MULTIMEDIA WORK : ‘WINDOWS’ OPENING AT CHAPMAN

Individually, the pieces in the Chapman College multimedia presentation “Windows” can be viewed as ruminations on repression--specifically the repression of the individual in the name of society’s greater good.

Yet together, they seem more a declaration of artistic freedom.

Produced, written, directed and performed by Chapman students, “Windows” blends performance art, experimental theater, animation, a slide-tape presentation and story-telling. It will be presented today through Friday at 8 p.m. in the college’s Waltmar Theatre.

“This is truly a positive experience for the students. We are allowed to do what we want to do,” said Joel Moffett, a communications major who wrote and directed “Dripping Windows,” a blend of performance art and theater that serves as the centerpiece of “Windows.”

“Because we are students and because we put the student name on the art, we’re allowed to do a lot more than a faculty member would, especially at Chapman College,” Moffett said.

Administrators at Chapman College, which depends heavily on private contributions, often discourage performances and exhibitions that might generate controversy in the community, Moffett said. He cited a recent school production of Lanford Wilson’s play “Hot L Baltimore,” which he said came under fire from school administrators because of its language. “Windows,” he said, has more freedom because it is not an official college production.

(Richard Doetkett, chairman of the communications department at Chapman, agreed that there was some controversy about “Hot L Baltimore” but argued that it is by nature a controversial play. He did not characterize administrative concerns as an attempt to stop the production, which went ahead with language intact. “I think it all comes down to one thing: Did the play go on?” Doetkett said. “We have no record of prior censorship at this institution in my 25 years here. I think that speaks very well for the school.”).

Moffett said there was initial concern by the school administration last year about a performance art piece written by him and one by another student. “Each of us organized our own separate performance and billed them together because we both wanted to do performance art,” he said.

But the performance art event turned out to be a hit with many, and prompted some students, such as communications major Sam Rosenthal, to try their hand at the emerging art form. “When you’re used to seeing ‘Oklahoma!’ and plays like that, this really knocked me over,” Rosenthal said. “It was something I really wanted to get involved in.”

Rosenthal met Moffett and went on to create the slide-tape piece “Bombardment,” which will be featured in “Windows.” David Janssen, another Chapman student, created a short animation piece that also will be featured.

The centerpiece is Moffett’s “Dripping Windows,” an ambitious look at the roles individuals are expected to play in society. Characters in the hourlong piece cling to their well-defined roles, literally represented by shapes painted on the floor, until a freely moving character named Learbag upsets their precarious existence.

Last year, Moffett said he met with some reluctance from school officials when he sought permission to use a campus theater. But because the event was well attended and favorably received by students and faculty alike, Moffett said this year he had no trouble gaining permission from the art and communications departments to use Waltmar Theatre. Students were even granted a small publicity budget.

In addition to easing the path for “Windows,” last year’s performance event helped spawn a greater interest in performance art generally on campus, said several participants in “Windows.” Student performance art pieces, often unannounced, are now a common sight on campus lawns of Chapman.

“This is the first year any of this stuff has happened,” said Andrew DeAngelo, a performer in “Dripping Windows” and founder of a campus group called CRAFT--Chapman Representatives for Artistic Freedom and Talent. “We’ve had a lot of people do them who aren’t even in the theater or communications departments.”

CRAFT organized 10 performance pieces for the recent observance of Nuclear Awareness Week at Chapman. It also provides ushers and publicity for campus productions and performances.

“I started it (CRAFT) because I felt we needed a support group for artists and also . . . because I wanted some protection to do controversial art, and an ASB (Associated Student Body) club would give that protection,” DeAngelo said. “It also made the school facilities available to us.”

For “Windows,” CRAFT will organize an art exhibit in the theater lobby and also will operate a food booth.

About 30 students are involved in various aspects of “Windows,” most of them as performers in “Dripping Windows.” They receive no academic credit for their participation.

“The people really want to do it,” Rosenthal said. “They want to make it the best they can because they’re into it for what they’re doing, not for what they’re getting out of it.”

Communications department chairman Doetkett said he is “very pleased” that the students are doing “Windows” especially since such efforts are difficult to execute because of the amount of energy required.

“They learn about things we normally take care of for them in school-sponsored productions,” he said. “They have to have the energy and the drive to do it themselves. Not every student can do it, but some of our best students have risen to the challenge.”