Current MFA Design students Lizzy Showman and Kathleen Fitzgerald have created an ideal gift for NYC bus drivers—a customized seat cushion. A video of the students handing out the padded presents to unsuspecting drivers on the M15 line, which runs from East Harlem to South Ferry in Manhattan, was recently featured on CNN iReport and has been making the rounds online. The project, entitled I Heart M15, was conceived by the up-and-coming designers for faculty member Stefan Sagmeister’s course“Can Design Touch Someone’s Heart?”
“Not only is the M15 line the second busiest in the nation, it is also a big part of our own daily commute,” Showman said. “Witnessing the long hours and sometimes hectic atmosphere the M15 bus drivers experience is part of the reason we connected with the bus line and decided to do something to show our appreciation.”
Casting a shadow that stretches back more than a century, the Chelsea Hotel on New York City’s 23rd Street has been a haven for artists, writers, and musicians (everyone from Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin to Charles Bukowski and Leonard Cohen have resided there) since opening its doors in 1884 until closing for renovations this past August. Drawn to the history of the legendary landmark, filmmaker Corinne van der Borch (MFA 2009 Photography, Video and Related Media) took her cameras inside, where she captured the story of one its longtime residents, artist Bettina. The result is Girl With Black Balloons, a portrait of a reclusive artist hidden away with her work for decades. The film recently won the Grand Jury Prize in the Metropolis category at the DOC NYC festival, so the Briefs caught up with Borch via email to learn more about the project.
What sparked your fascination with the Chelsea Hotel?
I stayed at the Chelsea Hotel for an evening many years ago and remember wandering the stairwell filled with works of art. Oftentimes I get inspired by a physical object—in this case the cast-iron stairwell, like a backbone winding through this legendary hotel with so many hidden stories.
How did you come across Bettina, and what made you think she would be an interesting subject for a film?
I met Bettina on the staircase…I felt that she was the reason for me to come back with my camera. I wanted to investigate her…Ever since our first encounter on the stairwell I have been struggling to document her adventures, her moods and her surroundings; a rent stabilized, cluttered apartment in the Chelsea Hotel in which she has spent half…of her artist life as a recluse. Bettina has surrounded herself with boxes filled with works of art that have never left her studio. An artist’s quest for acknowledgement can be extremely difficult. Living in the Chelsea Hotel doesn’t necessarily mean fame and certainly not fortune.
How did you seek to portray Bettina’s personality and eccentricity to the audience? Did the two of you have any differences in vision that needed to be worked out?
While shooting, the line of who is in control is constantly crossed. I am not just observing, but actively present throughout the film. I am provocative from time to time, creating uncomfortable moments. What starts off as a game of trust ends up almost as a relationship between a mother and a daughter. I don’t think Bettina had any idea what sort of film I was making. She’s such a great conceptual artist. I don’t think it ever occurred to her I was making something so personal, gentle, humane and confrontational. We share a similar visual sensibility, and [I feel us] both being women made her trust me. Her work ethos is without any compromise. She would call me and yell at me when I was hanging out with friends instead of working! Her work as an artist is without a doubt some of the best work I’ve ever seen. I gave it context with my film.
Do you have any new projects in the works?
I’m currently developing a new project…The title is “The Twin Moms,” a story about 80-year-old identical twin sisters. They speak in stereo and move [synchronously] and are the only black folks on the white side of town, a story about two sides of one track. And I hope in the future I will find a place to start teaching non-fiction filmmaking.
Images: (top) Corrine van der Borch at DOC NYC. (bottom) Screenshot of Bettina from Girl With Black Balloons.
Watch a trailer for Girl With Black Balloons below.
SVA presents “Being American,” an exhibition surveying responses by visual artists to some of the most pressing social issues in America today. On view at the Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26 Street, New York City, from November 22 – December 21, the more than 85 works in the show address topics ranging from recent environmental catastrophes to the pervading effects of the economic crisis; from the long shadow of 9/11 and two overseas wars to the home-front debates surrounding religious tolerance, gay marriage, capital punishment and firearms possession.
Francis Di Tommaso, Visual Arts Gallery Director and curator of “Being American” explains, “The twenty artists in this show have twenty stories to tell about the experience of being American today. Though many would not normally exhibit in the same venue—the work of some is almost never seen outside of the printed page—they all have immediately accessible and also exquisitely nuanced commentaries to make on American culture.”
Martha Rosler’s jarring photomontages juxtapose documentary photographs of the brutalities of war in Afghanistan and Iraq with the complacency of well-appointed American home interiors. Kehinde Wiley’s classically-inspired portraits of the modern day African-American and Latino street-level aristocracy point out extremes in the nation’s social stratification. And Edward Burtynsky’s elegiac seascape of an oil-wrecked Gulf of Mexico considers the changed American landscape.
For more information about the exhibition and to see a full list of participants, visit SVA.edu. The reception for “Being American” will take place on Thursday, December 1, 6 – 8pm at the Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26 Street, New York City.
Image: Kehinde Wiley, Defend and Develop the Island Together, 2006, oil on canvas, 96 x 72 inches, Sender Collection, courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery, New York.
Director Graham Elliott (BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Department faculty member) captures the energy and drive of individuals involved in the motion graphics industry with his new documentary New York in Motion. Fifty interviews with industry bigwigs, including executives from TV networks and top studios, portray the evolution of motion graphics, its current state and its potential for future development. The Briefs caught up with Elliott via email to discuss the project.
Why did you choose this project? What was your goal going into it? I teach a motion graphics portfolio class at SVA and I realized the discipline had gotten rather murky as to what exactly it was and what was out there for the students. I went to Richard Wilde, the chair of the BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Department. I asked if I could get his and SVA’s backing to make a short documentary about the field and the practitioners. He was very enthusiastic, and President David Rhodes also gave his backing as executive producer.
How did you select who to interview? Did you discover anything new through the interviews? I asked my students to look up who was doing the best, most innovative work. I also asked Matt Lambert from Motionographer for his selections, and I threw in my faves. We ended up with a list of 52 designers, studios and networks. I emailed them, and 50 replied with full support and enthusiasm. Incidentally the film was originally going to be a web-based, 12-minute piece. I ended up shooting more than 100 hours. The rough cut was three-and-a-half hours.
How do you think this documentary will impact the audience’s understanding of motion graphics?
That’s a great question, and I think it is the biggest revelation I discovered. A quote from the film by Charlie No (BFA 2004 Advertising and Graphic Design), an SVA alum and owner of Alien Kung Fu studios—“My mother doesn’t even know what I do.” I thought the film would be embraced by the design community but didn’t realize that the general public would be so interested in the topic. Putting faces behind the work really brings the field to life. I was recently talking to the New York Center for an Urban Future about proposing the city put some backing behind the industry as it does with sports and fashion. Think “Fashion Week.” Why not a “Motion Graphics Week”? The field is growing every day as the ubiquity of all the delivery mechanisms grows and grows. The explosion of iPods, iPads, giant [TV] screens and the global reach of the Internet is making motion design an essential part of a designer’s repertoire. The fact the film got into the biggest documentary festival in the world [International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam] shows there is a great interest in the subject, even outside of the motion graphics and design industry.
What are some of your upcoming projects to look out for?
I am pitching the idea of The World in Motion as a TV series or short film series, an exposé into the global effect of the industry…I am also interested in resurrecting a project that I think I was too close to when I made it 10 years ago for it to reach its full potential, the documentary Greyhound to Cuba, about life in the back streets of a country in exile. I am also teaching a new motion portfolio class next fall called New York in Motion…The students will be immersed in the industry practices and standards.
Where did the concept for Botanicalls come from?
Botanicalls originated as a graduate student project at NYU’s [Interactive Telecommunications Program]. The idea was to produce a personal connection between plants in the student lounge and the people who might care for them. We came up with the idea that they could make a phone call to the lounge phone and request water and light, each in their own species-inspired voice.
How does Botanicalls work?
When the plant’s soil gets dry, a moisture sensor triggers a connection to Twitter over the Internet and posts a request for water. When the plant is watered, the same sensor triggers a connection that posts a thank-you message. Too-frequent or insufficient watering are also detected, and reports are made.
What is the significance of Botanicalls for the average person? And what is its significance from a design perspective?
The main intent of the project is to build the relationship between plants and people. So we specifically avoided creating any kind of automated watering system because we wanted humans to notice and attend to the plants directly, as a way of enhancing their experience of other living things.
I think it’s significant from a design perspective because by focusing on that relationship instead of some mechanical problem, we created a compelling engagement that turned out to grab the imagination of so many who heard about it.
What does its inclusion in the MoMA permanent collection mean to you?
It’s a great honor to be included in the MoMA collection, of course. Beyond that though, it was an instant guarantee that this project would turn out to last longer than I do since everything in the collection is intended to be preserved for the ages. Realizing that was a dizzying moment.
What other projects are you currently working on?
I’m always busy with new things. Right now I’m teaching a graduate course that centers around networking a 28-story, 300-unit apartment building on Central Park South. I’ve also been toying with the creation of a networked breathalyzer that tracks tipsiness in various cities around the world. And recently I’ve begun thinking about the possibilities for networking cars.
MFA Computer Art Department faculty member and alumnus John F. Simon Jr. (MFA 1989 Computer Art) was one of a select few artists chosen to create an app for Icelandic singer Björk’s groundbreaking new album, Biophilia. The first app album ever created, Biophilia is divided into 10 separate apps (available for download at the iTunes App Store) and features vivid graphics, related essays, games and touch-screen capabilities, all designed to allow users to interact with the album on an iPad. The Briefs recently caught up with Simon, who also worked as software engineer and co-creative director with Björk on the project.
How would you explain this project to those who know nothing about it?
When you download Biophilia, it is like getting a CD of music, plus the little booklet that comes with it. The apps are like the booklet that you sit and flip through as you listen to the album. Except in this case, the booklet is interactive and includes games and instruments that let you jam along in the style of each track. You get to participate in the music in ways that are as unique as each song.
How did you get involved with the project, and what was your role?
The album has 10 tracks and 10 apps, each designed by a different artist. I was very lucky to be included with this really exceptional group of artists, designers and programmers. Scott Snibbe, a well-known designer of interactive experiences, was the lead developer. For the particular track I worked on, called “Mutual Core,” he needed an artist, an iPhone/iPad software engineer, and someone with a geology background, since the song is about tectonic plates and the Earth’s core. I happen to fit all three requirements. My role was to work with Björk as a sort of co-creative director to interpret the song into visual metaphors, then develop meaningful and interesting interactions, link the interactions to the music in a way that made a playable instrument, and finally make sure the piece supported the music education goals she had for it. In my case, the musical lesson is on “chords”—you make chords with the Earth’s tectonic plates and when the song plays you visualize the chords in the strata.
Do you think connecting music to apps is going to become a craze?
I hope so. Once you get into programming an iPad, the possibilities are mind blowing. The recorded music and the interactive instrument just seem to merge. I hope every musician will open up their music as generously through an interactive app. The only thing that might slow it down is how much more creativity and time it takes to produce apps.
What do you think the benefit of album apps is, opposed to the basic listening experience or a simple music video?
One great thing about my app is that you can hook your iPad to a desktop Mac and play the app instrument through Garage Band using any samples you want. “Mutual Core” sounds amazing with the Grand Piano samples. Then you can record, mix, etc., in all the custom instruments in the album. And all this is filtered through the design considerations and style of the track.
Are there any other comments you want to make on the project? It is surprising how much more interesting the iPad/hand gesture interface is for interaction and design than the desktop/mouse interface. I would not have believed how much richer the experience is until I had a focused project that made me really experiment with the possibilities. Being able to detect 10 touches at once, the multi-touch package alone has much more to offer instrument builders.
Images: Screenshots from “Mutual Core,” from Bjork’s Biophilia App Album. Courtesy of John F. Simon Jr.
The Art Directors Club (ADC) has announced the winners of Young Guns 9, an annual competition that honors outstanding advertising and graphic design work by creative professionals under the age of 30, and among them are several members of the SVA community. Jonathan Bartlett (MFA 2010 Illustration as Visual Essay), Daniel Cassaro (BFA 2008 Graphic Design) and Dan Kenneally (BFA 2005 Advertising) were all recipients of the prestigious award. In addition to having their work exhibited through November 3 in the ADC Gallery, 106 West 29 Street, New York City, it will also be published in an upcoming limited edition book and included in an online collection.
Images: Jonathan Bartlett, jacket art for P.G. Wodehouse reprint of The Inimitable Jeeves (Penguin); Jonathan Bartlett, theater poster for The Bridge Theatre Company’s production of Sia; Jonathan Bartlett, The Wing Tip, of the Timeless Fashion series.
Feeding the Dragon: A Culinary Travelogue Through China with Recipes (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2011) by Nate Tate (BFA 2006 Graphic Design) and Mary Kate Tate: With little more than two backpacks, a camera, and a tarp, Mandarin-speaking American brother and sister Nate and Mary Kate Tate traveled more than 9,700 miles throughout China to create a visual narrative of food and culture, all in the name of discovering the country’s best recipes. To learn more about the book and the trip, visit the Feeding the Dragon Web site.
GREY (Loaded Barrel Studios) by Jared Barel (MFA Design 2005), Jordan Barel and Alex Goz: This “live action” graphic novel weaves a twisted tale of horror, science fiction, drama and intrigue. GREY follows the story of John Mack, a former New York City cop who moves to the country in hopes of living a more quiet life. To his surprise, he soon discovers that small town life isn’t always what it seems when an alien arrives and disrupts things. Watch a trailer for GREY below.
Aside from being chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, Joe Quesada (BFA 1984 Media Arts) is a husband and a father who has had to develop the superpower of balancing his personal and professional lives. The New York Times caught up with the 49-year-old Flatiron resident recently to find out how he spends a typical Sunday.
About his sleep schedule, Quesada says: “I could try to oversleep—today, that was 7:30. I’m not a light sleeper, but I don’t get to bed early, ever.”
On weekend family outings: “Sunday is the chance that we get to do something as a family, so we often go to Madison Square Park—Shake Shack has always been a ritual for us . . . As my friend likes to say, I’m a five-block-radius kind of guy, so anything within five blocks of my home is what I set my sights on.”
On personal time: “I am pretty much working all the time . . . I have an iPad that’s set to ping whenever I get an email from work. On weekends, there’s very little pinging, so it’s a good time to sit and draw.”
Creating the “Tony Bennett: Portrait of An Artist” exhibition was a natural progression for photographers Josh Cheuse (BFA 1988 Photography) and Kelsey Bennett (Pre-College Program participant), granddaughter of Mr. Bennett. On view at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in SoHo, 124 Prince Street, until Sunday, October 9, the show documents the recording process of Tony Bennett’s new album DUETS II (RPM/Columbia Records) and features images of the legendary singer with the likes of k.d. lang, Amy Winehouse, Willie Nelson and Lady Gaga. All of the photos were taken by Kelsey Bennett and Cheuse, who began photographing bands when he was 16 years old and has worked for such publications as SPIN, Rolling Stone and Time Out. Kelsey Bennett has also been taking photos since she was an adolescent, and has since had the opportunity to intern for Danielle Levitt and Annie Leibovitz. The younger Bennett shared some thoughts about the exhibition and her photography via email with the Briefs recently.
How did the idea for this exhibition come about, and why did you decide to do it now?
My grandfather’s record DUETS II was released the same day as the gallery opening. As well as portraying Tony’s life as an artist, we also wanted to capture him with his DUETS partners to celebrate the record.
How did you team up with Josh?
In addition to being a photographer, Josh is also the art director at Sony. He designed the layout of the record. Throughout the years, Josh has become a close family friend.
How did your time at SVA contribute to your development as a photographer?
Being at SVA helped me use my sense of exploration to find what inspires me on the streets of New York. There used to be a punk club on Saint Marks Place called Coney Island High. I would go there every weekend. When I was at SVA, the club closed. I walked downtown and talked my way into the place. The guy originally wasn’t going to let me in but was swayed by the fact that I was shooting for school. Everything was left as I had remembered. I photographed the stage and the murals on the wall. I gained access into a place I never thought I’d see again. I still have those shots.
How does your photographic style differ from other photographers?
I am more concept driven. When I’m shooting, I keep an idea in my head that I want to later portray through the photograph. Josh loves to work with natural light. He waits for the light to create something beautiful, and he captures it. He has an incredible shot of my father and grandfather [Tony Bennett] on the roof of Capitol Records.
What do you want viewers to take away from this exhibition?
My grandfather is 85, and he has been working and living as an artist for most of his life and traveling the world to bring people his art. As well as being a singer, he paints and has just taken up sculpting. I want viewers to come away from the exhibit feeling inspired by how my grandfather has actively dedicated his life to his passion.
Images: Photo of Tony Bennett and Kelsey Bennett by Kyle Dean Reinford. Courtesy of Kelsey Bennett.
