Lange makes the most of a tight space

By Shanna Nichols 

nicholss@grinnell.edu

Andy Lange, a third year Art and German double major, has put together Tight Spaces, a show in the Smith Gallery that uses many mediums to highlight the immense potential that can be found in limited spaces.

He states “What I am investigating with the show is what can all be done with a very small palette, this is the main thing that I’ve done throughout the show. I think the title really ties into the theme of tight spaces in that I find that in making a work of art if I don’t give myself some sort of parameters it gets very daunting and the message often gets muddled. I think if you give yourself very few possibilities you are able to do very interesting things with those very few pieces and that’s what I’ve tried to do throughout the show.”

Lange explains that his interest in very limited parameters began in his introductory Art class with Professor Kluber.

“I started doing work in a similar style in Introduction to the Studio, during our unit with Adobe Illustrator. I was really fascinated with doing parametric design, where you set really strict units or rules for yourself before you begin a piece,” Lange said. “The cube form which is on the card advertising the show is what I used to make all the two dimensional pieces there.”

Architecture has been a long-time passion for Lange and he is now working on translating different forms throughout different art mediums.

“I am really interested in architecture—that’s what I plan to do after college—so space is something I’m really interested in exploring through my work. I took sculpture this past semester, so I really worked to try to translate so of those two dimensional concepts into three dimensional pieces, which I think the paper on the floor really does the best. It is literally one form that is repeated over and over again to make a very organic shape” said Lange.

Lange attended a six week art program this past summer that solidified his interest in architecture as a career. “I saw a flyer in the studio for an architecture program, so I applied and got to do the program. It’s called Career Discovery, it is a six week architecture program that is designed to replicate a master’s program to help participants figure out if that is something they want to do later on,” Lange said. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done; I practically lived in the studio for the whole summer. It did however definitely make me develop a passion for architecture and working in the studio, doing lots of hands on work.”

Lange’s show calls much needed attention to the small and “tight spaces,” that get overlooked due to their simplicity. “I’m really trying to show what you can do with simple things and the beauty in simple spaces. I think often times when people think of something they think the more complicated it is the better it is. I think an example is that you could think a dish with one hundred ingredients is the better than a recipe with only five, but that isn’t true and that is something I’m trying to convey. I want to highlight the significance of the little unit that can be overlooked.” Lange said.

Lange’s show will be on display until Friday, Feb. 3, 2012.