The Ronald L. Barr Gallery was host to the opening of  the work of art, “Strings in the Aether,” on Jan.15.

After food and refreshments were served, students filled the gallery to hear the artist, Brian Harper, assistant professor of fine arts, give a speech at 6 p.m. 

This is Harper’s first year teaching at IU Southeast.  Many of his students were present at the opening along with other fine arts professors to view his work.

It took Harper one week to make “Strings in the Aether.”

It is composed of a drawing on the wall that is 120 feet long with more than 1,500 feet of lines, all drawn by hand.

There are four light fixtures on the ceiling that face different directions of the artwork. They shine upon a red, flat object in the center of the room and a few shine upon the wall where the infinite connecting lines have been drawn.

Harper said it took a lot of time for him to construct the lighting because he had to try multiple angles and sizes for the lights to finally feel correct in the areas of which they were placed.

“It takes a lot of hard work, there are so many little details that you don’t even get to see,” he said.

There are three people who helped Harper with “Strings in the Aether,” two of which are students at IU Southeast. Rob Woolley, printmaking senior, Kristy Leverock, painting junior and Donna Stallard, fine arts professor, assisted Harper in the creation of his work.

Harper has been doing research in science on particle physics lately and he said he wanted his work to be an experience of a mythological structure.

His piece is derived from the string theory which was introduced during the 1960s. It was believed that all matter is made up of small, individual one-dimensional strings that can vibrate. Back then it was ridiculed but now it is studied and implemented.

Harper said he wants the viewers to be able to correlate between the known and unknown in his artwork and that he is interested in knowing and not knowing.

“I really wanted this idea of wonderment and the unknown to turn into a personal experience,” he said.

In the middle of the room there is a red flat object that had been elevated off the ground. It is made from a red iron oxide material used in ceramics. The red powder has been sifted through a screen, which creates a relatively soft illusion.

The light fixtures in the room make the surfaces look three-dimensional, giving the illusion that the object is enlarging and rising off of the ground.

Harper said he wanted to generate something when viewers saw it so they would not know what it was. He said he used the color red because he said it felt natural and the color had an emotional human connection.

Daniel Frank, fine arts sophomore, said Harper’s work made him feel like he was experiencing something in space.

“If you stand over the red object in the middle of the room it makes you feel like you can fall into it and keep falling forever,” he said.

The room is dark, creating a meditative environment. Harper said he wanted people to take an inward approach into not knowing. He said if he could re-create it accurately, he would like to construct a smaller version of his work.

He wanted people to be able to see it alone or in small groups.

“I wanted viewers to come see it alone because large amounts of people can be distracting,” he said. “You wouldn’t be able to get the full effect of the piece.”

There is a music playing that isn’t continuous. The music in the background creates an illusion of being in space.

This is the first time Harper has used sound in his artwork and he said he wanted to explore the use of the senses and add an extra element to the piece by using sound. He made the music by layering multiple noises on top of each other.

Harper said he is inspired by many artists, scientists and writers, and many of them have no connection at all to what he teaches here at IU Southeast.

Some of the artists that inspire Harper are Robert Irwin, Marcel Duchamp and James Turrell.

“I feel that as an artist you should push your work to whether you know if it is you or not you,” Harper said.

“Strings in the Aether” will be shown Jan. 15 through Feb. 12.

By NATALIE DEDAS
Staff Writer
natdedas@ius.edu