Students of the sculpture studio art classes this semester displayed their dynamic and imaginative work in the Dreitzer Art Gallery. Work from Prof. Tory Fair's (FA) "Implicating the Body in Sculpture" and Prof. Christopher Abrams' (FA) "Sculpture in the New Media," classes, as well as all the work from 3-D design classes, is currently on exhibit. The shapes, colors and statements of their work are technically impressive and artistically astounding.Arianna Baum-Hommes '09 created a piece with both a deft attention to the human form and a statement of ideology that is thought-provoking, perhaps even visionary. The work involves four white hands. Two dressed in pagoda sleeves emerge from a wall; over the left one are white stars over a blue background. The right one is made of red and white stripes. From each hand's thumb and index finger hangs a thin white string that descends toward the ground, yet falls just short of the second pair of hands, which are installed on the floor.

The hands themselves are frighteningly realistic, their gestures unbelievably human. Their skin tone makes them look phantomlike and sickly, serving as a striking and effective contrast to the bold patriotic colors and patterns depicted on the sleeves. That dichotomy, combined with the marionette-like setup, is vague: Is the American government a puppeteer or the puppet of blind jingoism?

But the artist made serious aesthetic considerations in addition to symbolic ones: The eye is drawn to several points along one linear path to sustain emphasis, especially important given that comprehending the piece in one glance is impossible. The strings, which are not visible from afar, are a pleasant surprise once close-up and serve as a map, guiding the eye and creating movement.

Fair's "3-D Design" class worked to create wire heads, which were all very well done, but one of the pieces was especially innovative and beautiful. It involved a wire face and skull connected by a hierarchy of concentric circles. The hair and camera film inside the head, however, formed spirals. Despite its tremendous variety, the piece still maintained unity and balance through its variation of concentrated and relaxed (open and bunched) areas, as well as through structural variations and changes in medium. The film and the wire are about the same color, a coppery-brown tone, but the severe differences in texture and width make the piece work in a varied, yet highly balanced way.

Through a class-wide collaborative effort, Abrams' students looked at a commonplace activity-balloon popping-through an entirely new lens, literally, using slow-motion photography. The process requires a prolonged period of exposure to light, created by a slower shutter speed. One highly interesting aspect of the work is the color. The three balloons being popped (in three individual frames) are in primary colors: red, blue and yellow. Even more interesting than primary colors, however, are the balloons' shadows and their colorful appearances on the surfaces they grace.

Also interesting is the effect of the background colors: the yellow of the balloon-popper's T-shirt and the blue-grey of his zip-up really serve to contrast some colors and mask/blend with others. The final aspect of the piece that is fascinating is its sequence, quite the opposite of the normal or expected series of events. The balloon in the top square is smaller than in the second, which is in turn smaller than in the third. This noticeable and startling shift of normalcy adds to the already surprising and extraordinary elements the photo series offers.

Overall, the sculpture classes did a stellar job preparing interesting and highly original work. The works of wire, cardboard and other unique media were skillfully crafted and follow personal artistic visions. I recommend the exhibit to anyone who wants to see sculpture, slow-motion photography or, simply, immense creativity.