Students in Architecture 121: Drawing and Perception committed a communal act at the end of the fall semester when they broke into six groups and painted the Rock with unique themes and designs. Associate Professor Brian Ambroziak told his students, “It is not the product that is essential, but rather the process, the making of the image. The memory of the action is the souvenir.”
Take a look at the six different design statements and what they mean.
Coleen O’Leary Section
What Rock?
The students approached this design problem with a desire to get attention from the university but in a way that was not negative or controversial. After much discussion about iconic images and transforming the Rock, they decided to build a set of Groucho glasses as a comedic disguise for the Rock. The students wore their very own pair of Groucho glasses as they painted and constructed the disguise, turning the act of painting the Rock into a performance art that captured the attention of passersby.
Marianela D’Aprile Section
The students wanted to reference back to one of their favorite moments in the semester, watching Cinema Paradiso, in their Rock painting. They also placed an emphasis on incorporating added or found objects, which led to using the trash-can-spray-can as a prop.
Michael Sena Section
The sign reads:
“Shown before you is the great Tyrannosaurus Knox. The great Knox lived in the Mesozoic Era around 67 million years ago. This creature ruled the land and could defeat any enemy in sight; however, it preferred to snack on elephants and gators.”
We prospected that several hundred layers of paint might actually conceal a hidden truth within the Rock. After hours of excavating, we unearthed new meaning for this campus landmark : the head of the legendary T-Knox.
Holly Harris Section
In memory: A Silent protest
In remembrance of those lost, “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive our hate: only love can do that.” -MLK Jr.
Chloe Lane Section
When our studio was brainstorming ideas, one suggestion that kept coming up was the concept of concealing the Rock in a playful way, so we cut stencils of floral brocade patterns and a man to create the illusion of the process of applying wall paper, covering the layers of random graffiti beneath with something intentional and beautiful.
Camille Lane Section
Our studio’s design involved challenging the permanence and substance of the Rock, as well as generating a visual campaign that would create questions among fellow students about the meaning of the design. Students chose an image of a boy being lifted by a bundle of papier mache balloons while pulling at the seam of the Rock, revealing the phrase “look out” beneath the first layer paint. Though the warning, “look out” is simply a phrase often used by their studio professor, the students thought it would lend itself to a more mysterious, almost menacing feeling in combination with the color scheme they chose and the symbolism of the eyes painted on the boy’s balloons. Similar to Sheard Fairey’s OBEY campaign, the students wanted to create an essentially meaningless but viral idea that might be spread throughout campus.