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Not homeless, just digital arts students

Taking furniture outside isn’t exactly a rare site in Eugene, but Patience Stepp and Chane Gan decided to take the concept to the next level for a digital arts class, Artd 251: Time Based Digital Arts.

Patience Stepp and Chane Gan set up their "home" beneath the rain shelter outside the EMU.

As students crossed the intersection of University and 13th streets, they were greeted by the strange site of a green armchair and end table adorned with picture frames deposited beneath the green rain shelter. This wasn’t a Eugene transient’s temporary set up but the two digital art students class project about college students and home.

Patience Stepp, left, and Chane Gan, right, relax in their "home" shortly before tearing it down.

Patience Stepp, left, and Chane Gan, right, relax in their "home" shortly before tearing it down.

“As college students, we don’t have a solid home,” says Stepp,who plansto major in multimedia art. “We have to make our home where we need it at the moment.” Building on this idea, Stepp and Gan decided to record themselves in their home at the University. Using her brothers Explorer, Stepp drove a few pieces of furniture to the intersection at 9:30 a.m.

Wednesday and Thursday morning and set up shop. They stayed until 5:30 at night, recording constantly.

For furnishing, Stepp used furniture in her house and grabbed a handful of goodies from her bedside table: baby photos of her and her dog, nail polish and a smattering of books. “We wanted to make it look homey” says Stepp. Despite the nice appearance, many passerby were reluctant to sit in another person’s chair. According to Stepp, only four people used the furnishings while the she and Gan were away.

To encourage people to interact with the set, Stepp and Gan set a guest book out for visitors. "Enjoyed the comfort of the inside softness combined with the hard cold concrete of outside" was one of several comments they received.

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