"When I saw it, I just thought Yeah, that's Dartmouth,'" Waskowicz said.
The sculpture first appeared in the Barrows Rotunda in the front of the Hopkins Center on Sept. 19 and will remain on display until Dec. 2 as part of a series of student works. Heiges began conceptualizing the piece and gathering materials in the beginning of the term, he said. He obtained beer cans from the front lawns along Webster Avenue and boxes from Gamma Delta Chi fraternity, of which he is a member.
"I thought the precarious balance would catch people's attention, and the cans provided a sound structural element to the piece," Heiges said. "And I like beer. I like Keystone."
Heiges received help from fellow studio art interns Kari Cholnoky '10, Julia Zak '10 and Jenny Qian '10, who worked with him to achieve the structure's balance. He first tested the piece's stability in a studio and then constructed the piece in the rotunda.
"Once we got it all finally balanced, we used some chewing gum," Heiges said with a smile. "Well, not really. Let's just say a little elbow grease and some chewing gum."
The piece contains only a few elements, but its construction is complex and delicate. A chair rests upside-down on top of another chair with only a stack of beer cans as support.
Heiges, a football player, decided to call it "The Juggler" because it invoked images of objects flying and being thrown around.
"I would hope everyone interprets it in their own way," Heiges said. "If I wanted people to see it a certain way, I would have written a little blurb telling them how to see, but really, I think it's open to interpretation."
After a pause, Heighes added that there was one message to his work.
"Nobody rages anymore," he said.
Following Heighes' exhibit will be a piece by Qian, which will go up in the rotunda on December 6.
