FPA 161 Introduction to Visual Arts II
CAMPUS PROJECT
The campus project is the culmination of the course and an opportunity for each student to
design and construct an installation for a site on the SFU Woodward’s campus. Students are
asked to select a place where they wish the work to appear. The choice of site should be given
careful consideration. Reasons for a given site may be based on some observations of the social
use (or nonuse) of the place, or some recognizable affinity with it as an architectural space, or
some idiosyncratic characteristic that you wish to emphasize or draw attention to or use in some
way.
The sense of your choice should be motivated and suggested by the nature of the site itself, rather
than imposed on the space in an uncontextualized way. The relationship between the project and
its site should be comprehensible and accessible; in this sense it may be ‘site specific’. The term
‘site’ here can embrace the entire campus community and its relation to the community at large.
As this is a public project, the sense of scale should be carefully considered. Think of the physical
relationship between the spectator and your work, and how you want it perceived. The effects of
distance and proximity will affect your decisions.
Once the site has been selected and approved by the instructor, the student must decide what
means would be most useful to further develop the project; working drawings, a model, a text
that relates to an intervention or performance. This drawings/model/text will help you determine
the appropriate scale and siting, and act as your reference in the actual construction of the work in
the studio. They are also the locus of discussion with the instructor during the fabrication of the
project.
Close observation should be made of the colour, texture, and general appearance of the place.
These notes can be helpful in tuning the project to its site, allowing the work to take on any
necessary “protective colouration” required for its survival. In the past, projects have been
vandalized, and some thought should be given to ways of preserving the work for the duration of
the exhibition. Therefore the materials you chose should be appropriate to the project and its
site; remember the weather.
The actual selection of materials is up to you and there are no particular restrictions. Obviously it
is more expedient to use what we have on hand.
During the construction of the work you should keep in mind the logistics of transportation and
installation. Plan in advance how you are going to get your work to the site and what you will
need to put it up. Work should be documented on the day it is installed. We hope to
have a map published the week before installation, with names, titles and locations, this should be posted around the school and if possible published in The Peak.
The selection of the site and the proposed project must be approved by and acceptable to the
Operations Department; therefore no potentially hazardous or obstructive proposals or
unrepairable attachments can be considered. The guidelines are:
Some things to try to avoid:
– obstructing exits and egress routes.
– obstructing exit signs, fire safety equipment, sprinklers, etc.
– suspending things from exposed wiring, lighting fixtures, cable trays or pipes.
– generally, anything that might endanger non-suspecting building users.
The campus administration has been very helpful and tolerant of the Campus Project in the past and we intend to maintain this good working relationship.