As the semester winds down, visual arts students are gearing up to present their final projects this weekend in mediums that include everything from chicken wire to paper leaves.
Art Lecturer John Bisbee's Sculpture I and II classes, as well as Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Anna Hepler's Advanced Studies in Visual Arts course, will hold shows in Fort Andross. Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Meggan Gould's Photo I and II classes will display their final projects in the McLellan Building. The different courses present a variety of interesting mediums, and the different assignments provided some challenging constraints within which students worked.
Bisbee's Sculpture I class will exhibit three projects. For the first project, the 24 students in the class each sculpted a body-sized version of a small object with chicken wire and plaster. In the second project, students created wire drawings of electrical appliances. The final project is somewhat of a mystery?Bisbee would only say that it involved a masking tape installation and that those who attend the show will participate in some way.
Bisbee's Sculpture II class has been working on its final projects all semester, and the results are creative and elaborate sculptures. Bisbee told the 10 students in the course to pick a material of their choice during the first week of class in September, and they have been working with those materials ever since.
"It's been a long process, but we've all come a long way. It's been really interesting to explore something as deeply as you can. I think everyone's projects have turned out really awesome," Sara Griffin '09 said. "They are different from how they expected them to be."
Hepler's Advanced Studies in Visual Arts course contains the widest range of media of all the shows. The assignment was self-designed, which gave students a great deal of creative freedom. Some of the projects include a large paper skirt, hundreds of paper leaves suspended in the space, and a collage of disassembled clothing. According to Hepler, one major constraint for the students has been the venue.
"The greatest challenge with this show has been the space. It is huge, and so many of the students altered the scale of the final projects to respond to the space," she said.
Gould's two photography courses, will have shows in McLellan. Both final projects were self-designed, so students have been able to use the process and subject of their choice. Bryant Dossman '11, a student in Photo I, noted that the freedom of the assignment produced interesting results among the students in the course.
"We're allowed the freedom to pursue any interest or style within photography," he said. "A lot of the projects are turning out nicely. People's styles are emerging from their work from a range of different approaches."
Sculpture I and II shows open from 6-9 p.m. tonight in Fort Andross. The show for Advanced Studies in Visual Arts will open from 5-8 p.m. tonight in Fort Andross. Photo I and II, Architecture and Landscape Painting will hold open studios of their work on the third floor of the McLellan Building from 5-7 p.m. tonight.