good. It’s a way to use your energy in a really healthy way. If I’m not making stuff, I go crazy. I need it, it’s like meditation.” 

The gala is not going to be a torch they pass down to the younger generations of Davis. Rather, art is an organic process which must flow naturally, they said. If creative individuals are motivated to continue their vision, or promote their own visions, they highly condone that aspiration. 

“Everyone can look at it together, and it brings people together,” Steeno said. 

Through the promotion and continuation of the art gala in the near and distant future, “we’re going to leave our mark,” he continued. 

“If people are looking for something different to do, if people are interested in different kinds of music, art and looking to meet creative people, then come to the show,” Rivetti said. 

Written by: Sierra Jimenez — arts@theaggie.org

A man and his band create intimate spaces not experienced at stadium shows 

Seeing an artist in concert is, for many, the ultimate way to honor their music and truly experience what they’ve created. The opportunity to hear a singer’s live vocals and the way they choose to convey it in person can be very special for fans, and it can add a new layer of appreciation for the artist. The production of a show is an integral part of that experience; however, the way it is executed varies a lot across genres of music. There are a wide range of musical performances one can seek out and, consequently, there is a different experience that comes along with the type of show that is put on. 

I recently attended an Andrew Bird and a Hozier concert in Davis and Berkeley, respectively. These artists can fall loosely into the indie rock and folk categories, although they both explore several other genres. The vibes of their music, however, are similar. 

In both Bird’s and Hozier’s performances, there was a fairly simple setup: the main act, the instrumentalists and backup singers in an arc behind them and a screen where images or light designs were displayed. What stuck out to me most was how central the instruments and vocals were to the show. While this seems like an obvious concept, it was strikingly intimate to me, seeing the face of each person who played an essential part in creating the music. Both artists introduced each performer on the stage and expressed great appreciation for all of them and their talents. Bird even had one of the backup singers perform one of her own songs. There was a woman playing the violin at each show as well. 

Despite the similarities between the two, they each had their own flare. Hozier’s backdrop displayed footage of protests during his protest song, “Nina Cried Power,” or black and white cartoons, while lights and colors shone across the audience for other songs. Andrew Bird stuck to geometric shapes on a screen which changed colors or patterns for every song. The visual stimulation was helpful in creating a mood for the songs being performed. People were entranced by the music and gave appropriate praise, but the energy of the concert was calm. 

That is not to say that this style of performance is better for its raw and simple nature. Artists like Beyoncé put on shows that are much more of a spectacle than a man and his band, which is an entirely different experience. Images on a screen behind the singer is a small fragment of what there is to take in at a big pop or rhythm and blues concert. 

At a Rihanna concert I attended a few years back, she sang atop several different platforms throughout the show, including a suspended glass, bridge-like structure. Justin Bieber has descended onto the stage in a cage and also performed with a group of backup dancers on a swaying stage in the air; Taylor Swift has given each audience member a light that would flash or turn on for different songs, drawing the audience into the show and Travis Scott, during his Astroworld tour, rode a real-life rollercoaster constructed in the stadium.

At these shows, the singers naturally sing the majority of the show, but dancing and captivating light effects impact the experience significantly. While the music is an essential component, there is so much more to take in other than the songs. You are watching a production, a visual arts installment, in tandem with the music. The instrumentalists are highlighted for certain songs, but they are mainly in the background. This makes sense for this type of music; a lot of it is synthesized, or not written by the artist, so it’s really just the singer who people care about. With more stimulation than a couple of instruments and a vocalist, the crowd has a vibrant energy. There are lots of screaming and dancing; people are ecstatic to be there.

Granted, the mentioned artists are all much bigger than Hozier or Andrew Bird. The size of the venue (and the budget) permits for a more elaborate show. That said, smaller artists who sing pop and hip-hop maintain a similar vibe at a show, in my experience. I’ve seen contemporary R&B singer Kehlani live a few times who, similar to Beyoncé or Rihanna, has more to offer as a performer than just vocals: she is a trained dancer as well. That, coupled with more upbeat music, creates a pulse in the audience that is also found at a big pop or R&B concert, despite there not being any hanging platforms on which to sing and dance. 

Each concert is a curated experience by artists for their audience. The personality of an artist and the genre of their music are fundamental components of their show, which makes concerts unique to each performer. With the different energy of live performances in mind, one is able to pick and choose the type of live show they want to be a part of. 

Written by: Allie Bailey — arts@theaggie.org

Design professor Mark Kessler discusses history, influence of different architecture movements, from Arts and Crafts movement to the Bauhaus

Students continuously interact with the layout of campus as they bustle around, plug away at Shields Library and meander through the Death Star. Through this repetition, students can become indifferent to the architecture, as it becomes an extension of their routine during a relentless quarter schedule. In spite of this, the campus’ architecture is filled with a colorful and diverse history that illustrates the push and pull tension between different architectural design beliefs.

Campus history spans over a century and begins with the wooden conservative structures of the early 1900s like the Barn and moves to the present, showcased by the flashy, contemporary California Hall. When strolling through campus, buildings representative of a variety of architectural phases — from older wooden buildings of the anti-capitalist Arts and Crafts movement to more open ambitious structures influenced by Postmodernism — can be found.

Mark Kessler, a UC Davis Professor of Design and licensed architect, discussed the different design forces of the campus’ development, beginning with the earliest buildings and moving through his descriptions and insights chronologically as the UC Davis campus unfolded.

“The earliest buildings on campus really had a shingle style that was Arts and Crafts based,” Kessler said.

Typified by buildings like the Barn, the Arts and Crafts movement, which originated in Britain and spread to North America between the 1880s to the 1920s, utilized a wooden shingle-clad structure and welcomed embellishment. The movement sneered at the explosion of industrialization occurring at the time. In direct opposition, the Arts and Crafts touted artisanship, rather than the businessman’s efficiency.

William Hayes was a major contributor to on-campus architecture and a professor of architecture at UC Berkeley who sought to shape his buildings in the context of Californian history and culture. Hart Hall is a prime example of an ode to popular styles of years past. 

“In Hart Hall, you see a conservative architecture, regionally based and ornamented like a kind of Spanish mission revival style by the same architect William Hayes,” Kessler said. 

Kessler also commented on architects adorning their buildings with superfluous details — a popular trend at the time

“In the industrial age conservative architects continue to apply ornament to what were modern efficient structures,” Kessler said.

In 1940, Hayes embraced a more contemporary viewpoint on architecture by applying art deco principles to Peter J. Shields Library.

“[With] Shields, Hayes dips his feet into Art Deco a little bit without much conviction, but Shields represents for him and his work an advance to a more contemporary aesthetic,” Kessler said.

Hayes was inspired by Art Deco’s attraction to geometric patterns for the library’s use of rectangular shapes to frame windows and provide quirky embellishment. This is evident in the many translucent block windows at Shields — bearing a resemblance to a set of ice cube trays.

In the 1950s and 1960s, campus architecture embraced modernism, a trend sweeping the nation. Modernism, made famous by architects like Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (commonly known as Le Corbusier) and Mies Van der Rhoe, pivoted to maximizing the utility of a structure, while remaining authentic to material and function. They claimed to value the beauty of simplicity in lieu of extravagance. 

Modernism of the 1950s and 1960s assumed a major debt to the Bauhaus (Building House), a small design school in Dessau, Germany. Founded by architect Walter Gropius, the Bauhaus opened in 1919 at the close of World War I, and then closed on the eve of World War II due to political pressures from the Nazi regime. 

The Bauhaus shaped products and buildings with a high regard for function and efficiency. In its fleeting 14-year lifespan, it housed distinguished artists and designers like Paul Klee, Marcel Bruer and Wassily Kadinsky and completely reshaped how designers approach their craft.

During this time, architects chose to accentuate aspects crucial to the structural integrity of the building instead of disguising them in decorative trappings. 

“Most of the buildings on campus that express aspects that go back to European modernism, and ultimately the Bauhaus, would be buildings like Kerr or Wickson,” Kessler said. “There are many built on campus during that time that have this structure and infill expression. That is a similar tendency to find integrity in that distinction and to express it efficiently to find beauty and proportion.”

Partaking in the mass modernist movement, architects hired by UC Davis shaped buildings to reflect learning and academia.

“I think an argument can be made that these buildings signify a kind of technocratic competence in their regularity and their rationality,” Kessler said. “They mirrored what was going on inside. This was all about learning and knowledge and the application of science and the search for truth and that in creating these rational pavilions that this was the appropriate institutional architecture for a campus.”

These architects believed that imposing rationality on design would compliment and elevate students’ learning. The reliance on function and cookie cutter styles for crafting buildings can lead to lackluster final product.

“I would say that they fell short in ways that all of these buildings on campuses all over America fell short, which is that they locked into a formula, a template for an academic building and reproduced it ad nauseum,” Kessler said. “The variation is not really enough to sustain interest for the ages and really they become part of the great critique perhaps first launched by Robert Venturi, which is that it is a bore.”

Students who spend their time filtering in and out of the many modernist-inspired buildings on campus echo this sentiment. Nathan Lemus, a fourth-year cognitive science and Spanish double major, summed up his opinion of these buildings in frank terms.

“They are actually pretty horrendous to look at,” Lemus said. “I am not a fan. They all look very basic.” 

Under the direction of Venturi and other architects like Frank Gehry, contemporary styles of architecture broke away from the rigidity espoused by the Bauhaus. Architects began to further experiment with ambitious and eye-catching displays that contrasted the modernism of the 50s and 60s. Some of the more recent buildings constructed on campus attempted to be less austere and more daring. 

Kessler discussed how the patrons’ freedom was a central component to the design of both the Social Science and Humanities building and the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art.

“It was important to them to liberate the circulating wandering person and let that person discover on their own how to use the buildings,” Kessler said.

The Social Science and Humanities building — nicknamed the Death Star because of its similarity to the weaponized planet in the “Star Wars” trilogy — alludes to this new direction of freedom in design and layout. Those who have perused the building understand that navigating the concrete alleyways and winding staircases is not for the directionally challenged. The Manetti Shrem Museum also attempts to free their patrons by permitting them to explore the building without specified direction, however, it is considerably more intuitive than SSH due to its smaller size and single-floor layout.

Even though the Social Science and Humanities building is commonly equated to an unconquerable maze, Kessler still admires the ambition of the architect, Antoine Predock, in attempting to move against the grain of traditional campus administrative buildings.

“We’ve all gotten lost in that building and it’s a travesty,” Kessler said. “However, unlike most people who just say it’s a travesty, […] I acknowledge that I’m mindful of a talented architect who tried to offer an alternative vision, and it makes me smile sometimes just that someone took a risk that big.”

Students who do not care for the design intention of the building are often quite frustrated with Predock’s design decisions.

Lemus commented on his experience trying to find his way around the Death Star.

“I usually only have 10 minutes so I don’t have much time to go through your jungle gym of architecture,” Lemus said.

The Social Science and Humanities building symbolizes a design struggle persistent in time; one between an architect’s desire to give and find meaning in their building and the execution of its technical purpose. 

“Some architects would argue that buildings should reflect the complexity of our lives,” Kessler said. “It becomes rooted in the complexity of modern existence.”

Although UC Davis architecture is often seen as underwhelming by its community, it still embodies an intriguing ebb and flow of design movements. When this is taken into account, one can find a greater understanding and appreciation of the buildings that make up our campus.

Written By: Andrew Williams –– arts@theaggie.org