The Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art is providing a glance into new media and contemporary concepts in the new exhibition, “Medium Anxiety.”

Marc Mitchell, co-curator and gallery director, and Derek Larson, co-curator and assistant professor, shaped the exhibit around Marshall McLuhan’s concept of technology and expression that “the medium is the message.”

“McLuhan’s role of media is the glue that holds this exhibit together,” said Mitchell.

The exhibit holds seven contemporary art pieces from around the country that play on McLuhan’s notion of media in art.

“It’s ‘Medium Anxiety,’ a reflection of contemporary art.  Anyone could go visit [the gallery] and get a glimpse of contemporary art outside of Statesboro,” said Larson.

Mitchell and Larson chose seven distinct artists from all over the country for the exhibit.

Each artist presents how different forms of technology and disciplines can be used to challenge boundaries and create a new form of art.

“Art and new media is broad and can be executed in a number of different ways,” explained Mitchell. “Technology is ingrained in everything we do. New media merges different forms of technology together.”

With disciplines such as science, philosophy, music and time, those who visit the exhibit will discover the various components of modern technology.

Giving new meaning to those objects develops the pieces into artwork.

In one piece of “Medium Anxiety,” artist Thomas Gokey, from Syracuse, New York, makes art out of his analyzed data of self-induced tears following a 5mg dosage of Oxytocin.

Another piece by Toby Kaufmann-Buhler, from Madison, Wisconsin, uses sound and video to document experiences.

Artist Pascual Sisto, from Los Angeles, California, uses visual effects to show unreal happenings in normal suburban areas.

All seven of the pieces are uniquely unlike one another.  Film, sand, perspective, sound, and even an old sewing machine are among the many fragments used in the other four pieces highlighted in the exhibit.

“The artists are providing an experience that the viewer can re-experience through the piece,” said Larson.

The exhibition comes in part with the introduction of the new media program to Georgia Southern University.

The exhibition displays the forms of art that will be pertinent to students, the department, and the curriculum.

“It’s an introduction for artists here to see what’s possible when working with new media, “said Larson. “I hope students will want to expand their range of tools and investigate design and sculpture in a broader sense.”

In the new media program, which began at the start of the Fall 2011 semester, students explore and work with video animation, interactivity, sound, installation and other assortments of media art techniques.

Students from all areas of study are encouraged to stop by the University Art gallery in the Center for Art and Theater to check out “Medium Anxiety.”

“A Health and Human Science student would find Gokey’s piece interesting and music students would be interested in Kaufmann-Buhler’s piece,” said Mitchell. “There are interesting components that are fun and engaging whether you know about art or not.”

The “Medium Anxiety” gallery is on display in the bottom floor of the CAT and is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday-Friday until Oct. 25.