In the Sauder Visual Arts Center on campus, there is the Grace Albrecht Art Gallery which shows multiple exhibits a year ranging from different styles and ages. Ken Arthur’s exhibit “On Every Street” is currently being shown.
The name “On Every Street” comes from how one can look in a trash can and pull out three to four things and have art, Arthur said.
He likes it when people can relate to him and his art such as when someone has an item featured in one of his pieces.
In this specific exhibit, one will find sculptures, wall art and necklaces. Arthur gets his inspiration from many different things, but will go out into nature, to an art museum or look in an African art book if he gets an “art block.”
Arthur has been creating since he was five years old and said doing so is almost natural at this point such as eating and sleeping.
One of Arthur’s sculptures, “Ziggy Stardust,” is inspired by the David Bowie song of the same name. One of the lines in the song is, “screwed up eyes and screwed down hairdo,” which moved Arthur to implement the use of the screws in the sculpture the way he did.
Mixed media necklaces (left) , Ziggy Stardust (right), by Ken Arthur. Photo by Olivia Westcott.
Arthur said he made this sculpture recently and as the days went on, he would add more and more screws to it––there are about 220 screws on this sculpture alone.
For his art, Arthur likes to have items that have been changed by the Earth or other natural elements. He also likes to find various parts in flea markets or estate sales when he helps people move; everything is repurposed, nothing goes to waste.
Arthur wants people to know they don’t need to spend a lot of money in order to do something fun and creative. People can find and take things with them in everyday life and create something brand new.
Almost every piece in this exhibition has piano parts, and Arthur guessed he has probably taken apart about 80 pianos. With the piano pieces, some art is also made from organ pipes, cash register pieces, spoons and animal bones, to name a few. On average, the pieces in this show took three hours to create.
The piece “Seven Days of the Week” is named after the seven planets which name the days in our calendar week. This is one of the many ‘box’ pieces a part of this exhibit.
Arthur said with the art being in the box it gets separated from you, but seeing yourself in the reflection from the glass helps to pull the viewer back in and makes the viewer a part of the art.
These art shows are organized by Assistant Professors of art, Jim Fultz and Philip Sugden, and Associate Professor of Art and Art Department Chair, Andreas Baumgartner, in accordance with the artists who are chosen.
“Seven Days of the Week” by Ken Arthur. Photo by Olivia Westcott.
Fultz said applications are filled out by artists interested in exhibiting and the three of them decide almost a year in advance as to who will show and at what time.
Something about this exhibit Fultz liked was the concept of giving viewers a vision they don’t normally see or appreciate with these objects one sees in everyday life.
He said the art in this show doesn’t worry so much about tradition but looks into the world of overlooked man-made objects.
“I think that some work helps you to see things in the world as you move through the world, and other work is more self-referential, it refers to its own object-ness,” said Fultz. “I think for me, this is the kind of work that helps me to notice and see things in the world.”
Fultz noticed how Arthur has titled some works and how those titles help to give the viewer a clue to what the work is representing or was inspired by. He sees a vivid imagination and appreciates the thought having gone into naming the works.
“There is a playfulness here that I enjoy and a range of influences that I respond to,” said Fultz.
Arthur’s exhibit will be available to students, faculty and staff to view from now until Nov. 25 on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on the weekends from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
