Exhibition Information:

• Artist: John Fingerhut
• Exhibition: Dennis W. Dutzi
• Media: Videography, photography, graphic design
• Gallery: CSULB School of Art, Dennis W. Dutzi Gallery
• Instagram: @johnfingerhut

John Fingerhut is an undergraduate CSULB student who majors in graphic design with a minor in photo. He is part of the School of Art’s Graphic Design Program. He would have preferred a major in photo or double majored in graphic design and photo but he never touched a camera until college. If he did photography before college then he would have preferred photo as his major. His work explores photography, videography, and interactive pieces.

The art piece titled Bodies of Water really stood out to me compared to his other work. The formal attributes include as follows: large, lines, shape, color, texture, undulating, sinuous, staccato, and vivid primary colors. The art piece consists of 9 pictures of people surrounded by a moving motion picture of the ocean waves by the shoreline. I enjoyed the movement of the ocean giving the picture life unlike a still image.

The work of art is called Bodies of Water. He described it as a pun with the pictures containing bodies in the ocean water. The pictures of people are floating encased in the ocean waves. The ocean wave video came with a story where he was on a rock and he almost fell into the ocean trying to get the right image he wanted. John was trying to explore calmness, life, and trying to show his passion for videography and photos. He said that his work correlates with whatever life event is occurring at the time. The water is his experiences of life currently where his close friends were moving away across the ocean. He also wanted to symbolize his connection with the ocean because of his father.

To me, I felt calm because of the ocean waves and the pictures of the people made me think of my loved ones who are here and gone. What resonated with me is that I just felt in the moment and taking it all in. There was no background noise or disturbance. I respect that his work corresponded with his life; he described life as cycles which we all go through. The ups and downs are a part of life. My academic experience resonated here because I had experience with graphic design for an internship so I understood how he came up with this idea and how he made it a reality.