By Zac Estrada, News Staff
Art or desecration: Northeastern students and faculty debated Tuesday night at a discussion regarding two flags displayed last week in International Village (INV) – one with just the stars of the American flag, the other only red and white stripes, a work called “Exploded View.”
“Exploded View” designer Professor Thomas Starr defended his work in a back-and-forth with Andrew Melillo, vice president of external affairs for Northeastern University College Republicans (NUCR). Philosophy professor Stephen Nathanson moderated the discussion, also joined by College of Arts, Media and Design professor Mira Cantor and School of Law professor Michael Meltsner.
The provocative piece is part of the exhibit “We the Designers” on display starting this month in INV.
“The goal [of ‘We the Designers’] was to address political opinion,” Starr said to about a dozen students and staff. “By nature, it has differences.”
Those differences emerged early last week when students began calling the flags “dismembered” and “desecration.” Students on Twitter and a Facebook event created by NUCR President Eric Armbruster demanded the flags’ removal. The event culminated Thursday when the flags were stolen, but were returned to Northeastern authorities that afternoon.
“NUCR thinks the whole exhibit is beneficial in bringing about discussion,” Melillo said. “NUCR believes [the artist] desecrated the flag.”
Melillo said the flags’ prominent visibility in the INV lobby was “not appropriate for a dorm setting” and believed it set the wrong tone for Northeastern, especially in the eyes of visitors and prospective students.
“The flag should be respected at all costs,” Melillo said. “There’s important, historic and symbolic meaning behind it, and as Americans we should respect that.”
Some INV residents agreed with Melillo and said the flags were jarring. One resident said they upset her at first glance.
Freshman international affairs major Eric Berner wasn’t one of them, though.
Berner knew nothing of the controversy surrounding “Exploded View” before attending Tuesday’s discussion and embraced the message Starr was trying to convey.
“I didn’t view it as desecration,” Berner said. “I understand the flags draw you in.”
Berner said he believes the exhibit does a good job of criticizing both sides of the aisle on the disjointed nature of politics these days and students need to look at the whole exhibit in order to understand its most controversial aspect.
Professor Cantor said repeatedly Northeastern needs a dedicated art gallery – something more than Gallery 360 – and the exhibit may have been less controversial had it been presented in a traditional gallery setting rather than in the lobby of a residence hall for underclassmen.
“A gallery protects the art and gives a proper space,” Cantor said. “Putting it in a public space is confrontational. [People] are forced to look at it.”
Cantor said she’s been lobbying Northeastern administrators for an official art gallery since she became a full-time professor in 1987. She said the university would benefit from such a space with a curator.
Starr said he wasn’t trying to make “Exploded View” a negative piece, but one that shows the deep divide between two major political parties in our country and reinforces how America needs to be a united front.
“I never intended to offend,” Starr said. “I did intend to get your attention.”
