OCR Text |
Show The Signpost 5 Environment artist's main concern Artist tries to raise public awareness Strummin' and singin1 Friday, January 17, 1992 By LINDA GLEASON Staff writer of The Signpost New York artistsculptor Christy Rupp gave an impressive environmental slide lecture Wednesday evening, Jan. 15, at the Monson Theater to approximately 100 people. Rupp avidly studied the behavior of animals and her passion for the animal kingdom is clearly apparent in her sculptures. Her goal is to raise environmental consciousness and awareness. Rupp addressed environmental issues by using recyclable materials in her sculptures. Her combination of art and humor easily comes to the forefront in each environmental portrayal. Using recyclable materials in her works of art carries strong, environment-conscious messages to the viewing public. During New York City's 1980s garbage collection strike, Rupp noticed a marked proliferation of rats in the city. The city'seco-sys-tem now supported two major species: humans and rats. The human garbage piling up offered an ideal breeding ground for rats. In an effort to call attention to the rat problem, she placed some 4,000 stencil prints and brightly painted casts of large rats around the city's garbage heaps. In response, the sanitation department went around and painted out her rats. In 1984, Rupp was given permission to place an art sculpture in front of the United Nations Build-ing,butshecould not make a political statement. Her chosen theme was the "cold war" with Russia. f , ' ; V ! .rr,. -J STEVE MORGAN THE SIGNPOST ARTIST CHRISTY RUPP answers questions from the audience during her slide lecture Jan. 15 in the Monson Theatre. Devotional Tuesday January 21, 1992 10:30 a.m. Institute Chapel Speaker: Vickey Pahnke Composer, Writer & Recording Artist The art consisted of old metal file cabinetssome drawers open. Four designer-cast (a weather-proof kind of plaster) bears were "nosing" in and around the cabinets. Depicting the difficulty of getting life back to normal prior to the Gulf War, Rupp created a naked turtle trying to squirm back into its shell. An expert on the delicatebal-anceoftheeco-systems of wetlands and the devastating effects of acid rain, water is another major concern for Rupp. She showed slides of cardboard fish laying eggs in polluted water and the resulting offspring born with birth defects. Some of the other slides shown were: a wire-framed dolphin stuffed with cat-food tins, called Deep Sea Dinner; a tree stump made out of newspaper depicts life in a landfill; a six-foot snail dragging an even more immense ear of corn shows social progress; and two elephant tusks shaped from Ivory detergent bottles makes a statement 99.4 forgotten. Rupp explained that it almost took longer to soak the price tags and manufacturer labels off the bottles than it did to put the finished sculpture together. Rupp attended the Rhode Island School of Design and the Maryland Institute. She has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts on two occasions. Her work has been shown at the Whitney Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This lecture is sponsored by the WSU Department of Visual Arts and is supported by grants from the Utah Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. GUITARIST AND VOCALIST Michael Chapwell performed Open Hours "That's Entertainment" Thursday morning. " KEVIN COSTNER FK The Story That Won't Go Away ra w-mB mem mm immum vmmm Y ; ( DANIELLE MABEY THE SIGNPOST before a tepid audience for ( I .A. '- ! 1 A 'XS v v II luJr Ji ill jT |