NOTICE TO REPORTERS:  Artist Carl Tandatnick will be in
Charlottesville
Aug. 25-29 to mount ÒLife Crisis.Ó To arrange an interview with him,
contact Robin Iten at (804) 924-3286.

	AWARD-WINNING ARTIST SIMULATES LIFE-AND-DEATH 
EXPERIENCES OF OPERATING ROOM

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Aug. 17 -- Visitors will don operating
masks to enter the ÒLife CrisisÓ exhibit at the University of
VirginiaÕs Artspace Gallery.
	Artist and anesthesiologist Carl Tandatnick will transform a
specially built room within the gallery into a surrealistic
operating room that will open with a public reception Monday, Aug.
28, at 5 p.m.
	Visitors will pass through a steel door into a dimly lit
operating theater where an apparent patient, lying under blue
operating drapes, will rest, flanked by an electrocardiogram and an
anesthesia machine with ventilators that periodically switch on and
off.  The room will be lined with 108 glowing I.V. bags with
different fluorescent colors that represent various stages of life
and death.
	Mirrored chairs will reflect the masked visitors, who will
hear an assortment of hospital sounds, including the entrance and
departure of patients, doctorsÕ voices, medical equipment and
sirens.  They will also hear rain, wind and fire.
	ÒTandatnick uses the basic elements of nature and humanity
to remind us how fragile existence is,Ó said Robin Iten, Artspace
Gallery co-director.  ÒBy presenting sickness and death within an
operating room, he forces us to reevaluate life experiences and
beliefs.  The masked viewers of ÔLife CrisisÕ become equals because
we are faced with a realization of our mortality.Ó
	A recipient of Alternative MuseumÕs 1993 National Showcase
Award, Tandatnick was invited to present a solo exhibit at the New
York museum.  With equipment that he uses daily in the operating
room, Tandatnick created ÒLife Crisis,Ó which opened in 1994.
	His exhibit is supported by U.Va.Õs Health Sciences Center,
the North American Drager Corp., Baxter Healthcare Corp., 3M
Company, Spacelabs Corp. and other businesses and individuals.
	Sponsored by University Union, ÒLife CrisisÓ will be on
display from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Oct. 15 in the Artspace
Gallery, located on the third floor of Newcomb Hall.
	For more information, contact University Union at (804)
924-3286.
###
August 16, 1995