Friday, January 16, 2009
Matthew Farley transformed the would-be empty Chi Omega fountain into a winter work of art.
Farley, Wichita graduate student, used more than 1,000 empty water bottles collected by KU Recycling to create the fountain sculpture called “Frozen Assets.” He said he created the project to give students a visualization of the importance of recycling.
"Frozen Assets," an art display by Matthew Farley, Wichita senior, is featured on the Chi Omega Fountain. The display is made of about 1,000 water bottles for a special topics class in public art.
The University of Kansas is taking other steps to encourage students to start the new year with recycling in mind. For the first time, the University will participate in a 10-week RecycleMania competition from Jan. 18 to March 28. This year, more than 400 colleges and universities around the nation and in Canada will compete to see which campus can recycle the most. Big 12 competitors this year include Baylor and Kansas State.
Jeff Severin, director of the Center for Sustainability, said he thought seeing Farley’s sculpture in the midst of a competitive atmosphere would pique student curiosity and drive people to find out more about the issue.
“When we are just using one bottle at a time and tossing it in the trash, or hopefully a recycling bin, we can convince ourselves that we don’t really have that much of an impact on our own,” Severin said. “But a project like the fountain really helps us put things in perspective and comprehend numbers that are sometimes difficult to wrap our minds around.”
Cecilia Stumpff, Wichita senior, is a recycling crew leader for the Environmental Stewardship Program, also called KU Recycling. This group contributed the bottles used in Farley’s sculpture. Stumpff will lead efforts to collect and weigh recyclables and submit totals to RecycleMania. She said she thought the idea of a competition between schools would help get students more involved and excited about recycling.
“People who might not otherwise see the incentive to recycle may get more into it because it is a competition,” Stumpff said.
Farley received a sponsorship for his project from a company in California called EcoUsable Inc., which manufactures stainless-steel water bottles. In sponsoring Farley’s sculpture, EcoUsable Inc. hopes to decrease the use of plastic water bottles.
Farley’s project was originally scheduled to be taken down at the end of the month. With all the positive feedback, though, Farley said he hoped the display would extend later into the semester.
— — Edited by Justin Leverett
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Comments
Le_Bo (anonymous) says...
This is awesome! The message is on point. The presentation looks like water from a distance.
January 16, 2009 at 1:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
phoenix (anonymous) says...
KU needs to get out of bed with environmentalist hippies and their dumb arts & crafts with a cause. That being said, at least this one doesn't look bad.
January 16, 2009 at 4:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
orangehead_83 (anonymous) says...
I love going past this everyday! I hope it remains up for a little while longer.
January 17, 2009 at 12:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )