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I am currently in the midst of PGA madness. Sarah McHugh and I teamed up to create an interactive installation for Columbia’s annual graduate student collaboration project. As education majors, we wanted to give the public the ability to interact with our piece and hopefully learn something from that interaction. We decided to create a space in flux; a three dimensional world of cardboard that spans from the city to the forest. Participants can change the layout of the environments by drawing on transparencies and manipulating the shadows that the buildings cast. I hope it turns out the way it looks in my mind, because it seems very cool indeed.

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I’m trying to get better about documenting things I create, so here are a bunch of in-process photos. One of the best parts of this project was collaborating with so many different people. We had two art education majors, five elementary education majors, my husband, and a friend of mine from undergrad all contributing to the world. It has made what we’ve built so far feel very eclectic and honest.

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We started by experimenting with different textures that cardboard can create. We especially tried to focus on elements that could be cut out or pop off of the wall. One thing I loved about the first build day in particular was how often I could hear everyone saying to each other, “Wow, I love what you’re doing! How did you get that look?” We learned from each other as we worked.

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I spent today trekking all of the cardboard through the rain to the work space so we could paint all of the pieces and continue building. By the end of the move, I was soaked to the bone, but mostly I felt really proud and excited about the progress I had made. And now I can one day tell my classroom that I carried cardboard across the south loop through the rain during my finals week all in the name of a good art show.

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Today’s work went really well, and I’m excited to see what the show brings on Friday. I’m really just excited to see what everyone else is building! The participants golf through the course, which should be a very interesting experience. I’m not sure if I could do PGA while student teaching next year, so I feel really thankful for this experience.

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