August 2015

 SANTA CLARA, Calif., August 24, 2015 — Closer by the Minute, a new exhibition at the de Saisset Museum, uses two captivating and immersive video installations by artists David and Hi-Jin Hodge to address universal issues in a way that artfully blends documentary and creativity. Showing from Sept. 18 to Dec. 6, Niagara Falling tells a story of urban blight that is repeated across the nation and around the world, while Life on Wheels, newly created for this exhibition, investigates the culture of transportation and what it means to drive a car in today’s world.

Presented as an impressive two-channel video installation, Niagara Falling captures the essence of the City of Niagara Falls by blending interviews with representatives from several generations and pictorial and historical material. The city’s path in recent years is laid bare without judgment or accusation in a shifting collage of shards from the past and present.

“At first glance Niagara Falling is the story of one city in the midst of decline, but it represents a more universal story,” says Lindsey Kouvaris, assistant director of exhibitions and programs. “Even in familiar cities like San Francisco, we see the same kind of disparity between wealthy and impoverished neighborhoods.”

In the same way that urban development is an unavoidable part of our contemporary American experience, so too is the pervasion of the car. Life on Wheels, debuting in this exhibition, explores the impact of the car on our world and its role as an inextricable feature of our cultural history. Composed of multiple projections and a scale-model highway representing the intrusion of the interstate into the natural landscape, Life on Wheels aims to incite contemplation.

“Our hope is that visitors will leave with a heightened consciousness not only of the role their cars play in their lives, but also what their use of them ultimately means in the most basic terms,” said David Hodge.

An exhibition reception for Closer by the Minute will be held Thursday, Sept. 24. Museum members and special guests are invited for a preview hour from 6-7 p.m. A free public reception will be held immediately following from 7-8:30 p.m.

About the de Saisset Museum

The de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University is the South Bay’s free museum of art and history. The museum was founded adjacent to the Mission Santa Clara de Asís on the Santa Clara University campus in 1955 and is one of only three museums in the South Bay accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The de Saisset Museum supports Santa Clara University’s goal of educating the whole person through a diverse and accessible range of exhibitions, collections, and educational programs that highlight the art and history of the San Francisco Bay Area. As a center for lifelong learning, the de Saisset facilitates discovery, experience, and inspiration through engaging objects of art and history.

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 8,800 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, theology, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.

Media Contact: Tina Vossugh | tvossugh@scu.edu (408) 829-4836