5/1/98

The recent "performance" art piece by art student Louise M. Schollaert was done as a project for an undergraduate art class taught by Associate Professor Duane McDiarmid. For the project, Ms. Schollaert tied small sections of her own cut hair in pink ribbons and sent them by mail to students listed in the campus directory under the surnames beginning with the letters A and B. The envelopes also included a stamped note reading "Here's a piece of me if by chance we ever meet. Marie."

Several individuals who received these envelopes in the mail reported them to the Ohio University and Athens police departments, saying that they were confused, upset and disturbed by them. Some saw the envelopes as an assault on their privacy and an invasion of their personal space. Ms. Schollaert and Professor McDiarmid, who approved the piece, never intended for it to harass or threaten; unfortunately, they did not anticipate that it would have any hurtful or harmful effects. According to Professor McDiarmid, Ms. Schollaert's work was conceptualized and developed in the spirit of the School of Art's educational mission of encouraging students to explore and embrace all avenues of contemporary creative and artistic exploration. Prior to its execution, Professor McDiarmid, Ms. Schollaert and other students in the class discussed the piece and its possible impact; they did not expect or anticipate the negative results it would have for some people.

As a vital component of contemporary art practice today with a well-established historical precedent, performance art actively seeks to bridge the gap between art and life by engaging an audience response about a variety of issues with the intent of encouraging people to question, challenge and confront their own ideas and assumptions. In the case of Ms. Schollaert's piece, the audience was selected randomly against their will and the piece was imposed into their personal, private space by mail.

The School of Art also wishes to express sincere regret for any negative results and misunderstanding caused by Ms. Schollaert's piece, and to apologize to those individuals who suffered personal distress and annoyance from the piece.