The University of West Georgia hosted its 29th annual Interdisciplinary Conference in the Humanities building last week. This year the UWG School of the Arts presented Environment Awareness. The event coincides with the sustainability movement. UWG is committed to have a sustainable campus and community by reducing its impact on the natural environment.
The week consisted of artistic works to invoke awareness of the ever-changing environmental conditions. Several artists were invited to the campus to share their information and passion for environmental issues. The Art Department invited Kim Anno to UWG to share her work with students and faculty.
Anno, a California native, has been an abstract artist for about 20 years and is known for her painting and photographs. In late 2008 she became intrigued with the climate and other changes.
“I am an artist and we can create a picture and use the imagination to establish a dialogue for these issues,” said Anno.
The event began with the viewing of a selection of Anno’s painting and photographs. She explained how she began abstract photography by using balls, ink, and water. Anno even began merging two worlds of painting and photography. The idea of paining on a photograph in my opinion is revolutionary. Her ideas are simple, yet at the same time her work is extraordinary.
UWG students and faculty gathered in the Kathy Cashen Recital Hall to view one of Anno’s films, Water City Berkeley. The focus of the short film is life after the water levels rise. People from all walks of life invent new games and activities while the sea is beginning to enter the city. The film explores maintaining a normal life despite these ongoing changes. The audience got the sense of what life would be like it this phenomenon was actually to happen.
“I never wanted to be in the entertainment industry, but I always wanted to be a director and now I’m doing it,” said Anno.
Anno rewrote the Oedipus to fit the context of her film. Anno likes to use members of the community in all her works of art. She also used music and dance to translate the message to her audience.
“The film is trying to work with young people because they are the inheritors of the problems,” said Anno.
Though the world was in the midst of tragedy the actors still enjoyed every moment. They cheered, laughed, played, but most importantly they adapted.
“There is joy and beauty and these things exist through disaster,” said Anno.
Another interesting technique in the film was the split screen. The audience was able to see the same scene playing simultaneously side-by-side. Anno’s reasoning for this is because, “It perfectly fits into the genre of experimental cinema.”
Once the screening was over the audience was encouraged to ask questions and some even went to meet Anno and thank her for visiting.
“I hope students take away the magnitude of what we’re dealing with and think about it,” Anno said.
For more information about Anno’s work visit: www.kimanno.com
