Friends fosters art as open discourse

April 22nd, 2010 | By Christian Caminiti | Section: Arts

Grinnell College’s newest art and literary magazine, & Friends, debuts this spring with the ambitious intention of establishing and publishing a shared creative discourse between students from all reaches of campus.

The publication aims to unify Grinnell artists through its experimental format. Initially, students provide an artwork—be it a poem, a photograph, etc—which is placed in the center of a page. Other students, inspired by the primary artwork, respond with marginalia that eventually, after enough students participate and the page becomes suitably concentrated, comes together in a sort of cooperative graffiti. The final product then consists of an array of varied student voices all conversing with the original piece.

“We started with the idea that we wanted to include as many scripts and forms of art or ways to create as possible,” said & Friends Editor-in-Chief Patrick Kijek ’10. “It’s really an experiment in collective art.”

The primary pieces of art for the first issue of & Friends will be poems by Winsome Eustace ’12 and Paul Tavarez ’12, who both welcome the unique opportunity to watch discussion and further creation unfold based on their work. “Poetry is supposed to evoke an emotion, and & Friends speaks directly to that,” Eustace said. “It takes the emotion you left someone with and they give something back. Art can be a dialogue.”

In addition to fostering a singularity amongst the many and varied voices of Grinnell, editors of & Friends also hope to build an all-inclusive tent for student representation. In fact, the genesis of & Friends can, in part, be traced back to the feeling that many student publications tend to be dominated by those with a strong background in the arts and the resulting desire for an alternate option.

“Most publications tend to consist of only English majors,” said & Friends Arts Editor Gustavo Arambula ’10. “We’re trying to incorporate as many majors and people into the publication as we can. For example, in the first issue we have a Chemistry major who responded to a poem by writing an equation in the margin.”

By offering a creative outlet to everyone and anyone, & Friends aspires to succeed both as an art project and a social project. An ambitious goal, no doubt, but Kijek is confident the unique opportunity to engage fellow students and represent oneself will catch on and enjoy a time at Grinnell longer than his own.

“After I graduate, hopefully & Friends will become a series that fosters a collective community, instead of the alienated poet or artist,” Kijek said.

& Friends is still accepting student marginalia submissions for its first issue which comes out finals week. If interested, you can pick up a page with poetry at the Info Desk. Meetings will be held on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. and Wednesdays at 10 p.m. in Forum South Lounge.