A display of model ships and five talented artists sailed the seas of art together at the Addison Gallery of American Art’s exhibit of “Models as Muse” – an array of nautically themed artwork. Several months ago, the appointed artists viewed the Addison’s famed model ship collection. Their task was to create pieces of art inspired by these ships. Last Friday, the Addison held an opening reception, where the artists explained their art to a throng of interested students, faculty, staff and members of the greater community. The Yorkies, Phillips Academy’s all-male a cappella group, provided the music for the evening. With songs ranging from sea shanties to “Good Old A Cappella,” the Yorkies were a big hit with gallery-goers. One of the five nautical artists, Christine Hiebert, constructed a piece consisting of varied sized strips of blue tape on the four walls of the room. After observing the riggings of the model ships, Hiebert examined the space she had available. “My piece just sort of developed,” she said. “I tried to make the white space seem to go off into the distance.” However, some spectators expressed confusion about the piece’s relationship to the original inspiration. It was something of a stretch to see how the strips of tape plastered on the walls fit in with “Models as Muse’s” nautical theme. Nevertheless, the exhibit prompted most viewers to look past the simple white space and blue lines and search for the meaning behind the designs. “Everything is really innovative. It’s the new art,” said Andover town resident Elaine Boudreau. A second artist, Roderick Buchanan, showed off his Scottish heritage to a crowd of curious listeners. Buchanan contributed two Scottish-themed pieces to the exhibit. The first, called “Shrinking the Clyde,” consisted of two parallel video screens. These screens cleverly displayed a video portrayal of the Clyde River from a traveling boat. A speaker projected recorded noises from along the river, and a ship captain’s booming voice was heard every few minutes. When interested onlookers stuck their heads between the two screens, they found themselves floating down the Clyde River. Having the two screens directly across from each other meant that observers were forced to constantly glance back and forth between the two, as if following a tennis rally. By such positioning, Buchanan hoped to convey that there was simply too much to see at once. While the artist confessed that the technical aspects of the filming were challenging, he felt it was all worth it for the chance to expose viewers to his beloved Clyde River. “You wouldn’t have the boats without the river,” Buchanan said in his thick Scottish accent. “This is my river. It’s some reflection of me.” His other piece consisted of a family tree in the form of two circles. Using different colors to represent from where family members originated, Buchanan traced the heritage of his family back several generations. The third artist, David Opdyke, designed “Dredge,” which consisted of two aquariums. Each contained a large boulder surrounded by pebbles. Some depleted ships were frozen while falling off of the boulders, while others were stuck in crevices. According to Opdyke, “The boats [including the Titanic, USS Ronald Reagan, and Queen Marie] represented a historical sweep in American shipping.” “I could really feel the emotion coming from the shipwrecks and the contrast between the feeling they were trying to convey and the rest of the ships on display,” said Jessica Blake ’10. “Dredge” was the kind of display that you could look at from every angle and still have the nagging feeling that you’d missed something. Many viewers were impressed by how realistic the hand-chiseled Styrofoam boulders seemed. The final display, created by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, was a multimedia presentation. Entitled “Dreadnought,” the display’s focus point was one of the Addison’s own model ships encased in a large wooden contraption. A camera circled the ship, sending images to a huge screen directly behind it. The camera’s swooping pattern created the illusion that the boat was riding on the waves of the ocean. Although the McCoys had some technical difficulties before their exhibit opened, the issues were solved and the display was very popular with the crowd. “We wanted to bring the ship back to life,” proclaimed Kevin McCoy. Through trial and error, the couple painstakingly calculated the best speed for the traveling camera. They also decided how dramatic each dip in the camera’s path should be. Both of these factors contributed to the McCoy’s goal of recreating the last moments of the ship on the screen. “I liked how the actual inspiration was incorporated into the piece,” said Teaching Fellow Kimberly Ramos. “It’s interesting to see the merge of different forms of art.” Addison’s original model ships were also included in the exhibit. All twenty-four ships were enclosed in glass cases in Kemper Gallery. “They were cute, almost like toys at first,” remarked Hilda Buss ’07. “But as I looked closer, I saw the great detail and art in the pieces. As I studied one ship, I realized that I could imagine tiny pilgrims manning the miniature Mayflower, crossing the Atlantic.” Addison Gallery security officer Roger Cowley was impressed with all the displays. He said, “This is a very unique exhibit with maritime flavor.” After the “Models as Muse” presentations, the crowd dispersed to grab complimentary refreshments, watch the Yorkies’ performance, and look through the rest of the gallery. Other displays this winter include prints and photos from the Civil War era, the “Wheeler Survey” photographs, and “Mix and Match,” as well as pieces from the Addison’s permanent collection. Britney Achin ’08 exclaimed, “These exhibits are insane!” Yorkies co-head Chris Li ’07 was pleased with the way the evening turned out. “I had my doubts about the sailor songs,” he admitted. “But the audience responded well. I’m glad we did it.” From model ship art to the Yorkies’ rendition of the Little Mermaid’s “Kiss the Girl,” the winter opening of the Addison Gallery was a refreshing experience for all.
