MIT’S STUDENT LOAN ART PROGRAM

Sure beats that Belushi poster

By CHRISTINE LIU | CHRISTINE@WEEKLYDIG.COM

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Here's one way to pwn your poster-gumming peers: a framed Roy Lichtenstein in your dorm. Thanks to the annual Student Loan Art Program at MIT, giving (ahem) real art to real kids since 1966, students can adopt serious art for an entire school year.

"One of the goals of the program is to put art directly in students' lives," expresses List Visual Arts Center curator Bill Arning. "There's a really fundamental difference between going to the campus gallery to view art, and waking up and living with it."

The loan collection of 400-odd pieces boasts modern and contemporary artists,with the heavy-duty likes of Jasper Johns, Joan Miro, Nam June Paik and Cindy Sherman. And to keep things fresh, there's always new work going in every year; this time around, pieces from artists such as Sarah Sze, Christian Marclay and Tomoko Takahashi join the ranks. Arning is especially enthusiastic about new work from American photographer Jack Pierson and pieces from Chris Marker -- the French artist famous for directing cult photomontage film, La Jetée.

Once the lottery is selected, the glass doors of the museum are plastered with names of students lucky enough to snag their selections. Included with each loan are handily detailed instructions on how to transport the artwork (hint: no lugging by the hang wire) as well as how to securely mount it on the wall.

"MIT students are really comfortable doing research," explains Arning on collective campus braininess. "If they put something on their walls, at the end of the year they'll know more about it than anyone else; I like how it's a trigger for inquiry and learning."

Despite this free-for-all handover of moderately expensive framed artworks, there's not much reason for worrying over damage. "The worst thing that usually ever happens is that a student forgets to return the piece on time," Arning acknowledges, which leads to some detective work to track down the responsible roommates.

"There's been very little loss over the years," he says; though he does recall one peculiar incident: "We did have one sculpture [a transparent plastic Buddha by Michael Joo], and someone had it over their salamander tank. It got infested with fruit flies, and we had to get it fumigated." Not a bad concept piece as it turns out; but alas, the infested Buddha is no longer available for loan.

"Students who live with art in their room learn there's a difference between living with posters and living with real work," Arning notes. "MIT lives are better if you can put art directly into them."

MIT STUDENT LOAN ART PROGRAM EXHIBITION

THROUGH 9.16.07

AT THE LIST VISUAL ARTS CENTER

20 AMES ST., BUILDING E15, ATRIUM LEVEL, KENDALL SQ., CAMBRIDGE

617.253.4680

WEB.MIT.EDU/LVAC