The majority of your course work in the first two years at the School of Art and Design consists of required core classes: TMP (Tools, Materials, and Processes), CFC (Concept, Form, and Context), and ADP (Art Design Perspectives). These classes expose students to a variety of materials and formats rather than simply focusing on traditional mediums like painting, drawing, and ceramics.

The work I made in my core classes were not so much fine finished works of art, but rather explorations in materials, ideas, and discipline. My favorite core class of my first year at the Art School was TMP 1, which focuses on 3D materials, with an excellent teacher by the name of Matt Shlian. Matt’s teaching philosophy was to not only push us to create thought-out projects, but also to bring us together as a class since it was our first semester at U of M. He started our class off with unconventional materials, like cardboard and balloons, asking us to spend a few hours simply exploring the materials.

This escalated into larger projects, including one in which we were divided into groups of four or five people to create a sculpture using only balloons. We had the afternoon to plan out our sculpture and pick the colors of balloons that we wanted, which we ordered and found waiting in our classroom the following week. TMP was a class that ran for three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon, with a one-hour lunch break every Friday. Due to the nature of balloons deflating over time, we arrived Friday morning to learn that we needed to assemble and complete our entire sculpture by the end of class that day. And so began an amusing day of frantically inflating hundreds of balloons in an attempt to create a sculpture with a material we knew little about.

As the hours passed, however, we became more familiar with the nature of the balloons and how full they could be inflated based on how much they were to be twisted and connected to other balloons. This helped us make balloon popping a much less frequent event: one that was necessary since we had only so many balloons. I will admit, at times it felt like a Project Runway competition: each group eager to complete their balloon sculpture and worried about the time limit, focusing on their own project and taking only short breaks to see what other groups were constructing.

At the end of the day, it was a strange, but fun way to get to know my fellow group members. We failed to construct the sculpture that we had in mind, but we did make a successful piece that was improvised as we worked.

The finished sculptures were hung in one of the school’s hallways, making a colorful display of our day’s efforts. Unlike the work that is typically displayed in this area, our sculptures changed shape every day, as the balloons deflated, warping the structures into new forms. This exploration of materials has allowed me to think more creatively when working in traditional mediums, as well as considering what material is best for executing an idea. Without such instruction, I would probably be a more traditional artist, resorting to materials I was already familiar and comfortable with rather than diving into something new.