Words by Tom Price

Irene Tang runs her fingers along the photo. It’s covered with tiny folded up pieces of blue tape. The condom and foil glasses are still secured nicely to the image but many of the pieces have fallen off or have been damaged.

It’s the first time she has seen the work since she submitted it to the Bobcat Family Art Show on Feb. 10. And much like her artwork , she appears a bit worn.

In the two weeks since its submission, both the artwork and Tang have been in the middle of a fire storm of controversy over censorship and respect after it was temporarily pulled from the show.

The seven-piece photo series features photographs Tang snapped of UC Merced Chancellor Steve Kang at various public events. Using common products, all found on campus, she adorned each of the photos with words and images that reference pop idol Lady Gaga.

The controversy centers on the seventh and final piece of the series which shows Kang, wearing oversized glasses made of foil, speaking into a microphone that is covered by a condom.

“This piece is dedicated to the students and the struggles they are going through to make decisions about their future,” says Tang, who says the work displays two opposite paths to success. “Both of them (Gaga and Kang) are adored by the students and are idols on campus. She is a person who does not censor herself, but he has to censor himself to protect his image.”

The condom, she says, is meant to illustrate how Kang must filter himself as a public figure at an academic institution.

Tang, 19, is an economics major and an honor student. She says she respects and enjoys Lady Gaga’s music but she is not a rabid fan. She simply appreciated how the two figures stand in stark contrast to one another, yet are both loved by the student body.

As far as Kang goes, Tang says she has nothing but respect.

“I have met him and I have always liked him. I’ve even been to his own home for an art reception,” says Tang, who has a photo of herself shaking his hand. “He probably doesn’t remember my name, but he might now.”

She cracks a smile — a rare break from what she says has been a grueling week.

Soon after the piece was submitted, Gail Benedict, the art show organizer, felt it would be prudent to show the piece to Kang and his office before the show opened.

Benedict described the conversation with Kang as open and said he seemed receptive. She also said she warned that removing the piece would cause a major uproar.

But the administration did not take heed to her warnings, and days later Tang was summoned by e-mail to vice-chancellor Jane Lawrence’s office. At that meeting Tang says she was asked to explain the motives of her art and was eventually told that the administration would prefer it be displayed without the seventh image.

“They said it was disrespectful and basically offensive,” says Tang. “I felt like they didn’t try to understand.”

Tang refused to show it without the seventh image.

Lawrence says it’s not about understanding, but about the appropriateness of the piece for this art show.

“I thought it was a really good and positive meeting. I’m not an aficionado of Lady Gaga, so we were just trying to understand what she was trying to talk about and it is a wonderful idea and appropriate for presentation ... especially at a university,” says Lawrence. “I would want to say this, if this had been a student art show in a student gallery, I don’t think anyone would have objected to this.

“But this is a show where children put their pieces in and that was one of the concerns the administration had.”

There were no guidelines in place for submissions and no warning to artists to keep their work PG.
“I’ve been told that I should have had guidelines,” says Benedict. “But even if I did, I would not reject this one.

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