Visual Arts Briefs

Alumnus Michael Giacchino (BFA 1990 Film and Video) has won an Oscar in the category of Music (Original Score) for his score for the animated film Up. Giacchino, who had previously been nominated in 2007 for his score for the animated film Ratatouille, thanked his parents in his acceptance speech for always being supportive of his creative pursuits, beginning at age nine when he borrowed his dad’s movie camera to start making films. Giacchino continued, “I know there are kids out there that don’t have that support system, so if you’re out there and you’re listening, listen to me: If you want to be creative, get out there and do it. It’s not a waste of time.”

In an interview with The Los Angeles Times last month, Giacchino talked about the music and composers that have influenced his work, from The Dick Van Dyke Show to Star Wars. Click here to view his acceptance speech on the Academy Web site.

Other SVA alumni to be recognized recently for outstanding filmmaking include Lynn Shelton (MFA 1995 Photography and Related Media), who won the John Cassavetes Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards for her film Humpday, and Brenton Cottman (BFA 2003 Illustration), who won a Visual Effects Society (VES) Award for Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture for his work as leade matte painter on the film Avatar.

Image: Still from video from Oscar.com

• For its February 25th Brooklyn v. Manhattan issue, Time Out New York commissioned alumnus Rich Tu (MFA 2009 Illustration as Visual Essay) to create an illustration of what Manhattan and Brooklyn would look like if all the bridges and tunnels between the two boroughs were disabled. Tu created an illustrated map with icons depicting various Time Out quips, such as “Upper East Siders ask themselves, What bridges?”
• The BFA Film, Video and Animation Department’s 21st Annual Dusty Film and Animation Festival and Awards was also featured in Time Out New York, as well as on BroadwayWorld.com. The Festival will take place May 2 – 7 and includes screenings of short films, videos and animations and an awards ceremony and gala with notable presenters from the film industry.
• Eye blog covered MFA Computer Art Department Chair Bruce Wands‘ presentation at Decoding the Digital, a conference at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Wands made predictions about the future of computer art and design. Click here to read Eye’s rundown of the presentations.
• GOOD magazine covered faculty member Chris Fahey’s class in the MFA Interaction Design Department. Fahey asked his students to use publicly accessible data about New York City and transform it into something useful for New Yorkers via an application for a handheld device. Final products included an application to find the nearest subway stop and one to help educate parents about local schools.

Image: Rich Tu, illustration for February 25 issue of Time Out New York

• NYLON Guys profiled alumnus Dash Shaw (BFA 2005 Illustration) in its March issue. The magazine interviewed Shaw about the upcoming publication of his book BodyWorld, a collection of his online comics, as well as the comic book he is creating for the forthcoming film Rabbit Hole by director John Cameron Mitchell, starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart.
• Recent graduate and photographer Johanna Heldebro’s (MFA 2009 Photography, Video and Related Media) thesis project was featured in Vice. For To Come Within Reach of You (Gunnar Heldebro, Hässelby Strandväg 55, 165 65 Hässelby), Heldebro followed her father around Sweden, photographing him without his knowledge. View some of the images from the project on the Vice Web site.
• The February issue of Art in America included a 10-page spread about alumnus and Beijing-based photographer Xing Danwen (MFA 2001 Photography and Related Media). Known for her black-and-white photographs that reflect socio-political changes in China, Xing currently has a solo exhibition at Haines Gallery in San Francisco. View a slide show of Danwen’s images on the Art in America Web site or below.

Image: Photo of March 2010 issue of NYLON Guys

In celebration of the publication of his newest book of essays, MFA Art Criticism and Writing Department Chair David Levi Strauss will have a book signing on Thursday, February 25. Discounted copies of Strauss’ book, From Head to Hand: Art and the Manual (Oxford University Press, 2010), will be available at the signing at Cue Art Foundation, 511 West 25 Street, from 5 – 8pm.

The February/March issue of Bookforum reviewed From Head to Hand, which deals with different artists’ manifestations of ideas into physical works of art. Bookforum writes, “Strauss makes a good case for paying heed to not only the objects before us but also to how they came into being.”

Strauss previously spoke about From Head to Hand in an interview with the Briefs.

Image: photo of David Levi Strauss by Sterrett Smith

On Tuesday, March 2, the MFA Design Criticism Department kicks off its spring lecture series with design curator Zoë Ryan from The Art Institute of Chicago. The design blog UnBeige raves about “the outstanding line-up of speakers,” which includes documentary filmmaker Gary Hustwit (Helvetica, Objectified) and branding authority Brian Collins. Equally noteworthy is that this series has been organized by first-year students in the department, who will also introduce the speakers.

“It always begins with people we personally find interesting,” says student Vera Sacchetti. “Students came to the table with ideas of possible lecturers, presented them to one another, and collectively curated a group of speakers that would present a variety of perspectives in the application of design criticism. They were chosen for different reasons: their backgrounds, careers, personalities and perspectives.”

“We are interested in exploring how design criticism cuts across fields,” notes student Kim Birks, adding, “The boundaries of design criticism are still being defined and that in itself is exciting.”

The complete schedule can be found here. The lectures take place at the MFA Design Criticism Department, 136 West 21st Street, 2nd floor, and are free and open to the public. Each talk is followed by an informal reception with refreshments. Reservations are encouraged and can be made at dcrit@sva.edu. For more information, please call 212.592.2228.

Image:  Photo of Gary Hustwit by Brigid Hughes

New York City’s East Village has long been a mecca for artists of all stripes, but has seen dramatic changes in recent years. Some of the neighborhood’s artistic history was recently on view in an exhibition at Bullet Space, which was organized by alumnus and faculty member Andrew Castrucci (MFA 2009 Fine Arts; BFA 1984 Media Arts). As covered on The New York Times‘ blog City Room, “The Perfect Crime” featured artwork and artifacts from abandoned structures taken over by squatters. Bullet Space itself was founded as part of the squatters movement: Castrucci and others claimed the abandoned property in 1986 and transformed it into an experimental gallery.

Castrucci spoke with the Briefs about Bullet Space:

Tell me about the genesis of Bullet Space.
When I graduated from SVA, I opened up the A&P Gallery, which was part of the downtown art movement at the time. After I got priced out of that gallery, I moved into Bullet Space, and after 1 – 2 years of revamping, we began to have exhibitions.

How has the space evolved?
Bullet Space started as an alternative art space and it still is. Since we are an experimental space, we take risks that commercial galleries wouldn’t. For example, our last exhibition showed squatter art, everyday objects and “junk” as art–much in the Arte Povera tradition–and even the tools we used to make the works as art. In our excavation of the space, we got lucky and found the old outhouse for the tenement. In treating an archive as an art form, we put that on display as well.

What motivated you to get your MFA recently?
I think I was hanging out with too many outlaws in the squatting scene and so it was a bit of a relief to go back to SVA. What I enjoy is the idea of groups of artists working together. It’s the same in a school as in art collectives, where artists are both creating and presenting. I bridge both worlds.

Image: Photo of interior of Bullet Space by Andrew Castrucci

Every January, the magazine Graphic Design USA (GDUSA) compiles a list of People to Watch in the upcoming year. For the 2010 edition, GDUSA highlighted two faculty members in their list of 22 graphic designers who they feel best represent the spirit of the creative community: Gail Anderson (BFA 1984 Graphic Design) and Joe Marianek. In interviews with the magazine, both Anderson and Marianek talk about their backgrounds and sources of inspiration. In addition to being designated one of the People to Watch, Anderson, who is also an alumnus, is featured on the cover of the magazine in an illustration done by alumnus and Masters Series laureate Paul Davis (G 1959 Illustration).

Jiwon Kim, a current student in the BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Department, was also featured in the January/February issue. Kim was one of 14 students selected for the magazine’s first list of Students to Watch. In explaining her attitude towards design, Kim told the magazine, “I believe it’s important to make the best of every situation and to not fear failure; this principle drives my creativity and gives me the confidence to handle any challenge.”

Image: cover of the January/February 2010 issue of Graphic Design USA featuring a reproduction of a painting by Paul Davis, 2009

BFA Fine Arts Department faculty member David Ross was a guest on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report on Thursday, February 11. Ross, who has played a prominent role in the museum world since 1971, serving as the director of both the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, spoke with host Stephen Colbert about the history of posters for the Olympic Games. After Ross demonstrated the disappearance of the heroic figure in contemporary Olympic posters, Colbert unveiled his proposed poster for the Vancouver 2010 games. Designed by artist Shepard Fairey, the poster features an attempted reemergence of the heroic figure: an illustration of Colbert riding a bald eagle. Click the image below to view the interview segment with Ross or visit ColbertNation.com to view the entire episode.

• New York Times art critic Roberta Smith profiled various current gallery exhibitions from what she describes as “bad-boy week on the New York art scene.” Two of the seven artists profiled are SVA alumni: Banks Violette (BFA 1998 Fine Arts) and Keith Haring (1979 Fine Arts). Violette’s show, which includes a sculpture that Smith calls “one of his best works so far,” is at Gladstone Gallery, 530 West 21st Street, through Saturday, April 17. One of Haring’s pro bono murals will be on view at Deitch Projects, 18 Wooster Street, at various times in February. Click here to view a slide show of images from the Times article.
• An interview with photographer and alumnus Kareem Black (BFA 1999 Photography) was recently featured in 25 Magazine. Black talks about some of his recent photo shoots, like one for The Real Housewives of Atlanta, as well as advice his instructors gave him when he was at SVA.
• The California Chronicle wrote about alumnus Eric Wight (BFA 1998 Animation), who is publishing another book in his Frankie Pickle series for children, which combines the comic and chapter book formats. Frankie Pickle and the Pine Run 3000 is the second book in the series from the artist who has worked on various film and TV projects, including animation for the movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and comic book art for the TV show The O.C.

Image: Banks Violette, throne ( and over and over again), 2009 – 2010, fluorescent tubes, steel, chain, wire and road case; Courtesy Gladstone Gallery, New York, and Team Gallery, New York.

While the Superbowl attracts plenty of football fans, many other people eagerly await Superbowl Sunday in anticipation of the commercials. This past Sunday, one of the commercials to create the most buzz was art directed by 2009 graduate Anthony Cafaro (BFA 2009 Graphic Design). The 60-second spot for Google, called “Parisian Love,” captures a series of Google searches to create an implicit narrative of two people falling in love.

The commercial has been covered on the Wired and CNN Web sites. Google created a series of similar “Search Stories” that have been online since the fall. View the commercial below or on YouTube.