MAN OR MOUSE?
Those who first encounter the Bowdoin adjunct art lecturer might not guess at the seriousness with which he approaches his work, or at the shyness his colorful personality almost masks.
There's no doubt. Bisbee is quirky. Genuinely eccentric, and clearly delighted by the effects of his eccentricity, he routinely teaches classes with a pet mouse called Pepper tucked into his shirt pocket. (He rescued it as an orphan: "It was after a huge rain, after a party... and here was this little hairless wonder in the driveway.")
Pepper's existence is a matter of course for Bisbee's Sculpture II students. They take no notice as he feeds Pepper smidgeons of Saltines and freewheels around the Adams Hall studio, looking at their work.
"There is a medal up for grabs today," he shouts to no one in particular. He dangles a plastic dime store medallion inscribed "Winner," and rocks back on his heels in exaggerated importance. "Pay attention! This is going to someone who deserves it."
His students are unphased by this comic enticement, understanding perhaps that rewards will be won only after many hours of their labor.
There is Adrienne Heflich '06, an environmental studies/digital art double-major. She sits hunched over a bench, painstakingly gluing together rings of potato chips. "It's a materials study," she says. "You just let the potato chips talk to you. It's work and more work that builds up over time. That's where creation comes from."
Eric Diceron '05 is applying layers of liquid latex to a plaster-cast finger. His idea at this stage is to create latex molds of various body parts and fill them with different kinds of food. "Cake frosting, Jello, sugar, butter - anything that will sort of keep its shape after you put it in the refrigerator and take it out of the mold," he says. "You could eat my sculptures. I've never worked with latex before and it's tough learning. This one alone will take me about 25 layers to make."
This is a materials class, which means students will spend an entire semester discovering different ways of working with one material. Students choose their own material and Bisbee serves as part mentor, part technical advisor, as they explore the possibilities of their chosen medium.
"They are investigating and excavating," says Bisbee. "It's a matter of taking something and making it do something that it wouldn't want to do. You're going to start with the obvious, then work your way to the absurd. There is no thinking at this point; the answers will come.