New organization gives space, support to student art

Juliana Kiyan Senior Editor

For one week, residents of Josselyn House can forsake cell phones, instant messages and Facebook for a simpler form of communication with one another: two cups connected by taut string. Multiply this childhood communication device by several hundred and Strings Attached, a unique public art installation, is born.

The installation, which will be on display from Oct. 28 to Nov. 4 in Josselyn, is the inaugural project of the new Vassar Public Art Committee (VPAC). The organization comprises students and faculty advisors who help student artists to produce public art on campus. Recently certified at the Oct. 21 Vassar Student Association Council meeting, VPAC is the brainchild of Joseph Martinez, the organization’s executive and president of the Class of 2011.

“Vassar has very little public art when compared to similar institutions,” said Martinez. “There’s not much context provided for the public art that does exist on campus, and that’s one of the first goals of VPAC—to provide context for public art.”

Martinez is currently working with a dozen students and five or six faculty advisors in various fields of the arts to seek out student artists who are interested in doing art installations. He views VPAC as a go-to resource for students who want to make their mark on campus with art but lack the means and connections to do so.

“I don’t think an artist should have to do all the grunt work,” said Martinez. “An artist should be able to take a great spontaneous idea and pitch it to someone who can figure out the logistics and provide feedback. [With VPAC,] they’ll have a chance to do some amazing art on campus.”

All of the installations produced by VPAC will be temporary and can be outdoor or indoor projects. While VPAC would like to have large installations that make a point, they do not want to permanently change the aesthetic of the campus. The organization is looking to put up two large installations in the spring semester.

For their first installation at Josselyn, VPAC and a crew of students will make hundreds of what Martinez calls “acoustic resonators,” or two red Solo cups connected by 100 feet of kite string.

They have ordered between 3,000 and 12,000 feet of string and will make the devices until supplies run out. Once the devices are all completed, a massive web of string will stretch across the Josselyn courtyard, between the second, third and fourth floors. Students can sit at their windows and talk with friends in the opposite wing. Martinez hopes that the devices will introduce students to people outside of their student fellow groups.

Josselyn House President Sara Kemper ’09 has been the liaison between residents and VPAC as they prepare for the installation. “I hope that the physical linkage of the east and west wings of Josselyn and the discussion that ensues will build an even stronger sense of community in the dorm,” said Kemper.

While owning a cell phone is practically a birthright these days, most students can recall talking to their friends using tin cans and string as a makeshift telephone. Martinez considers the subject and style of the installation to be metaphors for the transition from adolescence to college, where many still have some growing up to do.

“We’re taking this very childish little apparatus and doing it on a collegiate level,” said Martinez. “We’re bringing in red Solo cups—no longer the cans our moms used for dinner that night—that kids were drinking out of the other night, putting in kite string and stretching the string across 100 feet. And they work!”

VPAC is taking an unusual approach to publicizing its first installation. Rather than hosting an opening reception, they will simply set the devices up and have passersby learn about it on their own time. “We want to pique the curiosity of students and get a little gossip going. Gossip travels fast at this college,” said Martinez.

This approach also reflects how the new organization is still finding its ground as a resource for students. “This piece is kind of the training wheels for the [VPAC]. We’ll gauge the success of this and then adapt to better serve student artists in the future,” said Martinez.

Martinez also wants to expand VPAC’s efforts by collaborating with various arts organizations on campus. In December, VPAC will host a release party for Contrast, a new student-run style magazine. They are also working with the Vassar Filmmakers to document each installation’s development as well as reactions to the piece.

In the end, VPAC’s goal is to engage student artists with the campus. “I think there’s a lot to say about ephemeral art at Vassar College, especially student-produced art,” said Martinez. We don’t have enough of that here.”