SoapBox at Ball State University

March 18, 2009

Special thanks to Hannah Barnes, who was kind enough to coordinate this lecture series at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The series took place in the lobby of the Art and Journalism building. Bustling with passersby, eaters at the lobby cafeteria, and plenty of art students, the lectures added a hint of subversion to the dining atmosphere.

The Participants

IMA

Maura Jasper

Maura Jasper is a conceptual multimedia artist whose work investigates how pop cultures and histories shape and inform identity. She has exhibited and screened work widely in the United States and overseas, including at Artist’s Space, Threadwaxing Space, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and the Centre for Contemporary Images in Geneva. She is probably best known for her work as a co-founder of Punk Rock Aerobics, the DIY workout, and her album art illustrations for Dinosaur Jr.

During her lecture-performance, Jasper began with an anecdote from the life Sammy Davis Jr., led us through a charmingly strange anecdote from her own life, and ended by rubbing green muck all over her face. Though these may sound like disparate events, they were all linked by an underlying theme of dealing with racism in popular and personal culture. Thank you Maura for the wonderful message and entertaining learning experience.

For more information about Maura Jasper, please visit her Website.

Jacinda Russell

Jacinda Russell received her MFA in photography from the University of Arizona and her BFA from Boise State University. Her mixed media installations and photographs have been exhibited nationally at the following institutions: DiverseWorks, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, the Houston Center for Photography, the Galveston Arts Center, Reed College, and J Crist Gallery. Her work is represented in the collections of the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Reed College, Portland, Oregon. Her writing is published in the book Learning to Love You More and the magazines SPOT, Orlo, and Artlies. When she isn’t teaching at Ball State University as an Assistant Professor of Photography, she can be found traveling and visiting earthworks.

Russell made a peanut butter sandwich while in the SoapBox. Relating it to the story of a man who gambled away his life savings and to her own experience of watching a man take a dangerously naked swim at the Spiral Jetty, the peanut butter sandwich became a metaphor for developing personal associations through otherwise public experiences. Long live Spiral Jelly!

For more information about Jacinda Russell, please visit her Website.

Steve Miller

Steve Miller is an undergraduate photography major at Ball State University. He spoke about the consequences and benefits of his unusual circumstance of simultaneously being an art student and a member of a fraternity.

Adam Huston

Adam is an undergraduate painting major at Ball State University. He read an essay by Mark Rothko from the book Philosophies of Art.

Laura Hruska

Laura Hruska is an undergraduate photography major at Ball State University. She shared several entries from her journal relating to finding her place in the world of photography.

Photos from Ball State University...