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CSUN Botanic Garden to Feature Art Installation

(NORTHRIDGE, Jan. 18, 2008) — Hidden among the diverse array of vegetation growing in Cal State Northridge’s Botanic Garden, graduate student Libby Gerber examines the imprint of guns in a contemporary art exhibition opening Thursday, Jan. 31 through Feb. 14, at the university.

"Firearm Fossils," a series of concrete, irregularly-shaped objects that are imprinted by guns, will launch with a reception from 3 to 4 p.m. in the garden. Placed along the garden’s pathway, the slightly obscured objects appear as futuristic relics of a past dominated by urban icons of concrete and guns.

"The artist’s work suggests a future where handguns are nothing more substantial than trace impressions returning to the earth or being overgrown by nature," said Brenda Kanno, manager of CSUN’s Botanic Garden.

Kanno noted the artwork reflects the view of handguns as relics of the past rather than as agents of terror and destruction in a contemporary world.

Gerber is a first-year master of fine arts student with an emphasis in public art. While she has shown her work in public spaces and galleries, this is her first showing at CSUN.

"A primary artistic goal I have is to make artwork accessible to a wider range of people by moving it outside of a gallery setting," said Gerber. "I hope viewers walk away with an art experience that is unique to those experienced in a more formal setting."

After visiting the exhibit, visitors will be encouraged to share their thoughts via e-mail to the artist or through written comments in a visitor log.

The Cal State Northridge Botanic Garden is operated by the university’s Department of Biology and serves as a field site for botany, entomology, photography, painting and other classes. In addition to its California, New Zealand, butterfly, Asian and desert sections, the garden also features greenhouses where botanically notable plants are grown. The garden is open to the community.

For more information on the exhibit call Gerber at (818) 624-7178 or e-mail elizabeth.gerber.79@csun.edu. For more information about the botanic garden, visit its Web site at www.csun.edu/botanicgarden/.