Benefit dinner to focus on history of puzzles

Friends of Art will play host to its 26th Annual Fine Arts Library Benefit Dinner this Saturday, and the event’s topic is a subject even the speaker himself finds peculiar: puzzles.

Dr. Bret Rothstein, associate professor in the Department of History of Art , has been fascinated with puzzles since he viewed the Lilly Library’s Jerry Slocum mechanical puzzle collection.

Rubik’s cubes and tangents are items featured at the Lilly Library’s exhibit and embody the very idea of mechanical puzzles: objects that are manipulated to create 3-D forms. Rothstein played with these toys as a child, and the Slocum exhibit reminded him of his passion for these puzzles. After Rothstein saw the exhibit, his research turned from generalized art history to the history of puzzles.

“I’m thrilled that the Friends of Art and the Fine Arts Library people were interested in my current research,” Rothstein said. “I’ve been working on aspects of visual difficulty for a while now, and when a project goes on for a prolonged period, it can be difficult to know where things will likely stand with an audience of more than one.”

Rothstein said he hopes to explain in his “Playful Objects” lecture the significant change images have undergone since the 15th century, when their nature and character became more pronounced.

“This matters, since it indicates that the visual arts increasingly became their own best justification, rather than simply vehicles for other cultural practices, most notably religion,” Rothstein said.

Dr. Giles Knox, associate professor in the Department of History of Art and a member of the Friends of Art’s Board of Directors, has attended the event three times in the past and said he is looking forward to the new material.

“Puzzles aren’t usually considered part of art history,” Knox said. “So I’m interested to see how he’s going to make it about the visual.”

Rothstein said he understands that his study of puzzles is unconventional but believes attendees will understand his presentation.

“If the topic or talk is a dud, that’s one hour of their lives they’ll never get back,” he said.

Knox said he is interested in Rothstein’s presentation but also wants to support the Friends of Art organization. He said he was initially drawn to Friends of Art because of its contribution to Fine Arts students through scholarships and support of the bookshop within the School of Fine Arts. He said he sees the annual benefit dinner as a way to help professors meet the Friends of Art members in a social way.

In addition to the lecture, handmade, wooden puzzles by artist Scott Peterson  and designed by Stewart T. Coffin will also be available during a silent auction.

The auction pieces tie in with Rothstein’s lecture.

“This sort of vote of confidence from the Friends of Art means a lot,” said Rothstein. “The fact that they were willing to make such a wager was heartening, though it does raise the stakes for what I have to say.”

The event will begin at 5 p.m. in Fine Arts 102, followed by wine and hors d’oeuvres in the IU Art Museum Atrium and dinner in the Fine Arts Library.