Defne Egecioglu is an artist at heart. But the majority of her
life currently centers around the science classes she is taking for
a biochemistry degree from the UCLA graduate school.

In a pitch-black studio, a 20-inch television is turned on, the
screen facing a white wall. The channels are constantly changing,
and the volume stays low.

Names like Kim Gi-duk, B. Shigley and Hyo-Lee may mean
practically nothing to an average American.
However, they are all famous celebrities in the Asian
entertainment industry, and they are all featured in the current
issue of Asia Pacific Arts ““ a UCLA-based magazine devoted to
both Asian-American and Asian arts and entertainment.

“Please do not clean this room!!! Or throw anything away.
Thank you.”
Scrawled on a small scrap of paper and taped onto a wall of his
exhibition room, 31-year-old Edgar Arceneaux’s note to the
Hammer Museum’s cleaning crew shows that he is cautious about
how others perceive his space, which will serve as his exhibit and
personal studio until the end of February.

In the strange world of David Rees, becoming as cool as the
invincible master Karate Snoopy is the ultimate goal for all karate
disciples. Besides practicing with each other, these martial arts
students also fight Bruce Lee style against their imaginary selves,
their circulatory systems and, occasionally, their own
fingerprints.

Recent landscape architecture graduate Claire Touze-Shawaf has
visions of a children’s park near LAX without any metal
monkey bars or slides. Her model involves a miniature Stonehenge
that helps kids spot certain stars, and grass mazes just tall
enough for small children to completely submerge.

Picture a Broadway musical starring nine distinctive
personalities and talents. Take away the melodrama, and then add
some high-end hip-hop and original poetry. The result is the
“Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam.”
In essence, “Def Poetry Jam” is a presentation of
performance poetry inspired by current events.