A dachshund barks, soft music starts playing and a female voice says, “Doors opening.” Suddenly, the dog begins to grow. Its stubby legs stretch upward. The voice continues talking, saying, “Almost there” and “Unnaturally natural.”

A hallucination? No. It’s just the left elevator at Norris University Center.

“Going Up?,” an installation piece by two Communication professors, features a dachshund whose legs grow and shrink through three attached television screens as an overhead voice murmurs phrases.

An artists’ reception with food will be held today from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. outside the elevator on the first floor of Norris.

The piece was designed by radio-TV-film department Prof. Dave Tolchinsky and his wife, Communication lecturer Debra Tolchinsky. It was inspired by controversy surrounding limb lengthening procedures in China, they said. It’s meant to compel viewers to consider issues including the packaging and sale of body image.

“We want to raise questions,” said Debra Tolchinsky, whose work often focuses on people who endure hardship to gain money, fame, happiness or self-acceptance.

“Going Up?” also challenges ideas about narrative because the piece repeats and a viewer can enter and exit at any time in the cycle, according to Debra Tolchinsky’s Web site. The voice advises riders to “watch your step on your way out” and says oxymorons like “hopelessly hopeful.” Sometimes it says “going up” when the elevator is on its way down.

The upward and downward movements of the elevator represent hierarchy and progress, Dave Tolchinsky said. The dog’s repetitive motions question whether or not our society is going in circles, he said.

“From a psychological state, a societal state, and a physical state, the question is, are we moving forward?” he said.

“Going Up?” is more light-hearted than most of their work, the Tolchinskys said. The piece has many layers and is “atmospheric and fun” on the simplest level, they said.

The piece premiered at the Chicago Cultural Center last November and was installed in Norris on September 12 with the help of several grants. The piece will be removed on October 14.

The Tolchinskys said they installed the piece in Norris and not in Block Museum of Art because they want it to reach a different audience.

“It gives students a different sense of what art is,” Debra Tolchinsky said. “We want to add to people’s days.”

Rick Thomas, executive director of Norris, called the exhibit a “talking point.”

“It stimulates conversation; that’s what good art does,” Thomas said. “I think it’s been a success.”

But Sam Pickerill, a McCormick senior, called the piece “ridiculous” and said the barking startled him.

Chris Tondini, who coordinates the Norris Mini-courses, has an office right next to the elevator on the third floor. He said “Going Up?” annoyed him.

“Every time the door opens, I hear the stupid dog barking,” Tondini said.

The Tolchinskys said they expected a variety of reactions.

“A lot of people don’t know what to make of it,” Debra Tolchinsky said.

“We’re happy with the reaction,” David Tolchinsky said. “It grows on you.”

Reach Ali Hollenbeck at [email protected].