Blingo Blango, a photography showcase that focused on body language and expression, held its reception Jan. 8 at the Feldman-Horn Gallery during break.
Visual arts teacher Kevin O’Malley said he was intrigued how many students are unaware of the meaning behind various types of body language, even though it is a fundamental way people communicate.
Each student photographed four different gestures and displayed their images in the gallery alongside photos from pop culture and politics. O’Malley said he wanted the show to be more lighthearted to contrast the serious nature of their upcoming show about the Vietnam War.
“It’s supposed be a fun show, because our next show is going to be a very serious show on Vietnam,” O’Malley said. “I just wanted the students to just have fun doing it and learning how their fellow creatures communicate non-verbally.”
Photography III student Emma Spencer ’18 said she appreciated that she was given the creative freedom to interpret the project and hoped that attendees were interested in the show’s subject matter.
“[O’Malley] always gives us assignments where we have full autonomy to do what we want to and explore what we want to,” Spencer said. “I’m so excited for people to see the showcase because I think they will find the body language aspect of the showcase and how it is translated in our society interesting.”
Prior to the reception, students displayed posters to promote the event, which included a question meant to grab people’s attention.
“[The posters] are from the actual lecture I gave on body language,” O’Malley said. “For example, if you cross your arms in class, you will not be able to retain 38 percent of what your teacher is telling you. When you do this, something shuts down in your brain.”
Attendees said that the posters helped spark their interest in the show.
“I appreciate how the posters take seemingly nonsensical questions, merging emotion as well as reality and project these themes and interests into our community,” Michael Lehrhoff ’20 said. “They speak to how art can convey realism and idealism, so I [was] intrigued to see the ‘Blingo Blango’ debut.”
