Artist Lecture #2

Steve Brodner

Anita Kunz

I always enjoy the spontaneity of panel discussions, and luckily a few of the panelists had a witty sense of humor. Since this artist lecture did not include slides or visuals, I used my laptop to see each artists' work since I had no previous notion of what their illustrations looked like previous to the lecture. It was interesting to hear how their brain worked in a broad sense on their subject, and then visually understand how their brain worked on individual projects to see the connections.

They talked a lot about individual ideas and how to express them through drawing to communicate with others. They explained how the job of the artist is to combine elements to make interesting combinations and connections to help others think differently about a topic or subject matter. I felt like the overall message these panelists were sending is a very important one and is key to the success of a modern artist in our changing society. But fortunately, I felt like I had received a similar lecture just a year before in my studies in San Francisco. In San Francisco, I got a strong sense of the importance of art and design to change society and influence people. The culture out there was very politically, socioeconomically, and environmentally active and enthused. I learned a great deal about generating ideas and thinking about design differently in order to frame a contemporary issue in a way that makes people question their notions.

Although I think the lecture was a very important one for MCA students to consider, I think the panelists, unintentionally directed their efforts more towards illustration students than any of the other disciplines. Although I believe it is important for illustration students to apply what was expressed in the lecture to their own work, the same ideas are important in dealing with all the arts. In my own experiences, design especially at MCA is underestimated in its ability to make political or social commentaries.

Senior Project Preliminary Production

SP Production Part 1 from Kassey Pass on Vimeo.

SP Footage 2 from Kassey Pass on Vimeo.

Artist Statement—First Draft

The term arts and crafts denotes a style of artistic expression in a context unconnected to the meaning of Art or Craft alone. In my own experiences, arts and crafts activity time at the pre-school and elementary school level has advanced my innovative and imaginative development that has ensued into my adult life. Simplistic and malleable materials like pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, and macaroni allow children to expand their modes of thinking through interaction and art-making. For me, arts and crafts time is reminiscent of my childhood when I was free to explore my creative expression with no restraints or concern for the judgement from others. The more I grew, the more I was able to refine my technique and skill as a fine artist and applied designer in a controlled manner. Approaching the culmination of my college education, I have gained sophisticated abilities and applicable knowledge, although I fear I am slowly losing the freedom and playfulness in art that I possessed as a child.

The function of my piece is to integrate the playfulness and imagination of my childhood experiences in arts and crafts with my new maturity and sophistication in the application of design and video arts. Too often, mature audiences are lured in by formal methods and techniques to communicate contemporary or political subject matter, but my piece will resurge an appreciation for the uninhibited attitudes and processes of art making that have diminished with my childhood.

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"Arts and Crafts" Movement

The Arts and Crafts Movement was an international design movement that originated in England^[2] and flourished between 1880 and 1910, continuing its influence up to the 1930s.^[3] Instigated by the artist and writer William Morris(1834–1896) in the 1860s^[2] and inspired by the writings of John Ruskin (1819–1900), it had its earliest and fullest development in the British Isles^[3] but spread to Europe and North America^[4] as a reaction against the impoverished state of the decorative arts and the conditions under which they were produced.^[5]

The movement advocated truth to materials and traditional craftsmanship using simple forms and often medieval, romantic or folk styles of decoration. It also proposed economic and social reform and has been seen as essentially anti-industrial.^[5][6]

Design principles

"Artichoke" wallpaper, by John Henry Dearle for William Morris & Co., circa 1897 (Victoria and Albert Museum).

The Arts and Crafts Movement started as a search for authentic design and decoration and a reaction against the styles that had developed out of machine-production.

Arts and Crafts objects were simple in form, without superfluous decoration, often showing the way they were put together. They followed the idea of "truth to material", preserving and emphasizing the qualities of the materials used. They often had patterns inspired by British flora and fauna and drew on the vernacular, or domestic, traditions of the British countryside. Several designer-makers set up workshops in rural areas and revived old techniques. They were influenced by the Gothic Revival (1830–1880) and were interested in all things medieval, using bold forms and strong colors based on medieval designs. They believed in the moral purpose of art. Truth to material, structure and function had also been advocated by A.W.N. Pugin (1812–1852), a leading exponent of the Gothic Revival.^[8]

Artist Lecture #1

Lily Wei

I had heard tonight's guest lecturer was an independent curator, which I could only assume meant she would be lecturing on techniques or concerns of someone in her position. After listening to her speak, it seems to me that anyone familiar with artists and galleries in New York could have given this lecture.

The title of the lecture was the most interesting part. Before even knowing what the Lower East Side was, I thought the pun "LES is More" would provide an interesting outlook on how contemporary American art might speculate on the influx of consumerism. I think too drastically did she jump right into her lecture. Some sort of introduction of what her goal was and what she was going to be talking about was absolutely necessary. It seemed as if she assumed that just because New York is renowned for being fresh on the art scene that we are already aware of what has been happening there. The need to seek out a new area to transform into a gallery environment is interesting in that the new area exists in relation to the old area. Therefore, new binaries are created: old vs. new, traditional vs. innovative, expensive vs. affordable all excite me in the fact that now people have the choice of what kind of art they want to go see. Unfortunately, the lecturer did not really express any of her knowledge or education on anything really. She basically went through a number of these new galleries that have sprung up in the Lower East Side and she showed slides of different artists' work that inhabit these galleries. She gave us names, locations, and titles but no insight on the area that I couldn't hear from some snooty art punk in some New York coffee shop.

Not only was the content very bland, unrehearsed, and uninteresting, but she delivered her lecture as if she had never seen a modern-aged microphone. The entire time, her head was cocked over the mike so her enunciated syllables rang abruptly and her lisp even more emphasized. At one point, she was able to arouse any snoozers by repeatedly knocking the base of the microphone with her glasses she unknowingly continued to twirl around at points. While the photos of art in the galleries were the only part of the lecture that provided the audience with any reason not leave, there were some images included that were of extremely low resolution and completely pointless to the presentation at all.

Despite the fact that I was required to attend this lecture for a couple of different classes, I have respect for this woman because I understand that she is very connected and well-versed in the tremendous art world of New York. Yet overall, her presentation seemed very unplanned and unprofessional, and although I did learn about the galleries of New York (only because I had no prior knowledge on the subject at all) I do not feel like she provided us with enough to equal the amount of money the school surely had to pay her.

American Makers

Thumbnails

Materials

paper • fabric • yarn • rope • string • wire • pipe cleaners • candy wrappers • ribbon • glitter • beads • sculpe • woodgrain • pencils • crayons • paint • glue • tape • feathers • leaves • popsicle sticks • pom poms • beads • cheerios • macaroni • scissors • cellophane • tin foil • stuffing/batting

DEFINING CRAFT

CRAFT — noun

1. an art, trade, or occupation requiring special skill, esp. manual skill

2. skill; dexterity

3. skill or ability used for bad purposes

4. the members of a trade or profession collectively; guild

5. ship or other vessel

CRAFT — verb

9. to make or manufacture (an object, objects, product, etc.) with skill and careful attention to detail

CREATIVE

1. having the quality or power of creating

2. resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative

3. originative; productive

CREATIVITY

1. the state or quality of being creative

2. the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, etc.

Len Lye

Oskar Fischinger & so on & so forth

two very different approaches of translating circles and squares

Practice with Materials

This small example not only provides an idea of some of the things I intend to do, but also many things that I do not intend to do. Do: use of materials, colors, shapes moving on a background. Don't: poorly lit, unsteady camera shots.

Project Proposal

My senior piece will use film and video editing in a way that fuses film, design, and craft while redefining the boundaries that separate them. Conceptually, the film will explore the creative process and the impulsive desires to express freely and visually without fear of judgement and by any means necessary. The film will explore all kinds of patterns, textures, and materials while including typography, sound, and puppets. The film’s aesthetics will be brightly colorful, playful, and inspirational.

Three major components will comprise the overall show installation. A looped recording of my film, burned to a dvd, will be playing on a flat television screen, presumably provided by the school, attached to the wall and accompanied by a set of headphones. The second component of the installation involves a small stand or pedestal placed against the wall below the television displaying some informative business cards. Lastly, I will arrange an array of colorful yarn bunched up and billowing out of the crevice where the gallery wall and ceiling meet. Just as my film will overwhelm the screen with color, pattern, and texture, the gallery wall itself will be taken over by craft.

Pitch

To explore my uninhibited creative freedom by using inexpensive collected materials, I hope to create a visual collage that combines my child’s sense of freedom and fearlessness with my adult sophistication and maturity in design.

New Brief

Consider a tabletop covered with art supplies and crafting materials: pipe cleaners, puff balls, glitter glue, crayons, markers, paint, pencils, paper, fabric, string and yarn, and surrounding the table are several separately placed blank sheets of colored paper in front of several separately placed eager and creatively charged children. Imagine the expanse of artistic outcomes and visionary masterpieces still dripping wet with paint and glitter glue that would be produced by this epic exertion. In my practice as a graphic designer, this unreserved attitude and impulsive desire to express visually is much more oppressed and regimented. Drawing inspiration from children’s craft materials and the uninhibited decisions in their artistic creativity, I will demonstrate how combining these rudimentary techniques with a sophisticatedly designed framework will allow me to advance my own development in video design and graphic animation while retaining my early creative processes in childhood crafts.

In more technical terms, the focus of my senior piece will be a 3-5 minute video montage that will deal primarily with textural imagery and experimental typography. Using some stop animation and live footage, the film’s content will relay the act of creative process and inventiveness in dealing with everyday materials. I will explore materials and textures and how they translate to video. Most shots will be established by a fixed focus length and thoroughly lit subject matter. To explore my uninhibited creative freedom by using inexpensive collected materials, I hope to create a visual collage that combines my child’s sense of freedom and fearlessness with my adult sophistication and maturity in design.