By Hannah Tardie
Tunnel of Love
Over the Winter Break we welcomed our first Makerspace resident, Ollie Goss, to the Makerspace. Ollie is a graduate student currently completing the final semester of their MFA in Sculpture at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. Their residency project is part of their thesis, Tunnel of Love, which will be shown at the Temple Contemporary on March 22, 2024. Ollie describes the way our Makerspace supports the completion of their thesis in the following:
I am using the Makerspace residency to support the completion of a mechanical sculpture, or provisional amusement park ride titled “Tunnel of Love.” The project is slated to be complete in the Spring semester of 2024 and will be exhibited in the Temple Contemporary Galleries as part of my thesis project as its first public display. I am supporting one portion of my project: converting a kid’s toy car into a rideable carriage for the ride, reminiscent of swan boats and powered by a kid’s Mercedes Benz motor.
Much of the car’s success will be reliant on hacking and retooling already existing technology. Drawing from Sarah Ahmed’s concept of “queer use:” “Queer uses would be about releasing a potentiality that already resides in things given how they have taken shape. Queer use could be what we are doing when we release that potential” (What’s the Use?, Ahmed, 200)
Ollie Goss
About the Makerspace Residency
The Makerspace residency is a new program; Ollie Goss is our inaugural resident. I proposed the residency program after seeing many students and faculty come in with ambitious interdisciplinary projects that could be expanded upon and further developed if given the time and resources. I want students and faculty to be able to realize projects based on their research that extends beyond the classroom and believe the Makerspace residency program is a wonderful opportunity to do so. Temple Faculty, Students, and Staff are eligible to apply to the residency to receive support for the development of new creative work and/or practice-based research for a short-term project.
While Ollie’s residency supports the development of an interactive sculptural work, the Makerspace residency is not limited to fine art and we encourage interdisciplinary methods and projects. The residency includes access to the Charles Library collection, expansive LCDSS facilities including its Makerspace and VR lab, and guidance and technical instruction from LCDSS staff Monday through Friday. Residencies take place over Temple’s academic breaks, and residents are given priority for consultation and technical support from myself, my graduate and undergraduate student staff, and additional LCDSS staff as needed.
Residents receive priority access to LCDSS equipment and spaces which is not the case outside of the residency period. Residents are awarded a $500 stipend to participate in the program and the residency covers up to $500 in material costs. The application for Session II and III of the 2023-2024 AY Residency is currently open, with the deadline to apply for Session II at March 11, 2024. Session II will take place May 15-29, 2024. Session III will take place June 5-19, 2024 and the application is due April 1, 2024. More information is available on our website. Ollie’s MFA Exhibition opens on March 22, 2024 at the Temple Contemporary Gallery. Ollie’s work can be followed on their website.