Visual Arts Briefs

Each year, The Alumni Society of School of Visual Arts grants Alumni Scholarship Awards to graduate and undergraduate students working on thesis/portfolio projects, and this year’s slate of recipients has just been announced. The awards are funded by generous donations from alumni, parents and friends of SVA, and are based on detailed project proposals submitted by the students.

This year’s winners are: Angela Branco (MFA Fine Arts), Sachio Cook (BFA Animation), Michelle Czajkowski (BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects), Daniel Fishel (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Erin Franke (BFA Visual and Critical Studies), Sasha Friedlander (MFA Social Documentary Film), Carly Gaebe (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media), Ben Gewant (BFA Fine Arts), Susie Hong (BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects), Maya Kaplun (BFA Graphic Design), Spencer Katz (BFA Film and Video), Mark Kendall (MFA Social Documentary Film), Shien-Yuin Lai (BFA Animation), Ying Hsu Lai (MFA Computer Art), Lillian Lee (MFA Design), Sara Macel (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media), Drew Magner (BFA Film and Video), William Russell Maschmeyer (MFA Interaction Design), Jinah Min (MFA Design), Kimberly Moy (BFA Interior Design), Tempest NeuCollins (MFA Fine Arts), Alex Nuñez (BFA Photography), Nathan Ramirez (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media), Christopher Sellas (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media), Olena Shmahalo (BFA Visual and Critical Studies), Sarah Stephenson (MFA Art Criticism and Writing), Michael Williams (BFA Film and Video), Zack Williams (BFA Animation) and Selim Yang (BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects).

In addition, The Alumni Society administers several named scholarships established in honor of alumni, former students or faculty. The 2011 recipients of these awards are: Lisa Anchin (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Illustration as Visual Essay Award; Lauren Baker (BFA Illustration), Illustration and Cartooning Award; Alysha Colangeli (BFA Fine Arts), Amelia Geocos Memorial Award; DaYoung Jung (BFA Cartooning), Will Eisner Sequential Art Award; Kayla Jang (BFA Graphic Design), Robert I. Blumenthal Memorial Award; Amanda Lanzone (BFA Illustration), 727 Award; Bo Ae Lee (BFA Cartooning), Bob Guglielmo Memorial Award; So Na Lee (BFA Fine Arts), Sylvia Lipson Allen Memorial Award; Victoria Rivera (BFA Film and Video), William C. Arkell Memorial Award; and Heather Renée Russ (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media), Thomas Reiss Memorial Award.

Images: (top) Daniel Fishel, Unnecessary Neighborly Competition, 2010; (bottom) So Na Lee, Skin of something, 2009.

Faculty member Trilby Schreiber (BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects Department; and MFA Computer Art Department) is heading overseas this month for the annual Tricky Women animation festival in Vienna, Austria, taking place March 10 – 14. Schrieber is slated to be a featured presenter at the festival and has curated Music and Dance, a program of animated films that focus on song and choreography.

Included in the program are two films by MFA Computer Art Department students: GMYL by Tatiana McCabe, mixing live action, digital effects and stop-motion animation; and Keep Dancing by Siwen Candy Sui, a stop-motion animation exploring different dance genres. For more information on the Tricky Women fest, visit trickywomen.at.

Image: Siwen Candy Sui, still from Keep Dancing, 2010.

When alumnus Dustin Grella (MFA 2010 Computer Art) launched his Animation Hotline project—turning voice-mail messages into original short animations—Briefs editor Brian Glaser couldn’t resist picking up the phone. Here’s our very own Hotline animation:

To see more work from Grella on the Animation Hotline, visit vimeo.com/channels/animationhotline.

Alumni Arlene Ducao (MFA 2004 Computer Art) and Ilias Koen (MFA 2005 Computer Art) run The DuKode Studio together and last year designed a new iPhone/iPad app, Mandala Memory. The app is a classic matching game, with the images based on finely detailed hand-cut paper mandala patterns.

Mandala Memory has been awarded third place in the “Best Family Game” iPhone category of the Best App Ever Awards at the Macworld Expo, beating other popular games such as Lego Harry Potter and Gun Bros. To see the full list of winners for iPhone and iPad apps, click here.

The annual conference of the College Art Association (CAA) takes place February 9 – 12, at the Hilton New York, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, and SVA will have a high-profile presence there. The College is one of more than 100 organizations represented at the CAA Book and Trade Fair, and SVA is presenting a booth (#108 in Americas Hall 1) that will provide information on the College’s academic, studio and special programs.

In addition, members of the SVA community are participating in sessions and events throughout the conference schedule. On Wednesday, February 9, 9:30am, MFA Design Criticism Department Chair Alice Twemlow is co-chairing What’s Art Got to Do With It? Design Writing in the Twenty-First Century; later that day, at 2:30pm, MFA Computer Art Department Chair Bruce Wands co-chairs Digital Craftsmanship: How Artists Are Making Physical Objects From Virtual Data; and Wands follows up at 6pm with a New Media Caucus showcase and reception, hosted by the MFA Computer Art Department, 133/141 West 23rd Street (room 101C and 10th floor), featuring presentations and screenings of work by 18 artists (separate registration required). On Thursday, February 10, 9:30am, alumnus Suzanne McClelland (MFA 1989 Fine Arts) is a panelist for Studio Art Open Session: Abstract Painting at 100; also at 9:30am, Penelope Umbrico (MFA 1989 Fine Arts) is part of ARTspace’s panel, Data as Medium. And on Saturday, February 12, 9:30am, BFA Visual and Critical Studies Department Chair Tom Huhn is part of the the panel Imitation, Copy, Reproduction, Replication, Repetition and Appropriation, Part I.

There is an additional event being presented by the BFA Fine Arts Department in conjunction with the conference. On Thursday, February 10, 7pm, at the SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, composer Rhys Chatham and faculty member Joseph Nechvatal present Viral Venture, an event that features a digital art screening and discussion with the artists.

For more information on the CAA conference and its schedule of events, visit conference.collegeart.org.

In addition to coming to SVA from the same country (Taiwan), the two winners of AniMazSpot 2011 also both earned their graduate degrees at the College. Yen-Ting Kuo (MFA 2010 Computer Art) won the top award for the film Swing, while Yi-Jen Chen (MFA 2010 Computer Art) won for The Wind-Up Life. Swing was described by panelists as, “Masterful. Superb visuals, shots, pacing, music, sound, plotting,” while The Wind-Up Life was admired for its, “Great sense of the unknown, strange images and wonderful twists and turns.”

As one of the leaders in 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software, Autodesk has created its Education Showreel, a three-minute compilation of student films created using Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya and Softimage tools. Yukyung Chae, Yi Jen Chen, Yi Bing Jiang, Yen Ting Kuo, Balgum Song, Yongsub Song, Rui Xu and Ihsu Yoon, all 2010 alumni from the MFA Computer Art Department, had excerpts from their thesis films featured in the reel.

The MFA Computer Art Department is presenting its latest exhibition, “Parallel Threads,” bringing together prints, digital video, computer animation and interactive installations by students, alumni and faculty. The exhibition, curated by Diane Field and Charley Lewis, is at the Westside Gallery, 133/141 West 21st Street, through Monday, November 22, with a reception for the artists on Thursday, October 28, 6 – 8pm.

“Parallel Threads” includes work in various media from students Beyza Boyacioglu, Jonathan Brainin, Hwayong Jung, Hyelim Kim, Hyung Gyu Kim and Song Yup Kim; alumni Jose Carlos Casado (MFA 2001 Computer Art), John Cinco (MFA 1998 Computer Art) and Dustin Grella (MFA 2009 Computer Art); and faculty members Andy Deck, Eric Eiser, Jarryd Lowder and Joseph Nechvatal. To see images and get more information about the show, visit the exhibition page on the SVA site.

Image: Hwayong Jung, a_typ, 2010.

Jennifer Phillips, director of the Office of  Career Development, was part of the SVA contingent attending the 2010 edition of SIGGRAPH, the premier international event on computer graphics and interactive technique. She sent this dispatch from the event in Los Angeles:

This week, a team comprised of members of the College’s MFA Computer Art Department; BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects Department; Office of External Relations; and Office of Career Development attended SIGGRAPH 2010, which took place July 25 – 29 in Los Angeles, CA.

One of the conference’s many appeals is the annual “SpaceTime” exhibition and competition, which features some of the best creative computer-based work from students around the globe. Recent graduate Anis Haron (MFA 2010 Computer Art) was one of the few chosen to participate this year. Elsewhere at the conference, alumnus Isaac Kerlow (BFA 1981 Media Arts) directed this year’s Computer Animation Festival (CAF), and MFA Computer Art Department faculty member Steve Rittler was on the CAF jury.

In addition to the vibrant exhibition and festival scenes, the SVA team was part of an exclusive group of colleges and universities invited to partake in education symposiums at DreamWorks Animation Studios, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Walt Disney Animation Studios. These events allowed us to learn directly from top industry figures about new trends and technological developments that may affect the skills students need to ensure optimal success as professionals. Overall, the SIGGRAPH conference also gives the College an opportunity to promote the talent of its recent graduates to hiring managers throughout the digital arts industry.

Visit siggraph.org/s2010 for more information about SIGGRAPH, and watch videos from the event on SIGGRAPH’s YouTube channel.

Video: Anis Haron, Relations

Discussing the potential of computer viruses as a creative strategy, MFA Computer Art Department faculty member Joseph Nechvatal also talks about his work with images and music on the radio show ArtOnAir. Click here to listen to the broadcast.