Artists Megan Geckler and Carrie Ungerman install artwork in the Windward Gallery. Photo by Justin Malvin

By Jack Taylor ‘12
Design Editor

Between Jan. 18 and Feb. 12, Windward is hosting a collaborative piece of art work in the gallery, marking the start of the school’s artist-in-residence program, The Installation Project at Windward. Local artists Megan Geckler and Carrie Ungerman have come together to transform a simple room into a network of colorful orange plastic fencing, intertwined and twisted together, forming a work with several different vantage points. The Installation Project is an annual event that will take place over the coming years.

Geckler said that she had never been encouraged to look all around a sculpture or a piece of art. “It is not like the artist didn’t finish the back (of the sculpture)” and that art should only be viewed from one perspective, she said.
Ungerman added that they wanted to create a piece “you could walk through” and see the project from several angles, creating a interactive experience for the viewer.

Visual Arts Department Chair Jeff Miller organized this show as the “inaugural (exhibit) of the Installation Project.” The purpose of bringing the exhibit to Windward is so “students can see (the art) and be educated about contemporary art work.”

Joe Marcus ‘12 “is really excited (for the installation),” he said. “That room always needed some spicin’ up.”

The Project’s duo chose carefully when it came to the medium for their art. The orange construction fencing was chosen because of its color, its price and its malleability, which allowed the artist to shape and contort it. Geckler often employs artistic media that are not necessarily used by the average person but affect their daily lives. Ribbons, tapes and measuring tools comprise the majority of her working materials.

“I like to think of it as gender-bending,” said Geckler when she was explaining the use of the construction fencing. “They are such masculine materials, but they come in colors such as florescent pink.” The fencing is “easily destroyed,” meaning that it was simple to bend and tear it to fit a space adequately.

Ungerman came to Los Angeles from Dallas and is a professional artist here. She is well versed in installation art, as is Geckler. Both artists transform the spaces that house their work into full-blown art pieces.