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My journey, our journey
January 12, 2007
The thin beam of a flashlight pierces through the surrounding darkness. Windows glow warmly from six boats docked nearby, and the only sound is the ocean lapping against the shore.
This is the scene guests to Ingram Hall’s University Gallery will experience when they walk through the doors today to view art professor Spencer Ebbinga’s show, “I Dream of Clear Water.” The exhibit opens today and runs through Feb.16.
The exhibit is an art installation, meaning the entire gallery space becomes the piece of artwork, he explained.
“I wanted a really, truly transformative work,” Ebbinga said.
The gallery space has been resized by large, black panels and the lights remain off, making it necessary for visitors to use a flashlight to navigate the space. The six boats in the exhibit measure six feet tall and are constructed from wood. Each sits on an inner tube, which has a motor inside to simulate the rocking motion of the ocean.
Inside, the boats are filled with unique collections of objects and trinkets that represent key moments in Ebbinga’s life. For example, one boat contains memorabilia from his years serving in the Army, while another carries items that represent his life growing up among the swamps of Saskatchewan, Canada.
“Each boat is a representation of a time in my life that was transformative in some way,” Ebbinga explains. “The rafts are a metaphor for the journey we’re all on and what do you take with you.”
Ebbinga created the exhibit to complete his master’s thesis at Arizona State University last spring. A sculptor who usually works in metal and ceramics, he decided to stray from those materials because both are expensive and take a lot of time to build with, Ebbinga said.
While working at mortgage company in an industrial part of town, he noticed discarded pallets. The wood was in good shape, and the image for his exhibit – the collection of boats – started to come together.
While the sculptures are representative of who he is and the journey he has taken, they also represent the journey everyone is on and our common experiences, he said.
“Even though they are specific to me, I try to make my pieces universal,” he said.
In a world where people are divided by beliefs and ideologies, it’s hard to see the similarities among our experiences, Ebbinga said. He believes people actually share more commonalities than differences, and he uses his art to communicate that point.
“Art is communication,” he said. “In communicating those experiences, people will say, ‘I’ve had that experience, I know what that is.’”
The University Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. To learn more about the art department at PLU, visit www.plu.edu/~artd.
The exhibit is an art installation, meaning the entire gallery space becomes the piece of artwork, he explained.
“I wanted a really, truly transformative work,” Ebbinga said.
The gallery space has been resized by large, black panels and the lights remain off, making it necessary for visitors to use a flashlight to navigate the space. The six boats in the exhibit measure six feet tall and are constructed from wood. Each sits on an inner tube, which has a motor inside to simulate the rocking motion of the ocean.
Inside, the boats are filled with unique collections of objects and trinkets that represent key moments in Ebbinga’s life. For example, one boat contains memorabilia from his years serving in the Army, while another carries items that represent his life growing up among the swamps of Saskatchewan, Canada.
“Each boat is a representation of a time in my life that was transformative in some way,” Ebbinga explains. “The rafts are a metaphor for the journey we’re all on and what do you take with you.”
Ebbinga created the exhibit to complete his master’s thesis at Arizona State University last spring. A sculptor who usually works in metal and ceramics, he decided to stray from those materials because both are expensive and take a lot of time to build with, Ebbinga said.
While working at mortgage company in an industrial part of town, he noticed discarded pallets. The wood was in good shape, and the image for his exhibit – the collection of boats – started to come together.
While the sculptures are representative of who he is and the journey he has taken, they also represent the journey everyone is on and our common experiences, he said.
“Even though they are specific to me, I try to make my pieces universal,” he said.
In a world where people are divided by beliefs and ideologies, it’s hard to see the similarities among our experiences, Ebbinga said. He believes people actually share more commonalities than differences, and he uses his art to communicate that point.
“Art is communication,” he said. “In communicating those experiences, people will say, ‘I’ve had that experience, I know what that is.’”
The University Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. To learn more about the art department at PLU, visit www.plu.edu/~artd.