SOL Collective

I have no idea what SOL means, but it's probably not what you think it means. Get your head out of the gutter.

For this visit, I went to the SOL Collective in downtown Sacramento. The reason I came by it was simple enough; after my Yelp mishap, I was none too eager to trust the internet again. When I saw a poster about a show titled Fused Perspectives and realized I happened to get off work not long after the show would open, I decided to stop by and see what they had. Of course, I got there a bit late, so the event was in full swing by the time I arrived and this is what I was greeted with.

Yes, I did record this with a potato. Why do you ask?

Obviously, this wasn't going to be like the other places I've seen so far. This place had musical performances and the art was a small collection from two UK artists, Dilrani Kaur and Vik Kainth. There was also a table of food--empty, since I got there late--and flyers with upcoming events SOL was either hosting or getting involved in, most of which were based on local activism. SOL, you see, in an activism-driven collective that focuses on art with social messages. But more on that later, let's talk about the art pieces.

As I said, the art was a collaborative collection from two different artists. Dilrani Kaur's art has a particular focus on Indian cultural symbols and creating forms through repeating patterns and shapes. These are all reproductions, but the original works were made with ink and graphite. If you look closely, you can very clearly see the pencil strokes, but the ink parts are made with extreme, painstaking precision. Kaur's art composition is quite impressive, both in terms of technical accuracy and sheer, abundant detail.

Ganesh by Dilrani Kaur

Dil Ki Rani by Dilrani Kaur

 Vic Kainth's work was more in the digital medium, mainly portraits. These portraits appear to be renderings of existing photos, but with a simplified shading style emphasizing shapes of highlights and shadows. They're not unlike certain well-known Pop Art of famous people, actually, and I quite enjoyed looking at them. While not bursting with the same mesmerizing detail as Kaur's works, Kainth certainly displays considerable skill in choosing interesting photos to work from and catching the eye with color and shapes.

Bob Marley Portrait by Vik Kainth

Oh, but the fun doesn't end there. Remember when I said SOL is an activism-driven collective?

An activism-driven collective? You don't say.

 Clearly they focus on topics of social justice, a term that Tumblr has ruined for everyone, so I'm going to redefine it here based on what I saw at the collective. Social justice is the gathering of like-minded people in order to serve a cause. The SOL collective uses art as the main tether, but through their art, they promote their cause and call people to action. It's all done in a very genuine, non-pretentious way that appeals mainly to young adults who want to share a message with the community.

A russet potato with an f/11 aperture, if you were wondering. The audio comes courtesy of a high-quality sea urchin.

On a final note, I'd also like to point out the graffiti-style art all over the building interior. It's just a very interesting extra touch that gives the entire experience more flavor.

What is it? Who cares. It's cool.

Uhh...lady, you might want to get that checked out...

One thing I hadn't brought up until now is the SOL Collective is pretty darn small. I cited this as a problem when I wrote about the Viewpoint Photo Gallery, so it might seem hypocritical for me to brush it off here. Let me explain. The problem with other small galleries isn't that they are small, it's that they are not an experience. The social messages of Viewpoint's photo display weren't all that different from that of SOL, but Viewpoint was quiet, constricted, and sterile. SOL was alive with activity and enthusiasm, full of welcoming people getting together to have a good time and work toward a cause. If I had a choice between a place like SOL and a place like Viewpoint, I will pick the living, breathing world over a white-walled, funeral-silent isolation tank any day.

For being so much more than I expected, I'm rating this visit A King-Sized Bar on Halloween.