May 31, 2006
HE GETS A KICK OUT OF SCULPTURE
By Larry Moko
The Hamilton Spectator
HAMILTON - Good hands.
It's not often a McMaster Marauder football player has a prominent exhibit on campus in the Museum of Art.
But defensive back Byron Dinter's sporting-theme abstract sculpture has been front and centre in the display area until recently.
The 23-year-old honours art student calls his creation Sports Sculpture II.
It's made of metal, plexiglass and body filler and represents many of the varsity athletic programs offered at McMaster.
Open-form shapes of a football, volleyball, golf club, soccer ball and rugby ball wind through the flowing piece, which is welded together.
\"As a student athlete at the school,\" Dinter said, \"I hoped to incorporate what I learned in my studies and what I learned participating in sports.
\"The upward movement of the sculpture is about the upward aspirations of the athlete to do well.\"
Balance is evident throughout the work. As in athletics, Dinter said competing elements are pitted against one another. This balance is maintained through the use of opposites -- suspended versus grounded, curved versus straight, round versus angled, thick versus thin, dark versus light.
Dinter creates an athlete's movement through the interaction of the viewer and the sculpture's reflective finish. Both the viewer and the sculpture \"play\" with one another to produce activity.
Dinter, who started for the Marauders as a senior this past season, says reaction has been positive to his final project at the just-closed SUMMA Art Show for fourth-year students.
\"As far back as I can remember I was always drawing,\" the Brampton native said.
\"Sculpture has kind of grown on me as I've worked here at McMaster. As my thesis changed to athletics, I found that sculpture was the best way to communicate my ideas of movement and sport.
\"I enjoyed making something that occupies space ... manufacturing and manipulating metals, welding, sanding, polishing and using spray paint.\"
Dinter will be playing football again next season when he returns for a half term. That pleases the coaching staff because 5-foot-10, 175-pound Dinter was an Ontario University Athletics Second-Team All-Star this past season. Against Queen's Golden Gaels, he picked off two passes in the same game.
\"Byron is very quiet by nature and reserved,\" said Mac's veteran defensive backfield coach Mark Forsyth. \"He's a smart player and very athletic.
\"Over the years I don't recall having many players that have had majors in that area of study. Obviously Byron has talent both on and off the field.\"
As for his career aspirations, Dinter says he may study industrial design (focusing on automobiles) in Germany.
\"I enjoy the welding and the use of metal aspect,\" he said. \"Design is very important within my work. I'd like the opportunity to study more with automobiles because that's always been my interest.\"
Dinter plans to propose his sculpture be kept in McMaster's soon-to-be completed $30 million Athletics and Recreation Complex.
Reprinted with permission from The Hamilton Spectator
(Photo: Byron Dinter poses with the original sculpture he calls Sports Sculpture II. Photo by Ron Albertson, The Hamilton Spectator.)
The Hamilton Spectator
HAMILTON - Good hands.
It's not often a McMaster Marauder football player has a prominent exhibit on campus in the Museum of Art.
But defensive back Byron Dinter's sporting-theme abstract sculpture has been front and centre in the display area until recently.
The 23-year-old honours art student calls his creation Sports Sculpture II.
It's made of metal, plexiglass and body filler and represents many of the varsity athletic programs offered at McMaster.
Open-form shapes of a football, volleyball, golf club, soccer ball and rugby ball wind through the flowing piece, which is welded together.
\"As a student athlete at the school,\" Dinter said, \"I hoped to incorporate what I learned in my studies and what I learned participating in sports.
\"The upward movement of the sculpture is about the upward aspirations of the athlete to do well.\"
Balance is evident throughout the work. As in athletics, Dinter said competing elements are pitted against one another. This balance is maintained through the use of opposites -- suspended versus grounded, curved versus straight, round versus angled, thick versus thin, dark versus light.
Dinter creates an athlete's movement through the interaction of the viewer and the sculpture's reflective finish. Both the viewer and the sculpture \"play\" with one another to produce activity.
Dinter, who started for the Marauders as a senior this past season, says reaction has been positive to his final project at the just-closed SUMMA Art Show for fourth-year students.
\"As far back as I can remember I was always drawing,\" the Brampton native said.
\"Sculpture has kind of grown on me as I've worked here at McMaster. As my thesis changed to athletics, I found that sculpture was the best way to communicate my ideas of movement and sport.
\"I enjoyed making something that occupies space ... manufacturing and manipulating metals, welding, sanding, polishing and using spray paint.\"
Dinter will be playing football again next season when he returns for a half term. That pleases the coaching staff because 5-foot-10, 175-pound Dinter was an Ontario University Athletics Second-Team All-Star this past season. Against Queen's Golden Gaels, he picked off two passes in the same game.
\"Byron is very quiet by nature and reserved,\" said Mac's veteran defensive backfield coach Mark Forsyth. \"He's a smart player and very athletic.
\"Over the years I don't recall having many players that have had majors in that area of study. Obviously Byron has talent both on and off the field.\"
As for his career aspirations, Dinter says he may study industrial design (focusing on automobiles) in Germany.
\"I enjoy the welding and the use of metal aspect,\" he said. \"Design is very important within my work. I'd like the opportunity to study more with automobiles because that's always been my interest.\"
Dinter plans to propose his sculpture be kept in McMaster's soon-to-be completed $30 million Athletics and Recreation Complex.
Reprinted with permission from The Hamilton Spectator
(Photo: Byron Dinter poses with the original sculpture he calls Sports Sculpture II. Photo by Ron Albertson, The Hamilton Spectator.)
