Jenn Figg

Associate Professor, Department of Art+Design, Art History, Art Education

Jenn Figg has big ideas. Like 80-feet-wide ideas.

That鈥檚 the width of the glass and steel structural chandelier that she, collaborators Matthew McCormack and David Fakunle, and a crew of Towson University students constructed to illuminate the during Light City 2016.

The inaugural weeklong festival at the Inner Harbor featured large-scale light installations, music, performances and innovation. What Figg and her team pulled off was all four.

鈥淚 love working with Towson students,鈥� says the associate professor. 鈥淭his was a really good opportunity to get them involved in a big, multifaceted project they could see develop from the ground up.鈥�

Working in the 快活视频art department space and downtown, interns under Figg鈥檚 supervision got real-world experience with everything from building 3D-printed, energy harvesting kinetic light drums, to installing the gigantic sculpture 鈥� 30 feet above the floor 鈥� at the Visitor鈥檚 Center. Some even got certified to operate a scissor lift.

Months of work culminated with shows at Light City in which a group of professional performers demonstrated the drums鈥� capability to produce human-generated light, without batteries or electrical power. Additionally, each beat of the African-inspired rhythm triggered dynamic light shifts throughout the building.

Though the drums are packed away now, the sculpture is a permanent fixture. Students can still visit the harbor at night to enjoy the light鈥檚 spectacular dance (now activated by the flip of a switch) they helped to create.

鈥淚t was exciting for me to see the students take ownership over the project,鈥� says Figg, 鈥渁nd really have fun with it.鈥�

The Baltimore Visitor Center illuminated with dynamic light during Light City 2016.

Collaborator David Fakunle performing on the kinetic light drums during Light City 2016.

Close up of a glass, steel, wire, milled polycarbonate sculpture, titled Seagrass. — Seagrass, 2016. 80' x 35' x 12'. Kilnformed glass, steel, wire, milled polycarbonate. Site-Specific Permanent Installation in the Baltimore Visitor Center.

Seagrass sculpture inspired by the aquatic grasses of the Chesapeake Bay. — Seagrass. Inspired by the aquatic grasses of the Chesapeake Bay, the sculpture takes the form of eelgrass as if it swayed with the tides.

Seagrass sculpture, detail. — Seagrass, detail. Always in motion, the glass moves with subtle air currents and reflects light upon the ceiling in dynamic displays during the day.