The Burchfield Penney Art Center has two new exhibits on display. The two exhibits, “Nothing Is Going Away” by Jozef Bajus, and “The Last Tree” by Babs Reingold are viewed as reflections of our society, according to the artists.

The exhibit by Bajus was used to show the evolution of recycled materials that humans use in their everyday lives. Each sculpture that Bajus used was recycled objects that people rely on for daily uses and was distinctively formed into something useful. If this is a start to our societal obligation, Bajus has made a memorable first impression.

“The Acid Rain piece was placed into the middle of the room so you can look at the other sculptures in the room differently, also he uses light to create an interesting design,” Burchfield Penney’s Associate Director Don Metz said. “He uses staples to make a design in the Overhead Beauty #1 and #2 which reminded me of running around and stepping on staples as a child, and the Metamorphosis sculpture design reminded me of a tire factory down the street when I was growing up. It was almost as I was being brought down memory lane.”

“My first thought was I like the contrast, the medium is not what I expected and I like the change. The Acid Rain is like you want to reach out and touch it, also the use of different materials like the wood,” said Publisher of Niagara Frontier of Publication Arthur Mazenauer.

The artist’s message of this exhibit was “if this was our last resort then we can manage.” He uniquely showed how he formed used materials to make new objects in each one of his sculptures.

“I like it, it is different, and it is a good compliment to the rest of the museum,” Buffalo resident Will Saperston said.

The Last Tree’s exhibit was also a reflection of what the artist seen, but in this one it talks about social issues in terms of poverty, environment, and beauty. Inside of the room, viewers will be met by 193 falsified tree stumps which represents the amount of countries in the world, a video, and in the center a leafless tree whose branches are being held up by thin strings. There are two pictures in the room, one picture is a simple display of the room itself, and the other is of a few tree stumps that are in the room.

“I thought it was about Sculpture, I only appreciated it after the introduction, it was futuristic and I wanted to bring my grandchildren but I realized that they will appreciate it as I do,” Lucy Holmes, a Buffalo resident  said. “From the message of the video, you will see why the room is set up the way it is, and other things that we are destroying.”

The exhibits displayed how as a race, humans have continued to destroy their land. The use of the stumps shows the collectiveness of this effort by everyone. The repeated showing of a tree being chopped and chain sawed down was another way the artist portrayed deforestation in our environments.

Freshman forensic chemistry Safiya Shehu watched the visual display. Art is ambiguous; Shehu enjoyed this exhibits many facets it brought forward.

“The video is creative yet very detailed,” she said. “It shows how the last tree is cut into distinctive shapes yet every individual tree stump does not have the same pattern or same amount of hairs on it. I think it is interesting yet odd how it is in fact made with actual human hairs,”

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