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ART CENTER NEWSWIRE - June 21, 2001

PASADENA, CA, USA | To keep abreast of the exciting and innovative ideas, people and projects at Art Center College of Design, the media and general public can subscribe to Art Center's news digest by sending a blank email to: newswire-on@lists.artcenter.edu. We highlight some of the newsmakers in our Art Center community twice a month. To report news or obtain more information, contact Jan Kingaard, tel. (626) 396-2394, fax (626) 683-9233.


CAMPUS

New York TimesContemporary art is expanding way beyond the canvas, creating a demand for space to accommodate artists' statements. Former MOCA director and current Art Center President Richard Koshalek was instrumental in securing Temporary Contemporary for MOCA, providing the necessary space for today's artist. "Now artists have the resources to do large things; there's this challenge to have an impact equal to architecture," he said. "As a contemporary museum director, you have to take your cues from them."

Business Dialogue SeriesLance Hussey, vice president/design director for RKS Design of Southern California presented information to students and faculty on the product successes designed by RKS. They include consumer electronics, business and industrial equipment, toys, housewares, medical equipment, and sporting goods.

digitalDesigners@workGuest lecturer Eric Hanson is a well-known visual effects designer/art director who has worked on numerous digital environments for film including design and image creation for "Fifth Element," "Atlantis," "Fantasia 2000," "Bicentennial Man," "Mission to Mars," "Hollow Man" and "Cast Away." His presentation included excerpts from his extensive portfolio. He also addressed the current state of film effects work and offer insight into 3D matte techniques and industry tools such as Maya and Renderman.

Business Dialogue SeriesOfficers of prominent professional organizations discussed their respective groups and the value and benefits of membership for new and seasoned professionals: Stefan G. Bucher, Pash, vice-president of membership for AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Art); Dorie Ford, president and CEO of APA (Advertising Photographers of America); Ravi Sawhney, chair of the LA chapter of IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America); Wayne Hunt, former president of SEGD (Society for Environmental Graphic Design) and Nora Kerber, president of SILA (Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles).

KTLA Channel 5Dave Dettman of the Mr. Product Company presented a lecture entitled, "How To Get Your Product To Market." Mr. Product is a company that specializes in taking new ideas and products to market. Dave also writes for Entrepreneur Magazine and has a monthly spot on new products on KTLA in Los Angeles. The ³Big Kahuna² scooter by Art Center's Miles Elledge will be showcased June 22.

www.onemedia.comA retrospective was done on Frank O. Gehry, architect for Art Center's expansion.


ADVERTISING

Adweek/Western editionLeading ad agencies in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco are turning their offices into classes for the summer. DDB (L.A.), Ogilvy & Mather (N.Y.) and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (S.F.) are opening their doors for Art Center At Night students to provide them with a taste of real world advertising. In addition to broadening the school's geographic presence, the program offers "real-world experience taught by agency professionals familiar with what is current and contemporary," says program director David B. Walker. "We hope to elevate the international reach of the school and take an advocate/leadership position in the international design community."

ClioAt the annual awards honoring creative advertising in package design, print, radio and television, Betsy Nathane won a bronze with "Blue Book" for Lexus. "Blue Book" also won an award from British Design & Art Direction (D&AD), Communications Arts, and a gold from the Int'l Automotive Advertising Awards. The Art Center graduate works for Team One Advertising.


ALUMNI

Pasadena Star News, Whittier Daily NewsMaterials instructor Jesse Ellico and alum Jill Franks and Lynn Salazar were so impressed with the beauty of old-fashioned printing introduced to them through Archetype Press that they have started a specialty printing service. Their firm, Century Guild Press, designs, illustrates and prints custom invitations, envelopes, menus, etc. for a variety of functions. Close attention to the client's wishes results in a uniting theme that personalizes the products. "That's what separates our work form the other 90 percent, where the concept drives the printing," says illustrator Salazar. In a time of high technology, the use of old lettering is inspiring-and beautiful. According to client Lindsay Sacks, the final products are "exquisite-unique and exquisite."

San Gabriel Valley Daily TribuneMoods of Morocco is not a new restaurant, but a beautiful space within the 2001 Pasadena Showcase House of Design. Designer and alum David Dalton brought new flooring to the courtyard, using a material that is a mix of Moorish gold limestone and hand-made mosaic tiles made of terra cotta with amber glaze. On this beautiful surface, he placed a large sofa covered with dozens of colorful pillows and other outdoor furniture that lends itself to the Moroccan theme. Lanterns and appropriate plants accent the area, which is tented to provide relief from the sun as well as to invoke more forcefully the desert-like design.

Los Angeles TimesGraphic designer and Art Center board member Kit Hinrichs has just released a new book that profiles his collection of US flag memorabilia. Long May She Wave: A Graphic History of the American Flag shows the flag in every way imaginable, from graphics on turn-of-the-century cigar boxes to a 1920s paper doll. Starting with a worn Civil War-era flag made by his great-great-great-aunt in 1865, his fascination with the history of and products influenced by the flag has led to a collection that boasts more than 3,000 pieces. "The idea of the spirit of the American public actually creating this flag with built-in change represented a lot of what America's about, always changing our environment," he says.


DIGITAL MEDIA

IntelAndy Davidson, Chair of the Digital Media Department, spoke at a conference sponsored by Intel entitled: "Human Centered Product Innovation Conference II." Andy spoke about incorporating more research into our curriculum.

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MinnesotaFaculty member Denise Gonzales Crisp was one of five experts to speak in the "Insight Lecture Series" and event co-sponsored by the Walker and AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts). Other "Insight" speakers include: Jennifer Sterling, Wolfgang Weingart, John Maeda and Geoff McFetridge. Denise was recently appointed to the AIGA/LA advisory board and in March was on the jury for the international student competition "Output 2001."


ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA 2001), Business WeekThe annual product design issue of Business Week announced that two winners in the Student Design Competition are from Art Center. Denise Assad won a Silver Medal for her boutique hotel designed as a tensile membrane pneumatic structure suspended within a gorge on Ibiza, Spain. The concept of Cala Llonga was derived from the book Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. Aaron Rincover was awarded a bronze medal for his Mathmos Bubble-a new concept in portable lighting which incorporates a revolutionary use of silicone, the temperature and feel of which compares with firm human flesh.


FILM

Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film + Video FestivalRecent graduate, Puntip Limrungroj, received the prestigious Golden Reel Award from the for her film "Body and Soul."


FINE ART

Museum of Contemporary Art, San DiegoThe Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago organized a show of Sharon Lockhart's work on display through September 3 in La Jolla. The Art Center graduate's work frames the quiet moments and details of everyday life while exploring subtle relationships between photography and cinema. Since 1997 she has created bodies of work in Japan, Mexico, and Brazil, focusing on issue of cross-cultural representation. Lockhart's films Teatro Amazonas and Goshogaoka will be screened on July 5, July 19, and August 30 in the Sherwood Auditorium during MCA's Hot Summer Night's. In the L.A. area, Blum & Poe is also currently exhibiting Sharon's work in a show entitled, "Sharon Lockhart: Interview Locations/Family Photographs," until June 30 at the Santa Monica gallery.

The Planetary SocietyAlumnus Stephen Nowlin, Vice President/Director, Williamson Gallery and Creative Director of Art Center Online, will serve as a judge for the upcoming American and International entries, respectively, to the International Space Art Competition sponsored by. The competition assignment was to depict what the next landing site on Mars might look like, both now and in one-hundred years. The Planetary Society was founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman to encourage the exploration of our solar system and the search for extraterrestrial life.


GRAPHICS

Provost Ron Jones announced that Laurie Haycock Makela will be the new Chair of Art Center's Graphic Design Department. Makela was Chair of the Graphic Design Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield, Michigan. She is the Director of Words and Pictures for Business and Culture (formerly with the late P. Scott Makela) and their work included film, video, print, and new media for clients as diverse as NIKE, MTV, Prudential, Kodak, Lotus Software, Warner Brothers Records, and Propaganda Films. Most recently their studio completed the film titles for David Fincher's film "Fight Club," as well as major print and web campaigns for Rossignol Ski and Snowboards. Significantly, the work of the studio was included in the National Design Triennial at the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian in New York and was awarded the American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal 2000 for 10 years of innovative work. Prior to her role at Cranbrook, Laurie was Design Director of the Walker Art Center. She taught at the California Institute of the Arts and Otis Art Institute while designing books and posters for clients such as The Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, the Los Angeles County Art Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.


ILLUSTRATION

Palisadian PostInstructor and alum David Limrite was the guest speaker at the Pacific Palisades Art Association meeting. His presentation included demonstrating how a figurative artists proceeds in the absence of a live model.


PRODUCT DESIGN

Los Angeles TimesThe Aeron chair is "the object to have," says Art Center instructor Katherine Bennett. "It's high performance seating." Offered by Herman Miller Inc., more than a million chairs have been sold since its introduction in the mid-1990s. The chair features a sheer but sturdy netting on the back and seat instead of traditional upholstered padding. The netting helps reduce the number of pressure points and heat build up, according to the company. "The chair has completely changed people's concept of what is comfortable seating," continues Bennett. "It used to be the big, expensive padded chairs. This is the new definition of comfort."


TRANSPORTATION

AutoWeekPT Cruiser designer Bryan Nesbitt left DaimlerChrysler to head up the Chevrolet Brand Character Studio for General Motors.

Automotive NewsCadillac is going edgy. The redesigned Escalade for 2002 and the Evoq concept car utilize sharp edges and flat surfaces, taking the traditional luxury car in a new direction. Car and Driver editor Tony Swan says the redesign shows the urgency Cadillac feels about revitalizing its line. According to Art Center Transportation Chair Ken Okuyama, the quest to make a design statement has to be carefully managed in order to acquire new buyers for the luxury market without sacrificing the traditional upscale consumer. For example, interior plastics dressed up to look like leather and wood would sabotage the effort. The goal, according to Dutch Mandel, editor of AutoWeek, is to avoid the cautious styling like that of the current DeVille. When the Evoq is introduced, Mandel says, "I guarantee you that...it will arrest you on the street. You will not be able to not look at it."

Automotive NewsAlum and Designworks founder Chuck Pelly, has announced plans to open a design school in Southern California by 2004. Tentatively named The Design Academy, the school will be in Irvine, which has seen a huge growth in transportation design activity in recent years. Beyond just automotive design, Pelly says that he wants the entire relation of cars to the world, including entertainment and biomechanical design, taught at the academy. "I want it to fit more into the classic interdisciplinary model, to make design more real-world," he says.

www.onemedia.comTransportation alum Chris Bangle discussed design and the design process for cars, shoes, furniture and carpet. Subjects explored included products that need a design makeover (clocks) and design solutions needed in his own home.

Pasadena Star NewsStudent design teams revealed their multi-disciplinary concepts for Infiniti for final presentations. Advertising, graphic design and transportation design students worked together to create a complete package to introduce production ready vehicles to the public. Ideas included a family of Japanese cars that fuse Zen philosophy with technology and modern culture, borrowing from eastern shapes, building design and characters. Designers from Nissan critiqued the ideas. The work was displayed at the Infiniti booth at the New York International Auto Show.


WILLIAMSON GALLERY

Los Angeles Times25 artists explore the global telecommunications network in the "Telematic Connections: The Virtual Embrace" exhibit in the Williamson Gallery. The exhibit includes "Telematic Vision" by artist Paul Sermon where visitors can sit down on a sofa in front of a video monitor and a camera. Suddenly, someone else is seen on the monitor sitting next to him. However, this person is on an identical couch in another part of the gallery. Will love blossom? "Netomatheque" by Maciej Wisniewski invites visitors to explore a new way of browsing the Internet by sitting on a sofa, picking up a nearby phone and saying a word into the receiver. Corresponding images and information is then projected on the opposite wall. "Mori" connects visitors with the Hayward Fault. Fiber optic handrails leading to the center of the piece vibrate in relation to real-time seismic activity. Seismic activity sounds are modulated in real-time, too. Though curator Steve Dietz explains that the piece is a "connection to the earth" and "a nurturing reminder" that the earth is a living, breathing thing, it may be too close to reality for some visitors. The exhibit continues July first.