SELF/SOUL exhibition opening at Zhaoqing University (Zhaoqing, China) (December 1 - 25, 2006). This joint exhibition is a culmination of students at Zhaoqing University (Zhaoqing, China) and University of Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.) working simultaneously to explore self and soul.

Students read the coverage about the concurrent SELF/SOUL exhibition at the Rouge Noir Gallery, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A. Zhaoqing University art students' digital art works are seen beyond and to the left.

Students to the left view the online version of the exhibition while other students view the ten better Zhaoqing University art students' digital art works.

Students view the digital art works by Zhaoqing University art students (top row) and University of Louisville art students (bottom row). The images are paralleled for a comparison and to be in keeping with the online version of the exhibition.

Students view the Zhaoqing University art students' digital art works. The first work (partially blocked by a viewer) is by Zeng Xiao Li, and it was featured in the Louisville city newspaper review of the concurrent SELF/SOUL exhibition at the Rouge Noir Gallery, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.

Students view the digital art works by Zhaoqing University art students (top row) and University of Louisville art students (bottom row). The images are paralleled for a comparison and to be in keeping with the online version of the exhibition.

Students walk past and view the digital art works by Zhaoqing University art students (top row) and University of Louisville art students (bottom row). The images are paralleled for a comparison and to be in keeping with the online version of the exhibition. Two art professors are seen conversing to the right.

Students (to the left) and art professors (to the right) view the digital art works by Zhaoqing University art students (top row) and University of Louisville art students (bottom row). The images are paralleled for a comparison and to be in keeping with the online version of the exhibition. A computer monitor is seen to the extreme right showing a video of the opening of the concurrent SELF/SOUL exhibition at the Rouge Noir Gallery, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.

Students gather to view the ten better digital art works by Zhaoqing University art students. Again, the first work (seen extreme right) by Zeng Xiao Li was featured in the Louisville city newspaper review of the concurrent SELF/SOUL exhibition at the Rouge Noir Gallery, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.

Students view the digital art works by Zhaoqing University art students (top row) and University of Louisville art students (bottom row). The images are paralleled for a comparison and to be in keeping with the online version of the exhibition.

Students (to the left) view the digital art works by Zhaoqing University art students (top row) and University of Louisville art students (bottom row) while other students (center and beyond, right) view the ten better digital art works by Zhaoqing University art students.

As students read the coverage about the concurrent SELF/SOUL exhibition at the Rouge Noir Gallery, University of Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.), a school reporter takes notes from the frontispiece to write a story. Zeng Xiao Li's digital art is clearly seen in front of the reporter.
This project is a collaboration between Freshman [Grade 1] students in China and America under the instruction of Tom R. Chambers at Zhaoqing University (Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, China) and Chan Ying Kit at Allen R. Hite Art Institute, University of Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.).

The self-portrait gives the artist the greatest freedom from external constraints. Because the artist is his or her own cheapest and most available model, the self-portrait is the finest opportunity to make the most flattering statement or the most penetrating revelation of character of which he or she is capable. The artist tries not only to express his inner drive through aesthetic presentation, but also to examine that drive through portrayal of the most intimate subject, the self [The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright 2005, Columbia University Press].

The soul, according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is a self-aware ethereal substance particular to a unique living being. In these traditions the soul is thought to incorporate the inner essence of each living being, and to be the true basis for sentience. In distinction to spirit which may or may not be eternal, souls are usually (but not always as explained below) considered to be immortal and to pre-exist their incarnation in flesh. The concept of the soul has strong links with notions of an afterlife, but opinions may vary wildly, even within a given religion, as to what may happen to the soul after the death of the body. Many within these religions and philosophies see the soul as immaterial, while others consider it to possibly have a material component, and some have even tried to establish the mass (weight) of the soul [Wikipedia].

Tom R. Chambers
Visiting Lecturer, Digital/New Media Art
Fine Arts Department
Zhaoqing University
Zhaoqing, China