Author Archives: Jered Gold

Meet Julia Tsao

Just what is Media Design?

Graduate Media Design student Julia Tsao defines it as “an opportunity space for designers to grapple with the existing elements in the world—whether those elements be tangible, intangible, digital, physical, cultural, social—and out of which create something new, exciting and sometimes confusing. It’s making the old feel new, and the new feel familiar, yet remarkable.”

Read more about Julia and her experiences studying Media Design at Art Center in this great interview.

Williamson Gallery Gets Press, Readies for New Show

DeMarinis exhibit at the Williamson in 2001. Photo by Steven A. Heller.

The Williamson Gallery’s 2001 solo exhibition of media-art pioneer Paul DeMarinis— Resonant Messages: Media Installations by Paul DeMarinis—is included in the new book Interactive Art, written by Ryszard W. Kluszczynski and published in Poland. The book features artists and writers who have played a prominent role in the development of media and interactive art from the late 20th century to the present.

In addition to DeMarinis, many of those featured in the book have been included in Williamson Gallery solo or group exhibitions as part of its 15-year series bringing together the domains of art, science and technology. Artists in the book include Natalie Bookchin, Ken Goldberg, Lynn Hershman-Leeson, Erkki Huhtamo, Eduardo Kac, George Legrady, Bernie Lubell, Laurent Mignonneau, Christian Moeller, Simon Penny, Bill Seaman, Christa Sommerer, Victoria Vesna and Stephen Wilson.

In other Williamson news, they are hard at work readying the gallery for the next show, The Curious World of Patent Models and The Future of Objects, opening June 3. The show continues the exploration into the intersecting domains of art, science, technology and design with side-by-side exhibitions that look at the interplay between the technologies used to fabricate objects and the thought-processes used to conceive them. We’ll blog more on the show soon.

Take a Trip Back to 1969

Here’s a fun video courtesy of Archives for a drizzly Tuesday—an Art Center promotional film from 1969.

It was directed by Advertising students Wayne Carmona and Gerald Eggers, and funded by the Society of Art Center Alumni. We really love the groovy intro and outro music, and the psychedelic cartoon near the end has us scratching our heads, yet thoroughly entertained. Head over to our new Videos section to view.

In Case You Missed It

As you know, there’s always something going on when it comes to Art Center alumni, students and faculty. Some of the latest:

  • Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion!, a new game for iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone, pits players against an evil company planning to ruin gaming with HD graphics. Illustration alum and band member Mike Shinoda designed avatars for each of his bandmates and oversaw the new app’s writing, story and gameplay. Wired Game Life
  • The home is a castle for some, but for artist and Product Design alum Roy Mercer, it’s a live-in art gallery. Victoria Times Colonist
  • Illustration alum Mark Ryden’s latest show, The Gay 90′s: Old Tyme Art Show, features works inspired by the 1890s. Paul Kasmin Gallery
  • MFA alum T. J. Wilcox introduces three new films for his May 2010 exhibition at Metro Pictures. artdaily.org
  • Photography alumna Livia Corona documents an interesting twist on the wild world of Mexican bullfighters. Vanguard
  • Pasadena Weeky illustrator and Illustration alumna Ching Ching Cheng will have two paintings displayed at the Louvre in June. Pasadena Weekly
  • Art Center will will host a gathering of leaders and innovators in imaging, technology, media and education at the first-ever Imaging DNA conference in July. Art Center Press Release
  • Call to artists: Pasadena ARTWalk is taking applications for its October event. ArtWalk 2010
  • Illustration alumna Cecilie Starin uses her fine art background in both fashion design and her recently launched interior design business. San Francisco Gate

What’s In A Name?

The New York Times has a fascinating profile on super-talented Illustration student Max Pauson, and his journey to Art Center.

“…This promising art student’s strong sense of self was hard-earned. It was forged in an unstable, emotionally wrenching childhood and, in an odd detail that might serve as a metaphor for his struggles, it comes after 19 years of life without a legal name. His birth certificate read only ‘(baby boy) Pauson.’ Name to come.”

Read more: What’s in a Name? A Lot, as It Turns Out

Meet Dr. Penny Florence, New Chair of HDS

Next month, Art Center will welcome Dr. Penny Florence to her new post as Chair of the Humanities and Design Sciences Department. Florence comes to Art Center from The Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, where she led the research programs. Prior to that, Florence was a professor of contemporary arts and director of research at University College Falmouth, U.K., where she inaugurated and led the Ph.D. program.

We recently spoke with Florence about her educational philosophy, goals for the department and her interest in electronic poetry.

What compelled you to move halfway across the globe and join Art Center?
Art Center is a great school, and I have always been impressed with the students, faculty and staff during my visits. But there’s something more—the College feels very dynamic at the moment and I want to contribute to this. HDS is a cross-disciplinary program whose potential interests me a great deal, and I aim to bring my experience to benefit and develop it. It’s so relevant today because jobs change so fast that you can’t just train to do one thing. You have to be able to transfer skills. Thinking across disciplines is really useful in assessing how best to move from one arena into another. That’s a big reason why a background in the humanities and design sciences is valuable for artists and designers. Another is that it enables you to look at the field of art and design in its entirety. This will always be useful, and sometimes essential.

Continue reading →

Art Center Earthquake Project Showcased at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

LA HAS FAULTS, PHASE 1 (Sean Donahue, Graduate Media Design Faculty)

The L.A. Earthquake Sourcebook and the short film Preparedness Now, developed at Art Center as part of The Los Angeles Earthquake: Get Ready project, will be showcased in Cooper-Hewitt’s 2010 National Design Triennial, opening Friday. Art Center students, faculty, alumni and artists, in partnership with leading scientists and community experts, generated new research and visual communication tools about seismic safety as part of this Designmatters-led project. The project has become a national and international example of the power of design thinking applied to disaster preparedness.

“When we initiated the research phase for Get Ready, we were coping with the aftermath and systemic disruption caused by Hurricane Katrina, and seeking to understand how we could use the art and design expertise of our community as a catalyst for resiliency in our own backyard,” said Mariana Amatullo, vice president and director of Designmatters, the College’s social impact educational initiative. “We wanted to provoke a conversation about preparedness and rally public attention around it. Today, we look back at this project that has engaged so many of our students, faculty, alumni and a multidisciplinary consortia of partners nationally through Designmatters with a great sense of accomplishment. The conversation we started keeps resonating with the same sense of urgency and relevance as before.”

Continue reading →