What better time to see a fresh change than the start of a new year. With the beginning of 2009, Mercator College implemented a change in the format of our classic art competition, The Vernissage. The art works were now submitted during the winter break and early months of the Spring Semester, the awards ceremony and exhibition took place in March. In spite of worries that there might be a time shortage for submission of artworks, the turnout was in fact phenomenal with students jumping at the opportunity to enter their pieces into the art contest. For 2009, the College Masters, RAs and College Office team left it open-themed, thus encouraging Mercatorians and even students from other colleges into submit works of varying themes, materials and styles, drawing on their different systems of thought and inspirations. The final compilation was an exotic collection of curiosities and true products of young minds from different cultural backgrounds. Ranging from origami, paintin gs on canvases, installation works, photography, conceptual pieces (featuring even Aramark receipts!) and the classic installation pieces. Thus the pressured time slot for submission pressed many creative minds into forming what has been seen as a highly s uccessful Vernissage. The format of the exhibit itself also underwent certain changes. The new art exhibition was held solely in the common room, making full use of the wall space and open floor to selectively position and display the collection. This is the first time that all the works have been exhibited as one collective. The result was a more focused attention and closer scrutin y of the new works, as opposed to previous years where the new and the old had been displayed simultaneously.

The exhibition remained installed over the period of two days for passers-by to stop and admire. The night of the ceremony hosted many guests, including the artists themselves and their dates. Amidst the relaxed atmosphere of champagne and music, the awards were given. In third place was Suna Turhan and Alex Mittelstaedt’s conceptual piec e “Side Component” focusing on the newly implemented Aramark system. Making use of cash card receipts and photography, the two ladies depicted ho w the new system had both overwhelmed college life by creating a temporary obsession with food spending. In second place was Desislava Parashkevova “Mike John who slashed the moon into a library and a night club” with her unique style of installation pieces employing the l’objet trouve, the found object, remodeled into an abstract and conceptual sculpture. The winner of the 2009 Vernissage was Auton Purser’s “The Painted Lady”, a print on canvas, intricately designed and illustrating the age-old traditions of depicting the human body in terms of the four elements: earth, fire, air and water.

More photos of the event, you can find here.

(Text by Eva Ben)