Northwood’s campus through an AP Art History Student’s lens

Amy Jeon, Staff Writer

October 16, 2023

The world of art is creative and deliberate. But above all, it’s subjective. With shifting debates and perspectives on art from the prehistoric times to deep diving into art’s constantly changing trends, AP Art History teaches students the basics of identifying and analyzing art. As students hurry from class to class, many don’t find the time to slow down and truly take a look at their surroundings to recognize some of Northwood’s most artistic subtle decisions.

Here are a few of Northwood’s artfully composed pieces placed around campus:

TALL AND MAJEST-OAK: Northwood’s iconic oak tree stands tall at the center of the campus. (Aya Takase-Songui)

The Oak

Northwood’s majestic Oak Tree is a monumental “landmark on campus” as IUSD states on their website. A 3-dimensional sculpture on a raised pedestal, The Oak Tree demonstrates a 3:1 head to body ratio, making it slightly stylized. The Oak mostly uses horizontal lines to demonstrate strength and status. Some diagonal lines sweeping across the tree branches representing mobility and chaos capture the nature of Northwood students scrambling to their classes during a tardy sweep as the “William Tell Overture” plays. The colors of The Oak—green and brown—were tastefully selected to contrast against the orange background of Northwood’s campus.

NORTHWOOD ARCHITECTURE UP CLOSE: During its empty hours, Northwood’s orange stucco architecture glistens in the setting sun. (Aya Takase-Songui)

Building architecture

The boxy orange architecture of the campus with its bumpy walls have been around since 1999, alongside various myths and legends about its purpose. Aside from injuring your skin upon impact with the raised surface, the bumps are rumored to be modeled after the solidified tears of AP Biology students who failed their labs. The horizontal and vertical intersecting patterns of the pillars and structures create a sense of solidity and stability, unlike the tortured souls of procrastinating, mentally unstable Juniors.

QUENCH YOUR THIRST: Northwood water dispensers, of which there are only three on campus, encourage a healthy amount of purchases from the cafeteria in terms of Gatorade and Boxed Water. (Aya Takase-Songui)

Silver water dispensers

The function of the iconic silver water dispensers dispersed around campus is mainly for utility to quench the dehydration of Northwoodians. The medium used was iron and it was crafted during the 21st century C.E. This high relief figure symbolizes one of the necessities of life. It’s possible that it serves as a commentary on societal norms: the expectation to conform to societal rules that we need water to survive. Contrary to the social commentary art of Pisupo (Corned Beef 2000) by Michael Tuffrey, which serves as a reminder of New Zealand’s modern obesity problem, the Silver Water Dispensers rather encourages an unhealthy amount of flavored drinks and sodas in spirit of American patriotism. Angsty students gathered at the Heritage Lake Park recently for an “Irvine Water Party,” possibly inspired by previous historical protests to throw packs of plastic water bottles into the lake in defiance. Give us soda or give us death!

About the Contributors

Amy Jeon, Staff Writer

Amy Jeon is a staff writer for the northwood howler with an unhealthy addiction to pumpkin spice and matcha. Once she starts talking about art history or literature, she likely won’t be able to stop (so beware!) You can find her either trying to fix her hopeless sleep schedule, working through her infinite TBR list, or simply overthinking.

Aya Takase-Songui, Photo Editor

Aya Takase is the Photo Editor for The Howler, who claims to like horror films but as of now has only watched 3. Despite coming from a long line of professional gardeners, she lacks a green thumb and has killed every household plant she touches.

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Northwood’s campus through an AP Art History Student’s lens

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