"Locus," an exhibition by John Douglas Powers, took seat in Biggin Hall from Dec. 12 to Jan. 26 and closed with a lecture from the artist at 5 p.m. The crowd consisted of primarily art students, but listeners of all ages lent their attention to Powers.
Powers has been featured in The New York Times, World Sculpture News, Sculpture Magazine and many others. He has conducted lectures and exhibitions on many college campuses as well.
Powers was born in northern India and eventually moved to middle Tennessee. Students present at his lecture remarked on his interactiveness and carefree nature on stage. Powers spent a large amount of his time speaking about his thought process, his past and what each sculpture meant to him personally, rather than primarily focusing on technique.
Michelle Mandarino, junior in art history, enjoyed this informal aspect of the lecture, saying it differed from others.
"I thought [the art] was very interesting and different from what we usually have here," Mandarino said. "I liked the interaction between the visual and the auditory elements. I liked the lecture because it gave context to all of that."
Powers was not originally studying art, but, thanks to a humanities requirement, was placed in an art history class and was "completely smitten."
"I had this realization moment of, 'This is where all the stuff that you love lives and mingles together,'" Powers said.
A slide production accompanied Powers, showing photographs of prominent landscapes, monuments and art from around the world. These images played into a storyline and explanation of each sculpture, usually connected to a story from ancient history, Greek mythology or his childhood.
Powers expressed his interest in mechanisms, deconstruction, sound and history. The work displayed in the exhibition consisted of a large sculpture mimicking wheat and its movement caused by wind.
A screeching sound was emitted from the sculpture, something Powers said was slightly intentional. Another sculpture of his consisted of a self-manipulated typewriter continuously transcribing a word or phrase of his choice. Some of those displayed were "dream" and "remember the sound came down the hall like a song."
Powers described his work as a cross-roads between sequencing, animation, dubious engineering practices, music and craft.
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