Mel Ziegler Austin, TX

In The Air

Latex balloons, breath, sharpie pen, wood, pipe cleaners

Location: Library

This project consists of placing breath-filled balloons in the empty spaces on the existing library shelves. Each balloon is filled by a current student from a particular club or series of clubs that utilize Hart House for their activities. Each participating student was asked to breathe into the balloon and fill it up to a certain size relative to the shelves. They were then asked to draw a face on the balloon as well . . . individualizing each balloon. As you know the balloons will not hold the air but will eventually collapse over time.

Mel Ziegler attended the Rhode Island School of Design, received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute, BFA and his MFA from California Institute of the Arts. He also attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design, on a Loeb Fellowship. Recent exhibitions include Hold Your Breath, Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Dallas, TX, Vienna Secession, Summer 2003 and Without Time/ Without Temperature, and the traveling retrospective at MIT now . . . America Starts Here: Kate Ericson and Mel Ziegler.”