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There are many ways to be entertained at UCLA – from exploring the campus, enjoying the events at Westwood Plaza or even sitting in your dorm room meeting new people. However exciting those activities may be, there is still one experience that can both raise eyebrows and entertain the masses: Daily Bruin blind dates.

This week, our two blind daters included Candace Daniels and Rohit Mahajan. Both second -years, Daniels is a theater student while Mahajan is undeclared. Daniels’ friends describe her as the life of the party and a dancer that will out-booty shake Ms. Spears. Mahajan, best known for his fantastic dance moves as well, was described by his friends as the one they tend to turn to in times of need.

“When I first met Candace, she had a huge smile on her face – I knew she was going to be a blast to hang out with,” said Mahajan. “Besides her demeanor, she was talking about Lil’ Kim, so we definitely had things in common.”

The two started their date off at UCLA’s Hammer Museum to see the Christian Marclay exhibit that opened June 1. Marclay is a renowned artist best known for his ability to fuse together the world of music and art, and create everything from sculptures to videos, collages and installations. Marclay, a Swiss artist, explores the juxtaposition between the auditory and visual through different styles of art.

“The exhibit was extremely interesting,” said Daniels. “What was most fascinating to me was his collection of album records – especially the ‘Slide in Easy.’ It had an interesting mix of bodies to represent different musical genres.”

The exhibit furthered Marclay’s notions of the power of music and art when fused together. According to Mahajan, the exhibit was symbolic in nature, but also had a practical side.

“It was the type of exhibit that you would walk away from thinking that it was really fascinating,” said Mahajan. “It’s kind of like something you learn in class that stays at the back of your mind so anytime you see an album cover or poster, you analyze it like you did the pictures in the museum.”

In addition to creating images that stay with viewers, the exhibit also showcased some of Marclay’s signature sculptures.

“One of his sculptures, an accordion, was about 30 feet long,” said Daniels. “It was sort of freaky, but it definitely caught my attention and kept it for like half an hour. His sculptures are all completely distorted and mutilated instruments – you can’t help but stare at them.”

“The exhibit was a really good place for a date,” said Mahajan. “It’s a place where even if you have nothing in common you can just talk about the randomness of the art.”

While it was interesting for the two, the show did get a little repetitive at some points according to Daniels.

“Once you see something extremely freaky, you expect the artist to top it off with something even more out there, but he seemed to plateau at the end rather than hit me with something that would make my jaw drop,” she said.

After observing the art, the two went to Moustache Cafe to talk some more.

“Rohit was a really funny guy – he kept making me laugh when he would make comments about all the people we were watching,” said Daniels.

The two reflected on their first year at college, recalling everything from crazy dorm parties and dances to cramming for finals and learning how to write papers hours before they’re due.

“We had a lot in common – we both hated writing papers and liked to party,” said Mahajan.

From museum journeys to people watching, these first- years started their academic careers off on the right foot – mixing both love and intellect.