Special projects emerge on campus for Festival of the Arts
"Golem" Alongside the steps leading to Mandel Quad, Paul Belenky '14 constructed an enormous steel and wood Golem, described in the Festival of the Arts pamphlet as a "traditional symbol of protection and defiance." The structure of the Golem originated in 16th-century Prague when a rabbi built the structure to protect Jews. Belenky explained on a descriptive plaque next to the statue that the Golem serves as a "symbol of protection" for the graduating seniors.
"The Maw" Designed and constructed by David Yun '14 and Vincent Wong '14, "The Maw" stands in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium and towers over viewers. The hollow structure, triangular in shape, is colored black and white.
"The Grass Waltz" Created by Sarah Bierman '14, these man-made grass hills punctuate the normal landscape of the Great Lawn. Constructed with sod, the hills also resembled miniature bridges and provided an interesting twist to the popular area on campus.
"The Grass Waltz" Created by Sarah Bierman '14, these man-made grass hills punctuate the normal landscape of the Great Lawn. Constructed with sod, the hills also resembled miniature bridges and provided an interesting twist to the popular area on campus. In an email to the Justice, Bierman explained that her thesis focuses on integrating "sculpture or found objects into landscape in a way that appears to be seamless while still looking completely unnatural." In her work Bierman aims to "make site-specific art that beckons interaction and fosters community" and "The Grass Waltz" succeeded at attracting viewers, some of who even walked or sat on the hills.
"Home Sweet Home" The campus-famous yarn bomber Sarah Hershon '14 struck campus again with her colorful knitted designs on a bench outside the Shapiro Campus Center. Hershon's work, according to the Festival of the Arts pamphlet, "softens and domesticates a table and chairs, blurring public and private."
"Constructed Spaces" Taking place on the Great Lawn, Olivia Leiter's '14 project invited the participation of students and festival guests in creating an artistic collage on the walls. Leiter's interactive project changed daily as new people entered the room and added their own touch to the exhibit. Upon entering, people could choose visuals from a stack of magazines, organizing their own ideologies on the structure's walls. Aside from creating your own collage, it was also interesting to view other participant's work.
"The Memory Project" This international project united members of the Brandeis community with children across the world to paint portraits of the children, which were then given to the children as gifts. Coordinated by Marissa Lazar '14, several of the portraits hung on a stand in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium. "The Memory Project" is a non profit organization where students draw portraits of disadvantaged or abused children around the world to capture their childhood as a work of art. In a statement next to the portraits, Scott Edmistonn , Director of the Office of the Arts, explained that he saw something sad in the eyes of the boy he painted, but painted the boy "feeling the promise of a brighter moment" and hopes the boy will know someone is thinking of him when he receives the portrait.
"Conserving Pitchers" Allison Clears '14 created an interactive project outside the Shapiro Campus Center and other locations that are marked only by a small, white sign in the ground. The Festival of the Arts pamphlet invites attendees to "participate in a symbolic planting of the spectacular carnivorous northern pitcher plant, rendered in copper."
"I WALKED A MILE IN YOUR SHOES AND NOW I'M A MILE AWAY AND I'VE GOT YOUR SHOES" For this special project, Aliza Sternstein '13, Ashley Freinberg '13, Rachel Sevanich '13, Mark Ferrell '13 and Clare Churchill Seder '13 painted a series of six-by-six foot canvases over the course of three days outside around campus. The canvases all showcase the artists' talent and different styles of painting.
"Mycorrhizas at Work" Designed to provoke people to think about what a mycorrhiza does, LauraBen Moore's '14 project aims, as she explained in an email to the Justice, "to explore a conversation about the cultural ascription of meaning to visual objects like signs" and "to convey genuinely important scientific information." Scientifically, fungi aid in the survival of the majority of plants and have a symbiotic relationship with many species. The project also expands upon Moore's senior thesis that "represented a larger attempt to make people question their mycophobia (fear of fungi) while inviting them to explore a more complex and beautiful world of fungi," she explained. *
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Justice.