Need to Sit Down? Public Artwork Display Features 93 Student-Created Chairs

April 25, 2005

Is it possible to express the meaning of a word through a chair? Ninety-three Penn State students in an introductory sculpture class are going to try. After selecting from a list of 19 words that relate to movement or lack of it, they are now creating chairs that express, in visual form, the concepts implied by their word. Installation of the outdoor artwork begins on April 26 outside the Arts Building, and the chairs will be on display through May 1.

While the main object for this project must be a wooden, metal or plastic chair, the students, who are not sculpture majors, may add supplemental materials. “They’re using the chairs as metaphors for human beings,” explains Sallie McCorkle, who co-teaches the course with Sarah Schwartz. “They’re taking the chairs and ‘animating’ them based on the word they’ve chosen.” Choices included words such as fluctuate, vegetate, permanent, induce and transfer.

McCorkle has previously given a similar assignment to smaller classes. “With 93 chairs, the display is going to be very striking.”

Contact: Sallie McCorkle 865-9471, smm11@psu.edu or 814.863.2104