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Margo WR Steiner
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Swampscott artist and Salem State University professor of art + design Ken Reker tends to think big when he creates—as big as all outdoors, in fact. Perhaps that’s because most of his work resides outside of galleries and in public spaces. For years, he and the students in his Salem State summer institute, Art 340 (sculpture/mixed media), have explored the fundamentals of modeling, carving, casting, and assemblage. The culmination of the course is a public display of their works in places as diverse as Lesley’s Retreat Park and on the water in Cat Cove.
Recently, however, one of Reker’s large installations has found a new home in an outdoor courtyard at Swampscott Middle School. Water, as Reker explains it, explores “America’s titanic love affair with plastic.” From a distance, the work certainly looks like water as it tumbles out of a second floor wall in the courtyard and splashes over a dry creek bed below. Upon closer inspection, however, Water is actually constructed of hundreds of discarded plastic bottles.
The courtyard was created by the Swampscott Middle School community, whose members donated plants, time, funds, and expertise in design and construction. The plastic bottles were collected from the cafeteria for recycling into art by members of the school’s student garden club, who are learning a lot about the natural world, sustainability and waste from their participation in the project. According to Gail Anderson, who teaches enrichment part time at the school and oversees the outdoor garden, “This reuse of discarded water bottles reaffirms many of the themes of recycling, repurposing, and conservation that we teach our students.
“When people enter the courtyard they’re surprised and delighted to see a piece of sculpture of this size and caliber. On closer inspection they may see the individual bottles, the splash, or the way light reflects and bends at different times of the day. The goal was to create an inviting outdoor space where students and staff could learn, relax, renew, and celebrate. Having Ken Reker’s sculpture as part of the courtyard enhances each person’s experience in different ways.”
They’re lessons the students have taken to heart. “In addition to keeping these bottles out of landfills and the ocean,” says one student proudly, “we reuse 27 gallons of water a week by emptying what’s left in the plastic bottles we pick up to keep our garden green and growing.” Lesson learned!
In addition to his installation at Swampscott Middle School, Professor Reker has a larger variation on the theme, entitled Double Trouble, currently on display along the Harborwalk in Boston. Part of a juried exhibition, the piece was created under the auspices of the Fort Point Arts Community Inc. He and his Salem State summer art students have fabricated an interactive public art work that will be unveiled around the perimeter of Salem’s Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, on July 28. Titled What Matters Most?, the installation is a playable, nine-hole miniature golf course; each hole imparts a question for players to consider. The public art work will be available to view—and play—from Thursday, July 28, through Wednesday, August 31. Putters and balls will be available near the entrance of the Old Town Hall each day from 4 pm to 8 pm.
Salem State University, established in 1854, is a comprehensive, public institution of higher learning located approximately 15 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts. The university enrolls 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students representing 44 states and 81 nations, and is one of the largest state universities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. With over 250 veterans currently enrolled, Salem State has been designated a military-friendly institution by G.I. Jobs, placing it in the top 20% of schools nationwide.
Photo (l. to r.): Odin Randell, Jacob Olsen, and Seth Olsen of Swampscott Middle School’s recycling club join Nevaeh McCarthy, artist Ken Reker, and Emmaline Wood. Both girls are members of the school’s garden club.
