Otis College of Art and Design
9045 Lincoln Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90045
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Vol.8
2010
Los Angeles, CA
Permit No. 427
Otis College
of Art and Design ----------------Magazine
Otis College of Art and Design -- Magazine
-----------------------------------------------
Vol.8 2010
Designing
the
ABCderian
in this issue:
Movies
that
Matter
Making
the Art World
We Want
310
665
6800
otis
.edu
12
13
20
26
Advocacy and the Creative Economy
The impact of the creative economy, the
relevance of arts education, and future
opportunities for artists and designers in society
are increasingly intertwined topics, for which Otis
has become a leading advocate in Los Angeles.
Recently, within the span of a few weeks,
I represented Otis three times in related
conversations. First, I testified for the industry
sectors of Communication Arts, Fashion and Toys
in a public hearing held by the Joint Legislative
Committee on the Arts that focused on the
growth of creative economy jobs in the State of
California. Then, I participated in an arts
education roundtable discussion with Rocco
Landesman, Chairman of the National
Endowment for the Arts, when he visited
Southern California to learn more about the
landscape for arts in this region. The everexpanding role and multi-faceted impact of
creative professionals was again a key theme for
my remarks at a think tank panel organized by
Arts for LA to imagine “The Future of the Arts in
Los Angeles in the Next 15-20 Years.”
Otis has embraced such advocacy because
central to Otis’ educational philosophy is a
conviction that art and design matter socially,
culturally, and economically. Virtually every
article in this issue of OMAG displays the
outcomes of this guiding belief and commitment.
A compelling arts advocacy tool is the
Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the Los
Angeles Region, which Otis has commissioned
and published annually since 2007. It is the first
and only report to focus on the arts, design and
entertainment industries as a combined
economic force in Southern California. Its goal is
to spotlight this under-recognized driver of the
regional economy, and to demonstrate the utter
viability of careers in the creative fields. The
Report puts real numbers to creativity.
The response from the regional community
to the report has been tremendous. The data
and analysis have been widely used by cultural
organizations, foundations, schools, and
public policy makers. It is easy to command
attention when it is shown that one in six jobs
in the region is either generated or supported
by the creative industries.
At Otis College of Art and Design, we prepare
our students to broaden their role as artists
and designers in the world. The lives, work and
achievements of our alumni illustrate the power
of art, design and creativity in our economy,
culture and communities. To us, the data in the
2009 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of
the Los Angeles Region are more than the facts
of creativity’s economic impact; it is the story
of possibilities made real by a combination of
talent, imagination and education.
Otis prepares diverse students
of art and design to enrich our
world through their creativity,
their skill, and their vision.
President Hoi with Mattel International President and Otis Trustee Bryan Stockton
and the “Otis Barbie”
Founded in 1918, Otis is L.A.’s first independent
professional school of visual arts. Otis’ 1200
students pursue BFA degrees in advertising
design, architecture/landscape/interiors, digital
media, fashion design, graphic design, illustration,
interactive product design, painting, photography,
sculpture/new genres, and toy design. MFA
degrees are offered in fine arts, graphic design,
public practice, and writing. Otis has trained
generations of artists who have been in the
vanguard of the cultural and entrepreneurial life
of the city. Nurtured by Los Angeles’ forwardthinking spirit, these artists and designers explore
the landscape of popular culture and the
significant impact of identity, politics, and social
policy at the intersection of art and society.
2010 Vol.8 In This Issue:
02 Fine Art Features
Transforming Artists
Cutting Through the Stereotypes
Painting with the Masters
Making the Art World We Want
In the Studio with John Baldessari
Remixed: An Interview with
Eduardo Navas
Criticism, Journalism and Looking
@ Art with Christopher Knight
20 Alumni Profile
Designing the ABCderian
Presenting Possibilites
22 Alumni Around the World
Tofer Chin in Barcelona/Sao Paolo
George Gottl in Amsterdam
24 Class Notes
12 College News
La Venganza de la Fantasmagoria
Renewing our Dedication
to the Proposition
Origins: The MexiCali Biennial as Art
Otis Connections:
L.A. Printmaking in the 1960s
Engaging our Community
Movies that Matter
Unleashing the Creative Economy
LTL’s Donghia Master Class and the Eco-tel
Alumni in the News
Alumni Connect
Samuel Hoi, President
Editor: Margi Reeve, Communications Director
Co-editor: Sarah Russin, Assistant VP, Institutional Advancement
10%
SCS-COC-000864
Photography: Kristy Campbell, Fette,
Dean Kaufman, Pablo Mason, Lee Salem, Holly Wilder
Creative/Design: Mark Caneso (‘04)
Contributors: Faculty: Judy Arthur, Mary Sherwood Brock, Perri Chasin,
Meg Cranston, Chair of Fine Art, Dana Duff, Soo Kim, Barbara Maloutas (’02).
Alumni: Tofer Chin (’02), Ed Gomez (’03), George Gottl (’85), Jessica Minckley
(’05), Rashell George (’05). Freelance Writers: Julia Eakin, Helene Siegel.
Meg Linton, Director, Ben Maltz Gallery; Travis Read-Davidson (’10); Beth Wooster,
Corporate Relations Manager.
Front cover: Watahhh Warrior, 2009, cut paper, 40 x 30,"
© Otis College of Art and Design
by Kaitlynn Redell (Fine Arts, '09)
Publication of material does not necessarily
Back cover: Prototype for funeral urn for Hillside Cemetery
indicate endorsement of the author’s viewpoint
by Charles G. Melikidse, Product Design student
by Otis College of Art and Design
Otis College of Art and Design
OMAG 2
Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine
section:
Feature
Transforming
artists
author:
Meg Cranston, Chair, Fine Arts
Spring 2010
3 OMAG
Otis’ Fine Arts education provides students with specialized training in the visual
arts combined with a strong general education based on the Liberal Arts model.
That combination, in our view, is the best possible education.
The program challenges students to think broadly
about the world, and to find the means to represent
their understanding visually as art. It asks them to
take their ideas seriously, and transform their point of
view into something that matters—something
particular, beautiful, and important.
An art education provides not only a vocation but
also access to a way of life. This experience changes
all students. It transforms them from observers and
consumers into genuine creators, people who
produce the world. While students learn to paint and
sculpt and take photographs, they develop the
courage of belief.
We provide students with the information and
skills to help them work without predicting the final
outcome. We create an atmosphere of productive
uncertainty that teaches students to cope with and
indeed to embrace the unforeseen. Rather than
telling our students what art should be, we ask them
to consider what it might be. In art, the question is
always the same. It is the fundamental question of
deciding what matters, and determining how to use
the language of art to make it matter to others.
Many Otis Fine Arts graduates have gone on to
have successful careers as artists, with an impressive
and growing number showing their works in most
prestigious museums and galleries in the world. Not
everyone who studies fine arts becomes a fine artist.
Some pursue careers in other fields, using their fine
arts education more as a mindset than a method.
Fine Arts produces people who make a difference,
who look at things in an unconventional and
optimistic way—in a word, people who say yes. ●
“Art is always about testing
boundaries: what is a painting?
what is sculpture? what is art?
we encourage students, no
matter what major they choose,
to experiment as broadly as
they have the courage to do.”
“It gives me goosebumps when I think of graduating and becoming a working artist.”
“I love it because you actually get a
taste of every single thing that you are going into”
OMAG 4
section:
Feature
author:
Soo Kim, Faculty / Kaitlynn Redell (’09)
CUTTING THROUGH THE
Soo Kim, Interim Director of Photography,
interviewed Kaitlynn Redell, ‘09. Redell is
currently an Otis Admissions Counselor.
How would you describe your senior
thesis show?
I was originally a painting major but I moved into
other mediums. A lot of my work is based on
personal experience: My mom is Chinese, born
in America, and my dad is White. The subject of
perceived identity, especially as mass media
portrays it, became very important to me. When
I look for posters, I look for stereotypically
”Asian” imagery, like Bruce Lee.
Read the complete conversation
at otis.edu/redell
That’s what I really like about your work.
You explore identity, but it is a construction
of identity that is completely mediated. You
both identified with this and worked against
it at the same time.
I know something about Chinese history from
my mother, and from doing research, but I don't
have firsthand experience. My great grandfather
was a diplomat, and wrote an autobiography;
in 1900, he was the first Chinese man to ever
graduate from the University of Virginia. I have
to walk the line between too much research
and a spontaneous reaction to imagery. I don’t
want my research to interfere with my initial
reactions to material.
History is not linear; it is debatable and
contested. How much personal history
collides with the historical artifacts?
If I reference too much historical research,
it’s as if I am talking about something that
I don’t really know. My work is invested in the
collision between historical references and a
contemporary media-based experience. By
cutting found imagery, I am both taking away
information and adding information at the same
time. I combine historical and contemporary
imagery. I do a lot of Google searches
with generalized terms such as “Asian.”
I’m interested in how these generalized terms
bring up images of both historical and
media-produced “facts.”
You started out making paintings, but how
did you begin this cutting process?
I was doing a lot of printmaking with my own
images—photos of my grandparents or mother,
and overlaying these with historical images of
“yellow peril” (the alleged threat to Western
nations by East Asians), etc. I was trying to
find a new way to bring up issues not specific
to family history that were also contemporary.
Do you start with the found imagery and then
do paper cuts?
I find posters that are particularly interesting, add
them to the stockpile, and think about how to use
them. I make photocopies of things from books
and the web, and of my own drawings.
Is the combining a formal concern?
I like process because it evolves while I do it. I do
a section, cut it out, look at it, and start moving
things around—it doesn't get stiff.
You have been in a couple of shows since you
graduated, haven’t you?
One month after graduation, I was in a show with
my mentor Carole Caroompas at Western
Projects. I went from senior show to producing a
new set of work. That deadline was helpful for the
transition from student life to working artist.
What are the best and worst things about
being an artist?
Balancing working with making work, and finding
time to make the work. The best thing is that my
mentor group is still very close, and we go out and
see things. My Otis education has prepared me
well, and I look forward to going to grad school
some day. ●
section:
Feature
author:
Helene Siegel, Freelance Writer Spring 2010
5 OMAG
Painting with the Masters
When Fine Arts Chair Meg Cranston invited veteran faculty member
and alumnus Michael Schrier (’66) to develop a new course in 2008,
he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He just wasn’t sure it was possible.
Schrier wanted to conduct a studio painting class at
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA),
the only museum in Southern California that covers
the complete history of Western and non-Western
art, according to the award-winning professor. After
25 years lecturing at the great museums of New
York, Paris, and London, and leading the Otis trip to
Paris for many years, Schrier knew that the impact
on students of spending six hours at the museum
each week would be huge. LACMA agreed to the
experiment and “Painting with the Masters,” the
only college-level course taught at the museum,
debuted in Fall ’09.
Schrier ran the course on an ad hoc basis. Each
week the group selected a new gallery to
explore—choices ranged from Pre-Columbian and
Assyrian reliefs to Abstract Expressionism and the
Japanese Pavilion—where Schrier breathed life into
art history with his lively descriptions of “how
artists develop a style and how they face critics and
public opinion as well as technical challenges.” He
explained that every artistic career is a progression
that occurs within an historic context. Guests
included art critic Marlena Donohue and Museum
Director Michael Govan, who visited the last session
to view the students’ voluminous production, and
to get their responses to
the experimental semester.
They explained that
“
It was like being in a church
it was an honor and a
when mass was not going on.”
privilege to have access to
the museum when it was
closed. As one said, “It was
like being in a church
During each Wednesday session, when
when mass is not going on.” Students described the
the museum is closed to the public, the entire
sheer power of experiencing works by artists like
complex was transformed into a classroom.
Richard Serra, Jeff Koons, and Mark Rothko first
A group of sophomores from fields as diverse as
hand, as well as the thrill of discovering less
Digital Media, Product Design, Photography,
familiar holdings from Iran and South America.
and Communication Arts gathered in the small,
Everyone felt that the work they produced at the
brightly-colored museum studio to paint,
museum was different—stronger, more ambitious,
but also to think about the ways that ideas are
and less motivated by concern with a final grade.
transformed into works of art. Students didn’t
For six hours each week, these ten Otis
copy works by the masters. Instead they were
sophomores not only painted in close proximity
encouraged to find their place in the continuum
to the world’s masterpieces, they also became
of art and ideas that is as old as civilization.
part of the L.A. art scene at its premier institution—
“I want them to feel inspired…to feel a
an experience that students described as
connection between what they are doing as artists,
“sublime” and an experiment that is now a regular
what came before them, and what goes on at the
course offering. ●
museum. Young artists are part of a lineage,” says
Schrier, a passionate collector, historian, and artist.
OMAG 6
section:
Feature
Making
the Art
World
We Want
author:
Jessica Minckley (’05)
I grew up in Utah and had no idea people could
even be artists. I interned at LACE (Los Angeles
Contemporary Exhibitions) during school and did
an independent study with Meg Cranston about art
in L.A. I couldn't get enough of it. I went to every
opening I could for several years.
After finishing Otis with a degree in Fine Art, I
didn't know what to do for money. I had a job
assisting an artist, but that work is not often
consistent. A teacher of mine called and said a
gallery needed someone to serve drinks at an
opening that night. I called. I showed up. Richard
Telles hired me to work in his gallery after I was
appropriately personable that night. Both jobs
taught me about the business of art.
I curated a couple of shows in small venues
prior to 2007, when I put together a proposal for a
show at Angles Gallery. It was accepted and I got to
collaborate with David McAuliffe and my friend
Nowell Karten. The show included artists whose
practices were like mine. It was interesting to see
them all together in a room. I felt like it was an
extension of my own practice to bring them
together and show supporting evidence that other
people did what I did.
I later curated a show at Circus Gallery. Doing
studio visits for that extended my art education. It
was like “Crit” (the Otis course) but real. I was
amazed at how differently other artists did things.
At first, I was befuddled or repulsed, then I wanted
to implement these qualities in my own work.
I moved on to be the Registrar at Regen Projects,
and learned a great deal there. My friend and Otis
Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine
alumna Gladys Hernando (’05) was also working at
a gallery. Inspired to collaborate on a curatorial
project, we invented Light & Wire Gallery, a gallery
that exists only online. We weren't trying to be
clever. We had to keep our day jobs, had no space or
money, and thought that a virtual gallery seemed
immediate and urgent enough for what we wanted
to do.
As artists ourselves, we knew how exhibitions
motivate artists to complete a body of work in a way
that nothing else can. Since I moved to L.A., I've
enjoyed the luxury of making dozens of artist
friends and peers, whom I was able to draw upon for
inspiration. Gladys and I had an urge to provide
opportunities to these artists, and to show their
work to our community.
After a year and a half, I decided to branch away
from Light & Wire to start a new project. CANAL is a
website gallery, and will host shows in my studio
and satellite spaces. My goal is to take exhibitions to
Portland, New York, San Francisco, Berlin and Paris
by 2012. I'm joining forces with like-minded gallery
spaces to produce shows with upcoming or
undiscovered artists, while making my own work
and working a day job.
CANAL is really DIY, and doesn't aim to
compete with the boutique-style, commercial
gallery. It’s more about fostering a community of
artists whom I respect and admire. In essence,
we make the art world that we want to exist.
After all, someday we'll be the elders. I’m looking
forward to the luxury of retrospect. ●
Feature
author:
Rashell George (’05)
Spring 2010
7 OMAG
JAB Art Enterprises:
In the Studio with
John Baldessari
Baldessari with Rashell George at the MACB, Barcelona
“
As artists
ourselves, we knew
how exhibitions
motivate artists to
complete a body of
work in a way that
nothing else can.
”
Jessica Minckley, Untitled, 2009,
mixed media sculpture, 56" x 40" x 15"
Photo: Fette
section:
I first learned about John Baldessari’s work in Jean Willette’s
Modern Art History class. She showed slides of his early text paintings,
including Wrong (1966-68), and the Cremation Project (1970), where
John had all his paintings until that point cremated. I was drawn to
the simplicity and sense of humor of his work. I was pulled in further
when his name came up in critiques as someone I should look into
further, someone who handled ideas and concepts that were similar to
issues I was pursuing in my work. When I heard that a position in his
studio had opened up, I jumped at the chance to work for him.
The idea of working in an artist’s studio interested me because
it involved working directly with artists. While at Otis, I had worked as
an assistant for Meg Cranston and Linda Burnham, doing a range of
things such as studio production, scanning, research, and cataloguing.
These experiences gave me a range of skills and a glimpse of what it
took to be a practicing artist. I knew that it was something that I
wanted to continue.
I started working for John the summer after I graduated in 2005.
He is very supportive of young artists, and makes a point of hiring
artists, musicians and students. Since he is a very established artist,
he has a number of assistants who handle different aspects of his
studio. I currently work with Brienne Arrington (’02), Ioanna Olivera
(’03), and Amanda McGough (’08), but there have been many Otis
students and graduates at the studio, including Tracy Powell (’02),
Fay Ray (’02), Darin Jarvis (’03), and Christopher Humphreys (’10).
I started out handling the digital archives and all the reproduction
requests that John receives. This involved distributing imagery and
copyright permissions every time that his work was reproduced.
Although this is the primary thing that I continue to do, the work
varies as different projects arise—from painting, scanning, printing,
and building models to research and correspondence with
international galleries, curators, and publications.
In preparation for his retrospective, John Baldessari: Pure Beauty,
which opened at the Tate Modern, London, in 2009, I worked
extensively on the exhibition catalogue, providing imagery and
captions, and color proofing. The catalogue looks great, and knowing
that I contributed to such a beautiful and extensive publication was
incredibly satisfying.
When the show recently traveled to the Museo de Arte
Contemporani de Barcelona, John asked me to come for the
installation and opening of the exhibition. The trip was amazing. I saw
firsthand how much work went into the retrospective — both artwork
that John has made throughout his career and the peripheral
obligations that surrounded the exhibition. He met with TV crews,
writers from magazines and journalists from newspapers, giving a
total of twelve interviews. There was also a press conference, a public
conversation with the director of the museum, and a guided
walkthrough of the exhibition. John is a seasoned pro, and he
navigated all these requests with ease. It was a tremendous learning
experience for me.
First and foremost, John is concerned with Art. Through his busy
schedule while in Barcelona, he made time for us to visit the Picasso
Museum, the Miró Foundation, the Caixa Forum, and the Dali Museum
and home outside of Barcelona. It was a real treat to be at these
historical locations with him, and to hear of his experiences and
insight. As a boss, John is supportive and encouraging. He attends the
shows and openings of his employees, is available for feedback and
advice, and is always up for a conversation about Art. ●
OMAG 8
section:
Feature
author:
Dana Duff, Faculty / Eduardo Navas (’98)
section:
Feature
Criticism,
Journalism
and Looking
@ Art with
Christopher
Knight
D: In this regard you had an interesting
relationship with sound—at the same time you
were working your way through school as a DJ.
E: Yes, and I did a lot of performances around
DJ’ing too, even during my Master’s. When I went
to Cal Arts' new Integrated Media program, there
was basically one class where you met once a
week with people from dance, music, theater, film,
art, and photography.
Remixed:
An Interview with
Eduardo Navas
Fine Arts Professor Dana Duff interviewed
Eduardo Navas (’98) on December 28,
2009, in San Diego. Navas received his BFA
from Otis, MFA from California Institute
of the Arts, and Ph.D. in 2009 from the
Department of Art and Media History,
Theory and Criticism at UC San Diego.
He has taught art and media theory at Otis
and San Diego State University, as well
as Pennsylvania State University. He is
founder and was contributing editor of
Net Art Review (2003-05), and is co-founder
of newmediaFIX (2005 to present). Navas
currently researches the history of Remix.
Text of the complete interview is at
otis.edu/navas
remixtheory.net • navasse.net
D: We met the year I came to Otis from New York
to become Program Director of Sculpture/New
Genres, 1996. I remember you came knocking on
my door to tell me that you wanted performance
classes. I was so impressed with you.
E: I transferred from Santa Monica College.
I thought I could paint anything… but (Fine Arts
Professor) Carole Caroompas showed me better;
she made me humble [laughter] and showed me
I had much to learn.
D: When I met you, you already had some
experience with performance. You knew
what you wanted.
E: Yes, I had an idea. When I started to realize
there was more than painting, I said “Hey, this is
like a candy shop.” Performance was interesting,
and I veered toward conceptual art; my interests
would become more focused with my Master’s,
when I got to work with people at Cal Arts.
Now I have a Ph.D. from UCSD; my doctoral
research was an extension of what I began to
explore at Otis: ideas and the forms they take.
I focused particularly on the concept of Remix.
D: You've always been willing to take the big risk.
[He laughs] You have! You have to be this
way—as an artist working in new spaces, like the
Internet—you’ve become the artist, the theorist,
the critic, and the curator, right?
E: Yes, that's what I liked about it—that there were
no rules. And I saw the Internet and I saw new
media. In new media it's really about ideas; there
is no object. All I have to do is deal with discourse
itself, the idea of exchange, of meaning itself.
Spring 2010
Christopher Knight 2009-10 Critic in Residence
in Fine Arts, taught a seminar on “Criticism,
Journalism and Looking @ Art” in fall 2009.
His course description follows:
Eclecticism is a virtue. For journalistic art
criticism, which encounters an unlimited range
of art and art-related events, it is also essential.
The seminar will roam far and wide over art,
journalism, history and critical art-writing by
journalists and others, including examples found
in traditional print media and new online media.
Distinctions will be made among journalistic,
trade, academic and theoretical criticism.
Students will be expected to read samples of
journalistic (and other) art critical practice;
to answer short questionnaires on the assigned
readings; to participate in class discussion;
and, to write a number of mostly short critical
exercises. Most classes will include substantial
examination of works of art that relate to a critical
perspective in that week’s assigned reading.
At the Broad Stage in Santa Monica on January
14th, a sold-out crowd gathered to hear Christopher
Knight speak. Knight, Los Angeles Times art critic
since 1989, credits his success to listening to artists.
As he explains, artists know who the important artists
are — they are the ones whose ideas are being
stolen. Knight grew up in Western Massachusetts in
a town dominated by a whip factory, and has no
9 OMAG
formal training in journalism. Until he was 17, he had
no exposure to art at all. After visiting the Clark Art
Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and taking
an art history class in college, he saw an exhibition at
N.Y.’s Whitney Museum of Bruce Nauman’s work.
Like a baby duck who follows its first imprint, Knight
was hooked.
He spent time at the Toledo Art Museum, and
moved to California in 1976 to take a job at the
Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. Realizing
that he was spending all of his time looking at art in
L.A., he moved north and took at job at LACMA’s
press office.
His journalistic career began when he received a
call from the L.A. Herald Examiner newspaper, which
hired him based on one clip he had to show, on the
subject of the Muppets and Michelangelo. When he
joined the Examiner, he knew that he was addressing
an audience of disbelievers. Most readers thought of
contemporary art as a fraud. During his nine years at
the Examiner, and his subsequent 21 years at the L.A.
Times, Knight has developed a voice that makes
sense of art. He sees his challenge as neither
handicapping the players in a horse race nor
compiling facts, but instead setting up an argument
that takes a reader from the first to the last
paragraph. In the process of writing, Knight discovers
what he thinks and shares his point of view. In the
end, he believes that looking at art has changed his
vision of reality, and he is grateful to artists for making
that change possible. ●
Sammy Hoi, Christopher Knight, Meg Cranston, John Baldessari
D: Do you consider that teaching is also part of
your art practice?
E: Yes, absolutely. I think I always prepare classes
on topics that I want to learn more about, it’s like a
journey I would like to take with people who
would join the class; because they’ll bring up
questions I haven’t thought about.
D: I read that you said, "Education is the real issue
of all that is going on today,” in a conversation
about working in the commercial and social and
textual space of the Internet.
E: The issue behind education is about the value
of knowledge, which is the only thing that does
not lose value, no matter how any other
economical variables play out. What it comes
down to is an issue of control: educating people is
like sharing secrets, it can't be taken back.
D: You have advice to give younger colleagues?
E: They should study well the system they are
getting into, do research into the history of the
arts, the politics behind it, to be as productive as
possible. And then work with it. Each person has
to decide; some people like certain forms—what
does that mean? As this question is considered,
one should be willing fail a lot and be willing to
get up again and again. ●
Knight’s unique style of
institutional criticism is
so important, revelatory
and rare.
This class has been absolutely amazing!
If Christopher Knight compiled his
teachings into a book, it would be my
Bible. He opened my eyes to how to
look at art, and I am forever grateful!
Critic in Residence Christopher Knight speaking at the Broad Stage. The event was
sponsored by the SMC Assocs., in partnership with Santa Monica College’s Art Dept.
OMAG 16
authors:
Perri Chasin / Judy Arthur, Faculty
17 OMAG
movies
Matter
that
We created “Movies that Matter” to demonstrate
that the art of film has the power to change lives.
Movies can
provide
hope.
Movies can
save lives.
Li Dan, founder of an infectious disease
hospital in China says, “I first became aware
of AIDS when I saw the Tom Hanks movie
‘Philadelphia’ in 1998. I realized there was a
group of people being ostracized by society
because of this disease. It was pure youthful
idealism on my part. I just wanted to do
something to help them.” Li gave up his
graduate studies in solar physics in Beijing,
and has devoted his life to AIDS work.
Movies can
improve
lives.
When studies demonstrated the beneficial
effects of laughter on pain levels, Norman
Cousins, former editor of the Saturday
Review, developed a pain control regimen for
himself that included daily laughter induced
by watching Marx Brothers’ comedy films.
Haskell Wexler
While a political prisoner for 27 years, Nelson
Mandela was able to escape the harsh realities
of hard labor on those rare occasions when
he and the other prisoners were permitted
to watch films. As Mandela stated, “Films are
a powerful and evocative tool for fostering
understanding and tolerance in the world.”
As artists and global citizens, Otis students have a responsibility to the greater good. We try to
teach them that art can motivate and educate as well as entertain. “Movies that Matter” opens
our students’ eyes to the world, and introduces them to significant films and important guest
filmmakers. The historical perspective is vital so that they understand the past and present in
order to visualize the future.
“Movies that Matter” presents a wide variety of genres, and through compelling and
entertaining stories, these films depict social, gender, racial, ethnic, political and cultural issues.
Films include Philadelphia, Coming Home, Norma Rae, Silkwood, The Killing Fields, The Pianist,
Paradise Now, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, War Dance, Gandhi, Water, and The
Lives of Others. As agents of change, these movies encourage dialogue, inspire, and motivate;
our students learn to view them critically as well as aesthetically.
FilmAid International, a global humanitarian refugee relief organization, is the site partner for
this Integrated Learning course. Founded in 1999 for those forced to flee their homes in
Kosovo, FilmAid now operates from Africa to Afghanistan, and came to the aid of Americans
after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Their screenings offer entertainment and vital information to
the world’s most vulnerable communities -- those displaced by war, famine and natural
disasters. They reach more than 250,000 people annually, often in large open-air events.
Providing messages most needed for survival and strength, FilmAid’s mandate is “Projecting
hope and changing lives through the Power of Film.”
In interdisciplinary teams, students design innovative, forward-thinking projects to help
promote FilmAid’s mission. These include a traveling FilmAid exhibit, posters, videos,
promotional DVD mailers, tote bags, tshirts, and ongoing blogs.
Sarah
Herron
We’ve had the extraordinary pleasure of meeting Film Aid’s founder,
Caroline Baron, and realizing that communication arts, such as film,
graphic design, and advertising are tools that speak volumes on issues
that matter to you.
Kouroash
Nasser
Pourhabib
It is amazing how a movie can help, support, and change the lives of
others. FilmAid International is an example of how simple actions can
go a long way. This gives me the encouragement as a young art student
to make decisions in my practice that could affect others in a positive
way, no matter how small or simple my actions may be.
Movies can inspire change. Through relationships with top filmmakers and studios for
soon-to-be-released movies, we curated the “Movies that Matter” series for students, faculty
and the general public with free access to powerful films hosted by distinguished
award-winning filmmakers. Enthusiastic, diverse audiences of 150 to 200 have enjoyed events
such as an outdoor screening similar to screenings held by FilmAid for refugees around the
world. Guest filmmakers have included Josh Tickell with his alternative energy film Fuel, Dan
Sturman and his Oscar-nominated film Soundtrack for a Revolution about the civil rights
movement, David Leaf and his critically acclaimed The US vs. John Lennon about the price
Lennon paid for his anti-war protest, and Academy Award-winning director and cinematographer
Haskell Wexler with his ground-breaking feature film about the 1968 Chicago convention,
Medium Cool.
Our aim for this course and now, for our special “Movies that Matter” screening series, is
to continue to celebrate the films and filmmakers that stretch the limits of our imagination,
expand our understanding of the world, and inspire positive action.
OMAG 18
section:
College News
Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine
section:
Moderator Frances Anderton with panelists Sir Ken Robinson and Andy Mooney
$5.1
BILLION
GROWTH
2003-2008
21,500
JOBS
LA
Los Angeles
OC
Orange County
9.9
2.0
PERCENT PERCENT
Between 2003 and 2008, employment in the service-oriented
creative industries grew by 21,500 jobs,or 9.9% in L.A., and
by an estimated 2% in Orange County
LA
6,020
5,410
7,880
8,110
9,370
6,530
8,470
OC
4,000
900
1.6%
3.5%
or
Hakan Tung and Sarah Park
or
DIGITAL MEDIA
SECTOR
The Digital Media sector will grow the
fastest, with employment rising by more than
10% in both L.A. County and Orange County.
Digital Artists are among the fastest-growing
occupations in California with a 32% growth
rate and more than 1,500 annual job openings
expected over the next 10 years. (Two-thirds
of these new jobs are expected to occur in
the Los Angeles region.)
Rising Employment
+10%
Annual Job Openings
1500
10 Year Growth Rate
+32%
LA = 2/3 NEW JOBS
2001
State + Local Taxes
2002
$18
BILLION
CA
2003
Orange County
2004
$121
BILLION
OC
2005
Los Angeles
2006
LA
JOBS
MULTI-MEDIA
ARTISTS AND
ANIMATOR
EMPLOYMENT
2007
REVENUE
2013
Employment in L.A.’s
creative industries will
gain 4,000 jobs, or 1.6%,
and in Orange County, 900
jobs, or 3.5%, by 2013
(excluding manufacturing).
2008
Last year, Los Angeles area firms in the creative economy
earned an estimated $121 billion in revenues, while those in
Orange County accounted for an estimated $18 billion,
fueling an estimated $5.1 billion in state and local taxes
from these activities.
9,460
*Nearly one million employees work directly or indirectly in the creative economy
of Los Angeles and Orange counties: one in every six jobs.
10,510
2009
Read the full report at www.otis.edu
2009
1,000,000
19 OMAG
In October, New York-based architects David J. Lewis and Marc Tsurumaki of
Lewis Tsurumaki Lewis (LTL) conducted a master class during their residency,
sponsored by the Donghia Foundation. Their design brief for this interiors
project was predicated on changes in energy consumption, transportation and
environmental systems. Departing from the standard roadside motel, students
re-examined the relationship between tourism, transportation, weather and
taste. The contemporary Eco-tel (ecology + hotel) sits at the top of a hill in a
wilderness park that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. There is no vehicular access;
guests approach by foot and bicycle. These interior domestic spaces must be both
compact and loaded, interacting with their setting in new ways. The escapist
fantasy of temporary inhabitation and the kitsch connotations of the motel were
other elements to be considered.
LTL’s design approach, which seeks the extraordinary by playing within the
rules, can be characterized as maneuvering opportunistically within an
existing system of logic. Limitations become catalysts; restrictions drive design
solutions. One essential question they asked the students was: What if the
organization of the plan of the motel, typically designed from the outside in, and
around a perimeter road and parking, was driven by the interior organization of
the typical room?
At the end of the week-long design project, jury members Clara Igonda,
Principal of CNI Design, and Alex Chun of Gensler, commended each team on
negotiating a terrain that was inherently difficult. Lewis remarked that the
students worked very well collaboratively during his week-long visit, and were
open to and responded well to direction and critique. ●
As Sir Ken Robinson summarized, L.A. has the conditions to support an
interactive, dynamic economy because of the richness and diversity of its
global cultures. The seeds of a new economy based on abundant creativity
will thrive in Southern California.
At the conclusion of the panel discussion, Samuel Hoi accepted a $1,850,000
gift from Mattel, Inc., presented by Mattel International President Bryan Stockton,
who is also a member of the Otis Board of Trustees. Mattel’s gift will support
Otis student scholarships, art and design curriculum, and facility enhancement.
“We see this financial contribution as an investment in the future,” stated
Stockton. “While some companies currently hold back their charitable giving,
Mattel feels strongly about investing now in the next generation of creative
leaders, in the health of our economy, in the strength of our communities, and in
innovations in the art and design industry.”
The event was supported by the California Community Foundation, Mattel,
the Department of Cultural Affairs, and City National Bank. ●
workers
Spring 2010
LTL’s Donghia Master Class
and the Eco-tel
Unleashing the Creative E conomy
Otis presented its 2009 Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles
Region, the third annual summary from the LAEDC, on Nov 11. “Unleashing
the Creative Economy” included an economic forecast of the creative industries
through the year 2013. More than 300 business and community leaders
attended the downtown breakfast meeting and learned that the L.A. region
will see an uptick in employment for artists and designers in the next five years,
as the economy transitions from a manufacturing base to a service base.
Otis President Samuel Hoi introduced the event, and the featured speaker,
Dr. Nancy D. Sidhu, chief economist of The Kyser Center for Economic
Research at the L.A. Economic Development Corp., presented the report data.
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson, Disney Consumer Products Chairman
Andy Mooney, and Los Angeles County Arts Commission’s Executive Director
Laura Zucker, participated in a panel discussion moderated by Frances Anderton
of public radio station KCRW.
College News
“Eco-tel Par 12” inserts temporary
inhabitation directly into nature,
emphasizing this artificiality with
putting greens on each unit’s roof.
Guests walk across coastal bluffs onto
thick vertical walls through which
they descend and enter steel-framed
glass modules with ocean views.
This design suggests an interior that
is meant for relaxation, but also
encourages golf, yoga, hiking, biking
and swimming nearby.
Senior Hakan Tung commented,
“LTL worked with my partner and me
to resolve issues and guide our design
concept. The week was challenging
time-wise, but the end result was truly
amazing.” Senior Sarah Park added,
“We learned so much from LTL’s
unique approach. This experience has
been life-changing.”
In the second Donghia Master Class and Residency, David J. Lewis and
Marc Tsurumaki immersed students in their firm’s design methodology,
beginning with two intensive ten-hour days during which I witnessed
David and Marc completing each other’s sentences. LTL’s singular direction
and example was such that by the end of the Master Class, students
were speaking of “limitations” with the same reverence as LTL. Students
designed “ecotels” from the inside-out, focusing on the guests’ habitation
combined with the limitations of a post-fossil fuel economy, which
produced, as one example, an integrative residence for a bicyclist that
housed both the bicyclist and his bicycle.
- Linda Pollari, Chair, Architecture/Landscape/Interiors
OMAG 20
section:
Alumni Profile
author:
Barbara Maloutas (MFA,’02), Faculty
Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine
section:
Alumni Profile
author:
Julie Eakin, Freelance Writer
Spring 2010
21 OMAG
“
”
The nicks, imperfections
and contours of the large
wooden letterforms create second
reads and visual surprises.
Designing
the ABCderian
Rebecca Chamlee (‘85), knows a lot about
training dogs (two in particular), Vandercook
letterpress printing, Bradel case binding,
Adobe InDesign, wooden type, Chance, printed
endsheets, PV glue and wheat paste, polymer
plates, cloth-covered clamshell boxes, bonefolders and other obscure bookbinding tools,
teaching in Communication Arts and Graphic
Design, to mention some of her interests and
expertise. By the way, her two dogs, Able
and Reason, are national champions in agility,
and Chance is the son of Rebecca and her
husband, Jonathan Plaskett.
In 1984, Paul Vangelisti taught his first class at Otis called “American Fictions,” covering
work by authors such as Gertrude Stein and Jack Spicer. One of the students in his class
was the fledgling designer Rebecca Chamlee. Twenty-six years later, he is in his tenth
year as Chair of Otis Graduate Writing, and Rebecca works with him on publishing projects.
Their collaboration began with the conception and design of “Or: A Literary Tabloid.”
Vangelisti says that the tabloid format references political posters and “wanted dead or
alive” posters as well as “Invisible City,” the influential poetry magazine that he and John
McBride published from 1971 to 1982 in San Francisco.
Working with alternative and antique processes, Rebecca experimented with wooden
type proofs generated from her Vandercook letterpress, and scanned them as she developed the prototype pages for “Or.” Since wood type is rare and old, Rebecca has
been happily forced to mix fonts and sizes of wooden type with digital fonts for headlines.
The nicks, imperfections and contours of the large wooden letterforms create second
reads and visual surprises. For instance, “History”, is written in seven typefaces, some
letterpress-produced and scanned, and some digital, adding to the significance of the
title of the piece by Mohammed Dib, “History and its Shadow.” Rebecca stated, “I needed
design elements to create contrast and organize the extremely text-heavy surface.”
She used some of the same methods in her recent collaboration on another project
with Paul Vangelisti: a handbound letterpress book of his long poem, entitled “Azusa, a
sequel.” It is an ABCderian or book arranged in alphabetical order. Paul wrote the poem for
a MOCA show on California Conceptualism in Fall 2008, as a response to the work of
proto-conceptual artist Wallace Berman. There are also references to the Hebrew alphabet
in which every letter has a numerical value. Rebecca printed the book on her press in
black, warm red, and green. She stated:
“I set up a classic manuscript grid using ratios of the page and spread to determine the
proportion of the margins. This provided guidelines for organizing the pages that were
flexible yet maintained coherency throughout the book. The text type is all Seria Sans set on
a narrow margin with a hanging indent. All other type is wood letters from the collections
of Pie In The Sky Press and Otis Laboratory Press. The use of the wood type and
the complementary colors lends contrast in scale and style that creates a dynamic layout.”
Printed on Rives Heavyweight paper with wood type and photo polymer plates in a
6½ x 9¼-inch format, the book is 44 pages in four signatures. Twenty-five standard copies
were sewn on ramie tapes with printed endsheets, rolled leather endbands, full cloth
case binding, and an inset printed label. Five deluxe copies with full leather bindings, raised
cords and other classic letterpress details were stored in a cloth-covered clamshell box.
Five months after she received the manuscript, she finished the project.
Working with poets is a new undertaking for Rebecca, and in addition to designing
“Or” and Otis Books/Seismicity Editions, a publication project of the Graduate Writing
Program, Rebecca hopes to create fine press, limited edition books for other poets and
writers associated with Otis. Those of us who write are keeping our fingers crossed. ●
Presenting
Possibilities
“I’m an inquisitive bastard. I ask a lot
of questions,” admits architect and
interior designer Steven Learner (’86).
“A large part of what an architect does
is education, and I don’t mean to be
patronizing: My job is about presenting
possibilities.” Learner comes by his
unvarnished assessment honestly. The
former business student once worked
in retail sales and was raised by a
marketing professional. “My father
taught me early on the importance of
communicating your worth, of
explaining clearly why what you do is
good for a client,” he explains.
One night, Learner and a friend dropped by
a SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of
Architecture) crit, and he was blown away by
the energy level and unusual warehouse space.
He left business school to study architecture
at Otis, where he was introduced to the artists
and the creative sensibility that informs his
current work of designing residential and gallery
spaces for art collectors. While working in the
Otis Gallery, he collaborated with, among others,
Robert Wilson, on the design for his “Civil Wars”
installation, and the die was indelibly cast.
Learner earned his degree in interior architecture in 1986 and has never looked back. During
graduate school at Harvard, he took a design
studio with visiting professor Richard Gluckman,
known for Manhattan’s Dia Center. The assignment was to create a museum for minimalist art,
Haunch of Venison
complete with a hypothetical roster of artists.
Learner flourished, introducing both his colleagues
and his instructor to new artists, and eventually
parlaying the experience into a job in Gluckman’s
office, from 1992 to 1995.
His own roster, since opening Steven Learner
Studio in Manhattan in 1995, includes several
outstanding art collectors’ homes in New York and
a private gallery building in Connecticut, as well as
extensive renovations for galleries Sean Kelly in
Chelsea and midtown’s Haunch of Venison.
Learner likes to think that the work he does in
a space is inevitable. “I know it sounds abstract,
but I can often envision the result when I first walk
into a space I really like,” he says. “And I’ve
learned to turn down the others.” According to
him, the value he identifies has to do with a
certain spatial clarity, a winning combination of
proportions and light.
One of his favorite recent projects is Haunch
of Venison gallery, a 20,000-square-foot duplex
penthouse in a landmark Rockefeller Center tower
with 64 windows. The task became a monumental
exercise in displaying contemporary artwork while
also framing 360-degree city views, which he
treated in a cinematic way. “I’m interested in how
a space reveals itself to you as you move through
it, that it’s not all seen from the door,” Learner
says. “I always imagine the body moving through
the space.”
The floor plan he devised is a series of rooms
of varying scale, floating within the overall floor
plate and with none of the partition walls touching
the perimeter. Portals in each room frame the
artwork in the spaces beyond, juxtaposing it
against spectacular panoramas of midtown
Manhattan in the distance.
This kind of clarity of intention, evidenced in all
of Learner’s refined work, extends to the firm’s
web site, where visitors are treated to an artful
and uncharacteristically clear presentation. Within
each project, a portion of the plan is highlighted in
tandem with the display of specific photos to
locate the viewer. Sounds simple enough, but in a
profession that often prides itself on obscurity,
Learner’s straightforward speech and methods
stand out.
Learner believes he’s successful, in part,
because he’s in New York City, which suits his
perfectionist personality. “The same level of specificity I put into my work is reflected in every
choice New Yorkers make, down to the way they
order their coffee,” he says. “I feel at home.” The
designer is especially grateful for his sophisticated
clientele—people who collect art and understand
artists—who are generally supportive of his risktaking approach.
“After all, what could be better than having
your ideas built?” ●
OMAG 22
section:
Alumni Around the World
author:
Tofer Chin (’02)
available in the concrete jungle.
”
George Gottl (’85)
Spring 2010
23 OMAG
Global Citizen
in Amsterdam
“
We think of our work as “brand
poetry” or an artistic solution
for commercial needs.
”
The afternoon after I graduated from Otis,
I booked a flight to Barcelona, Spain.
This was a journey that would transform
my life forever. In June 2002, I left
Los Angeles on a solo mission. A man by
the name of David Quiles Guillo greeted
me upon my arrival. He had published
some of my work in the fourth issue of
his magazine, ROJO®.
While at Otis, I had been producing public art
primarily in Los Angeles, San Francisco,
and Amsterdam. I knew that this trip was going
to be a great opportunity for me not only to
meet the individuals behind ROJO®, but also to
expand my audience by producing site-specific
works on the streets of Spain. The month
that I spent in Barcelona was one of the most
memorable of my life.
Fast forward to 2005. ROJO® published my first
book of photography entitled ‘Finger Bang!’ The
L.A. book signing took place at MOCA. Toward the
end of 2006, David invited me to Sao Paolo, Brazil
for my first signing in South America. Sao Paulo is
AMAZING! I noticed the architecture, then the
beautiful women, then the mouth-watering food,
and then the graffiti markings all over the city’s
concrete structures. Almost every day in Sao Paolo,
I dragged my friend Tyler King (‘03) around the
city coined “the concrete jungle,” looking for
murals and tags done by The Twins (Os Gemeos),
whom I’ve been a huge fan of for quite some time.
In 2007, Sao Paolo’s Clean City Law affected a
radical, near-complete ban on outdoor advertising.
author:
Amsterdam
We are to paint the biggest walls
Alumni Around the World
George Gottl (’85) in
Barcelona /
Sao Paolo
“
section:
Tofer Chin (’02) in
A Permanent
Rainbow
Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine
However, city officials have ordered graffiti
cleanup crews not to touch work by Os Gemeos
and other famous Sao Paolo street artists. On July
4th, 2009, David invited me to participate in
ROJO®OUT Urban Stage Sao Paolo. He wrote, “Now
we found a way to bring color back to the city, and
without an advertising message behind it! We are
to paint the biggest walls available in the concrete
jungle.” In October 2009, after submitting
multiple sketches, getting government approval
and support from Smart (an automotive brand of
Daimler AG), seven artists, including me, were
selected to be a part of this project. I scaled and
drew my work accordingly. I passed it off to David
and the ROJO® team of collaborators so that
eleven concrete structures including air-vent
columns and blank walls could be painted across
the city.
I approached this project after becoming
familiar with Sao Paolo’s rough façade, and
purposely chose to add color to a very cold and
sterile environment. I call it “a permanent
rainbow.” My goal was to bring smiles to the faces
of Sao Paolo, “the concrete jungle.” ●
Seven years ago, my partner Oliver and I
decided to start a new life, and set up our
own business somewhere in Europe. As
it happens, we came to the conclusion
that Amsterdam was the perfect place to
start, both from a business and quality
of life point of view. I think our story puts
into perspective the fantastic potential
and opportunities that Amsterdam represents as a world-class magnet for talent,
and highlights how the city is the place to
be for creative entrepreneurs.
I am American, the son of two immigrants—one German, the other
Costa Rican. I grew up in Southern California and spent my formative
years in Los Angeles, where I studied fashion design at Otis. I was
recruited by Nike USA to design apparel and, in a few years, I was made
Creative Director of Apparel. After requesting a transfer to Europe,
I was posted to Nike’s Hilversum (Netherlands) headquarters, where
I started my European experience.
Our first stay in Amsterdam lasted a year, after which work
obligations took us back to London first, and Italy next, where
I became Creative Director for Mandarina Duck. While in Italy,
we decided to found our own design agency and began looking
for a suitable location to open the business.
We chose to return to Amsterdam. It is essentially a global
village, small enough to navigate easily, and diverse and international
enough not to feel like a provincial backwater. Amsterdam offers
all the conveniences and advantages of a “big” city without its
associated problems.
In 2003, we founded UXUS in Amsterdam. UXUS is an independent
multidisciplinary agency working in the areas of architecture, retail
design, brand identity and hospitality.
George Gottl with Oliver Michell
Our mission is to be regarded by international standards as
a “thought leader,” producing emotional and intelligent design that
balances creative excellence with commercial success. We think
of our work as “brand poetry” or an artistic solution for commercial
needs. Artistic solutions target emotions; emotions connect
customers to a brand in a meaningful way. Emotive brands have
added meaning, and attract more customers to them.
Our clients include Coca Cola, Nike, Proctor & Gamble, H&M,
Mc Donald’s, and Nespresso, just to name a few. UXUS has
been featured in publications all over the world, and we have been
recognized with many prestigious international design awards.
Working and living in Amsterdam has been a fantastic choice for
Oliver and me. UXUS has flourished, and our team now consists
of 20 employees from around the world. Amsterdam has offered
us a wonderful balance between the charm of a small town
and the sophistication and cultural richness of a big city. Moving to
Europe twelve years ago has given me the opportunity to experience
and understand cultures firsthand, and to start a new life as a
“global citizen.” ●
OMAG 24
section:
Class Notes
Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine
alumnae
alumnus
alumni
alumna
Class Notes sample the significant alumni accomplishments gathered by
and shared with Alumni Relations. Your community’s vitality and vision
assures that at Otis, news never stops. The Otis Alumni Blog (yet to be
named) will debut in June as a format and forum for alumni to share
announcements, news and events in real time. Please continue to use
your Alumni Facebook Group, which is over 1,000 alumni strong, to
upload work, share news and connect with friends. Also, until June,
please submit news and images to me, Ceres Madoo, your new Alumni
Relations Manager, at [email protected]. I am excited to hear from you.
section:
Class Notes
Spring 2010
25 OMAG
Judith Hernandez (’74 Fine Arts)
Yong Sin (‘95 Fine Arts)
Soloists
Billy Al Bengston
’56 Fine Arts
“A Re-creation of the Ferus Space
(Not Exactly But Close To Scale),
Billy 50 Years Later,” Samuel
Freeman Gallery, Santa Monica
Earnest Lacy
’60 Fine Arts
Art Territory, Hawthorne
Bas Jan Ader (Deceased)
’65 Fine Arts
“In Search of the Miraculous,”
Patrick Painter Gallery,
Santa Monica
Heather Goldberg (‘09, Fashion Design)
Masami Teraoka
’68 MFA Fine Arts
“Works on Paper,” Samuel Freeman
Gallery, Santa Monica
Judithe Hernandez
’74 MFA Fine Arts
“Judithe Hernandez & Sergio
Gomez: Through the Labyrinth,”
Chicago State University
Bruce Yonemoto
’79 MFA Fine Arts
“Simulations,” Bolsky Gallery, Otis
Jeffrey Vallance
’81 MFA Fine Arts
“Relics and Reliquaries,”
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, N.Y.;
“Lapland Shaman Drum,”
Margo Leavin Gallery, L.A.
Mark Dean Veca
’85 Fine Arts
“Revenge of Phantasmagoria,”
Instituto Cultural Cabañas,
Guadalajara International
Book Fair
Mari Andrews
’82 MFA Fine Arts
“Paperless Drawings,” J H Muse
Gallery, Jackson, WY; “Effloresce,”
Brian Gross Fine Art, S.F.
Keiko Fukazawa
’86 MFA Fine Arts
“Parallel Universes,”
L2kontemporary, L.A.
Bradley Greer and Gary Matteson
’85 Fine Arts
“Normal Days,” Washington Adams
at the Pacific Design Center,
W. Hollywood
Sarah Perry
’83 Fine Arts
“Weight of the Moon,” Lora
Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica
Sandow Birk
’89 Fine Arts
“American Qur’an,”
Catherine Clark Gallery, S.F. and
Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Culver City
Andrew Brandou
’90 Communication Arts
“In the Garden of The Mystic,”
Corey Helford Gallery, Culver City
James David Thomas
’84 Fine Arts
Frederic Stern Gallery, Glendale
Joey Santarromana
’90 Fine Arts
“Stare,” video installation,
Offramp Gallery, Pasadena
Lucas Reiner
’85 Fine Arts
“On Fuller Avenue,”
Long Beach City College
Camille Rose Garcia
’92 Fine Arts
“The Hydra of Babylon,”
Merry Karnowsky Gallery, L.A.
Yong Sin
’95 Fine Arts
“Rollover,” San Pedro Chamber
Boardroom Gallery; “Op Collage,”
LAX Terminal 1 West
Mary-Austin Klein
’91 Fine Arts
“Desert of My Heart,”
True World Gallery, Joshua Tree
Byong Ok Koh
’98 Fine Arts
“F Sculpture Show,” Angels Gate
Cultural Center, San Pedro
Mario Ybarra Jr.
’99 Fine Arts
“The Only City on the Whole West
Coast without Beach Access,”
Brown Gallery, London
Faris McReynolds
’00 Fine Arts
“The Primitive Electric,”
Roberts and Tilton, Culver City
Annie Buckley
’03 MFA Fine Arts
“Wings Scatter Like Leaves in Your
Hand,” Jancar Gallery, L.A.
Kate Harding
’03 Fine Arts
“The Hills Are Alive,”
Circus Gallery, L.A.
Michael Brunswick
’07 MFA Fine Arts
“Paintings by Michael Brunswick,”
Gallery One, Toronto
Kathrin Burmester
’07 MFA Fine Arts
“New Work,” Jancar Gallery, L.A.
Sojung Kwon
’07 MFA Fine Arts
“Rolling a Ball,” Art Space of the Arts
Council, Seoul; “Planning a Year,”
Gallery DAM, Seoul
Ed Bopp
’08 Fine Arts
“Handsome Paintings,”
CREW @ The Lab, Costa Mesa
Flora Kao
’08 Fine Arts
Haus Gallery, Pasadena
Claire Cregan, Michelle Johnson
and Elizabeth Mauceli (‘09 Fine
Arts) “Our together works,”
presented by Lucas Reiner (‘85) and
Maud Winchester of Washington
Adams at the Pacific Design Center,
W. Hollywood
Entrepreneurs
Rick Klotz
’90 Communication Arts
Owner of former Fresh Jive label,
now No Label label
Jared Gold
’98 Fashion Design
Press: “Fashion Show Traveling
by Amtrack Runway Shows,”
L.A. Times
Arbi Avanessian
’01 Toy Design
New menswear line:
www.katorclothing.com
Kenneth Ober and Renee Fox
’01 and ’02 Fine Arts
Organizers/Artists: Third Annual
Inglewood Open Studios
Katherine Bwye
’06 Communication Arts
Store Launch: www.jetthepilot.com
Linda Kunik
’06 Fine Arts
“Plant it Forward – the Starving
Artist Project”
Marjan Vayghan
’06 Fine Arts
Organizer of “Building Bridges:
From Tehran to Los Angeles, Film
Festival,” Fowler Museum, UCLA,
including Stephanie Allespach (’01),
Andy Manoushagain (’09) Ofunne
Obiamiwe (’09), Malak Quota (’06)
and Dana Duff, Otis faculty member
Entertainers
Denny Hooten
’01 Digital Media
Editor and Producer: “Fallen Idol:
The Yuri Gagarin Conspiracy”
Abigale Cosio
’07 Fine Arts
CD “The Cacaphonist”
Lindsay Thompson
’07 Digital Media
Animator: Avatar, Aliens in the Attic,
and Night at the Museum: Battle of
the Smithsonian
Cool Designers
Rebecca Chamlee
’85 Communication Arts
Exhibition: “The Page: An
Interactive Exhibition of Artists’
Books,” Guggenheim Gallery,
Chapman University, Orange
OMAG 26
section:
Class Notes
Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine
section:
Class Notes
27 OMAG
Spring 2010
★
Alumni
in the News
Phillips / Karlsrud
Guerilla Gardening
“Johnny Appleseeds for the 21st Century” is how Fast Company
describes Daniel Phillips (’08 Architecture/Landscape/
Interiors) and Kim Karlsrud’s (’07 Product Design) project,
Greenaid. Guerilla gardening,their grass roots campaign,
intends to raise public awareness as well as reveal and
remedy issues of spatial inequity. Residents purchase “seed
bombs,” a mixture of clay, compost, and seeds, for 25 cents
from repurposed gumball machines, and toss them into
derelict urban spaces such as vacant lots and median strips.
The first dispensaries are installed in Chinatown.
Flora Kao (’08, Fine Arts)
Cool Designers continued
Rose-Lynn Fisher (‘78, Fine Arts)
Eduardo Lucero
’89 Fashion Design
Featured: The Geffen, L.A. Fashion
Week; Museum of Latin American
Art gala, Long Beach; Mercedes Benz
Fashion Week, Mexico City
Nakisa Nowzar
’06 Toy Design
2010 TOTY (Toy of the Year) Award
nomination: One Kiss Tiana Doll, by
Mattel from Disney animated film
The Princess and the Frog
Daniel “Red” Carter
’92 Fashion Design
Swimwear partnering with Jessica
Simpson collection 2010, Miami
Daphne Yap
’04 Toy Design
Concept Artist for Avatar, Star Trek,
and Alice in Wonderland. Publications:
“The Art of Avatar” and “Daphne 01:
Sketches by Daphne Yap,” Design
Studio Press, Culver City
Sakona Kong
’04 Digital Media
Art Director, Blind Design Studio,
Culver City
Hanjin Park
’07 Toy Design
Collaborated on development of the
GX Racers and GX Skate
Heather Goldberg
’09 Fashion Design
Shadowplay line of jewelry, featured
in New York magazine
Award-Winners
Robbie Cavolina
’87 Fine Arts
Grammy Nomination: DVD
“Anita O’Day: Life of a Jazz Singer”;
No. 1 on “Picks of the Week,” July 27,
Time magazine
In Print
Kent Twitchell
’77 MFA Fine Arts
Exhibition: Berlin Wall Display,
L.A. Times
Ruben Ochoa
’97 Fine Arts
“Vitamin 3-D, New Perspectives in
Sculpture and Installation,” 2009
ochoa
yap
garcia
Jenny McLean
’02 Communication Arts
Interview: Fabric line Tula Pink
Mia Araujo
’07 Communication Arts
Interview: Art Nouveau magazine
Ryan Riddle
’08 MFA Writing
San Francisco Bay Guardian
02
According to Avatar Director James
Cameron (Variety, Jan 21), Daphne Yap
was was essential in creating the
creatures’ dazzling look because “she
just was the most amazing textile
designer I’ve ever seen.” Her touch is
evident in most of the Na’vi
costumes and jewelry, and, according
to Cameron, “Daphne-ization was
the last step” for all of the creatures.
In Memoriam
George Goodrich
’93 Fine Arts, artist and former staff
member at Otis, passed away in
the fall 2009. His daughter, Alisha
Goodrich, can be reached at
Rose-Lynn Fisher
’78 Fine Arts
“BEE,” Princeton Architectural Press, [email protected]
April 2010
Holly Phillips
Richard “Kam” Jacoby
’07 Fine Arts
’85 Communication Arts
passed away in Berlin, Germany,
“Layers: Composite Photographs
September, 2009.
from the Lompoc Valley,”
Haagen Printing, 2009
01
01
Ruben Ochoa (’97) with “At First
Blush,” installation at Museum
of Contemporary Art San Diego,
Jacobs Building
Photo: Pablo Mason
02
03
Daphne Yap (’04)
with Avatar Director
James Cameron
03
Camille Rose Garcia’s (’92)
“Alice’s Adventures In
Wonderland,” book cover
OMAG 28
section:
Class Notes
Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine
♻
Design
with
re-Purpose
section:
Class Notes
Spring 2010
♥
NY
SF
LA
ALUMNI CONNECT
Otis 90th bag: Celebrate Otis’ first
90 years with a messenger bag made
from recycled street pole banners.
Fashion Design Alumnae Summer
Spanton (in photo) and Ila Erickson
(both ’09) fabricated the bags.
Place your credit card order with
Graphaids (310) 216-6300. $35 plus
shipping. Other Otis gear available:
t-shirts, license plate holders,
caps, hats, sweatshirts, and bumper
stickers. otis.edu/gear ●
=
01
Receiving
Santa Monica Place
The Mannequin collective
$
Otis has been selected as the charitable partner of Santa Monica Place’s
unique and exciting initiative, The Mannequin Collective, which will celebrate
the August 6th grand opening of Macerich’s new Santa Monica Place at
Broadway and 3rd St, at the south end of the Third St. Promenade.
More than 100 mannequins will become a canvas for creativity, and feature
the artistic expressions of Otis students, local retailers, designers, artists,
media and community members. These expressions of art will be displayed
on all three levels of the new shopping center, and a jury of local art
experts and community leaders will select five for special recognition.
The winning mannequins will be on display on Otis’ campus. The College will
also participate in an auction event. As the official partner, Otis will receive
a $10,000 gift from Santa Monica Place, and be the recipient of mannequin
auction monies. Otis will allocate these funds for scholarships for Santa Monica
College students who wish to transfer to an art or design-focused program
at Otis, and for tuition remission for Santa Monica K-12 school teachers
and high school students to access the College’s Continuing Education and
College Preparatory courses. ●
Giving
$
Alumni Participation
is vital
Every year, when corporations and foundations decide what to fund, they
look at one key statistic: alumni participation. That means your gift of $5,
$10, $25 or more makes a significant difference. Additionally, your gift
to the O-Fund helps our most pressing need: scholarships for students.
Please make your gift today at otis.edu/givenow or use the
envelope enclosed. Questions about this or the Tile Program? Contact
Andre Khachtourians at (310) 665-6869 or [email protected] ●
How to Contribute
01
02
310.
665.
6869
03
otis.edu/
givenow
03
02
01
Aaron Maninang (’07), Marcus LeBlanc (’06),
Kirk Von Heifner (’06), Ozz Nooryani (’06),
Dale Balenseifen (’06)
02
Rosemary Brantley, Chair of Fashion Design
(center front) with New York alumni at
the John Varvatos Showroom in Manhattan.
Thank you, Marcus!
03
Los Angeles area alumni gathered to hear
Sandow Birk (’89) discuss his exhibition
American Qur’an at Koplin Del Rio Gallery.
Thanks to Eleana Del Rio (’89)!
04
Francesca Ordona (’83), President
Samuel Hoi, and Louise Maloof (’93) in
San Francisco enjoyed a special talk by
curator John Zarobell about Kerry James
Marshall’s (’78) monumental atrium
murals at SFMOMA.
29 OMAG
04