Someone Suggested...

Valeska suggested that I take a look at this graphic designer (who was actually the Commencement speaker for the class of 2010s graduation). His studio's work varies a wide variety of medias and is all very neat!

http://www.sagmeister.com/welcome

-Katie

Research/Response

In class on Monday, February 28: Peruse the magazine rack at the Decker Library – find at least 4 images that really resonate with you. Two of these must be the work of contemporary artists (working now or within the last 10 years). Color copy these and include them in your journal, to be handed in by the end of class.

By Monday, March 7: Consider your options for the field trip to be undertaken in this class. Where do you want to go? What do you want to see, experience or do? The field trip should be focused. It should support your research, your work as an artist. The field trip can take the form of a visit to an exhibition (or multiple); it could take the form of a tour of a particular place or volunteering/working at a community organization for a day. You can undertake this expedition on the day we have set aside for this: Monday, April 11 or before this date. Start your research now, so that you can take advantage of exhibition timelines and/or special events. You must document your fieldtrip experience through pictures/photographs, writing, sketches and/or the accumulation of evidence. Bring your preliminary list of ideas on an 81/2 x 11 sheet of paper next week, so that I can collect and review them. 

Power Suit!

Current Gallery / Call for Work

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

C A R T
DEADLINE APRIL 8, 2011
EXHIBITION JULY 2011

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

The average American makes two trips to buy groceries each week, making supermarkets, mini-marts, and corner stores essential and incredibly influential parts of our everyday lives. All items are bought and sold at these stores using money. Money is earned through labor, and labor comes in countless different packages, much like our food. Through our labor we are inspired and we are exploited. We progress and we are repressed. We survive.

Art is created through labor, but unlike some of the more negative forms labor takes, art stimulates our minds, challenges our imaginations, and expands our vision for the world. Art is at the center of humanity’s continuous evolution, but it remains extraordinarily undervalued by mainstream American society, which is almost solely focused on the seemingly endless cycle of labor and consumption. This limited view of life is slowly eliminating our ability to imagine, dream, and think freely.

Through C A R T, Current Gallery is positing that art is not optional, but essential. It affects all of us internally, whether we are aware of it or not, and it should therefore be considered as fundamental to our daily lives as the products we purchase at grocery stores every week. Therefore, Current Space will be transformed into a fully functional mini-supermarket, complete with aisles, window displays, shopping baskets, and cash registers in an attempt to explore the exchange of artists’ labor for profit in a familiar, everyday setting.

We are accepting proposals of products in all formats to serve as merchandise in the store that either creatively mimics a product that already exists, or to create a new product. Proposals should include clear statements regarding format of work, quantity, type of packaging to be used, and estimated cost to “consumers.” Artists should keep in mind that it is our intention for the work in the show to be affordable, and should therefore be priced accordingly.

Examples: Items in check out lane, i.e. magazines, candy, drinks, produce section, Dry foods (real or not real), toy and supply isle, Medicine.

DEADLINE: APRIL 8, 2011

Please email: cart@currentspace.com with the following:
- Contact- Name(s), number, email, andress, and website(optional)
- Statement/Description
- Resume (optional)
- Work samples

Donald Judd

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/24/arts/design/24judd.html?_r=1

Love his use of red here and his simple, repetitive designs.
Elle

ps. Blogger wouldn't allow me to post the picture or a link?

Simple Shapes that Say A Lot

I came across this link from a friend and thought I'd share it with everyone. I love how such minimalism can relate to or say so much about something. Just a simple shape or color scheme is all it needs to be perfect. (Granted some of the posters are better than others, but for the most part they're all pretty great.) Enjoy!

-Katie


http://www.listal.com/list/minimalist-posters

Excessively Amazing Acappellla group... funny as hell

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1935205

You won't be sorry because they guys really know how to perform!

Sam

1000 awesome things

found this blog. it's addicting. enjoy!
1000 Awesome Things
-Sasha

Pinar Yolacan

so, me and my roomate stumbled upon this artist and went crazy, we are currently drying chicken skin as a result of his amazing work. she considers herself a photographer since the things she makes are mostly perishable so its mostly a method for documentation, not only that but there is a clear choice in models and compositional set up. She essencially makes clothing partially out of raw meat (but this isn't your typical gaga meat dress!). she was born in turkey (haha ok sorry but raw meat? turkey?) and studied fashion in london and new york. Its kind of awesome how she got the models (craigslist!) and the fact that she designed for them.

i thought since we have so many fashion/fiber/sculpture majors in the class most of you would appreciate it :)

anyway here is a short and cute interview that actually gives a nice glimpse into her process

and the link to her actual website

Robin Rhode at the BMA - THIS SATURDAY

Seeing Now: Photography Since 1960

February 20 – May 15, 2011 at the BMA 

More than 200 provocative and compelling images showcase photography's extraordinary development since 1960 in this gripping exhibition of moving and at times frank subjects. Seeing Now offers a striking snapshot of the world around us as seen through the eyes of more than 60 photographers—including Diane Arbus, William Eggleston, Gary Winogrand, and Cindy Sherman. 

Internationally renowned contemporary photographers Philip-Lorca diCorcia and Robin Rhode host a thought-provoking discussion at the BMA moderated by Curator of Contemporary Art Kristen Hileman.  Saturday, February 26, 2 p.m.

Upcoming Shows at the Textile Museum

Green: the Color and the Cause April 16 - September 11, 2011 Many cultures traditionally associate the color green with nature and its attributes, including life, fertility and rebirth. In recent years, green has become the symbolic color of environmentalism. This exhibition will celebrate green both as a color and as a cause, exploring the techniques people have devised to create green textiles, the meanings this color has held in cultures across time and place, and the ways that contemporary textile artists and designers are responding to concerns about the environment. The exhibition will include a selection of work from the Museum’s collection, along with extraordinary work by contemporary artists and designers from five continents.  For the first time in the Museum’s almost 90 year history, this exhibition will present two site specific installations― a handmade paper sculpture of the eco-system of coastal New Jersey which emulates the ebb and flow of an important estuary and a lace-covered arbor in the Museum’s garden embedded with grass seed which will sprout, mature and die during the period the exhibition is on view. Like all of the contemporary works, these installations will help continue today’s Green conversation. Second Lives: The Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles  February 4 - January 8, 2012 Throughout the world, textiles were historically so valuable that threadbare fabrics were seldom completely discarded. Drawn from The Textile Museum's permanent collection, this exhibition highlights the ways people in various cultures have ingeniously repurposed worn but precious fabrics to create beautiful new textile forms. Examples include a rare sutra cover made from a 15th-century Chinese rank badge, a vest fashioned from a Pacific Northwest coast Chilkat blanket, and a large patchwork hanging from Central Asia stitched together from small scraps of silk ikat and other fabrics. Also featured are a pictorial kantha from India embroidered with threads recycled from old saris, a coat from 19th-century Japan painstakingly woven from rags, and other recycled textiles. Second Lives complements the major spring exhibition, Green: the Color and the Cause, on view April 16 through September 11, 2011.  This vest was created from a covering used at an Islamic holy site. Textiles were often used to cover sacred scriptures and shrines - including the Kaaba at Mecca, possibly the most impressive example of such use. Artist Unknown, Sash Metallic silk thread India, late 18th century The Textile Museum 6.315 Museum purchase

Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin

-Patrick

Landon metz

Landon Metz

-Patrick

pillow talk

Pillow talk an interactive design i found really interesting

-Patrick

Red Emma's 2640 (St. Paul's Church)

One more place to check out is the collectively run events venue that was started by Red Emma's and St. Paul's church. Valeska told us about the video screening benefit happening on Thursday this morning. I've been there to see Kimya Dawson and a craft festival it's an interesting crowd of Baltimore artists. Heres the website: http://www.redemmas.org/2640/.

-Elle

Creative Alliance and Transmodern Festival

Check out the Creative Alliance this saturday a band I love is playing for free! they're Baltimore based called Future Islands: http://www.creativealliance.org/events/eventItem2446.html

also, Valeska and Ryan Patterson are working on the Transmodern Festival this year, which will be open at the H&H building and the Current Gallery on Howard and Franklin the last Friday and Satuday of April, 7-11pm. I went last year and it was unreal. All four floors of the H&H building had installations of art, live music and costume. This year, there's going to be a conceptual camp ground and they're looking for artists to participate! My brother is going to submit his birdhouses, check them out: http://cbirdhouses.blogspot.com/2009/03/churchills-birdhouses.html

Heres a description of the festival that Ryan sent me:

"Transmodern is a festival of provocative works by cultural experimenters from Baltimore and

the World. The artists of the 7th Annual Transmodern Festival defy traditional genres

and embrace radical innovation through transmedia, clashes of organic vs. artificial

intelligence, psychogeography, dislocation of consensus reality, real politic and collective

cultural action.

The organizers promote / celebrate the diversity of experimental culture by highly

representing artists from the following groups: women, ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians,

the radical subculture." …more at www.transmodernfestival.org

I can't wait!

-Elle

Jeff Depner

Jeff Depner is one of my favorite artists. I've always been inspired by his work, especially the way he uses geometric shapes and color to illustrate his concepts. I could stare at these pieces forever ...

Dana

fun memory game that works

http://www.stumbleupon.com/to/s/1aBgo3

This game is fun and a good memory exercise! For those of you who have been to an Orioles game, its pretty much like the crab game. It's addicting and educational... at least I think.

Sam

fun memory game

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2SNNmM/herbie.rmfire.com/games/coconutCurumba.swf

This game is fun and a good memory exercise! For those of you who have been to an Orioles game, its pretty much like the crab game. It's addicting and educational... at least I think.

Sam

Jersey Boys!!

This thursday I saw Jersey Boys (which is a musical) at the Hippadrome with my parents for my mom's birthday. It is a musical thats been a major success on Broadway about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. I was so impressed by the music and it made me so inspired to write the great american classic of our generation, I loved their sound! But even more-so I found myself inspired by the lighting, costumes and overall energy that the show had. It made me want to find ways to get involved in theatre, not as an actor but as a costume designer or set design or something! I'm constantly amazed when I realize how many different places my love of art can take me!

Anyway, Jersey Boys, I highly recommend it!

Sam

sequence of lines

A Sequence Of Lines Traced By Five Hundred Individuals In An Online Drawing Program. Each New User Only Sees The Latest Line Drawn, And Can Therefore Only Trace This Latest Imperfect Copy.

this video reminded me a lot of the collaboration activities we did at the beginning of the semester.

http://www.dump.com/2011/02/17/a-sequence-of-lines-traced-by-five-hundred-individuals-in-an-online-drawing-program-each-new-user-only-sees-the-latest-line-drawn-and-can-therefore-only-trace-this-latest-imperfect-copy-video/

-Jennifer

Iran

Amazing Weekend

I just spent the weekend helping out with MICA's photoshoot for their spring fashion show with photographer Derek Blanks and make up artist Reggie Wells. They are amazong artist and I was so inpired by each designer's line! Make sure you come to the show, it will be on April 15 and 16.


P.S. Check out Derek Blanke's work. He is a MICA illustration major alumni.
http://dblankes.com/

I've been thinking a lot about books and writing and the written word. And then I came across this image that takes the words out of the book. It's called "Read Between the Lines" by by Ariana Boussard-Reifel. She cut every word out of the entire book. It's just really interesting to me that the absence of words can say something just as powerful, if not more than the words themselves. I'm also really interested in the book format for art making. I bought the complete works of William Shakespeare at a tagsale at the beginning of the year for $2. and still can't decide what to do with it....
(also i forgot to sign the last post- but the one about the snowflakes is me too)
-Sasha

Snowflakes

In light of the warm weather and the impending return of winter- i thought i'd bring us some snowflakes. from this website here. Super magnified snowflakes. These just blow my mind. Espeically when you start to look at them from a design point of view. Or a structural point of view. Or even when you just start to think about how many of these things there are even in the lightest covering of snow. They're just amazing.

Creative Commons

In high school, I took a mini-workshop about making zines, and specifically finding images that have a Creative Commons license (non-copyright type things). I learned about this website, the NOAA Photo Library, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They have an enormous photo library, full of high-quality photos that are free to use and download. There's also usually a lot of information about each photograph. So much fun!

The Inner Harbor, 1985

There is also the Creative Commons website which has it's own kind-of-search engine, that accesses multiple search engines for CC licensed content, which is really nice.

--Vivien

Connecticut Artist

Hey guys

So the artist Kevin Van Aelst was my teacher at the art magnet school that I went to. He does really smart and interesting work on his own and for commission. He's done covers and pictures for articles for Newsweek, Times, New York Times, and various other books and articles. Check out his work.

http://www.kevinvanaelst.com/art.html

-Lindsay Miller

Collaboration photos.

Hey everyone,

I put up some collaboration pictures on Picasa.

There are a lot more, but most are variations of the ones I put up.

Holler if you're interested in seeing others...

-Cornie.

John Giorno- I resigned myself to being here

I love how his poetry becomes musical, the way he layers it.

listen to it here

-patrick

Active Minds

FRIDAY, FEB.  25 , 4:00 TO 5:00,MEYERHOFF PRIVATE DINING ROOM, student activities will host Kate Mahoney from the ACTIVE MINDS organization.  (www.activeminds.org)

Active Minds is the only organization working to utilize the student voice to change the conversation about mental health on college campuses.  By developing and supporting chapters of a student-run mental health awareness, education, and advocacy group on campuses, the organization works to increase students’ awareness of mental health issues, provide information and resources regarding mental health and mental illness, encourage students to seek help as soon as it is needed, and serve as liaison between students and the mental health community. Through campus-wide events and national programs, Active Minds aims to remove the stigma that surrounds mental health issues, and create a comfortable environment for an open conversation about mental health issues on campuses throughout North America.

Daniel Tammet: Colors, Shapes, and... Numbers?

This was on Discovery Channel a while back if I remember correctly. Check it out and see what you think on the guy who can recite the first 20k digits of π from his head, add, subtract, multiply over two numbers over 4 digits... doing it all by seeing them as shapes and colors, then fitting them together...

It's really quite fascinating!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbASOcqc1Ss&feature=related

-Jennifer

Albers Color Exercises

In class, we played around with the phenomena of color, focusing specifically on Alber's color exercises.


We started with an activities - ordering ourselves based on height, hair color, tenor of voice, to get us focused on the idea of relativity. We discovered that the more we can minimize the variables, the easier it is to do make clear decisions.  (ie: it is easier to create an order from shortest to tallest, than it is to create an order of hair cplor gradations, due to interfering variables like texture, highlights/lack of uniformity of color etc.)


I then related this to the use of the Albers color aid papers. It is hard to create a uniform and repeatable block or sample of color with mixed paint.  The mixing process can create subtle variations or irregularitie within the same 'sample' of color, due to textures created by the paint brush, and areas of not thoroughly mixed colors.  The screenprinted Albers (color aid) papers eliminate these variatons and are uniform in hue/saturation/value throughout the entire sheet.


We experimented with colors to discover how one color can 'push' or 'pull' another color through proximity/influence. We talked about the 'vampire effect' - a more saturated (high chroma) red pulling or sucking the red out of a pink, making the pink appear less reddish, less saturated, etc.




You worked on making one color look like two (1=2), by changing the ground colors behind each one. You then worked on making two colors look like one (2=1), again by changing the ground (or influencing) color.


For homework I am asking you to generate the following (for your own color exercise collection.):


Two examples of 1=2
Two examples of 2=1 using the color aid paper.


One of each of the following:
-contrast of extension (again, this really only works well when you have two samples experimenting with varying amounts of the same colors).
- transparency effect
- vanishing and vibrating boundaries
- personal palette (compose a page with a combination of 10-20 coloraid or found colors that you find harmonious or interesting, compelling...colors and color combinations, in varying degrees that you are drawn to, etc.)


I HIGHLY encourage you to go to the library and take a look at Alber's Interaction of Color in the reference section (both volumes, the plates and the explanatory text). An online site worth visiting is: http://marilynfenn.com/more/color-theory-exercises/color-theory-exercise-1/  The site takes a while to load, so just be patient. 

We briefly looked at journals. For homework, continue the 2 page response. Do not limit yourself with the 2 pages, though. Especially those of you working in little itty bitty books. AND especially those of you that are coming upon some interesting ideas/ways of working. You may need to make some samples/object-based responses. Do what makes sense for you. If you are in need of a prompt, repeat any of the ones from last week and/or use one of these:

1. Fill your 2 pages with images of artists you are inspired by, drawn to, interested in OR

2. Choose one artist/samples of their work and collect/draw/sketch/write what you think their sources of inspiration, studio walls, sketchbook, samples might look like. OR

3. Think of ONE project you have done since coming to MICA, and dedicate 2 pages of your journal considering the '5 directions' leading off from the central, original point. We talked about this last semester, Ie: in one variation of your project, you might create a different context by placing it in a new setting, you might rebuild it, making it twn times as large, you might make multiples....Again, these 5 directions would be based on what information you gathered through the making AND the sharing of the work (taking a step back, seeing through the responses of others, etc.)

BRING your color exercises and your journals to class next week. I will be collecting them and holding on to them for a couple of days.

And since many of you stated that you had not seen the Jen Stark website and films, I am embedding a link to them again here. 

Many of you to my surprise also were not familiar with the work of Andy Goldsworthy, who makes use of color relationships in his work. 

Maya Angelou

Remembrance

Your hands easy
weight, teasing the bees
hived in my hair, your smile at the
slope of a cheek. On the
occasion, you press
above me, glowing, spouting
readiness, mystery rapes
my reason

When you have withdrawn
your self and the magic, when
only the smell of your
love lingers between
my breasts, then, only
then, can I greedily consume
your presence.



Karen

Donna Rosenthal

I saw these little dresses and was amazed by the intarcacy and amount of detail each one had. I thought about how much patience it took for the artist to construct these tiny garments. Also check out her website to see her metal work.

http://donnarosenthalartist.com/

Karen

Funny Foxes

THese foxes are all starring at you. What could they be looking at? Check your teeth.

Sam

p.s thee one about what love is was my post too.

What kids think love is

What kids think love is

“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” Rebecca- age 8

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” Billy – age 4

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” Karl – age 5

“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.” Chrissy – age 6

“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.” Terri – age 4

“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.” Danny – age 7

“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss” Emily – age 8

“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” Bobby – age 7 (Wow!)

“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,” Nikka – age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka’s on this planet)

“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.” Noelle – age 7

“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” Tommy – age 6

“During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.” Cindy – age 8

“My mommy loves me more than anybody You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.” Clare – age 6

“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.” Elaine-age 5

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.” Chris – age 7

“Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.” Mary Ann – age 4

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” Lauren – age 6

“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” (what an image)

Karen – age 7

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross.” Mark – age 6

“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” Jessica – age 8

"You are better than unicorns and sparkles combined!"

Chelsea actually showed me this ages ago
and i have it bookmarked on my computer
because I love it
and I think it's really interesting from a color theory point of view.
It's a website
that compliments you.
If you read the info section
it talks about how there is all of this negativity all the time on the internet
that you can be extraordinarily vulnerable and post your work, your art, your opinions, all sorts of personal things online, only to be insulted and hurt by people's mindless comments.
And it's just so easy to be mean and cruel over the internet
So here's a website that does the opposite.
enjoy!
I Like Your Jacket
-Sasha

Artscape Call for Work

Take advantage of living in the city that hosts the largest, free outdoor arts festival in the country! Click HERE link to Artscape's call for submissions - many are due on March 31! The festival occurs in July!

Sleep-In

Photos from the Sleep-In last week are now posted to the class Picasa Album, accessible via this link: https://picasaweb.google.com/populoh.mica/SleepCollaboration#

Just to Prove that Anything can be a Material...

I came across these videos some time ago and just rediscovered them saved on my computer. They just go to prove that anything can be a medium....not to mention they are just freaking awesome! Enjoy....

The Kiss

I Love this Tolouce-Lautrec Painting so so much. Everytime I see it I just stare at his use of color and line that makes this image so powerful. It seems as if it's raining color.

Sam

New Art Blog

Check out this new addition to the blogosphere: http://open-bag.blogspot.com/

Of course it wasn't what I was looking for...

Last week I had to do some research for my Drawing class work. I came across this book in the library called Visual Symphony: A Photographic Work in Four Movements by photographer Bruce Barnbaum. I was looking at the book for some help with the imaginary landscape I was supposed to be doing, but it was Barnbaum's collection of black and white photographs of cathedrals that blew my mind.....and of course they were completely irrelevant to my Drawing homework. However, I continuously looked at the collection over and over again. I am in love them! It makes me even more excited than I already am to be back working in the darkroom :)

-Katie

Here are a few of the photographs from the book (as well as Bruce Barnbaum's personal website)....

http://www.barnbaum.com/barnbaum/Portfolios/Pages/CATHEDRALS.html

RESEARCH/RESPONSE

The purpose of the weekly journal is to provie you with the luxury of having time allotted in a class to a process that should be occurring in a developed art practice. 


As I mentioned to you, consider a work of art that inspires you. Consider : WHAT WAS THIS PERSON TRYING TO SOLVE? What questions were they seeking answers to? What were they interested in? What COMPELLED THEM? Almost any major monograph (a book dedicated to the work of one artist) and any major artist talk will start with this...early work, sketchbooks, collections, experiments...that led them to their later work. If you identify a few artists you are excited by, go find a monograph and take a look at their early work, their sketchbooks, their early experiments and trials....


Maybe it's myths.
Rituals. Ceremonial objects, dress.
Maybe it is an interest in color, and color relationships.
Form - in space.
Action. Political action and performance. 
Snow. 


You name it!  Literally YOU name it. 


So, some of you seemed to be asking for more information - for more clarity. I had a conversation with one of you after class, and this person was talking about their interest in the PROCESS of drawing, in the phenomena of light and dark and capturing that in a drawing, in texture. A journal exploration could be (but is not limited to) collecting images of drawings, paintings, scenes that capture a quality of light that you feel inspired by. It could be pages experimenting with mark making. It could be writing on dark and light, the way we use those words to describe phenomena, the connotations they have. 


The student (your classmate) said to me - "you know, there are so many images I come across online, but I don't have a computer, and so no way to save them, and I guess this is a great assignment so that I actually document and capture those sources of inspiration by printing them out and putting them in a book."


PRECISELY!


If you still need a starting point, consider giving your self a limitation. For instance:


- Collect and pair colors that you respond to positively (these could be the result of mixing paint or finding colors in a magazine)


- Grab a bunch of magazines, like National Geographic (boatloads available at your Waverly Book Thing) and cut out all of the images that inspire and intrigue you. Combine these on the page to create new relationships.


- Find a space on campus or in the city, take a photograph, make a sketch, write about it. What is it about the space that captivates or interests you. What would you do to recreate this feeling? Would you abstract it? Make a painting or drawing of it. Create an installation space about it? A sound recording. 


-Open the dictionary to a random page. Select the first word on the page and the last. Create two pages of your journal that connect these two words. 


- Go to the library. Peruse the magazine rack, Pull down magazines that interest you. Leaf through them. Make copies of images, pages that interest you. Compile these in your notebook.


- Find a structure that interests you. (A building, a fence, a piece of cloth, a coral reef, a beehive, the bark of a cedar tree, mushrooms on logs, canoes ...). Take a picture or (if it is small enough) put it in your book. Respond to it through writing or drawing. 
....

Vivienne Isabel Swire

Vivienne is one of the famous designer. I am really inspired by her ideas which can be seen nowadays in a brand name Vivienne Westwood. This winter season, Vivienne has designed coats, cardigans and etc and it is called THE RED LABEL. I like the way she designs the coats in a fashionable way and the shape of the coats this year was unique. For example there were shoulder pumps which is the trend and the material used to make is the new style of compressed wool.

Soo Young Aileen Choi

Color Theory

In element class we recently started to study about colors.

To pre-learn about what we are going to study in class, I looked at some pictures and informations on color.

This is a picture which is actually created by 3 combinations of different color. Because of the color around the small rectangle, there is an effect in the hues of the 2 small rectangle. The 2 small rectangle in the middle looks like they are a different color. However it is not.

Soo Young Aileen Choi

Masao Yamamoto

I've recently become kind of obsessed with the photographer Masao Yamamoto. He makes really tiny photos, then alters them by painting, dyeing, writing on, rubbing, or tearing them. His work is about memory, and how a photograph is more about a feeling, or something you can hold in your hand, than an actual image.

-Erin Lanagan

Eye Catching...

So, yes I will admit, I spend far too much time on StumbleUpon. However, you do come across some really neat things. I am considering changing my major to Graphic Design and lately have been noticing advertisements more and more. When I came across these ads I was really amused and struck by how clever they were. Enjoy!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/28xcsS/justpaste.it/2p8

Philadelphia's Magic Garden!

When I was in Philly this weekend, my friend who goes to school there showed me this REALLY cool sculpture space. It's an entirely mosaic-ed system of tunnels and walkways in a tiny space between two buildings. The coolest part is that most/all of the things covering the walls are found objects, like empty bottles, bike wheels, and old furniture!

The artist, Isaiah Zagar, does tons of murals like it all over the city! It was amazing to just be walking down a street then see some giant gorgeous mosaic on the side of an old building!

Check out his website :)

http://www.phillymagicgardens.org/

-Erin Lanagan

Radiolab -- Emergence

I just listened to this Radiolab podcast about emergence, which is about the magic of groups over singularity. It reminded me of our collaborative projects!
Also, I highly recommend this show, along with This American Life. They are really really great radio shows.

"What happens when there is no leader? Starlings, bees, and ants manage just fine. In fact, they form staggeringly complicated societies--all without a Toscanini to conduct them into harmony. This hour of Radiolab, we ask how this happens.

We gaze down at the bottom-up logic of cities, Google, and even our very own brains with fire-flyologists, ant experts, neurologists, a mathematician, and an economist."

-Vivien

Miu Shoes

Who can resist a nice pair of Miu Miu's? Like Treacy's hats, Miu Miu's shoes have pushed the boundaries of fashion to a whole new level. Unlike brands that I won't mention who simply set something on the runway or throw it into the market simply for the case of reaping profit, these two have evidently put much of their artistic vision in their designs. I have recently just come across this brand, but have fallen in love with it already. :)

-Jennifer Zhang

Hats Off to Philip Treacy

If any of you watched Project Runway Season 8, you would have remembered the wonderful episode - the one where my favorite contestant got voted off :( - with Philip Treacy, "Hats Off to You". As quoted from Project Runway, Philip Treacy's hats are not so much what they are supposed to be as they are breath-taking works of art. There is a life within his work, and it captivates me as much as it captivates the rest of the world. Hats off to our fabulous Philip!

-Jennifer Zhang

MICA Newspaper

So a group of people here at MICA are trying to start a school newspaper, It would bring world news, local news, reviews for places and events, inform students about events that are happening and possibly more things. Its on early steps right now but what the newspaper really needs is people to join the team, they want to print the paper weekly but they don't want to overload people so they want to have several groups for each section that divide the work (kind of like critical inquiry). There are a lot more ideas also circulating in the group so if you're interested in joining contact Victoria (vdoukadoukopoulou@mica.edu) she's basically the mastermind behind this whole operation.

Wearable Food

I was googling some images of roots when i came across these beautiful garments that were made out of food like bubble gum, lotus roots, eggplant, banana, and winter mushroom. The one that amazes me the most is the bubble gum dress. How did the artist Sung Yeonju create these? Check out her website

http://yeonju.me/

Karen

Maya Murals

Over winter break I went to mexico and learned lots about mayan civilization. It is a truly interesting subject that I encourage everyone to look into because it will blow your mind. But something I learned about really impressed me and that was the murals that the mayans left. There are only 2 known murals, the earliest (100 B.C.) was found in 2001 in san bertolo guatemala.

This is an image from the last part of a 30 foot long mural, the earliest mayan mural. It tells the story of creation and the first kings. It is the earliest evidence of humans using writing to tell stories. But despite the historic value and all the things learned from this mural what really stuck with me was the art style. When I think of prehistoric Murals I definitely did not think this, I thought more about 'cave paintings in lascaux'. This type of mural looked almost like modern illustrations to me.

Anyway, I think it is amazing the things that people were doing over 2000 years ago and the fact that we are still discovering this, if anyone wants to know the story told by the mural and the lucky accident that led to its discovery theres a short article on national geographic that sums it up pretty well: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/12/1213_051213_maya_mural.html

but nothing is better that hearing it from a true maya (YES! THEY ARE STILL AROUND!!!!) so if you're ever in mexico look for them!

-sofia

[ and in case you were wondering the world is not ending on december 21, 2012, the planets align parallel to the milky way and the mayan calendar starts over (it runs for over 5000 years) ]