Dylan Toymaker's lanterns will help light up the Green & Glow Winterfest Jan. 29-31 in Quad. [Photo credit: Ryan Whitefield]
Dylan (Toymaker) George, '98 BA, is helping add sparkle - literally - to the Green & Glow Winterfest, a celebration of the Alumni Association's 100th anniversary beginning in January. Toymaker is designing and building a special light garden with lights recycled from Lister Hall, as well as creating 100 lanterns for alumni to carry in a parade through Quad. Toymaker's work, which combines electronics, sculpture and new and recycled materials, has been featured at events across North America.
How and why did you decide to be an artist?
My mother was an art teacher, so I always knew art was a career option. In my first year at the U of A, [the course] Introduction to Anthropology inspired me to want to know more about global cultures - and to contribute to the creation of culture at home.
How does art do that?
I want to create culture that doesn't have the same social relationships, the same ways of relating, as you have in everyday life. My art is a gateway to another world. If I can change the environment from what you would normally expect, then you will be in a place where you can do new and unexpected things - for example, have different kinds of interactions with people. Festivals like Green & Glow allow people to let go of the preconceptions and established relationships of their everyday lives [by creating] opportunities for fresh new meetings and relationships to happen.
Why do you work with light as your primary medium?
I like it. It dazzles and sparkles. Light can create a particularly immersive experience. A lot of my events are at night because that's when light is effective for making a space. You can use the light to showcase different parts of reality.
Is this lantern event going to take alumni to another world then?
I certainly hope the event lets people see their relationships with the university, and even with their education, in a new light.
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