Visitors view the exhibit in Te Paske Art Gallery.
Walk into Te Paske Art Gallery, and turn right. Hanging from an over-sized clothespin, a
plain piece of paper reads, “This installation is essentially an environment which envelops the
observer with my creative perspective. Ultimately, I am looking for the viewer to experience
my art rather than just view it.”
Shannon Sargent, the artist of the current gallery exhibit, “Striped Objects for the Purpose
of Understanding,” asks viewers to read their own stories into his work.
“I want you to share stories and experiences with each other,” Sargent said. “If you can
bring something from your own experience there, then we are sharing it … and that’s when
it (the artwork) becomes universal.”
The gallery is filled with a colorful display of random objects. Jars filled with such things
as bouncy balls, coffee beans, toy trucks and baby doll heads line the windowsills.
Painted cans rest on the ledge above the far doorway, and a collection of plastic bottles from
Sargent’s various travels hang on strings near the window. Ropes droop from the ceiling, and
square panels decorate the walls. Everywhere people turn, they see knickknacks striped in color.
With its hidden objects and ambiguous meanings, “Striped Objects for the Purpose of
Understanding” makes it hard to ignore the urge to play “I SPY.”
Junior Kali Wolkow observes a hanging frame of assorted trinkets.
Can you find the jar preserving a butterfly in glycerin? Or the container housing a
whimsical horn of a unicorn? What about the colorful jellybeans, lost buttons and a blue
plastic lizard that await viewing from various parts of the room; can you find them?
“A lot of these things are little one-liners — guide ideas,” Sargent said. “I start thinking
of things like, ‘Why don’t I fill the whole gallery with jellybeans? I wanted this to be a new,
fresh exhibit. I found objects that were too small for paintings — like the ones on the
wall in the gallery — so I started putting them in jars. And then I thought, ‘Why can’t this
be my installation?’”
Sargent purchases his “little collected things” from Goodwill and flea markets. He also
gathers items from his grandpa’s farm and receives them as gifts from other people.
“When I travel, I look for articles to use that are already interesting,” Sargent said. “I
recycle everything; some objects I’ll use for a while, then sandblast off their color and use
them again.”
And when Sargent says he recycles everything, he means it. “That wood in the gallery
used to be my deck,” Sargent said.
At times, one could even say, he recycles too much.
“Sometimes when my daughter knew I was working on a project, she’d ask, ‘You’re not
taking anything from my room, are you?’” Sargent said smiling. “Sometimes I was.”
However, his daughter’s dolls didn’t end up in his artwork just because he needed more
objects; they were placed there for the memories.
“I want to keep them for her … and for me,” Sargent said.
Although this exhibit is about the viewer’s personal experiences, Sargent’s own memories
are tied to his artwork. In fact, his memories provide the foundation for the installation.
His idea to use jars was born out of childhood memories of him and his grandmother
canning together. The ropes hanging from the ceiling are remnants of Sargent’s time spent as
a mountaineering instructor in the Marine Corps Even the overall theme of stripes is linked to
his military background; noncommissioned officers in the Marine Corps wear a scarlet “blood
stripe” on the trouser legs of their dress uniform, and the stars and stripes of the American
flag are never far from their minds.
At each place Sargent goes to, he makes a new object to put into his installment. Northwestern’s
addition was a striped mannequin on the wall. In return, Sargent’s contribution to NW was a
gallery that sparked interesting conversation and uprooted fun memories.
Are you ready for a game of “I SPY”? “Striped Objects for the Purpose of Understanding”
will be available for viewing through Feb. 7. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to midnight Monday
through Saturday and 1 p.m. to midnight on Sunday. Good luck finding the lizard.
Senior Eryn Schlote contemplates a piece of Sargent's work.
One of a few pieces hanging among the rafters.
