Mel Chin.

Conceptual artist, Mel Chin, agreed to become a visiting artist/professor at the university this semester for a five week course. I was very fortunate to get into the class (so many complications) and experience his genius. I cannot stress how thankful I am that he agreed to come here. He made us think about so many things, and the world around us. Mel is one scarily smart, funny guy whom I miss terribly. Unfortunately our class was canceled for a week due to an ice storm, but we were all productive through the mess. At the end of our class we had an exhibition at the Walton Arts Center. Mel wanted it to be an equal exhibition between all of us, and not focused solely on him. Since most of us had created work during the storm we decided that that was what we would exhibit, and aptly named the exhibit Shelter From the Storm. The above photo was our concept wall displaying all of our drawings and ideas cultivated throughout the class.

Extraction of Plenty from What Remains: 1823 -

Two columns which are exact replicas from the White House squeeze an empty cornucopia made of mud, banana, mahogany, coffee, and goats' blood. Mel relates back to the history of the cornucopia, and refers to the fractured ability of Latin American countries to prosper on their own because of America's foreign policy. The "cracks" at the top of the columns are the signatures that are on the foreign policy.

Revival Field

Safehouse

After hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Mel struggled with what he could do to help. He eventually decided that there was nothing he could do, and decided to look elsewhere. His research led him to discover that there was a harmful amount of lead in New Orleans' soil before the hurricane. Determined to save the city from the horrible health problems (ADHS along with violence) that the lead was creating he founded Operation Paydirt. Through Operation Paydirt children (and other citizens) draw on Fundred dollar bills that are going to be exchanged for the money and jobs needed to fix the soil. He created Safehouse to be reminiscent of a bank safe. It is the headquarters of Operation Paydirt and contains a display wall of some fundreds collected so far. Please visit the Fundred site to find out more, learn what you can do to help, and to find a pick up location in your area (pick up is scheduled for October of this year).