USC graduate hopes to set precedent for more art on campus
From finals week and into the summer session, students noticed an addition to the Pickens Street Bridge. The figures seemed to have appeared overnight without explanation, and after several weeks of questions from curious passersby, they were taken down by administration.
The mysterious pieces were part of Master of Fine Arts graduate Scott Mental’s thesis exhibit, “The Long Road.” The art presentation was inspired by Mental’s time in college, each piece symbolizing a step along his collegiate journey and the trials faced in life.
The archway on the first piece symbolizes anxiety and stress, giving the impression that it may cave in at any time. The final piece that stood on the Pickens Street Bridge was of a boat sitting upon a pedestal.
“When you put things on a pedestal, we strive to achieve those goals, make sacrifices and give up a lot of things to achieve that goal,” Mental said. “Sometimes it has a hollow feeling and doesn’t have the sense of accomplishment that you thought it would have.”
Two five-foot concrete slabs with several holes in them were meant to allow individuals to see through their problems instead of trying to go around them. The slants show that problems are not black and white, but rather vary in issue and size.
The fourth piece was of a steel wall, meant to convey problem solving. According to Mental, if you use the same approach, you cannot expect different results.
The last piece, squarely shaped, organized and structured with points going outward, represented success. It is framed toward the open, allowing views of both the future and past accomplishments along the journey.
Mental wanted students to wonder about the significance and purpose of the art. “I intentionally didn’t put any signage up until the second week,” he said. “When you provide a little signage or web link, they read about it more and see the concept a little better.”
The goal was to construct something meaningful that would draw people in to the piece. It was difficult at first for him to find a location that would interact with space in the right manner. The Pickens Street Bridge is one of the larger walkways on campus, visible from main academic buildings such as Gambrell Hall and the Welsh Humanities Classroom Building. Mental wanted to create something that would complement the exhibition and attract an audience from “sky to building, to (the) trees and in between and to the ground.”
A challenge that Mental faced was having his art outside. He had received a management and information systems degree in local and county government, which gave him a head start on permit applications. USC had not had any outside art of this magnitude on display so Mental had to make a proposal through the Architectural Review Board, which gave him approval to present his sculptures.
Mental currently has several crew houses in South Carolina that are interested in purchasing his boat piece. In September, Mental has an entry planned for Art Prize, an international art competition and social experiment, which will be held in Grand Rapids, Mich.
After completing his own journey through USC, Mental is taking the summer to wind down and relax.
Mental hopes his art exhibition has paved the way for other students to show their work and brought attention to the need for more creative pieces around campus.