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Works of art by three Lafayette students and one alumnus are featured in an exhibit entitled “do it” now through April 4 at the Morris Museum, Morristown, N.J.
Juniors Chris Tague of Stamford, Conn., and Andrea LaConte of Wayne, N.J.; sophomore Elizabeth Plotkin of Short Hills, N.J., and 1998 graduate Joe Iorio were asked to enter by Jim Toia, a visiting part-time instructor of art at Lafayette whose works have appeared at the Morris Museum.
“I picked students who were interested in doing outside projects,” Toia says. “They really took the time to think about the project and did a great job.”
Conceptualized by Hans-Ulrich Obrist and other European artists in 1993, the premise of “do it” is to devise an art idea for others to carry out. Participants are given a series of instructions for an installation or project. For the Lafayette students Toia chose the theme, “True Crime,” requiring them to create a two-dimensional image of criminal activity.
Toia says, “I chose the theme because it seemed like an edgy topic with potential for something dark.”
Ed Kerns, Lafayette’s Eugene H. Clapp II ’36 Professor of Art and department head, says participating in exhibits such as “do it” offers students an opportunity to experience the art world first hand.
“This effort to engage students in professional shows was Jim’s idea,” says Kerns. “It’s really a practical way to prepare students for future engagements.”
LaConte painted a realistic potrayal of a person cutting off the mysterious tag found on mattresses that says “Do Not Remove Under Penalty of Law!” Plotkin painted an obviously-high glue-sniffer.
Tague’s multi-media work “Virus,” which includes a collage of floppy disks, recalls the time his high-school friends created a computer virus that caused a teacher’s computer to print vulgar language in the middle of a document.
Iorio’s painting “Scopoleeze” (a word of his own invention) recalls an incident when, cashless, he and friends stopped at a gas station and minimart in Holland for fuel and food. Because the gas station accepted their credit card for gas but not food, they created a diversion to occupy the cashier and made off with a piece of cheese.