Arts Quad ‘Urchin’ Challenges Perception of Everyday Objects

“Like a real Urchin, you can look at it, but it’s best not to touch it,” said director of the Masters of Architecture Program Prof. Caroline O’Donnell, on her new Arts Quad exhibit. O’Donnell created the exhibit, “Urchin (Impossible Circus), with the help of Christopher Morse ’17 and John Lai ’17 as a part of the Cornell Council of the Arts’ 2016 Biennial celebration. The exhibit — installed on the arts quad this past weekend — attempts to transform 500 plastic lawn chairs into a living organism. “The idea is that when you see it from afar, it seems like a designed object,” O’Donnell said. “As you get closer, at some point you realize that it’s just a plastic chair that you’ve already sat in 100 times.

Arts Quad Explodes in Color for Annual Holi at Cornell

“It’s what Holi is like in India too,” said Samir Durvasula ’17, treasurer of Hindu Student Council. “The only difference is that it’s entire country that’s taking over the streets with powdered colors.”