Artist gives speeches a third dimension

Courtesy of Greg Loumeau A piece Greg Loumeau created for the "Black-on-Black Violence" reading.

I have trouble finding a birthday card that seems appropriate for one of my good friends, and I'm supposed to know what they're like, so what is this guy thinking?

The purpose behind the speaker series was to bring together people from several different disciplines on campus. It was decided that each speaker would receive a framed and matted speaker series poster. Organizers of the series thought it would be cool if each speaker was given a student-made gift to accompany the poster (in the form of creative gift wrap) that would be unique to each speaker.

Loumeau's challenge was to create artwork that could serve two functions: communicate the speaker's topic to the general public while simultaneously producing a piece that would still reflect the personalities of each individual speaker.

In addition, Loumeau was restricted by limitations of time, resources and materials, which he says helped him grow as an artist and a person.

The first speaker of the series was nationally renowned author, poet and UA affiliated faculty member N. Scott Momaday. Loumeau decided to trace several of Momaday's pictures onto some sandstone paper and wrap it around the speaker series poster.

Loumeau was happy with his first attempt but was artistically motivated to use different mediums and materials in order to take a progressive step beyond just wrapping the poster.

The next speaker was a professor of neurobiology whose topic was "Our Plastic Brain." Loumeau made a multi-colored brain out of foam core, then mounted a head, lunchbox, spoons, Coke bottle, and a fake credit card on it, which were all made of plastic. Th is was the first piece to be placed in front of the podium, and in doing so, became a visual communicator for the audience.

Loumeau, who spends about 20 hours on each piece, said some of the speakers have displayed his artwork at their homes or offices, which I feel exemplifies how well some of his art has been able to capture the essence of the speaker.

For the topic "Black-on-Black Violence," Loumeau made a traffic sign that shows a man who has been shot with a gun. A breakthrough came when he realized he could use the framed poster as a support for the sign and his work had now become three-dimension al. This piece had a dramatic impact on the audience.

On April 2, the topic of "Flying Cars" motivated Loumeau to incorporate movement into his next piece. He was able to find a car with a propeller at a toy store and suspend it on fishing line above a city skyline. By mounting a small fan under the car, he was able to create the illusion that the vehicle was flying.

To continue the progressive nature of his speaker series work, he decided that movement would also be a theme in his latest piece for "Clovis people: the first Arizonans." Loumeau made a foamcore woman which, by the aid of a small motor, repeatedly strike s a rock and a grindstone.

Because his art for the series has been progressive, and each completed piece has inspired new artistic directions for the rest, Loumeau's artwork has helped unify the speaker series by acting as a bridge between speeches.

With five speeches to go, one must wonder what he'll do for topics such as "Jazz is like a banana-you eat it on the spot."