Professor Erika Osborne’s Advanced Drawing Class at WVU realized a mulitfaceted Land Arts project along Decker’s Creek in Sabraton. This would be carried out in a collaborative fashion with the help of the entire class, as well as the organization Friends of Decker’s Creek.
The students met at the site, where they spent the morning blowing the yoke and whites out of eggs and using them to cook breakfast burritos. They proceeded to blow out 50 dozen eggshells. Students then assembled into groups and each group made a sculptural “ion”.
Throughout the day, numerous trail users stopped to ask questions and take a look. The students got very involved with telling people what the project was about and why they were doing it.
The project chosen was proposed by Nathan Freeman. Eggshells were chosen by Nathan because they contain chemicals that act as neutralizers for the acidic ions from the acid mine drainage.
They would use the eggshells to create sculptures in the shape of the problematic ions found in the creek as a statement.
When students returned, the eggshells were dyed a beautiful and disconcerting orange from the metals in the water! This was a strange twist to the project that gave added meaning to the work.
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West Virginia University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution.
