Cuesta gallery presents immersive Web of Love exhibition
Opening reception scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 29
– The Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery at Cuesta College is presenting Web of Love, a solo exhibition by interdisciplinary artist Samantha Nye, opening Thursday, Jan. 29, and running through March 13.
The exhibition features an immersive, participatory video installation examining intimacy, desire, and systems of care through video, sculpture, and performance. The installation centers on a near shot-by-shot remake of the 1966 Scopitone film Web of Love. Scopitone films were early precursors to contemporary music videos and were viewed in nightclubs during the 1960s and 1970s on machines that combined jukeboxes and television screens.
Nye’s adaptation stars artist-activists and Guggenheim Fellows Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, with music by Erin Markey. Filming took place in San Luis Obispo at Madonna Inn, Sycamore Springs, and in a custom-built, faux heart-shaped hot tub suite inspired by 1970s romance resorts.
The gallery space features carpeted, wall-to-wall lipstick-red shag and an interactive sculptural lounge incorporating four pink, heart-shaped hot tubs sourced from the former Poconos Palace Honeymoon Resort. Visitors may recline within the installation to experience a four-channel video alongside a series of video sculptures.
“Blending nostalgia, intimacy, and humor, Web of Love invites audiences to consider how desire, care, and fantasy are shaped by architecture, media, and shared social space,” Nye said.
The opening reception for Web of Love is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 29, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., and includes an artist talk in Room 6301 at 6 p.m. A livestream of the talk will be available online.
The exhibition follows a free public program held Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Harold J. Miossi Cultural and Performing Arts Center. The program featured an artist talk with Sprinkle and Stephens and a screening of their 2025 documentary Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency.
According to Miossi Art Gallery Coordinator Tim Stark, the program brought together contemporary art practices exploring intimacy, ecology, and community, examining how care and resilience emerge in response to a changing world.
The Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery is located in Room 7170 on the Cuesta College San Luis Obispo Campus. Admission is free. Regular gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and by appointment.
