Last semester, Sacramento State photography students chose seemingly random objects to enclose in envelopes. Fast forward six months, the objects revealed and are the source of inspiration behind “Once Sealed…Now Revealed.”

The exhibit opened on Friday at Beatnik Studios located on Broadway and 17th. Photography students have pumped life into normally mundane objects to create a series of photographic art pieces.

Last year’s senior photography portfolio class was given the assignment to choose an object or write directions as a source of inspiration to this year’s students. This semester’s senior photography students opened the envelopes and based on what their envelope contained, they had free reign to interpret the contents into a photographic message.

In charged of facilitating the show is associate professor of photography Nigel Poor, who also serves as the program coordinator for photography in the Department of Design. The show has become a tradition, with Poor’s Fall 2006 senior portfolio class being the first class to partake in the project.

“I think that adds a good layer to the project as it links students over an extended period of time, as each successive class is using envelopes made for them from the class before and will make envelopes for the class coming after them,” Poor said.

Linking the students even further is the Beatnik studio staff. Three of the Beatnik artists are Sac State alumni and the studio serves as sort of a home away from home, complete with a full kitchen and bathroom. The gallery, reminiscent of a hip New York loft, serves as the perfect backdrop for the show’s catchy theme.

Objects range from the extremely simple, like a rubber ducky and a broken camera lens, to the somewhat abstract. Below each photograph is the enveloped itself and either directions they were given or the actual object.

Student artist Justin Short’s envelope contained birthday candles, a lighter, paper clips, a ribbon and instructions to use the items to escape from a dangerous situation.

“I’ve found that a creative person can generally be creative with what they’re working with, whether they’ve used it a million times before or never seen it,” Short said.

Senior photography major Rochelle Rodriguez was directed to take a road trip to her favorite place with her best friends. In response to the directions, Rodriguez took Polaroid pictures every 10 minutes until she reached Santa Cruz and captioned the photos with the time and distance that each picture was snapped at.

One particularly intriguing photo features a hollowed out rabbit and a skinned rabbit below it. Wilson Lin a senior photography major was told that at one point in history, people used rabbits to determine if they were pregnant.

While not all of the students return to see how their envelope’s contents were interpreted, “I did see some alumni photo students that came by to check out the show and the objects they chose,” Beatnik artist and Sac State photo alumni Lindsay Calmettes said.

While Poor gave the student’s guidance and found a studio to host the show, the students had a bulk of the responsibility. They not only created the art, but handled the public relations aspects, dreamt up a title, installed their art, prepared the opening and wrote a statement about the show.

“It is a great learning experience for them, not only because they get exposed to how to put together and organize a group exhibition but creatively they get pushed beyond their comfort zone?they have no control over what they get in the envelope,” Poor said.

The gallery will have the photos installed until Nov. 28 and will be hosting a reception from 6 until 10 p.m. on Nov. 8 as part of downtown’s Second Saturday art walk. Information about the show and other upcoming gallery events can be found at www.beatnik-studios.com.

“(Students) tend to take more chances with what they because they get into the experimental nature of the endeavor,” Poor said.

Casey Kirk can be reached at [email protected]