Be Here Now’s backyard turned into an art gallery with a live soundtrack Friday night.
Bianca Russelburg’s back was a swirl of colors with the words “Thug Life” stretching between her shoulder blades. While artists displayed black ink portraits and oil paint masterpieces, Russelburg was the canvas.
During the event, the senior telecommunications major stripped down and offered her body for artists to paint freely, only wearing nude-toned bandages and boy shorts.
“I’m a musician — I’m not a painter. So to be a medium for people who can do that is awesome,” Russelburg said. “It’s as involved as I can possibly get in this kind of process.”
With body painting, poetry, music and art, the Glue & Scissors Society hosted its first event of the academic year Friday night.
Russelburg said this was the first time she has done live body art and wanted to be adventurous. She said it takes a certain amount of vulnerability to be painted by strangers head to toe.
“There have been a lot of strangers coming up,” Russelburg said. “I assume when someone comes at me with a paint brush and an artistic spark in their eye, they aren’t going to paint a penis on me.”
Glue & Scissors art director Sarah Fischer drew ink portraits throughout the night of willing subjects. With laser focus, the sophomore printmaking and biology major glanced up at her subjects’ faces and traced their contours without picking up her pen. The result was a detailed portrait wrought with inky lines and curves, made from a continuous line.
Fischer’s art work, like many of the students who displayed their exhibits, was unconventional. Students’ makeshift galleries clustered on the wood fence walls, all eliciting attendees to lean in closer to study the eclectic collection of works.
Other displays included a gold-leafed mosaic of dismantled photographs depicting Bill Cosby smoking a cigar near a decapitated head and images of segregation and slavery.
A display named “National Pornographic” took images of historical events or snapshots of cultures and added nude figures.
“I think this is creating a community, which is what we’re going for,” Fischer said. “This makes the arts open for everyone.”
Because of last minute cancellations by artists to be featured in the show, the event’s schedule changed. The show began at Village Green Records with an acoustic performance by Ben Forst and poetry readings.
At 7 p.m., the crowd moved to Be Here Now, where artists had their work on exhibit in the backyard stage area and four bands, Coyote Armada, Sapphic, Bird of Paradise and Peter Blair, performed.
Marta Vitolins, Glue & Scissors Society president, said despite last minute changes, there was a good gathering of the artistic community.
“It’s been successful,” Vitolins said. “It’s people celebrating art together, and that’s all we could ever ask for.”
While there is no set date for the next Glue & Scissors Society event, Vitolins said there will be one before the end of the semester. She said the club is cutting down on the amount of events to improve the quality of shows and focus on community projects and events.
“Getting together and working as a collective to create art is what we’re about,” Vitolins said. “We want to continue our community projects and get more involved with Muncie. It’s a beautiful place when you stop to look at it.”
