Sculpture by Dylan Beck, assistant professor of art at K-State, will be featured in the next exhibit sponsored by the College of Architecture, Planning and Design at K-State.

In and Out of Place

will be shown in the Chang Gallery of Seaton Hall January 14-29, 2010. The gallery is open to the public without charge from 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. on weekdays.

According to Beck, his sculpture explores the phenomenon of suburban sprawl and the built environment in the American landscape. Within this domain, his interests range from concepts of land use and automobile-centered planning to the psychological effects of living in the “non-places” of a hypermodern world. Hypermodernity has created places that have no relation to the natural environment in which they reside. These places include airports, shopping malls and various housing developments, among others.

Many decisions regarding spatial relationships within our built environment depend on the flow of goods and consumers from place to place. Unmanaged growth, known as sprawl, has been the cause and/or effect of problems with transportation, the environment and the economy. At the same time, this growth has created new housing and employment opportunities. Beck situates his work between criticism and veneration. Likewise, there is a dichotomy in his aesthetic attraction to aerial images of suburban landscapes and his feelings toward the issues they illustrate.

Beck uses several tactics to illustrate this dialectic. His sculptures are constructed with materials that are found in the retail and domestic setting along with those used in home construction. Through the examination of aerial photography and satellite imagery, he uses the same spatial relationships that are inherent in our built environment in his sculptures. The similarities of modern industrial/retail architecture and minimalist sculpture are incorporated into the forms Beck creates through the use of subtle form and design.

Born in southeastern Ohio, Dylan J. Beck attended The Ohio University in Athens where he studied ceramics and conservation biology. Upon receiving his bachelor of fine art in ceramics, he was awarded a post-baccalaureate fellowship at Illinois State University. In 2006, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to attend Tyler School of Art of Temple University for graduate school, earning a master of fine art in ceramics. From 2005 to the present, Beck has been at K-State and exhibited widely in the United States.

For more information, contact:
Dylan Beck, info@dylanjbeck.com, www.dylanjbeck.com
Diane Potts, 785.532.1090