First there were the little copper people that she systematically designed and arranged in the trees of the Mandel Academic Quad. There were copper men and women that told a story-a girl taking a picture, a boy lying on a hammock and two parents pushing their daughter on a swing, among others. From October 2011 to April of this year, she was consumed with them. Then it was the wooden bunnies, nestled in the grass in front of the Goldfarb Library, that engaged her.
For Sarah Bierman '14, her bunny project started with a prompt. As a Studio Art major given permission to enroll in Senior Studio, two months into the semester she was asked to complete a site-specific installation. She asked department head Prof. Tory Fair (FA) to allow her to take the class to help her prepare for studying abroad in London in an unstructured environment. She was looking out the window of the library caf?(c) when her idea for "There are Bunnies Everywhere" came to fruition.
"I did a series of watercolors over the summer of bunnies on a hill," Bierman said in an interview with the Justice. "It started with one bunny on a slope, and then, eventually, there are ... 20. So, that site by the library was the perfect place for this to become 3D."
Yet, unlike her decision to use the library hill, her choice of bunnies was not accidental. As a child, her favorite book was The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. Her favorite stuffed animal was a bunny rabbit. And, since arriving at Brandeis, she has associated the University with them.
"When I started staying late nights at the studio, I would walk back to my dorm and often find bunnies everywhere, and I kind of made a connection to my youth," Bierman said. "So, I guess, as a result of that, it influenced a lot of my artwork."
What began with only Google images of bunnies is now an exhibition that has not only captivated the Brandeis community, but has compelled some to ponder its deeper meaning. Bierman is no exception; while writing her artist statement and reflecting on her work, she realized her intention: to capture what seems out of reach and elusive.
"Often we yearn for things. We desire things, and we think about them all the time. And, after a while, they become a figment of our imagination," Bierman said. "And, when they finally do manifest themselves-whether it's a guy or a girl or a dream job, whatever it might be once it manifests itself in reality, it doesn't compare to the image you've built up in your mind."
To her, the bunnies represent longing-a desire to obtain what is unattainable. Bierman described her disappointment after approaching the bunnies on campus and seeing them flee. "It would frustrate me because ... they were cute. I would want to be their friend," Bierman said.
She believes that this project reconciles that feeling of inaccessibility. While her bunnies are fake, they can be "adopted", so what "initially seem[s] unfair can evolve into something worthwhile," Bierman added.
To execute her project, she first pasted images of bunnies on plywood with rubber cement. With a band saw, she then cut the bunny out of its background, added fake fur trim and drilled holes for steel stakes. Altogether, she produced about 90 bunnies, using some of her own money as well as part of a stipend she received for her class.
Her plan was not without its problems. In waterproofing the bunnies, she used trial and error-first trying matte finishing and sprays, which forced her to wear a Darth Vader-like mask, then Elmer's Glue and polyurethane, before deciding on spar urethane.
Last Thursday at 11 a.m., students and staff gathered to adopt their very own bunnies in what Bierman called a "free-for-all." Without any formal sign-up process, people were told that the bunnies would be given on a first-come, first-served basis.
For Bierman, however, adoption was an afterthought. "I didn't think of what was going to happen after I installed the bunnies. All I wanted was to replicate this watercolor series and maybe make a flipbook."
Yet Prof. Peter Kalb (FA) warned her that people might steal them after they were installed, so she decided to change the purpose of her project: share the bunnies. Those who adopted were asked to name their bunny and post pictures of them on a Facebook page she made for the assignment.
"I want to see where the bunnies go after they leave the lawn over there," Bierman said. "My goal for this was ... to get to know people I don't know through something that I created. I want to see where the bunny's new environment is, what the bunny's name is, you know, who adopts this bunny."
For those unable to adopt, she has established a waitlist. If she is still interested in making bunnies next fall, she will continue.
"Apparently they were all gone in about six minutes; I showed up far too late," Miriam Sokolow '13, a wannabe adoptive parent, said in an email to the Justice.
For now, Bierman's sights are set on London, where she will be studying at the Slade School of Fine Art in the spring. She will bring to London a newfound focus for working in an unstructured studio environment.
"I know this is what I want to do. There's nothing more real to me than expressing myself in a creative way," Bierman said.