What could one do with one week, one blank wall and a roll of black masking tape? Students in this semester’s visual fundamentals classes used those elements to create art.
Visual Fundamentals Tape Project
[podcast]https://www.obusignal.com/podcasts/visfundtape.mp3[/podcast]
The visual fundamentals classes are taught by David Bieloh, chair and associate professor of visual arts, and Summer Bruch, assistant professor of visual arts. “Tape on the Wall,” the name of the installation display, was inspired by a professor friend of Bieloh’s.
Students in each class were assigned a piece of wall measuring approximately six and a half feet and were given a roll of black masking tape. They were asked to respond to the space and experiment with line, using just the tape, and keeping the work nonrepresentational. Twenty-three students participated, using 32 rolls of tape.
“We had to try two different types of tape,” Bieloh said. “The first time, we started with electrical tape, but it didn’t work. It stretched, came off the wall and looked terrible. We had to delay the project a little bit. [The students] were excited to start, but disappointed that they couldn’t start when we told them they could.”
The instructors were not the only ones who ran into difficulties.
“There was a point after my first three hours of work where I ripped everything off the wall and threw it away,” said junior Sarah Henley, a student in Bruch’s class. “That tape didn’t bend, and the idea I had in my head did. I had to figure out how to curve every single line on my wall.”
Some students dealt with obstacles such as doorways, corners and display boards. They also had to consider the space next to theirs and respond to the person who designed the space.
“We wanted [the students] to generate some sort of force in their design that propels you onward,” Bieloh said. “Not necessarily lines touching lines, but some sense of that energy that carries on down the hall.”
Carey Roberson, a digital photography and painting professor at UALR, judged the display and chose winners for first, second and third place. It took him about an hour to decide the winners.
“[Roberson] ultimately picked people he thought really pushed the medium beyond just tape and were really experimental with it — doing unexpected things, and people who responded best to the space,” Bieloh said.
First place honors went to Henley.
“[Roberson] chose her because she did not have one piece of tape that was not cut,” Bruch said. “Every single line in her piece was cut with an X-ACTO knife, so nothing is the original width of the tape. It’s a very organic, flowing one. So she really went the furthest from what the tape was.”
Henley spent a lot of time to complete her part.
“I spent many hours working on the piece,” Henley said. “Maybe at least four class hours and many more out of class hours. I would say that my section isn’t really complete even still. I could have kept going on with it forever, but there was just a point in time where I was tired, smelly and hungry, so I called it quits and hoped it was good enough.”
Second place went to freshman Hannah Pfeiffer because “she really stayed with what the tape was,” Bruch said.
Third place was shared by freshman Jillian Sharp and sophomore Kit Curlin.
“I liked how different it was,” Sharp said. “It wasn’t painting or drawing; it was just tape and a blank wall. It was a nice break in the year to do something different and unusual. I really enjoyed the project, and the outcome of everyone’s is awesome.”
Sharp did not find the restriction of keeping the work nonrepresentational too hard to adhere to.
“It wasn’t very difficult,” Sharp said. “You just had to remember lines and shapes, and to take a couple steps back every now and then to observe your work.”
As the students progressed, they found themselves wanting to do more on their projects and work harder.
“By the end of it [the students] wanted more of a challenge,” Bruch said. “They want to incorporate more of the hallway stuff. They want the lockers and doors.”
Everyone is invited to visit the second floor of Moses-Provine to see the installation. The project begins in the stairway at the back of the building and flows upstairs and into the main hall.
“Coming up the stairs is the best way to do it,” Bieloh said. “You get the whole effect.”
The masking tape project will stay up until after Thanksgiving and the work can be seen on Ouachita’s visual art blog at obuart.wordpress.com.
