A performance art piece enacted by a graduate student simulating The School of the Arts and Architecture at UCLA has started Burden had taught at UCLA since 1978, and Rubins had taught The department feels the loss of two of the school’s more “The reputation never depends on a few individuals,” The two professors requested retirement partly because the “There should have been more outrage and a firmer According to witness reports that appeared in The Los Angeles After the gun did not fire the first time, Deutch quickly left In addition to the incident, Watson told The Los Angeles Times Watson was out of town and could not be reached for comment UCLA Student Conduct Code statute 102.20 prohibits the Deutch declined to comment, noting that his status with the “Technically, the (student conduct) code doesn’t Naples noted that statute 102.25 of the Student Conduct Code There are laws against using replica firearms in a way where An interim suspension was not imposed on Deutch because it was “The matter has not yet been resolved, and once it’s
Russian roulette has the UCLA art department looking to fill the
places of two of its prominent faculty members.
looking to fill one of the two vacancies left by professors Chris
Burden and Nancy Rubins, who both retired after the Nov. 29
incident. The search for a sculpture instructor has already been
authorized, said Chris Waterman, dean of the School of Arts and
Architecture at UCLA.
since 1982. Before the incident, Burden oversaw the new genres
program, which includes performance and electronic art. Rubins was
a professor of sculpture.
renowned artists will not hurt the reputation of the art school
because other famous artists still teach there, Waterman added.
he said. “It’s always a collective total.”
university did not suspend Joseph Deutch, the graduate student
involved in the performance, said Sarah Watson, a director at
Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills who represents the two artists,
in a Jan. 22 Los Angeles Times article.
response,” she said to The Los Angeles Times. “People
feared for their lives.”
Times, Deutch appeared to be holding a handgun to his head in a
performance art piece at the graduate art studio in Culver City and
pulled the trigger.
the room and a shot was heard from outside.
that Burden and Rubins were unsatisfied with UCLA because of budget
cutbacks and other problems that interfered with the art
department’s operation.
Monday.
possession, use, storage or manufacture of a firearm on campus
except when permitted by the law. During the investigation, Deutch
handed the police a gun that was not real.
university is still tenuous. Deutch has been allowed to continue
his studies, but action is still pending.
address replicas,” said Robert Naples, dean of students.
“I don’t know what municipal, state or federal law
addresses in regard to replicas.”
allows the university to take disciplinary action against an
individual who violates federal, state or local laws.
people can perceive them as real, but because the district attorney
declined to hear the case, it is out of police jurisdiction and is
solely in the control of the university, said Nancy Greenstein,
director of community services for the UC Police Department.
determined that he did not pose a clear and present danger on
campus, Naples said, but added that this does not mean that the
university is not doing anything.
resolved, the university will either take no action or it will take
some action,” Naples said, noting that there is a range of
sanctions if it is determined that a student has violated the
conduct code.
