2019 Gumbo final - Book - Page 22
The Collected
"The Eye of Imagination" Exhibit
here once was a man more eager than any other to submit to
the mortifying ordeal of being known, and knowing in turn. In
life he collected thousands of artifacts to help him, and in
death he bestowed them on the University so others might
take that same journey.
The exhibition, titled Seeing and “The Eye of the Imagination”: Fantasy,
Surrealism and Horror in the Clarence John Laughlin Book Collection, will
be presented on the first and second floors of Hill Memorial Library until
Sept. 21. Laughlin was a photographer from Lake Charles, Louisiana, and
is largely considered to be the first true surrealist photographer in the U.S.
He thought of himself as more collector than artist.
The exhibition features art and novels pertaining to science fiction, fantasy
and the occult and writings from surrealist author and collector Laughlin
himself. Exhibitions Coordinator Leah Wood Jewett and co-curators
Kristina Sutherland and Michelle Melancon put together the exhibition to
highlight the collection.
“You will see that the collection is very, very broad,” Jewett said. “The
common thread is visual, imagination, and his purpose was to build a
collection that would be an inspiration to artists and other people. By
maintaining that collection, and then by exhibiting examples from it, that’s
what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to help fulfill his original purpose.”
Sutherland and Melancon said in addition to providing inspiration for
artists, the collection tracks the evolution and lineage of horror, science
fiction and fantasy due to Laughlin’s attention to detail during the process
of building up the collection.
“When you’re reading some of our descriptions you’ll see that some things
are cross referenced and we’re pointing you other places, but then those
places are pointing you back,” Sutherland said. “It’s like a never-ending
circle.”
The collection was originally exhibited in 1998 and has been available in
the LSU reading room since the ‘80s, and is being emphasized now due to
developments in current events and the arts.
“This stuff may be older, but it’s still relevant now, and it’s becoming more
and more relevant as we advance technology, as we consider what it
is to be human all over again with things like elections or other things,”
Sutherland said. “It’s just one of those things that you can revisit every
now and then and find something new, especially because it’s such a large
library.”
from a new perspective.
The collection features various editions and fine art books of traditional
fairy tales in addition to the more modern genres featured. Sutherland said
some pieces in the exhibition can’t be fully appreciated within their cases
because it’s not possible to display all of the pages of a book at once.
“You really have to be weary of depth, the details and how you give
the viewer a sense of prospective,” Key said “That really pushed me to
look at all of these well-known LSU locations and put them in different
perspectives and just a more surrounding, open worldview and how
everything just fits together in and of itself.”
Sutherland and Melancon emphasized the potential influence of the
collection as tools of research and personal enrichment.
“I’ve been digging in this collection for probably two years now, and I can
say that more than half the books that I’ve bought in that time have been
from this collection, because I’ll find something and then it’ll be like 'I have
to have this,' because just looking at it at work is not enough,” Melancon
said.
Melancon said Laughlin was interested in trying to explain his ideas
to people, and wanted to be understood. His personal notebooks and
collection can potentially provide insight into the mind of Laughlin.
Jonathan Williams said it best in his intro to “Clarence John Laughlin: The
Personal Eye": “CJL’s worry is that nobody in life sees what he’s up to.
He, being All Eyes, is surrounded by sightless, pathetic materialists and
abstractionists who do not understand.”
Since the beginning, Key’s main interest was landscapes and all he
ever wanted to do was to travel and take pictures of the the natural
charm of the world around him, he said. Photography wasn’t an interest
of his until his senior year and since then, he has hoped to capture
the aspects of the campus that are sometimes overlooked. Like most
students, Key said his main focus was just getting to class and hanging
out with his friends, never really taking the time to look up and take
in all the campus has to offer. Key advises students to branch out and
really get into the University’s surroundings.
“Don’t have your experiences at LSU be so defined by what you know,”
Key said. “Try different things and incorporate new things into your life
that really just enrich your experience during your time at LSU.”
Key brought his talents back to the place that he discovered his love.
He found a way to make the campus look different to people who see it
every day. Key hopes his gallery will inspire old, new and future students
alike to go out and take the time to explore the campus in their own way
and really take in the beauty of it all.
“I want to give thanks first to God for blessing me with this building and
being able to share with LSU campus,” Key said. “But more so with LSU
auxiliary services who give services like these to both current students
and alumni the opportunity to show off their art work in a formalized,
gallery-set setting that is accessible to both students present, past and
beyond.”
University alumnus Michael Key's collection of landscape photography
introduces a new perspective of the beauty all around LSU's campus. The
exhibit opened in the Student Union Art Gallery on Aug. 24 and will be
open through Sept. 24. Key graduated with a Bachelor's in Political Science
and a Masters in Marketing. Key now works as a Public Information Officer
and still finds the time to hone in his talent for photography. In Jan. 2018,
Key decided to use his developed skills to show the University in a way
that he did not experience while he was attending the school.
“I had to disassociate my personal ties to the LSU campus because I was
always looking at it in just a one-world point of view,” Key said. “I really had
to separate myself and just kind of start from scratch on how I look at LSU
because when you’re focused as a student, it’s different as an alumnus
and it’s completely different as a photographer. So it’s like going through
these separate phases as having to view LSU through a different lens."
The gallery depicts landscapes that students, teachers and visitors see
everyday in a way that many don’t notice in passing. Key said he wanted
people to see there wasn’t just one thing that defines the University –– it
is the things that you see in your day to day life that just need to be seen
Story // Amaya Lynch
Design //Chloe Bryars
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