Students create outdoor art installations

Assistant professor Gabe Duggan gives instructions to students, who started the semester on campus. (Photos by Rhett Butler)

Before classes moved online this semester, East Carolina University students in Gabe Duggan’s art class hung colorful, spiderweb-like creations in front of Jenkins Fine Arts Center.

Though temporary, the pieces were part of an activity called “webwords,” named after a technique used by Duggan and inspired by the works of textile artists Toshiko MacAdam and Ernesto Neto.

“The students practiced the technique on a frame, and then advanced to working in a self-determined space outdoors,” said Duggan, assistant professor of textile design in the School of Art and Design.

The 16 students in the class worked outside or in a large gallery while meeting in person.

“The students and I worked together to stay safe and healthy, consistently wearing masks and keeping distances (indoor and outdoor), and staying home as needed,” Duggan said. “I have noticed that the check-in questions around ‘do I feel well enough to go to class today?’ might be useful to carry into the future, to help everyone take care of themselves even as ‘normal’ semesters inevitably get more strained around deadlines. I feel proud of the students both for taking care of themselves and others, and for the creativity they are bringing to the class in this complex time.”

School of Art and Design students work on an art activity.

The students will finish the semester at home, studying the works of environmental sculptors Ann Hamilton as well as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, known for projects using massive amounts of fabric including The Gates, a brilliant orange-colored cloth panel display that stretched across 23 miles of walkway in New York’s Central Park, attracting more than 4 million visitors in 2005.

Students also will study the temporary/changing works of artists Andy Goldsworthy and Jemila MacEwan.

“This course is focused on installation art, which is typically ephemeral, so it will translate quite well to working almost anywhere,” Duggan said “We will also be working with audio and visual software, and looking at artists who have used other senses (sound, smell, taste) to make an impression upon a space.”

To learn more about Duggan’s projects: Obsolescence Project or No One Knows Project.