By Chris Brook

While television commercials suggest the product will give you wings, the energy drink Red Bull could be giving more than a power boost to freshman animation major Michael Holland.

After seeing a flyer in the Curry Student Center Bookstore last fall, Holland, 18, entered Red Bull’s Art of the Can contest and has been chosen as one of 31 finalists out of over 400 participants — several twice his age. The winner of the competition will be awarded a trip for two to the 51st International Arts Festival at La Biennale in Venice, Italy, which begins June 12.

The aim of the competition was to create a work of art using just Red Bull cans, and anybody, regardless of age, was invited to enter. Holland, a motocross enthusiast, decided to design a model dirt bike out of six Red Bull and Red Bull Sugarfree cans, an X-Acto knife, a pair of scissors, pliers and “a lot of super glue,” he said. Holland, who deemed his creation “Dirt Bull,” crafted his piece in November, in between classes and on weekends in his Speare Hall single.

“It’s built to the best of my abilities to be a scale model,” said Holland of his “Dirt Bull.”