Flavin's work, “Constructed Light,” is on view at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. It was open in the evening Tuesday, April 22  along with an exhibit of the students' works, “Light Contact.” The Bruno David Gallery, across the street from the Foundation (3716 Washington Boulevard), was been turned into a showcase for the students, and people could go back and forth between Flavin's installation and the work drawn from it.

In addition to Flavin, the students in Jill Downen's seminar on "The Object in Culture" used books, such as "Art and Objecthood" by Michael Fried, in thinking through their work.

Visitors should keep in mind that Flavin's work is described in the Pulitzer's web catalog as encompassing "the surrounding space it illuminates. As a result, his art is inseparable from the architecture in which it is presented." Thus, the light and Tadao Ando's architecture are partners.

The students' weekly sessions helped them understand how art redefines objects and how even people are objectified. For Katey Albro, a junior from Farmington, NM, the message from Fried's work resonated with her interest in the human body and how "we've lost the mentality that you have to live with what you have." Eveything from plastic surgery to diets have given people the idea that they should mold their body.

Albro created a wearable work of art from latex. Part is almost shear, another part gives the illusion of lace, and still other parts evoke intestines. Nothing in the work revolts. Rather it asks the viewer to look a second time, and a third. During the program Tuesday evening, a friend will wear it and, as Albro notes, “She'll become an object to be viewed” along with the garment.

One of the young artists who took his inspiration directly from Flavin is Alex Radunz, also a junior in sculpture. Radunz' video work draws from what he sees as Flavin's ability to showcase “the beauty of light in general” and “to transcend the physical object, to change the matter of the object.”Light grows, pulses and gives off fire and then rains down and evolves in Radunz' video. He says that he wants to make the viewers feel they are entering into matter as it breaks up and coalesces again.