As the closing show to the Cesar Chavez site-specific theme this semester, Oakland artists Scott Hove and Christine Lee’s art show opening tonight, (in)TENSIONS, took a unique approach on art and audience interaction.

Featuring a piece between Hove’s rope tension, anchoring technique and Lee’s delicate wood shims, (in)TENSIONS does not give the familiar objective experience that students can get from a museum space.

Sophie Johnson, who works at the art gallery, feels that because of Hove’s rope suspensions which completely surround the gallery space and Lee’s delicate wood shims surrounding the rope anchored to the wall, students and art lovers will become stimulated instead of alienated from the art they came to see.

“We [at the gallery] want to challenge the notion of how [people] view art,” said Johnson. “Art is normally seen as something you look at from far away, something objective. [With this piece] you are directly in it, interacting with it…you are forced to have an opinion, whether you love it or hate it,” she added.

Hove, who uses his experience as a tugboat worker, a rock climber and a draftsman to create his rope installations, created a geometric webbing of rope that is suspended from the wall space of the gallery. Made up of several knots, the complex geometric shapes change depending on the onlooker’s viewpoint.

“I’ve been an artist since about the fourth grade,” said Hove. “I made the decision to be a professional artist at about 17.”

“I had to create an installation in a short period of time,” said Hove over horn rimmed glasses. “I got into a certain rhythm of thought and experimented with a lot of lines.”

Lee, the other artist who contributed to this endeavor, relies on raw materials to convey her prowess. The work in the exhibit is comprised if shims, or wedged pieces of wood used in construction to fill small gaps or spaces between objects.

“When I first saw them I thought ‘these are really beautiful and I could use them for something else’,” said Lee while standing in front of a geometric pile red cedar shims.
“I like creating repetitive patterns if I can.”

The art is interactive in that it forces people to duck and weave through fantasy-like maze of rope, which vibrates if one touches it visually changes with every angle that one chooses to look.

“I’m glad to see people interacting with the web,” said Hove as a patron ducked under the massive nylon labyrinth.

“I’m happy,” said Lee. “But if you touch my stuff it might fall over, which kinda sucks.”