By Catherine Dunn
Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
The curtain catches the sun, the wind, the leaves. And the occasional daydream.
Billowing between the trees in front of Fayerweather Hall, the curtain - entitled "Push the Wind Button - Wait - Fly!" - is part of the Nordic Postmodernism exhibit currently on display in Fayerweather Gallery.
"It's been the most talked about piece we've had out there," exhibit curator Dean Dass said of the gauzy polyester and nylon patchwork ensemble.
"It's very meditative and it's really almost hypnotic," said Dass, who is also an art professor. "It's like a horizontal sail; it's a very slow, rhythmic movement."
Because Fayerweather's public displays usually are vandalized, Dass said he was not sure if they would be able to hang the curtain outside.
And given the effort involved in creating the work, Dass said he wanted to be especially careful. The artist, Marja Kolu of Finland, collected the assortment of fabrics from second-hand stores and flea markets for seven years before the final product was stitched together.
To ensure its safety, the art department enlisted the University's official arborists to hang the piece out of vandals' reach. Function gave way to form and Dass said the rigging "also became an aesthetic expression of the piece to float up there in the sky."
Dass met Kolu last spring when he was visiting Finland for a solo show of his own printmaking. As one of Finland's official state artists, Kolu hosted Dass during his stay. He said he was amazed by the curtain when he saw photographs of it.
Once he returned to the States, Dass sent Kolu digital pictures of the Fayerweather lawn and she agreed to display the curtain and stay for a month as a visiting artist in the department.
But when Kolu came to the United States, she forgot one thing: clothing.
"She brought [the curtain] over here in her suitcase, in a laundry bag," Dass said. "She had no room in her suitcase for clothes."
So what did Kolu do?
"We took her to Old Navy," Dass said.
The exhibit is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, until Nov. 30.
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