"The Metaphysics of Making” art exhibit debuted Friday at the Kennedy Museum of Art, featuring original artwork by Ohio University students.
Juniors and seniors enrolled in the special topics art class worked on projects throughout the semester leading up to the museum exhibit, said Laura Eyster-Dobrota, teaching assistant for the course.
All of the artwork is based on metaphysics, which involves philosophical and historical concepts regarding one’s sense of being, with the supposed apocalypse approaching on Dec. 21 influencing the theme, said John Sabraw, professor of the course.
“All the art students were having this big discussion (about) all (the) fundamental basic questions about life,” Sabraw said. “So I thought, why don’t we focus on that (and) the philosophy behind it?”
Students researched philosophers such as Aristotle and David Hume, deciding which ones spoke to them most before choosing the focus of their artwork.
Sarah Shanks, a senior studying painting, approached her project by making a web-outline that questions the thought of making profits based on ideas rather than goods.
“I was looking at this global economy and how humans become this global workforce,” Shanks said. “Really I was looking at, how does this all come together?”
John Schriner, a senior studying sculpture, decided to experiment with layers of paint and observe how the volume affects his work to demonstrate his interpretation of metaphysics.
“It’s more abstract,” Schriner said. “That’s exactly what metaphysics is: trying to explain things that there’s not really an explanation to.”
In addition to the metaphysics exhibit, students were featured in another set of artwork, working with younger students in an art class taught by Sasha Schwartz, a former student of Sabraw’s.
“Basically it’s like pen pals, but with artwork instead of letters,” said Schwartz, who is also president of Scribble Art workshop in New York. “It was completely anonymous.”
Schwartz’s students involved range from kindergarten to fifth grade; therefore, this project was meant to treat the younger artists similarly to professional artists, showing through OU’s students what lies ahead in terms of art education.
Both exhibits will be featured until February. Between the two exhibits, students and administrators were excited to display the artwork and portray their interpretation of the meaning of it, Schriner said.
“It’s about making abstract ideas more concrete, and being able to talk about them, and have a firmer grasp on (the topic),” he said.
kf398711@ohiou.edu
