Abstract Sculptures

          Struggling to find a spot to park at Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, W A. The weather was overcast, the clouds were light and starting to lift and the ground was still wet from rain the night before. Finally a half hour later, I found a spot down towards the bottom of campus. I didn't mind because I had a good reason to be there, this campus has something unique about it that not many campuses share. Allover the campus are sculptures that give uniqueness to WSU. Unluckily for me, the WSU campus is shaped like Mt. Everest and I got to climb it in order to find the ones I would like to share with you. 

          It seemed as if there were endless stairs to climb. I am so glad that the University of Idaho is relatively flat, clean and more spread out. WSU has a lot of buildings really crammed together and almost no parking, which is the reason I was parking five miles from my destination. As I was walking up onto campus, there were more and more people showing up for school. It was almost impossible for someone to drive through the campus because there were so many people in the crosswalks. Nevertheless, I was walking and the sun was starting to break through the clouds. You could see the dew lightly steaming off the ground where the sun was hitting it, though the air was still chilly. I arrived at my first stop, my favorite sculpture in the heart of campus.

          The first sculpture was a beautiful, giant blue heart that stands alone on the edge of Stadium Way right outside the Fine Arts building. This heart is one of many sculptures that are allover the campus. The artist of the sculpture, Jim Dine, is said to be the Shakespeare of the sculpture world, and his art is on WSU's main campus. My first thoughts of this heart were ''this thing is really weird." It was huge and had tons of tools and trinkets stuck to it, painted all different colors. I thought to myself, "What is this supposed to mean?" While I was looking at the sculpture, I couldn't help but be distracted; the cool crisp air was filled with the smell of exhaust and the sound of cars speeding past from the nearby road. My interpretation of all the random things stuck to it showed me that whatever is in your heart that's what you love.  Whether it's the orange hammer for the builder or the red scissors for the hairdresser, everyone has a place in their heart for what they love. After breathing car exhaust for a while and thinking a little too hard about what this heart represented, I headed back up onto campus to my second favorite, and maybe the strangest, sculpture.

          As I walked back up on campus there weren't many people outside walking around, because most were in their classes. It was peaceful and quiet with no hectic rush to get to class on time, just the sound of birds and a few students talking. There were a few people sitting on the cold, hard cement steps outside of the buildings alongside the student walkway system, maybe waiting for their next class to start. There were also some students setting up tables and booths to promote the clubs they were in. It was no surprise one of them headed right for me, but before she reached me, I heard this high pitched nerdy voice from behind me ask "Hey, would you like a pen to promote President Bush?" I turned around to see this guy in a crimson colored windbreaker with Coug sweat pants and a Coug hat. ''No thanks, I'm cool." I turned in the other direction and headed off. Everywhere I looked it was a crimson and gray blur. Every student had some piece of clothing that was representing the Cougar colors. (It was almost as if they had to wear the school colors). 

          After dodging the campaign guys, I stopped to look at the next sculpture. The second sculpture was center stage in the middle of a courtyard in front of WSU's Todd Hall. This huge piece of art is the centerpiece for the entrance to the building. The sculpture was of a man with no head or hands. He was made from thin strips of what looked like kenneling wood and held together with twine. The whole thing was a dark, dirty bronze color. Where the head should have been there was a clamp holding bamboo that turned in all different directions, with a horse's head on the very top. It seemed to me that this strange sculpture was showing that people think a lot or that people can be very confused. Which must be true because at that moment I was extremely confused? This sculpture, in my opinion, is one of the more interesting pieces of abstract art on the campus. 

          "Ding, Ding..." I jumped as the bell rang ten times, which sounded like it was in my ears, signaling it was ten and time for students to get out of classes. Students began pouring out of doors like sand through an hourglass, it started to get loud and really crowded. I decided it was time to head back to my car. As I walked back to the car, I saw a couple of other sculptures that I didn't know were there. I realized that having all of these different sculptures on campus to look at and study really does add something special to WSU. Even if you are just walking to class, these sculptures are a nice backdrop to look at, and I can just imagine how they may transform the scenery in the winter.