Gary Gangi
Pulse reporter

"It's going to be a circus-like atmosphere," artistic coordinator Chris Wildrick said about the exhibition Saturday at the Surplus Gallery. "There will be a whole gambit of art displayed."

The second annual showing of "Process and Performance," presented by Southern Illinois University School of Art and Design and the Department of Cinema and Photography, brings together elements of visual and performance artistry. Held within the walls of the Surplus Gallery, a 6,000-square-foot venue that promotes the showcasing of experimental ventures in art, the exhibition Dec. 6 will feature undergraduate, graduate and faculty works of art.

"The venue is good for artists," Wildrick said. "They will be able to do live art in a non-theatrical setting."

Wildrick said that the idea for the show early last year came when University faculty member Carole Loeffler and he sought out a place for innovative and interactive art to be nurtured. When the pair came up empty-handed, they decided to create their own exhibition. Although the show is open to all, it mainly caters to students and faculty within the hosting departments.

"This year should be more exciting and more entertaining," Wildrick said. "We expect twice as many participants."

Wildrick is also submitting works of art in the exhibition. One piece, titled "Am I better than you are?" will feature an "interactive" suitcase which Wildrick will work from during the four hour showing. He says there will several non-related projects occurring simultaneously such a documentary of a woman who attempted to fall in love with the first person she met every night, Scrabble players, break dancers and hypnosis.

Vagner Whitehead, a professor of photography, is featuring a video project in which he will participate for about eight minutes as he is "hypnotized" by his own self-image on a looping video.

"It's a new piece, so I'm not sure how it will work," Whitehead said. "I want people to sit down and interact."

Whitehead said the real focus of the exhibition is on students from his video art class, who will be featuring their best works from the semester.

Brian Schilling, a graduate student also submitting a video piece, is making his artistic debut in the Surplus Gallery. His piece, titled "With Depravation," will be a looped video of him swimming with a ball gag in his mouth. He says the concept for the piece is to show the way society deprives itself of certain things by taking them for granted.

"If someone claims to be proficient at something, they should be able to do it with a handicap," Schilling said.

Melissa Vandenberg, an artist featured in the exhibition, said she looks forward to this weekend's showing. As a returning artist, she said she expects the turn out to be much greater than last year as new visual and performance artist enter the event.

"It is a much less conventional show," Vandenberg said. "There will always be some kind of happening. It's not theatre, but it's a performance of a sort."

"Process and Performance" begins at 8 p.m. at the Surplus Gallery, located at408 S. Washington St. Admission is free and open to the general public.