Hair Today, Gone By Halloween

HOOD MUSEUM DIRECTOR Brian Kennedy recalls being told by President Jim Wright when he interviewed for his position in 2005 that the College was "looking for someone to take the Hood "Outside of itself, to go beyond the museum walls."

Kennedy, looking to commission Dartmouth's first big art project since the Orozco murals, determined that the main room of Baker Library—just above the murals- would be an ideal spot. And he knew whose work he wanted to showcase: avantgarde Chinese artist Wenda Gu, with whom Kennedy had worked in Australia. A former member of the Red Guard known for his innovative use of human hair, Gu was a controversial choice.

Gu's work consists of five Hair-and-glue panels, bearing the words "education" and "advertise" superimposed on one another and a seven- mile, multi-colored hair "braid" the thickness of yarn, hung in loops along the Baker- Berry corridor. The panels —one opposite each Baker window—required the removal of Baker's chandeliers to accommodate them.

Kennedy—and Wright—began receiving negative comments about the project even before it was installed. "What I would invite is consideration to keeping an open mind that all art, and particularly contemporary art, is thought-provoking," says Kennedy. "It speaks to the moment, and the moment is 2007."

True to Kennedys expectations, many observers on hand for the opening were lukewarm at best. "It reminds me a little too much of the hair in my shower drain," said one College staffer who did not want her name used. "Students had a hard time understanding why it had to go up while we were studying for finals," said Jenna Laffin '08 from behind the Baker- Berry circulation desk.

"I think it's good we'll be able to live with it for a few months and develop a relationship," said math professor Greg Sutton, a frequent visitor to the Hood. "I like the airier panels. The denser ones are more challenging," said Sutton.

Hair stylists at the 28 salons in the Upper Valley that contributed hair clippings collected in summer 2006— both in their shops and in the library corridor, where cutting stations were briefly established—felt invested in the final product. "It's nice to see the end result," said Margot Schafflinger, owner of Hilde's in Hanover. "I think Wu's work is awesome. But did you see Wu's long ponytail? All I could think of was, 'There's someone who didn't contribute!'"

Gu at work

DID YOU KNOW?

Ten Alumni each year receive a special mailing from the office of Alumni Relations: a birthday card. Cards go only to the oldest alumni. Harold Pierce '28 and Lawrence Sykes '29 will receive cards in September, when Pierce turns 101 and Sykes turns 100. The other elite eight: Ralph Howey '28 (Dartmouth's oldest alum at 102), Llewellyn Terry '28, John Reynders '27, Dustin Griffin '28, Roy Carpenter '28, Hal Ripley '29, Walter Molina '28 and Walter McCray '29.