Gift Engine: A Retelling of 50 Years of Stony Brook

The Student Activities Center (SAC) Gallery at Stony Brook University is pleased to announce Gift Engine: A Retelling of 50 Years of Stony Brook, an installation by artist Nick De Pirro. Created specifically for the SAC Gallery, Gift Engine is a multi-media installation that presents an interpreted history of the university in the gallery. Gift Engine will be on view from November 15 – December 14, 2006 at the SAC Gallery at Stony Brook University. The opening reception and artist talk will be held on Thursday, November 15 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm. All are welcome to attend. As part of the show, free coffee will be served. The SAC Gallery is located in the Student Activities Center, main floor, Stony Brook University.  Gallery Hours are 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Tuesday – Friday. Admission is free.

Gift Engine: A Retelling of 50 Years of Stony Brook presents an interpreted history of the university. With Marcel Duchamp’s Large Glass as a point of departure, De Pirro describes nine pivotal events from the university’s past. This is not a literal narrative, but describes historical incidents as abstracted fables. These range from the discovery of MRI technology to the bar code. For the artist, this show is a gift and represents a celebratory offering or a tribute, like the university itself. The machine embodies the core motivating aspect of the university, and is represented as part of every event that shaped the history of the school. Integral to the artist’s memory and the Duchampian fable is coffee or chocolate as a symbol of the grinding of the raw bean into an energy-giving source of inspiration. In this spirit, the gallery and the artist invite all to enjoy the gift of free coffee.

The exhibition’s core theme is a remix of Stony Brook University through a combination of the artist’s memory, actual historical events, and the creation of tall tale that gives birth to a new legend rather than a codified history.

The Student Activities Center Gallery operates as a program within the Department of Student Union and Activities, Student Affairs Executive Area at Stony Brook University.  If special accommodations are required, please contact the Department of Student Union and Activities at 631.632.9392.  Stony Brook University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity educator and employer.

###

James Pearson
Student Activities Center Gallery
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794
(631) 632-6559