Eric Corey Freed & the Future

Eric Corey Freed’s art talk was so chock full of information that by the end, I felt like my head would explode, in a good way. It was the talk of someone who has spent so much time and energy on their passion they don’t even have the time let out all the words they could say. Plus all of the myriads of ideas made him seem like one of those characters from the Incredibles, like when Syndrome pushes some buttons on his bracelets and says “Impressive huh? it’s Zero-Point Energy,” and we immediately know a) he knows exactly what he’s talking about and b) there are all these consequences to this knowledge.

Photo courtesy of Sunset Magazine 

Eric’s main point seemed to be, basically, that we’re all screwed unless more earth-friendly solutions to issues are found. He is a well-prepared, engaging and humorous speaker, but he was really serious about this. The current generation will be leaving a mess for the younger generation to clean up or just live in.

Green roof on top of Singapore School of Art and Technology. Photo courtesy of Inhabitat

One of the main ideas he talked about was this concept of a wall that could be grown, which would lead to entire houses and systems being biologically created out of naturally growing substances. And like the phone, which began as a single enormous machine that could perform a few tricks, humans will design and probe and experiment until it’s a streamlined, easily accessible and common part of our lives. This honestly sounds great. I’m attached to old-fashioned kinds of houses purely for aesthetic reasons, but who’s to say a tiny stone cottage couldn’t be completely grown in the future? I would totally live there.

“Share your passion and people will flock to your side to be part of it.” – Eric Corey Freed

I’m thrilled that we get to learn and stretch our brains by listening to speakers like Freed this semester. I’m not an interior designer, engineer or biologist by any stretch (yikes) but the next big ideas that are going to change the world are wild and incredible ones like his, and the ones we come up with by paying attention to what people like him are saying.  

Alicia Nilo’s ‘Signature’

This past Monday I got to hear senior Alicia Nilo talk about her lovely and dynamic senior show, Signature.

I remember hearing about Alicia’s passion for skateboarding at a Pecha Kucha presentation, I believe, and I also had the pleasure of working under her direction on a mural for Serve Day at the beginning of the school year. From what I’ve noticed about her work and style, she has a wonderful way of taking surprising or unexpected elements and combining them to create something full of movement and life.

The nine pieces Alicia created for her senior show were done on wood panel with acrylic. From what I could tell, she used only six colors. I first saw the show when I was walking through Lindgren to get to Brougher one day, and I had to stop and look to feel the movement of the skater. I love how different textures are used to show the direction the skater is going and where he’s come from. The electric blue and mustard yellow make the scenes feel hot, like the middle of a summer day when all you hear is the buzz of insects and the wind in the trees.

Detail from one of Nilo’s paintings on wood panel. 

I really appreciate the way Alicia has taken something completely apart from her major of studio art and used it to make the original and unexpected. Speaking of unexpected, her reception included peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Cheetos. “Art opening” is usually a phrase that conjures up solemn, best-behavior type events, but Alicia made hers as comfortable as a picnic at a skate park. That was honestly a highlight of my whole week.

 

mini trailers for the future: pecha kucha

Life is daunting for most of us undergraduates right now. It’s tricky to try and find our niche in art making and what we enjoy and it’s exciting but scary to think about how we’ll make a living from it. It’s intimidating to think about life after college. What the heck are we going to with our time, our skills, our ambition and our degrees?

It’s a great encouragement when we can hear about the visions and talents of the upperclassmen and their tangible plans for their own futures. I heard a lot of remarks from friends both before and after the presentations about how Pecha Kucha night was their favorite Art Talk because of the accessibility and diversity of the presenting artists. We get to hear about clay, paint, design and photographs from wonderful people we see walking around campus and at the library and in Brougher classrooms. It’s almost like watching a series of colorful and interesting miniature film trailers for something bigger to come down the road. Here are some of my favorite artists we heard from.

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C O R R I E   M A H R 

Corrie Mahr is a photographer. Her work is clean and thoughtful, with lovely textures and soft colors. She talked about honing her style over the past year with both candid and planned shoots, including the above beach shoot I got to be a part of at the department’s art retreat this past fall. I’m not the most comfortable person in front of the camera (let alone 7 or 8) but the experience was actually so much fun. It was freezing and blustery and grey, and the pink dress and I got soaked with sea and rainwater, and Corrie took the weather, the waves and the wind and created some of my favorite photos I’ve ever seen of myself.

“When making an image of candid life, I’m entering someone’s sacred space. With planned shoots I look around and ask myself, what am I not noticing?”

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A N N I E   L U N T

Annie Lunt is a potter. Her pieces are “art for the everyday”. Annie told us that for her, all dishes come with memories; and if we look at our favorite memories, there is likely a teacup or a plate or a vase in them somewhere. My favorite story she told was how she originally wanted to be an archaeologist, because she was fascinated with how entire lives and stories could be found in a clay pot discovered in the earth. It makes sense, with this dream in her background, that she makes pieces designed to become a part of everyday stories when they are used.

“If it’s necessary, make it beautiful.” 

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Alice Drew

I’ve been thinking a lot about process lately. What it looks like from both the artist’s perspective and the people observing. How different it looks for everyone. How, in the end, the process is the finished piece – which means it’s important to enjoy it, and not just impatiently wait for the end result (it’s the cliiiiiiiiiiimb…..)

A finished printed platter

I think Alice Drew is a lovely example of someone who has explored the ins and outs of their process and brought it down to one they truly enjoy, like drawing out a map: all the little footpaths and mountain treks and bungee jumps of it. Her pieces seem to include bits of all the things she loves: travel, architecture, drawing, history, printmaking, patterns, colors and ceramics. In her art talk, she spoke of going to famous places and being inspired by the wallpaper, ceilings, wainscoting and even doorknobs; she takes her drawings of these elements and prints them on plates, platters, cups and even teapots.

“The image…was scanned from my sketch book.  I drew the floral image on the bottom left when I was in the Rococo Room [Albertina, Vienna, Austria].  It is a detail from the fabric on the walls and furniture. (I wish that I had stayed and drawn everything in the pattern! It took me 45 min to sketch what you see…I will have to go back to draw the rest- some day.)” – Alice Drew’s blog

more of Alice Drew’s drawings

I have to say, I enjoyed Alice’s pieces but I loved her enthusiasm for her process more. It’s encouraging to see an artist who enjoys their workdays, as well as the work that comes from it.

 

Mudshark Studios: Figuring It Out

“We like headaches, and we like challenges.”

This statement from Brett Binford of Mudshark Studios encapsulates, to me, the idea behind the work and process of the studio into a neat seven-word sentence.  Throughout their lecture I was amazed at the amount of times both Binford and his Mudshark co-owner, Chris Lyon, began a sentence with “So, we figured out how to…”

Chris Lyon and Brett Binford, owners of Mudshark

Binford and Lyon began Mudshark Studios in the basement of a house. Now, several years later, they are owners of an entire studio-warehouse and gallery and have over 20 people in their employ. Together, they create both practical and beautiful ceramic works for a broad spectrum of clientele.

“There is value in ‘fake it til you make it’ – it’s about presenting yourself as professionally as you can.”

As I learned about Mudshark and the history behind it, I was deeply impressed with their imagination – from the dreaming up of a coffee percolator light fixture, to the navigating of the practical aspects of molding and casting a giant nature planter, to the design and execution of their 2006 Chairman Mao project – a four-foot statuette in a takeout box. These projects and others combine creativity with practicality; one as a means to the other, and vice versa.

Design Night’s Nature Planter, executed by Mudshark Studios

From, as Lyon put it, “a two-person operation in a basement trying to figure it out”, to a full-blown professional company, the intrinsic nature of Mudshark seems to have remained the same: fully enjoying the bumpy, uncharted ride to the creation of an exquisite working design – headaches, challenges and all.