The Guggenheim Gallery at Chapman University is excited to present #HASHTAG, the semi-annual juried student departmental exhibition featuring a variety of work created solely by student artists, Monday, December 2 – Friday, December 6, 2013 (reception at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 2).

Typically used on social media websites, “hashtag” is a word or phrase preceded by a hash or pound sign (#) and used to identify messages on a specific topic. While it is regarded as something restricted to social media platforms, it is a valuable tool for expressing thoughts, feelings, and opinions, amassing to digitally visible trends within society. By physically replacing multiple internet media platforms with a cork board, pencils, and pieces of paper, we are using primitive materials to create an analog platform for users to express thoughts normally made with a keyboard. So much emphasis is placed on the latest technological advances that society often forgets the importance of tactility in self-expression. The corkboard forces gallery visitors to interact both mentally and viscerally with the exhibition. The show will be made up of a variety of works chosen by a jury of all art faculty members from Chapman University, reflecting the aesthetics trending in the department today. The show’s title classifies the objects inside the gallery’s space as trending art, but we are leaving interpretation up to the viewers.