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Description
He definitely stands out when he approaches you. It isn’t about his personality too much, he is a pretty apathetic guy towards most everything, but more what he is wearing. It begins with the bland but curious color of duct tape on his head. The hat sports the motto “Tape the world,” and was completely created out of duct tape.
   Continuing down you see his duct tape and jazz shirt, which he personally says “are the two best things to come out of America.”
   Then the shoes come. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that there was some effort put into those shoes. They are checkered black and white, front to back and took almost two hours to construct. Then upon simple inquiry you find out that third semester coastal studies major, Scott Hastings, has spent more than just a little time with duct tape.
   Some of his work includes bumper stickers, posters, his hat, a pair of gloves, shoes, a wallet and even his graduation cap, which he covered completely in duct tape.
   It began in mid adolescence, sophomore year of high school. His mother gave him a book about duct tape for his birthday and the wallet was constructed shortly after. It became a time consuming hobby, which he claims is the exact point behind.
   “I liked duct tape a lot and I was bored out of my skull,” Hastings said. “When my mom bought me the book I just started creating lots of different things.”
   Bored might be an understatement considering the amount of time some of the work takes. One of his most recent creations, a replication of a painting by M.C. Escher, took almost all of last semester.
   “People say necessity is the mother of all invention,” Hastings said, “but boredom is mine.”
   The process, he claims, is a simple one, but when one analyzes the piece of art, it is obvious there has been a lot of work and time devoted to it.
   “First you have to find a picture online and print it out,” Hastings said. “Then you have to cut out the pieces you want and trace them onto duct tape. Then you just place the duct tape on a poster board.”
   Seems like it is easier said then done. In some instances (for example when he created the M.C. Escher piece), he had to place the same traced picture of a bird down over and over again creating a very “repetitive and boring” experience. The results made it worthwhile though.
   “There is definitely some personal satisfaction,” Hastings said. “They come out pretty nice and I can be proud of that.”
   Everything from the Blues Brothers to his latest addition, an Alaskan Indian’s portrayal of a fish, have been done. The inspiration is simple, yet varied.
   “I do anything I like and I feel like I can do,” Hastings said. “I was watching the Blues Brothers one day and thought I could do it in duct tape; just whatever I find interesting.”
   Still the question remains. Beyond the psychological aspect of making something out of duct tape, why duct tape in the first place? Considering the fact, there are hundreds of different tapes. There are scotch tapes, heat resistant tapes, commercial tapes, masking tapes and others. The list is endless. So why duct tape?
   “There are lots of different colors of duct tape,” Hastings said. “Out of the twenty-four different rolls I have, there are fourteen different colors. It is also more versatile and looks and sticks better than other tapes.”
   Although Hastings claims that duct tape is just a hobby, it seems like it could be something more. He has devoted as much time as to submit his college essay for UCONN based on duct tape and even went as far to as to muse that “duct tape is the heart and soul of a thrifty, conscientious and caring community.”
   It almost fits though. The world seems like it might be quite a better place if everyone had a little duct tape to mend his or her problems. Why not “tape the world?”

Description
He definitely stands out when he approaches you. It isn’t about his personality too much, he is a pretty apathetic guy towards most everything, but more what he is wearing. It begins with the bland but curious color of duct tape on his head. The hat sports the motto “Tape the world,” and was completely created out of duct tape.
   Continuing down you see his duct tape and jazz shirt, which he personally says “are the two best things to come out of America.”
   Then the shoes come. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that there was some effort put into those shoes. They are checkered black and white, front to back and took almost two hours to construct. Then upon simple inquiry you find out that third semester coastal studies major, Scott Hastings, has spent more than just a little time with duct tape.
   Some of his work includes bumper stickers, posters, his hat, a pair of gloves, shoes, a wallet and even his graduation cap, which he covered completely in duct tape.
   It began in mid adolescence, sophomore year of high school. His mother gave him a book about duct tape for his birthday and the wallet was constructed shortly after. It became a time consuming hobby, which he claims is the exact point behind.
   “I liked duct tape a lot and I was bored out of my skull,” Hastings said. “When my mom bought me the book I just started creating lots of different things.”
   Bored might be an understatement considering the amount of time some of the work takes. One of his most recent creations, a replication of a painting by M.C. Escher, took almost all of last semester.
   “People say necessity is the mother of all invention,” Hastings said, “but boredom is mine.”
   The process, he claims, is a simple one, but when one analyzes the piece of art, it is obvious there has been a lot of work and time devoted to it.
   “First you have to find a picture online and print it out,” Hastings said. “Then you have to cut out the pieces you want and trace them onto duct tape. Then you just place the duct tape on a poster board.”
   Seems like it is easier said then done. In some instances (for example when he created the M.C. Escher piece), he had to place the same traced picture of a bird down over and over again creating a very “repetitive and boring” experience. The results made it worthwhile though.
   “There is definitely some personal satisfaction,” Hastings said. “They come out pretty nice and I can be proud of that.”
   Everything from the Blues Brothers to his latest addition, an Alaskan Indian’s portrayal of a fish, have been done. The inspiration is simple, yet varied.
   “I do anything I like and I feel like I can do,” Hastings said. “I was watching the Blues Brothers one day and thought I could do it in duct tape; just whatever I find interesting.”
   Still the question remains. Beyond the psychological aspect of making something out of duct tape, why duct tape in the first place? Considering the fact, there are hundreds of different tapes. There are scotch tapes, heat resistant tapes, commercial tapes, masking tapes and others. The list is endless. So why duct tape?
   “There are lots of different colors of duct tape,” Hastings said. “Out of the twenty-four different rolls I have, there are fourteen different colors. It is also more versatile and looks and sticks better than other tapes.”
   Although Hastings claims that duct tape is just a hobby, it seems like it could be something more. He has devoted as much time as to submit his college essay for UCONN based on duct tape and even went as far to as to muse that “duct tape is the heart and soul of a thrifty, conscientious and caring community.”
   It almost fits though. The world seems like it might be quite a better place if everyone had a little duct tape to mend his or her problems. Why not “tape the world?”