Rising artists shows her stuff in Trafalgar’s learning commons
STORY AND PHOTO KAGAN PITTMAN
For those who stop to look, there’s a tricky new art installation in the learning commons bound to make you look not twice, but thrice.
Last Wednesday, the Space Enhancement Task Force unveiled an art installation titled Dopplekopf by rising artist Roula Partheniou, a 2001 University of Guelph graduate.
“Dopplekopf is another word for ‘double headed.’ It really just alludes to the doubling that’s happening,” said Partheniou.
“It’s also the name of a card game in Germany, so it alludes to the play that’s happening with the viewer.”
The “play” Partheniou is talking about pertains to the misleading features of the piece. Office supplies that at first seem genuine are actually made of wood or multidimensional fibre and the mirrored, grey-scaled replica beside the display is also more than it seems.
“My work is about playing with the viewer and getting them to look closely and question what it is that they are looking at,” said Partheniou.
“I wanted to take that a few steps further by creating this grey-scaled version of the installation and then also having the play of the mirror in between. As you walk across you’ll see the colour draining back and forth.”
Ronni Rosenberg, dean of Sheridan’s faculty of Arts, Animation and Design, and the Space Enhancement Task Force dedicate their time to finding and installing worthy art pieces on school grounds.
“A couple of years ago as dean of the Faculty of Animation, Arts and Design, I set up a task force and we called ourselves the Campus Enhancement Committee,” said Rosenberg.
“Our mission was to really look at the campus here and figure out ways, with all these art students and art programs, how could we enhance and enrich the public spaces here.”
The committee looks for art both within and outside the school for site-specific pieces, or art that is relevant to the location where it’s installed.
“The idea is to respond to a site in Sheridan, so we have asked people to propose something that was a response, to create a site specific installation,” said Rosenberg.
Having received 30 responses to a request for proposal, Rosenberg and the Space Enhancement Task Force had their hands full deciding on what artwork was worth exhibiting.
“We invited an external panelist Mathew Hyland, he’s the director of the Oakville Galleries,” said Rosenberg. “We all deliberated and it was unanimous that Roula’s piece was the best.”
The Space Enhancement Task Force announced their selection and its unveiling on the Sheridan Arts Blog on Sept. 11th
Not many students seemed interested in the gathering around the new art piece, but the Space Enhancement Task Force and Sheridan College president Jeff Zabudsky listened to Partheniou’s speech on the piece.
“This is the kind of thing that every student should be inspired by beautiful things and it should inspire them to ask questions,” said Zabudsky.
“Art has a great role to play in our everyday lives that people don’t recognize and I’m thrilled to have it here.”
A second art installation is in the works that should be installed in the AA wing in the near future.
