Building snow forts in the yard, tents out of bed sheets and fortresses of couch cushions were a part of many people's childhoods. But for most, that kind of imaginative building remains in their recollection of the past.\nFor local sculptor Todd Lantz, it has become a way of life.\nIn his studio on South Morton Road, Lantz takes what many people would consider junk and gives it life in a new form. One of his latest works, "Maestro," is an old typewriter smashed and manipulated to appear as a face, along with the shaft of an old golf club running horizontally through its midsection to present the impression of arms conducting a symphony.\nMark Diekhoff, owner of an Indianapolis gallery that features many of Lantz's creations, called his work "indescribable and experimental." \n"He has a lot of insight into sculpture and how things fit together," Diekhoff said. "He is able to surprise by using the same materials and putting them together in different ways."\nLantz said he feels his art should just be allowed to happen. \n"I create a method in which I interact with pieces that I come into contact with," he said. "I have very few rules for the process. I simply guide the work into its own existence. I want it to be a complete natural evolution."\nHis latest collection, "Random Acts or Art," is on display in the project SPACE gallery in the Murphy Arts Center on Virginia Avenue in Fountain Square in Indianapolis. The exhibition runs until Jan. 5, 2001, and can be seen from noon to 4 p.m. every Saturday, or by appointment, in Room 213.\nLantz recently moved to Bloomington from Sarasota. Originally from West Virginia, he has spent most his life in the Midwest. He said he considers his return to the Midwest, and especially Bloomington, a positive situation.\n"This is a great studio; the seclusion allows me to get a lot of work done," he said. "I am not in the midst of the arts scene in Indianapolis, and that allows me to remain independent of what is going on there."
Rural Influences\nFor Lantz, it is important to remain close to his blue-collar roots. Being born in rural Buchannon, W. Va., has become central to his art form. \n"It was a simple life, based on nature," he said. \n"My father got out of the community by getting an education, but it is still a part of his blood, and he passed that on to me," he said. "He taught me reverence to nature, goodness and God."\nBen Lantz, Todd's father and former president of the University of Indianapolis, said he remembered that whenever he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, Todd answered, "an artist." \n"I can remember one time when I found an old commode and Todd constructed an aquarium for gold fish with it," Lantz recalled. "He consistently wanted to put together things that he found."\nLantz, 28, has built things for his entire life. He recollects his interest in building in abstract form. \n"I was never worried about correctness of form," he said. "As a kid, I recognized that I didn't have the imagination to create something out of my head like a lot of other kids, so I used the materials that were around me and put them together."
Discovering sculpture\nLantz was always fascinated with building, but he never recognized this as a possible art form. He grew up with pencils and paper and always thought drawing was his calling. \nIt was not until he moved to Indianapolis and attended the art-focused Broad Ripple High School Magnate School that he discovered his talent in sculpting. \n"My teacher, Tony Utley, helped me discover sculpture and really convinced me to follow that art form," Lantz said.\nWhen it came to college, Lantz wanted to attend an arts school. But his father directed him into a liberal arts education so he could be more well-rounded. \nHe went to Millikin University in Decatur, Ill., and majored in art. He stayed in school for two and a half years before moving back to Indianapolis. Once back, his father agreed to allow him to enroll in The Herron School of Art at IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis.\n"I was concerned because I know how hard it is to make it as an artist," Ben Lantz said.\nBut Lantz's time at Herron was short-lived; he walked out of his first sculpture critique and never went back. \n"I didn't want to be graded like that," Lantz said.\n"I also didn't want to take my ideas and try to put them into specifically-designed projects," he continued.\nAfter leaving Herron, he set up his own studio in South Indianapolis. It was here, surrounded by 30 other artists' studios, that Lantz met his wife, Johanna, and gallery owner Diekhoff.\n"His studio was always a gathering place for all the artists in the building, because he had the freshest ideas in the place," Diekhoff recalled.\nLantz stayed at that studio for two years and started to make a name for himself in the Indianapolis contemporary arts scene. \nIn 1995, Lantz decided to follow his heart and Johanna, whom he was dating at the time, and move to Sarasota, where she danced for Sarasota Ballet of Florida.\nLantz's first solo exhibition came in 1997 in Sarasota. He has since had five more, including "1999's Quality" in the Mark Diekhoff Gallery. \nLantz has also put together five installations, including "Random Acts or Art." An installation is a specific and intentional attempt to draw the viewer into one complete experience.\n"We wanted to create an environment that included outside elements -- help viewers feel more comfortable and participate and understand why I do what I do," he said. "All external factors were taken into effect -- the writing on the walls and floors, the food table, the music, wine. It was all intended to take the pressure off the viewer, enabling them to find a connection between viewer and sculptures."\nLantz's short-term goals are to set up an exhibit in Louisville, Ky., to keep showing in Indianapolis and to peruse the Chicago area for other possibilities.\nLantz does not have a grand-scale message for his viewers. Rather, he feels his work is much more personal: "What I do is related to me; I keep it simple, human."\n"I would like for people to relate to my work on a human level," he said. "Take something out of it for themselves, a feeling, an emotion, a thought"
