Winona State University’s Art and Design Department hosted a video installation exhibit by Chicago based artist, Yugo Zhou, called In the Shape of a City, on Oct. 16 through Nov. 6. The exhibit featured two video pieces, Midtown Flutter and Underground Circuit, which were filmed on the streets of New York City as well as the subways.

Art Gallery Coordinator, Roger Boulay, oversaw the exhibit.

“Yugo Zhou exhibited at Winona State last year,” Boulay said. “I saw it and I loved it, and I decided to invite her to exhibit here, and she accepted.”

Boulay said it was interesting to bring two pieces that were investigating urban spaces to Winona.

“Since Winona is located in such a rural environment, to have two pieces about a big city, is a nice change of pace,” Boulay said. “It might make many of our students, many of which come from rural backgrounds, think about the city in new ways, and maybe disrupt preconceived notions about the city.”

Rachel Hollcraft, of Crookston, Minn., and a sophomore and WSU, viewed the exhibit with her classmates.

“The different people, especially in the piece on the floor, gives a sense of individuality to every person caught on tape, and in a way that makes New York City seem smaller,” Hollcraft said.

“I really appreciated the detail put into timing people with the stop light, in the piece on the wall,” Hollcraft said. “The piece on the floor was my favorite, because the amount of time put into filming, and then creating a loop of different people entering and exiting from each square is incredible, and shows the hard work of Zhou.”

Boulay said there were over 300 layer of video in Underground Circuit, and Zhou listened to entire television series during the video editing process.

Boulay said Zhou received an $800 stipend, and stayed at the WSU Alumni House during her stay in Winona.  The exhibit was supported by WSU and by a grant from the WSU Foundation.

The Shape of a City exhibit allowed viewer to interact with the pieces. Viewers could walk on Underground, if they took off their shoes. Viewers could also look behind Midtown Flutter to see how the piece was made and look at its various dimensions.

Watkins Gallery hosts six exhibits by visiting artists each year and six by current WSU students. The next exhibit called, CHASTUSHKI, by Amy Toscani, will be on display from Nov. 13 through Dec. 8.