By Osiel Ocampo
Essential Viewing: Doechii – BOILED PEANUTS (Audio) and Omar Apollo – Less of You (Lyric Video)
I often forget that my professors have entire lives outside of teaching, that they have lived many many lives. And I am constantly reminded of this, especially when in conversation I hear a one off comment, about perhaps the most interesting thing I’ve ever heard, leave my professors’ mouths. When the time and space permits, I put on my interviewer cap and ask away. I only know so much. I only know what I know, and by asking questions of my professors, I’m able to expand my knowledge that much more, but also establish greater relationships with them.
And it just so happened that one day fabulous fabulous fabulous painting professor Tiffany casually mentioned in class, Contemporary Topics in Painting, that she spent her weekend setting up for an exhibition in Santa Barbara. My ears immediately perked up as Santa Barbara is home for me and about 2+ hours away from Claremont. I knew what needed to be done, I had to go home and see Tiffany’s show. I made plans with my sister, who recently moved to San Diego, to go and see Friends and Lovers (Tiffany’s show). Only it wasn’t that easy. I had to cancel last minute because I forgot I was going to be working. Weeks passed and the thought kept lingering: I absolutely must go and see my professors work in Santa Barbara by any means necessary.
And so it was, with the seeds planted, I would travel to Santa Barbara after work (both my job and also work for The Chair). This trip would unlock many firsts for me: the first time I’d be driving more than an hour on the highway, and the first time I’d be seeing a professor’s work in a museum!
Along the way, I learned that I may indeed be a passenger princess, I’m meant to longingly stare out of the window and ponder all sorts of existential quandaries and take naps on a whim, but alas I have to pay attention to the road. I had nearly avoided all accidents, except almost going down a one way street in Santa Barbara that I had passed hundreds of thousands of times throughout my life. So so so silly and scary, that could have been really bad for me. Yikes!
I’ve only been to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art a handful of times which I can’t remember, but I am sure I have been before, unless I haven’t. Who knows?! The museum is quite beautiful, and for a seldom art museum-goer it was maze-like. As I ventured upstairs, there it was, centered in the opening, the first thing I laid my eyes on Is It Inside, Is It Outside. Instantly recognizable in charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent, I was now in the presence of Tiffany.
The entire room was a beautiful magenta color amplifying the queerness in that room. Every artist in Friends and Lovers is queer and I felt it in every fiber of my being, radiating off the walls and passing through me, holding and comforting me as I examined every inch of every work.
That is all to say professors are so cool, ask more questions, and find the magenta rooms in your life!
