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Art students are taking advantage of the recent drop in temperatures to create sculptures on display outside the WilliamsCenter for the Arts to coincide with the “On Ice” exhibit.
Alastair Noble, assistant professor of art, led seven students in his sculpture class in the production of “Ice Igloos with Tunnel.” The split bamboo structures were designed and made by the students, who covered them with thin cheese cloth. They sprayed the structures with water, which instantly froze on the cheese cloth forming a thin film of ice.
“This was the first project of the semester and was established to introduce the students to public art and required them to work as a team on this collaborative sculpture,” Noble says. “This helped draw out different attributes from each student and established a very good rapport amongst them. In the fabrication of the igloo forms, they learned how to manipulate bamboo; plastic wrap, which was used in the binding; and cheese cloth, which was sown into the framework. They now understand how flexible and strong bamboo can be as a construction material.”
Participating students include art majors Jeffrey Bittenbender ’07 (Chagrin Falls, Ohio), Marissa Halderman ’09 (Rushland, Pa.), and Peter Huntley ’08 (Westport, Conn.); biology majors Robert Peoples ’08 (Bear, Del.) and Rhae Anna Riegel ’07 (Robbinsville, N.J.); English major Carolyn Freundlich ’08 (Westfield, N.J.); and A.B. engineering major Tyler Martikainen-Watcke ’08(Reading, Pa.).
“I hope this will demonstrate to the students and the campus what extraordinary possibilities there are in sculpture, and how art and science can coexist,” says Noble.
Noble plans on having his class create a series of smaller works in the studio as preliminary designs for public sculptures to be located in Easton’s West Ward. The class’ final project will be a collaborative work for a specific site in the city.
“On Ice” runs through Feb. 11 in the WilliamsCenter gallery, and features artistic, literary, and scientific works that use ice as their theme or inspiration.
Gallery hours are noon-5 p.m. Monday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday; 2 p.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; and noon-5 p.m. the first Sunday of each month for First Sunday Easton.