If you don’t know Claire Staples ’09, (or at least know of her) then you probably don’t go to Wesleyan. However, apparently a lot of people only know her because of her distinctive hairdo, which recently changed from a full head of orangy dreadlocks to dreads on top with close crop on the sides. It looks cool. But Claire Staples is more than her hair—she does a lot of awesome things like working for a circus and making really cool art. And she’s a fabulous cook. Read on to find out more.

Corinne Baldwin: So I saw you a few times over the summer and you seemed to be doing some pretty interesting things. Can you talk a little bit about why you were here, and what you were doing?

Claire Staples: Well I had a grant this summer from the studio art department to take a class in Hartford on metal fabrication, and that was really cool. I took another class here, I was kind of TA-ing/taking the class for free, it was like a GLSP [Graduate Liberal Studies Program] monotype class. And then in July I worked for the children’s circus in Middletown. It’s the second year that I’ve done that. It’s a joint project between Oddfellows [Playhouse] and the Middletown Council on the Arts. It’s like a kids’ circus summer camp.

CB: Oh, okay. How did you first get into that?

CS: Kate Tenig, who is my boss here in the wood shop, basically two years ago was like, “Hey Claire, do you have a summer job yet?” and I was like “No, no…well I was thinking about going to China, but now I’m not going to China…” And then she said, “Want to work at the circus?” and I was like “Hellllll yeah.” She had done that before about five or six years ago, the same job. And so I was working with this girl who had recently graduated from Paier College of Art, she was a graphic design major. She had been working at the circus for like five or six years. It was her first year of working as the technical director and I was her assistant.

CB: What kind of stuff do the kids do? Like… tightrope walking and juggling and stuff?

CS: Well, the way that it’s set up is there are counselors that bring the kids around, broken up into different age groups. And then there are “artists” who teach the kids different activities or skills. So there’s like, juggling, acrobatics, clowning, dance, art and unicycling, which also includes walking on the rolling globe, which is like this big ball.

CB: Woah, cool—can you do that?

CS: Haha, umm no. Ahh, well I guess I can walk on the rolling globe for like a couple minutes. No, like, a minute. And I can’t unicycle at all.

CB: That’s okay, I’m still impressed. So, are you working on any new art projects?

CS: Yeah. I’ve been thinking about my thesis a lot, and I’m also working on some other stuff.

CB: What are you doing for your thesis?

CS: For my thesis I’m interested in exploring the body’s role in communication. I’m exploring questions like: how does the body communicate without words, in conjunction with words? How does the presence of a body change an experience? What is defined as presence? Can a screen image—a projection—have the same empathic effect as a real live body? Can it have more? In what ways is “real time” communication a stand in for the physical? The central idea behind these explorations is kinetic empathy.

CB: That sounds really interesting—I can’t wait to see what you do with it. And what’s the other stuff you’re working on right now?

CS: Right now I’m working on a project with Liz McLellan ’11 under the umbrella of “zombie art.” We’re setting up a website to connect creative people on campus, and teaching a class on public art in conjunction with a workshop at Green Street. Well, some of our goals for the semester are to set up an independent fund for public exhibitions and performances, and trying to get more open studio spaces on campus. But this isn’t quite in the works yet. Also look for more student exhibitions, and calls for collective action!