Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
Art was made available for public participation in various campus spots April 3 as the result of a collaboration Tetrahedrons are aloft in front of the academic building on the final day of student collaboration with Rebar in the college’s Artist in Residence program between students and artists in Rebar, a San Francisco-based art collective, during the 2009 Artist in Residence program at Texas A&M’s College of Architecture. Passers-by paint on a mobile art station in Diversity Plaza.
The temporary pieces, some in fixed locations, some mobile, were designed in what might be called a minimalist fashion.
“Leaving things open-ended and without definition suits the public better,” said student Katie Smither.
“Half the fun of designing these pieces is being surprised at the ways people use them we didn’t expect them to,” said program participant Chris Gassaway.
He helped create a mobile installation of approximately 25 reclaimed Herman Miller office chairs that students painted white with black Helvetica-type letters on them. The group rolled the chairs along with them as they visited the fixed installations, arranging them to form various words and phrases.
“The chairs theme came from text messaging, blogging, and email,” said Katie Smither. “This is how we communicate these days.”
On the Langford lawn, firehoses strung up between trees served as a giant hammock large enough for almost a dozen people to lie in and walk on, and in Diversity Plaza, students set up a station where anyone cold come and just start painting.
“It’s all about bringing awareness and art to campus,” said Cory Arcak, who helped set up the painting station. “It’s made of plastic sheeting and tempera paints, so it can all be washed away. We’re using brushes, kitchen utensils, anything you want to use.”
“It’s public participatory art, open source art,” said Rebar member John Bela. “We set up a couple of conditions and people will do what they will with it. We have some ideas about what we’re trying to do, but when you put it in a public space, you can never tell how people are going to use it.”
A highlight of the artistic happening was the inflation of a giant clear plastic tetrahedron that was seemed together over several days with several smaller angular “balloons.” A great deal of fun ensued as the shapes were carried and tossed around campus amid somewhat strong, persistent winds.
While the group tried to create as inviting an atmosphere as possible for public use of the various installations, they observed quizzical glances and a hesitancy to participate among students unfamiliar with the project.
“There’s social constructs,” said Bela. “You usually need sort of an ‘in,’ where you feel like you’re in on it. You need permission, a formal invitation,” he said.
The Spring 2009 Artists in Residence program at the Texas A&M College of Architecture is sponsored by the college, the Department of Visualization and the Texas A&M University Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts.
See a video of the students’ collaborations with Rebar on YouTube:
- Posted: May 1, 2009 -
