UCLA’s Design and Media Arts program brought its seniors’ ideas to fruition in an interactive exhibit.

On June 4, the undergraduate Design and Media Arts program (DMA) hosted a multimedia exhibit featuring projects from the Capstone Senior Project class, which DMA students are required to take in their final quarter. The opening of the exhibit took place from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Broad Art Center and was on display until June 13. The space was filled with various student displays, many of which were digital.

“It (the exhibit) invites a lot of interaction,” said Jeff McSwain, an event attendee. “It feels like a hands-on type of museum in a way that expresses something that the artist has developed or grown with or imagined. … It’s inviting us to be changed in a way through interacting with the students’ work.”

Jeff McSwain added that he was impressed by how his daughter, fourth-year design and media arts student Darcy McSwain, leveraged her talent for drawing and digital expression through code. Her display – which included a live website that shifts landscapes according to the time of year when viewers interact with the platform – uses seasonal change to explore the passage of time, Jeff McSwain said. He added that she was adopted from China and uses her cultural background as a creative foundation and aesthetic influence, highlighting natural imagery to tell stories of transformation.

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Various exhibits, such as fourth-year design and media arts student Micky Wright’s “Tulpabox,” also featured a mix of physical and digital elements. Wright’s installation included a computer game, which asked players questions about their self-perception, identity and confidence and was accompanied by a set of wooden gears that moved below the computer program.

Wright said being part of the program pushed them to explore new aspects of design, as well as to experiment with digital tools and woodworking – a break from the solely 2D projects they worked on while attending community college before UCLA. Wright put these new skills to use in their project, which they said critiques toxic self-improvement and self-help culture, inviting participants to judge their insecurities from an outside perspective.

Third-year design and media arts student Erin Ro drew on her personal history in her work. Although she has moved frequently, nature has remained a constant source of comfort for her, she said. This connection to nature inspired her installation, which used three screens and motion-capture technology that responded to viewers’ movements and explored how collective patterns of movement appear in nature, human societies and technology, she added.

Rafael Alejandro Larrañaga, a fourth-year design and media arts student, highlighted his roots in a different way. Larrañaga’s “The LAnd” featured Los Angeles cultural landmarks engraved on a paper Hollywood sign, as well as an industrial bucket holding a collection of bright flowers. The bucket was given to him by his dad, a construction worker.

Hailing from Inglewood, Larrañaga said this project symbolized an idealized – or flashier – version of LA that contrasts with the everyday realities he has observed throughout his life. The bucket of flowers reminded him of flower vendors – and other Angelenos – who are just trying to support themselves and their families, he said.

Larrañaga said receiving feedback from professors and peers was an important part of the creative process.

“I’m going to miss these people a lot because we’ve gotten so close in the past quarter,” Larrañaga said. “I’ve also gotten really close to my work. I’ve been trying to say this (that there are two versions of Los Angeles) since I came to UCLA, and I feel like I finally found the words through my practice.”

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Sagan Yee, a third-year master’s student in media arts and a teaching assistant for the Senior Capstone class said he was proud of the students, especially their ability to execute their projects well regardless of any technical difficulties they may have faced.

Nhan Nguyen, a third-year design and media arts student, said he was particularly looking forward to creating his own capstone next year after attending the exhibit.

“From seeing them working on it, and now seeing the final product, it’s really amazing,” Nguyen said. “It’s really interesting seeing all the classes that I’m taking right now, being reflected in a much advanced level at these amazing shows. At the end of the day, it’s very inspiring.”