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Artist Pae White directs a light technician about the way her piece “Aviory” should b

UCLA art and non-art students were busy at the Hammer Museum last week as they helped construct local artist Pae White’s latest installation project.

“We had to tie extensions on the strings that hang from the ceilings and put in hooks, climb ladders, hang things, punch holes and really help her put it all together,” said Ragen Moss, a second-year law student who volunteered to work on the project.

The unique opportunity to hang an exhibit in a well-established museum, as well as work with a respected artist, drew about 15 students to the project.

White’s exhibit, which will officially open in the Hammer lobby on Feb. 8 and run until July 13, is curated by James Elaine.

The exhibit currently includes four sculptures, including “Grief,” which extends from the ceiling of the two-story lobby down to the floor.

White’s hanging sculptures are like massive die-cut mobiles. “Grief” consists of 700 brightly colored strings hanging from the ceiling, with 3,000 die-cut pieces attached.

The result is a spectacularly colorful hanging sculpture whose strings dance in reaction to the slightest movement and create detailed patterned shadows on the floor.

Students took over the Hammer lobby and worked in daylong shifts to get the exhibit together.

A project of this proportion would not have been possible without the students’ help, White said.

Among other things, the volunteers learned about the frustrations an exhibit like this can cause.

“It takes longer than you would think and there are all these little things that can go wrong,” Moss said. “You really have to be flexible and adjust to it, and I personally think (White) has done a good job with that.”

It is difficult to decipher the meaning of the pieces beyond their aesthetic quality – this seems to be what White intends.

“I’m really not interested in telling the viewer what they are looking at,” White said. “The viewer can bring a degree of agility to the work and let the work maybe take them to other places.”

The convenience of this exhibition and its natural beauty should encourage viewers to see the exhibit, Moss said. For those who do not have time to spend hours at a museum, Moss hopes they will walk through the Hammer lobby just to see what these ethereal sculptures are all about.

“It interacts well with the environment. There is a movement to it; as you walk by your body creates a wind that makes the piece react to your presence. It makes the piece move,” Moss said.

Because the exhibit is still a work in progress, the Hammer lobby is filled with folded tables overflowing with boxes of strings, die-cuts and glue. UCLA students will continue to collaborate with White in preparing for the Feb. 8 opening.

“This show could not have happened without them,” White said. “From untangling string to going 25 feet in the air, they have been spectacular.”