Florida State University’s Department of Student Engagement, in partnership with Club Downunder and the Student Government Association, recently hosted an art exhibit and fashion show inspired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit, better known as the Met Gala.
“Interlocking Art, a Multi-Medium Gala,” part of the Festival of the Creative Arts, highlighted FSU students from a multitude of genres combining performance art, sound art, visual art, projection art and more. The event featured student organizations such as Diverse World Fashion Magazine, Stitch Fashion and Design Club and Thrift Club at FSU, performances by student jazz duo Sarah Langdon and Blake Dwelle and art pieces from more than 60 student artists.
The Festival of the Creative Arts is a campus wide collaborative event hosted by the Office of Research to highlight the diverse voices, talents and creativity of FSU faculty and students. Departments from across campus came together throughout February to celebrate the innovation and diversity that result from combining various modes of expression and subjects.
“Each year, the Met Gala announces the Costume Institute’s exhibit theme, and celebrities come dressed accordingly,” said Ashton Benjamin, entertainment coordinator of Club Downunder. “We wanted to emulate that in our own way to highlight how different art mediums like performance, sound, visual, fashion and projection interact with each other.”
Iain Quinn, the festival’s director and the university’s Research Fellow in the Arts and Humanities, and Keith Roberson, associate professor of digital arts, organized a four-screen video projection to display student-produced videos.
“The concept of the video projections would never have been on our radar without the valuable relationships and connections we developed with Professor Quinn, Professor Roberson and the organizations working with us,” said Olivia Chandler, co-sponsorship director of Club Downunder.
FSU Department of Art master’s student Tevin Lewis’s art was featured in the exhibit. Through his project, he explores the intersection of technology, nature, consciousness, and the concept of sustainability.
“In art, we tend to get locked into what we’re working on,” Lewis said. “But in order to broaden our understanding and worldbuilding, it’s important also to see what’s being done around the college and to interact with other mediums.”
The runway show featured looks modeled and styled by students from each organization, interpreting the theme. The runway was accompanied by performances from the Tallahassee band Phabrik.
For more information, visit research.fsu.edu/fca.