I’m a 14-year-old boy who hates art. I recently went to Wilshire Online to see “Away from Desk.” Here are my opinions on it. The show included: an audio device playing melancholy choral tones, a stripper and a pole, a first aid kit hung diagonally on a wall, simple paintings behind bars, a Microsoft-branded flag in a flag holder, a series of tax forms depicting a person’s work life, and a broken cartoony ladder. 1. The audio piece¹ is a continuous choral rise with no end, just change in pitch, with nothing else interesting to it.
Hannah Wienberger – O-Town House
2. The strip club² wasn’t very good for the sole reason that it made the entire show uncomfortable to attend with family, especially because it was at the entrance to the show.
Pamela Ramos – Leroy’s
3/4. The barred paintings and diagonally hung first aid kit most likely have no meaning. There aren’t many people more perceptive than me and seeing that I haven’t found meaning to these pieces must mean that the artist hid a secret meaning for themselves alone.³
Jesse Benson – Gene’s Dispensary
5. The flag holder above the doorway, above one of the exhibit rooms, wasn’t particularly interesting art but the placement of it on the way out is, because a person who thinks they have seen everything in that room will turn to leave the exhibit and be surprised to see yet another piece of art.³
Jesse Benson – Gene’s Dispensary
6. The tax form piece isn’t interesting until you realize it conveys a person’s work life from getting hired, working, and getting fired. In other words, this is interesting because the message is at first hidden.³
Jesse Benson – Gene’s Dispensary
7. The ladder is admirable as even with a feeble mind, anyone can enjoy the cartoony jagged speech bubble style used to represent the holes in ceiling and breaks in the rungs.⁴
Jacob Lenc – Five Churches
“Away from Desk” had some good art and some bad art but no theme united everything other than just “contemporary art.” Editor’s Note: “Away from Desk” was an initiative by Keith J. Varadi of Gene’s Dispensary and hosted by Wilshire Online. It included: Pamela Ramos² presented by Leroy’s, Eduardo Consuegra presented by The Fulcrum, Jesse Benson³ presented by Gene’s Dispensary, Hannah Weinberger¹ presented by O-Town House, Jacob Lenc⁴ presented by Five Churches, Stanya Kahn and Constantinos Hadzinikolaou presented by JOAN.
