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A new public-art project by alumnus Dylan Mortimer (MFA 2006 Fine Arts) has been turning heads in New York City this month. Through the city’s Art in the Parks program, the artist installed a pair of “prayer booths” near the entrance to the Roosevelt Island tram in Manhattan, inviting passers-by to kneel in the phone booth-like stalls for prayer and reflection. Modeled on typical metropolitan phone booths, the wryly designed prayer booths have inspired much discussion amongst the public and the press: Mortimer’s project has garnered stories in the New York Post and Newsday, and in the national media.
“This is a way to talk about prayer in the public sphere—but with a bit of humor,” Mortimer told the Post. In addition to the NYC prayer booths, the artist has installed similar works in Jackson, Tennessee; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The project is the latest in a line of religious-themed work by Mortimer, who also serves as a minister at the River City Community Church in Kansas City, Missouri.
Image: Dylan Mortimer, Prayer Booth, 2003.
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Nicktoons, the series of children’s animations broadcast on the Nickelodeon network, recently ran its annual Nicktoons Network Animation Festival. Five animated shorts by alumni of the BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects Department were aired in October on the network as finalists: A Faery's Tale by Sylvia Apostol (2007); El Mono by Min Chung Cho (2007); Alien Abduction by David Han (2008); Henshin by Eric Huang (2008); and Lilium Urbanus by Joji Tsuruga (2008) and Anca Risca (2008).
After much deliberation and viewer feedback, the 2008 Grand Jury Award went to Min Chung Cho's El Mono, which depicts a young woman’s surreal journey on a New York City subway train. Cho will receive a $10,000 prize, and a video stream of the animated short is being featured on the Nicktoons Web site.
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Two SVA authors are garnering shelf space at the nation’s booksellers with new titles out in November. Acting Chairman Milton Glaser has written Drawing is Thinking (Overlook Press, 2008), which looks at drawing as the fundamental source of artistic creation. Mixing personal reflections with many pages of his drawings, Glaser reflects on his career and his use of drawing as a tool to understand the world around him. The hardcover book is published by Overlook Press, which is also reissuing Glaser’s two other signature books, Art is Work and Graphic Design.
Also out this month is Visual Culture and Bioscience (Center for Art and Visual Culture, 2008) by BFA Fine Arts Department Chair Suzanne Anker. Based on a 2007 online symposium sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences and the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Anker’s book looks at how the disciplines of visual arts and bioscience overlap and interact. The contributing artists, scientists, historians and other experts touch on issues such as the role of artists in the lab, imaging in art and science, and the social dimensions of the science-art connection.
Image: Cover of Visual Culture and Bioscience (Center for Art and Visual Culture, 2008).
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After last year’s successful lecture series at KGB Bar, the MFA Design Criticism Department has a full slate of talks on the SVA campus. Two of the lectures are set to take place in the next couple of weeks: Allan Chochinov, a frequent lecturer on the impact of design on contemporary culture, will give a talk on Tuesday, November 25, entitled Design and the Blog Space. Chochinov is a partner of Core77, a New York-based design network serving a global community of designers and design enthusiasts; editor-in-chief of Core77.com, a widely-read Web site focusing on product design; and an SVA faculty member.
On Tuesday, December 2, the department presents Writing Critical Monographs, featuring educator and critic Pat Kirkham. Kirkham has written extensively on the intersections of design, gender and film and is a professor of design history and cultural studies at the Bard Graduate Center in New York. Both events take place at 6pm at 136 West 21st Street, 2nd floor. The lectures are free and open to the public, but seating is limited at this venue so please RSVP to 212.592.2228 or dcrit@sva.edu.
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- LAST CHANCE: “Continuous Current,” an exhibition featuring the work of current MFA Computer Art Department students, alumni and faculty. Westside Gallery, 133/141 West 21st Street, through Wednesday, November 26.
- “The Book Show,” an exhibition of 20 books by students in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department. Based on personal experiences, the works on view include children’s books, graphic novels and comic books and explore themes from treasure-hunting to hydrophobia, curated by Department Chair Marshall Arisman and faculty member Carl Nicholas Titolo; “Credible Correspondence (Travels of the Imagination),” an exhibition by first- and second-year students in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department featuring found and fabricated postcards, all bearing the marks of passage and postage, curated by Carl Nicholas Titolo; “The Call of Cthulhu,” an exhibition of sequential narratives based upon the 1928 short story The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft, curated by faculty member Viktor Koen; “Transitions,” an exhibition of artwork by students in the BFA Visual and Critical Studies Department, including painting, photography, video, drawing, collage and artists' books, curated by Department Chair Tom Huhn. Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26th Street, 15th floor, November 21 - December 13; Reception: Tuesday, November 25, 6 - 8pm.
- “Reconstructing Destruction,” a multimedia exhibition of work by students from The High School of Art & Design, presented by the MAT Art Education Department and the Liberty Partnerships Program (LPP); curated by LPP Program Director Molaundo Jones and the LPP staff. Westside Gallery, 133/141 West 21st Street, December 5 - 17; Reception: Saturday, December 6, 12 - 2pm.
- “The Masters Series: April Greiman,” a retrospective exhibition honoring April Greiman, one of the first American designers to embrace digital technologies, which explores the intersection of art, design and architecture. Visual Arts Museum, 209 East 23rd Street, through Saturday, December 13.
Click here for more information about SVA exhibitions.
Image: Kai-Min Hsuing, Two moods in a day, 2008; from “Continuous Current.”
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- Artists Talk on Art Presents: The Artist's Cut: A discussion of the possibilities of moving-image art among panelists Marcia Grostein, artist; Robert Ayers, artist and writer; Lee Wells, curator and co-founder of Perpetual Art Machine; and moderator Linda DiGusta, editor of Resolve40.com. Friday, November 21, 7pm, 209 East 23rd Street, 3rd-floor amphitheater. Admission is free for SVA students, faculty, staff and ATOA members; $7 regular admission; $3 for SVA alumni, non-SVA students and seniors.
- Fall Salon: The MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department's annual Fall Salon is a unique opportunity to view student work-in-progress and meet with the artists; refreshments will be served. Friday, November 21, 7 - 9 pm, 214 East 21st Street, 1st floor. Free and open to the public.
- Art Therapy Lecture: Is artistic expression produced during art therapy enough to trigger the art therapist's duty to warn or protect a third party? Shannon McGinn, MA, JD, ATR-BC will lead a discussion of the issues, including studies showing that artistic expression is more likely to help a client reflect on past experiences than act as a gauge of impending behavior. Presented by the MPS Art Therapy Department. Tuesday, November 25, 6:30 - 8pm, 133/141 West 21st Street, room 101C. Free and open to the public. Please RSVP to 212.592.2610 or arttherapy@sva.edu.
- Byron Kim Lecture: Byron Kim garnered international recognition for his contribution to the 1993 Whitney Biennial, Synecdoche, a multi-panel, minimalist grid that uses a palette of specific diverse skin tones to explore social insights into racial identity. Kim’s body of work includes landscape and photographic assemblages in addition to the masterful monochromes for which he is best known. Presented by the BFA Fine Arts and BFA Visual and Critical Studies Departments. Tuesday, December 2, 6:30pm, 133/144 West 21st Street, room 101C. Free and open to the public.
For a complete list of SVA events, visit sva.edu/events.
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- Saturday, November 22: Fall Pre-college program ends.
- Wednesday, November 26: College closes at 1pm for Thanksgiving.
- November 26 – 30: No continuing education classes.
- November 27 – 30: Thanksgiving recess, College closed.
Note: Due to the Thanksgiving recess, there will not be an issue of the Visual Arts Briefs next week. The Briefs will return on Friday, December 5.
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