Students use mobile devices to find inspiration to create art for exhibit

What can the use of mobile devices teach people about their physical and emotional identities, likes and dislikes, and their community and environment?

This was one foundational question that provided more than 25 students with the inspiration to create three-dimensional works of art for the campus exhibit “A Selfie: The Body Extended.” The exhibit will be on display in the Mary Idema Pew Library Exhibition Space through May 30.

For the exhibit, students used fabric, 3-D printing technology and other materials to create their pieces after finding inspiration from using their cell phones to take pictures of the people, things and moments found in their individual lives.

“Using an object that they all pretty much hold ‘near and dear’ to them is really just a tool to start a conversation with the students,” said Renee Zettle-Sterling, professor of art and design, and exhibit co-curator alongside Robyn Kane-Haberkorn, adjunct instructor of foundations.

The exhibit is rooted in the Department of Visual and Media Arts’ Art 151 Three-Dimensional Design course and features a selection of works from students who have taken the course over the past three semesters. Students additionally found inspiration through research on artists, craftspeople and designers from cultures around the world and aspects of various time periods related to the ideas of identity and ornamentation.

“Of all the assignments, I feel this one allows the students to become truly invested and gives them an opportunity to talk about themselves and explore ideas they may not have otherwise,” said Zettle-Sterling. “We are proud of our students for many reasons, but in particular, this project made them dig deep and do some soul searching. It asked a lot of them on a very personal level.”

Zettle-Sterling said she believes it has become more important over the years for students learning and practicing in the visual arts to have a firm grasp on the principles of craftsmanship.

“Eighteen years ago when I first start to teach at GVSU, most students came to me knowing what a pair of plyers were or had picked up a hammer, but this is no longer the case,” said Zettle-Sterling. “A large population of students no longer engage in the material worlds as they once did. This development of hand-eye coordination and understanding the world of materials is not just a skill that is necessary for an artist to have but is a life skill that all students need to know.”

For more information about “A Selfie: The Body Extended,” contact the Visual and Media Arts Department at (616) 331-3486 or [email protected].