Signal Mountain High School senior and National Merit Semifinalist Adam Stark is bringing the concept of public art from the streets to the school hallway through his senior project.
SMHS senior Adam Stark says he hopes viewing his tape sculptures, which he sees as a form of public art, will help his fellow students climb to new heights of creative expression.Using his body as a mold, Stark created three unique sculptures from clear packing tape which can be found in the hallway outside his school's cafeteria. One is climbing the wall, and another peeks its head and arms out from a cardboard box. Stark filled the third, kneeling sculpture with all his school papers from the first semester of his senior year, which spill out onto the floor from a hole in its side.
"The point of the senior project was to help people think creatively," said Stark, who got the idea for the sculptures from an art website where he had seen something similar. "I thought the tape sculpture would be good because most people haven't seen it."
Stark spent his required volunteer hours for the project working with Mark Making, a community-based art organization with a mission of enhancing Chattanooga through public art. The group brings in professional artists to work with urban youth in creating public art pieces that beautify community spaces while encouraging a sense of pride and ownership.
"It was helpful to see what kind of public art projects they did," he said of his time spent with Mark Making, which involved organizing the efforts of kids collaborating on a sculpture at the Bethlehem Center in downtown Chattanooga. "I like the idea of doing public art because it reminds people of the creative world."
Stark said many people shy away from creativity because they feel they are unable to paint or draw well.
"Public art allows people to see the different kinds of expression that exist and shows there's a type of creative expression for everyone," he said.
To make the sculptures, Stark said he had his friends and brother wrap parts of his body while he held a particular pose. He first had them wrap him in a layer of tape with the sticky side facing outward, then had them add two more layers with the sticky side facing in. He said he spent 15 hours total making the sculptures, which he molded in four to five separate parts before putting them together as bodies.
Stark said he plans to leave the sculptures with his art teacher to serve as examples to other students who may be inspired to make their own.
He said his father, Gerald Stark, who creates prosthetic limbs as vice president of product development and education with the Fillhauer Companies, helped inspire his creativity.
"My dad would always help me make costumes and props," he said. "He likes to make things we can use."