Artist's Works Make Statement on Campus

Freshman Justin Beck wears one of the Barbara Kruger-designed  T-shirts, which bear the same message as the sticker, above.

What's black, white and red all over Pitzer?

T-shirts and stickers featuring the work of internationally renowned artist Barbara Kruger, which were handed out the first week of fall classes. Kruger has been noted for her thought-provoking artwork commenting on social issues.

A couple of years ago, members of the Campus Aesthetic Committee were looking for a public art project by an artist whose work would mesh with the spirit of the campus.

"Just by coincidence, [Kruger] was a visiting lecturer at Scripps and Pomona colleges," said Joe Parker, a member of the Aesthetics Committee at the time. "She was someone whose work I happened to know and who I thought might fit the Pitzer ethos. We contacted her and asked her if she would be willing to do some sort of project."

Kruger, it turns out, was very interested.

"We were initially talking to her about a large mural, and she did not want to do that," Parker recalled. "She feels like that's become something she's identified too strongly with."

Instead of a mural, Kruger proposed doing 50 plaques with quotes from famous people, but, according to Parker, the cost would have been prohibitive, with each plaque costing about $10,000. The project had to take place on a smaller scale.

"That's when she came up with the idea of doing objects that students would carry around and then would become part of their ordinary life," Parker said. "On an academic campus, she thought about something students could put on their books. We solicited ideas from students and researched what's available in terms of