Aggielife
Wednesday • October2,
Portable Art
To
rW
Sah Moses
Jim Johnson, director of the
Benz Gallery, finds a new art
to shopping — the bag, Mis
Hoo TTAc
to Part i
^TAlrtUA ( V
) M
STRUCTING
YOUR FUTURE?
BUILD YOUR RESUME.
Come learn how you can build your resume with The Whit Disney World* College Program. You'll be able to earn college
recognition or credit while gaining the experience of a lifbtime! This is a unique opportunity to enhance your resume
with the Disney name.
Representatives will be on campus to answer all your questions concerning the Walt Disney World* College Program.
Interviewing: All Majors! Positions available throughout theme parks and
resorts: Attractions, Food<S Beverage, Merchandise, Lifeguarding, and
many others! Ask the Disney Representative about special opportunities
for students fluent in Portuguese.
Presentatlon Date; Oct. 7,1996
Tlnw; 5:00 pjru
location: Rudder Theatre
TorJMoreJnformation CQntact; Office of Cooperative
Education,
(409) 845-7725
Also visit us at Orlando Sentinel Online on AOt using keyword
"Disney jobs* or www.CareerMosafc.com/on/vvdw/wdwLhtini
An Equal Opportunity Emptoyar « Drawing Creativity From Divarsity
I ’
you could.
you would.
$IIW—«l)i—l—MWI.
111 - ! I
'
' ' :
C:'
■ 1 4 S
Macintosh.
More ai'iordable than ever.
With low student prices on Macintosh
computers, you can start doing whatever
it is you want to do. And to make it even
easier for you to purchase a Mac, apply
for the Apple Computer Loan. So you can
take home a Mac, and you won’t have to
make a payment for 90 days.* How do
you get started? Just visit your campus
computer store today and pick up a Mac.
Leave your mark.
A
By Kimber Huff
The Battalion
S ome people enjoy collecting
things. The more common
collections consist of base
ball cards, stamps, books, CDs
or foreign coins.
Jim Johnson, a senior lecturer
in the Horticultural Science De
partment and director of the
Benz Gallery of Floral Art, is the
sponsor of a different collection
— shopping bags.
Johnson first got tJie idea for a
shopping bag collection when
he Jieard about a similar collec
tion in the Cooper-Hewitt Muse
um in New York.
“I thought, ‘That’s something
students could be doing here,”’
Johnson said. "It’s fun, it’s un
usual, and it’s free.”
Johnson began his collection
by talking to Edith Flynn, a
benefactor of the Benz School of
Floral Design who agreed to do
nate old shopping bags from her
attic to the collection.
Johnson began asking for
shopping bags when he spoke
during tours or to groups of peo
ple in the floral art field. In two
months, the he had collected
100 bags.
The first exhibit of the
portable art collection, held in
’88, sparked comments from
professors and students.
As publicity increased, the
collection grew, and more peo
ple began donating bags from
around the world.
“I found bags on my desk and
under my door, appearing out of
nowhere,” Johnson said. “I got to
be called the Bag Man.”
The collection grew and re
ceived more publicity when
Johnson was chosen to be the
co-chairman of the National
Symposium on Floral Design,
held in Dallas in 1991. The
theme of the symposium soon
became “Bag an Idea in Big D.”
In 1992, the Cooper-Hewitt
Museum began receiving more
shopping bags than it could
hold, so the museum director of
fered to redirect shopping
bag donors to the collection
housed at the Benz School.
Johnson estimates that the
collection includes over 1,000
shopping bags.
These bags date back to the
’50s and come from throughout
the U.S., England, Ireland, Cana
da and Eastern Europe.
Shopping bags are a unique
form of art, since they are sup
posed to define a company’s image
through color, design and logos.
For example, the collection
includes a bag from Hermes, a
French boutique famous for its
handmade clothes. The Hermes
shopping bag is handmade and
sports a distinctive orange color.
Johnson said the color has be
come a well-known trademark of
the bag.
Some shopping bags repre
sent its company’s image
through artwork.
Johnson said one of his fa
vorite designs is an unfinished
puzzle on a Tokyo Idaza bag.
Other bags may be interesting
because they have an unusual
gimmick to them. Several years
ago, during a tough economic
period, many flour companies
were heading toward bankrupt
cy. The companies decided to
earn extra cash by selling used
flour bags as gift bags or sacks.
The collection contains many
unusual bags, but Sharon Duray,
senior academic adviser for the
horticulture department, said a
Harley-Davidson shopping bag
surprised her the most.
"You just don't thinkol
having a shopping
motorcycle parts,” Duraysaii
The shopping bag than
the most difficult forthecsl
tion to acquire is a Sabs
Christmas bag decorated®
cows. Pat Hermes, a friem
Johnson’s, first sawabaglai
Houston carrying it am
Thinking it would bethepd
shopping bag to addtothei
lection, Hermes gave a can
shoulder bag to thereto
woman in exchange for the
per bag.
Johnson said manybagi
the collection haveaCta
theme because “that'sn
stores use more bags than
other time of year.”
Duray said the bagsii
portable art collectionbringti
"memories of going
special things at Christmas.'
I FE
A tin
~ZL
if
I >i lavni' / a jit ek, ai iss
professor of horticulture;
ence, said the exhibithas
same affect on her.
"It brings back memoiii
Zajicek said. ‘‘Sometimes
bags were as neat as the gifts.
Ann Boney, secretary for
Benz School of floralDesij
has learned to apprecii
portable art since sheb
work with the collection.
“I had looked at sh
bags since I was a little girl,hi
had never really seen
I took this position,” Boneysi
“You can get a differentstt
from looking at them. Now,
1,10, PHIYOU
walls at home are nothingl) Si
(portable art)
« FLAT-OU
|I'M LABELLIt
I LAe
^^8
"sport gladia
rt capture ft
guts, n
ields open
PAINT
You have
Rony Angkriwan, TheE
Jim Johnson stands beside his collection of bags from around thevd
5007 North Hwy
268-
Attentioi
Interested in
preer with a 1
software c<
College Sta
Ilf you would
College Stat
[radirate and r
An all-Gershwin evening with
Marcus Roberts is
perhaps the most
exciting and talented
jazz pianist on the
scene today. Backed
by the equally skilled
Academy of the Ascension,
he will create dynamic
new interpretations
of the music of George
Gershwin, including a
thrilling variation of
“Rhapsody in Blue.”
Jazz up your life with
“Portraits in Blue”!
orchestra
ctober 3,!
|nioney you w
Houston
send your
Rudder Auditoriuir,
M.E. K
881 Cout
Houston,
r /
/ *
“If you’ve ne
of Marcus Ro
have you bet
h will train j
| all discipline
our syste
CBS This Mon
“...Roberts
ON TOUR WITH
O/icr ii, l'‘her II I'fih \“/‘ii', wei/I “I ni/ereh 'ir/im/a/iiil mil. he m/wm//</)• hn ,/,/) < Inleresl mr/inift ihiniis Ibis W ihi) I'erinil n ill he mkledhi the/iriiid/kil mill mil hear inleresl. irbkb mil he
lililliilei/III /he re/tr, nielli m'/vi/.v/c I hr e.\,i/n/'le Ihe ufiilllh <»/ Uin /WO Ihh/ilil lilteresfnile "I U. Is": iritb till Alllfliill ttmilltW litl/c lAl’Kl "/ /W',,. A imilllhlv fllYIIIClIt nflOSh /hr /he I'niier Utie
ijltfi s\s/ew h tin e</niiitfe btbti/hii ,i Mil I “in iinthmil"/ SI.hi. I .si. ithieh iik/in/es,/ siini/ile/nirelhise /irlee "I .<l.~'l') ,1111/11 Imiii nri^iiiiilitni Jee. Inleresl isniritmv htiStil nil Ihe /'nine Utile tis re/’orlct/
mi Ihe 5//> hmiiie" thn "i lh, mniilh 111 Tin-Will Mini tmirml. /•/«<</ s/irem/"/. i.'i",,. \liiillbtr/ttrtvienl niitl A/'ll ihniiv tissiwies tlelerineiil "I'/iriiiei/inl tint/t/nes nnl inchit/e s/nle nr Inetil sn/es hi.w The A/t/ile
<.hii//1 tiler /.min hn< ,111 .s utir littin lerin it ilh iiu /./•</«( ineill/HiltillVtUHl is sullied In ere,III ii/i/irnriil. MniilMx/uriueiils iihir run i/e/ieiitlinsl nil tidiit.il onii/inler system /’rices. Inhil Inwi iiilinimls. sliiic
tint/Iih-iiIstiles hues ,tn,l„ ehnnxe in /he iimulhh nintihle inleresl rule c /W(>.i/i/</rt (niii/inlci: hie. All ri.uhls resend. A/i/'le. /beA/i/'lehyn. MileimilMiidll/nsbtire re/ilsleretlIrtuleiiltirks n/ A/t/ile Omi/mlei:
In,'. I'nirer I/,ft- h ,/ Iriiileninrh ../ I/,/'/, t nin/'iilcr hie I// Miicmlnsh enin/inlers lire i/cs/niictlIn he tieassilile In iliiluitliitils irilh i/isilhili/y in letirn iiiinv il V wily/, eilll ■Shi) hot) ~,Sh,s nr /'/ ) sill) OtUII
Reduced rates for student tickets. Now accepting AggieBucks
Persons with disabilities please call 845-8903 to inform us of your special
needs. We reddest notification three (3) working days prior to the event
s td assist you to the best of our ability.
s Oclober II, 1996. A
listmeslimale bust
<uler Loan bits antis
f %mtosi and SlyleWrile