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Designing the ABCderian

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Otis College of Art and Design -----------------Magazine

Vol.8 2010

Otis College of Art and Design -- Magazine -----------------------------------------------

Vol.8 2010

Otis prepares diverse students of art and design to enrich our world through their creativity, their skill, and their vision.

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’ forward-thinking 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:

© Otis College of Art and Design

Publication of material does not necessarily

indicate endorsement of the author’s viewpoint

by Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design

02

12

Fine Art Features

College News

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 ever-expanding 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.

Samuel Hoi, President

Front cover: Watahhh Warrior, 2009, cut paper, 40 x 30,"

by Kaitlynn Redell (Fine Arts, '09)

Back cover: Prototype for funeral urn for Hillside Cemetery

by Charles G. Melikidse, Product Design student

Editor: Margi Reeve, Communications Director

Co-editor: Sarah Russin, Assistant VP, Institutional Advancement

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.

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Alumni Profile

Alumni Around the World

Class Notes

Tofer Chin in Barcelona/Sao Paolo George Gottl in Amsterdam

Alumni in the NewsAlumni Connect

Designing the ABCderianPresenting Possibilites

Transforming ArtistsCutting Through the StereotypesPainting with the MastersMaking the Art World We WantIn the Studio with John BaldessariRemixed: An Interview with Eduardo NavasCriticism, Journalism and Looking @ Art with Christopher Knight

La Venganza de la FantasmagoriaRenewing our Dedication to the PropositionOrigins: The MexiCali Biennial as ArtOtis Connections: L.A. Printmaking in the 1960sEngaging our CommunityMovies that MatterUnleashing the Creative EconomyLTL’s Donghia Master Class and the Eco-tel

President Hoi with Mattel International President and Otis Trustee Bryan Stockton and the “Otis Barbie”

10%

SCS-COC-000864

Spring 2010

T r a n s-f o r m i n ga rT i sTs

OMAG 2 Meg Cranston, Chair, Fine ArtsFeature author:section:Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine 3 OMAG

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. ●

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.

“�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.”

“�I�love�it�because�you�actually�get�a�taste�of�every�single�thing�that�you��are�going�into”

“�It�gives�me�goosebumps�when�I�think�of� �graduating�and�becoming�a�working�artist.”

Spring 2010

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.

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. ●

- 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.

“ It was like being in a church when mass was not going on.”

5 OMAGauthor: Helene Siegel, Freelance WriterFeaturesection:

Soo Kim, Interim Director of Photography, interviewed Kaitlynn Redell, ‘09. Redell is currently an Otis Admissions Counselor.

Read the complete conversation at otis.edu/redell

CUTTING THROUGH THE

OMAG 4 Featuresection: author: Soo Kim, Faculty / Kaitlynn Redell (’09)

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.

During each Wednesday session, when the museum is closed to the public, the entire complex was transformed into a classroom. A group of sophomores from fields as diverse as Digital Media, Product Design, Photography, and Communication Arts gathered in the small, brightly-colored museum studio to paint, but also to think about the ways that ideas are transformed into works of art. Students didn’t copy works by the masters. Instead they were encouraged to find their place in the continuum of art and ideas that is as old as civilization.

“I want them to feel inspired…to feel a connection between what they are doing as artists, what came before them, and what goes on at the museum. Young artists are part of a lineage,” says Schrier, a passionate collector, historian, and artist.

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 an honor and a privilege to have access to the museum when it was closed. As one said, “It was like being in a church

when mass is not going on.” Students described the sheer power of experiencing works by artists like Richard Serra, Jeff Koons, and Mark Rothko first hand, as well as the thrill of discovering less familiar holdings from Iran and South America. Everyone felt that the work they produced at the museum was different—stronger, more ambitious, and less motivated by concern with a final grade.

For six hours each week, these ten Otis sophomores not only painted in close proximity to the world’s masterpieces, they also became part of the L.A. art scene at its premier institution— an experience that students described as “sublime” and an experiment that is now a regular course offering. ●

Spring 2010 7 OMAGFeature Rashell George (’05) section: author:OMAG 6 Jessica Minckley (’05)Feature author:section: Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine

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

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. ●

Making the ArtWorld We Want

“As artists ourselves, we knew how exhibitions motivate artists to complete a body of work in a way that nothing else can.

”

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. ●

JAB Art Enterprises:

In the Studio withJohn Baldessari

Baldessari with Rashell George at the MACB, Barcelona

Jessica Minckley, Untitled, 2009, mixed media sculpture, 56" x 40" x 15"Photo: Fette

Spring 2010OMAG 8 Dana Duff, Faculty / Eduardo Navas (’98)Feature author:section: 9 OMAGFeaturesection:

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

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. ●

Criticism, Journalism and Looking @ Art with Christopher Knight

Knight’s unique style of institutional criticism is so important, revelatory and rare.

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: 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.

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.

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. ●

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

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.

Remixed: An Interview with Eduardo Navas

Sammy Hoi, Christopher Knight, Meg Cranston, John Baldessari

remixtheory.net • navasse.net

OMAG 16 17 OMAG

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.

MOvies cAn

provide hope. 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.”

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.

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.

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.

We created “Movies that Matter” to demonstrate that the art of film has the power to change lives.

Haskell Wexler

Perri Chasin / Judy Arthur, Facultyauthors:

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.

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.

Sarah Herron

Kouroash Nasser Pourhabib

moviesthAt

matter

Spring 2010OMAG 18 College News College Newssection:Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine 19 OMAG

5,4106,0

20

8,110

7,880

9,370

6,530

8,4709,4

6010,51

0

DIGITAL MEDIASECTOR

REVENUE JOBS

GROWTH

Los Angeles Orange County State + Local TaxesOC OCLA

1,000,000 workers

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.

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

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.)

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).

*Nearly one million employees work directly or indirectly in the creative economy of Los Angeles and Orange counties: one in every six jobs.

$18 BILLION 3.5%

10 Year Growth Rate

Annual Job Openings

$121 BILLION

CA

$5.1BILLION

21,500JOBS

Los Angeles Orange CountyLA2003-2008

9.9PERCENT

OC

2.0PERCENT

2009 2013

900LA

1.6%

4,000

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

Rising Employment

MULTI-MEDIA ARTISTS AND ANIMATOR EMPLOYMENT

or or

+10%

+32%LA = 2/3 NEW JOBS

1500

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.

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. ●

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. ●

LTL’s Donghia Master Class and the Eco-tel

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

Hakan Tung and Sarah Park“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.”

Read the full report at www.otis.edu

Moderator Frances Anderton with panelists Sir Ken Robinson and Andy Mooney

Unleashing the Creative E conomy

section:

Spring 2010 21 OMAGAlumni Profilesection: Julie Eakin, Freelance Writerauthor:OMAG 20 Barbara Maloutas (MFA,’02), FacultyAlumni Profile author:section: Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine

“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 architec-ture 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 assign-ment was to create a museum for minimalist art,

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 speci-ficity 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 risk-taking approach.

“After all, what could be better than having your ideas built?” ●

“The nicks, imperfections and contours of the large wooden letterforms create second reads and visual surprises. ”Designingthe ABCderian

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 devel-oped 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. ●

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, bone-folders 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.

PresentingPossibilities

Haunch of Venison

Spring 2010 23 OMAGAlumni Around the World George Gottl (’85)

George Gottl with Oliver Michell

section: author:OMAG 22 Tofer Chin (’02)Alumni Around the World author:section: Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine

Tofer Chin (’02) in

George Gottl (’85) in

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.

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.” ●

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.

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.” ●

A Permanent Rainbow

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®.

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 repre-sents as a world-class magnet for talent, and highlights how the city is the place to be for creative entrepreneurs.

Global Citizen in Amsterdam

“We are to paint the biggest walls

available in the concrete jungle.

”

“We think of our work as “brand

poetry” or an artistic solution

for commercial needs.

”

BArCelOnA / SAO PAOlO

AMSTerDAM

OMAG 24 Class Notessection: Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine 25 OMAGClass Notessection: Spring 2010

SoloistsBilly 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 ArtsArt Territory, Hawthorne

Bas Jan Ader (Deceased)’65 Fine Arts“In Search of the Miraculous,” Patrick Painter Gallery, Santa Monica

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.

Mari Andrews’82 MFA Fine Arts“Paperless Drawings,” J H Muse Gallery, Jackson, WY; “Effloresce,” Brian Gross Fine Art, S.F.

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

James David Thomas’84 Fine ArtsFrederic Stern Gallery, Glendale

Lucas Reiner’85 Fine Arts“On Fuller Avenue,” Long Beach City College

Mark Dean Veca’85 Fine Arts“Revenge of Phantasmagoria,” Instituto Cultural Cabañas, Guadalajara International Book Fair

Keiko Fukazawa’86 MFA Fine Arts“Parallel Universes,” L2kontemporary, L.A.

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

Joey Santarromana’90 Fine Arts“Stare,” video installation, Offramp Gallery, Pasadena

Camille Rose Garcia’92 Fine Arts“The Hydra of Babylon,” Merry Karnowsky Gallery, L.A.

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 cmadoo@otis.edu. I am excited to hear from you.

Judith Hernandez (’74 Fine Arts)

Yong Sin (‘95 Fine Arts)

alumnaealumni alumnusalumnaYong 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 ArtsHaus 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

EntrepreneursRick Klotz’90 Communication ArtsOwner of former Fresh Jive label, now No Label label

Jared Gold ’98 Fashion DesignPress: “Fashion Show Traveling by Amtrack Runway Shows,” L.A. Times

Arbi Avanessian’01 Toy DesignNew menswear line: www.katorclothing.com

Kenneth Ober and Renee Fox’01 and ’02 Fine ArtsOrganizers/Artists: Third Annual Inglewood Open Studios

Katherine Bwye ’06 Communication ArtsStore Launch: www.jetthepilot.com

Linda Kunik’06 Fine Arts“Plant it Forward – the Starving Artist Project”

Marjan Vayghan’06 Fine ArtsOrganizer 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

EntertainersDenny Hooten’01 Digital MediaEditor 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 DesignersRebecca Chamlee’85 Communication ArtsExhibition: “The Page: An Interactive Exhibition of Artists’ Books,” Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University, Orange

Heather Goldberg (‘09, Fashion Design)

OMAG 26 Class Notessection: Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine 27 OMAGClass Notessection: Spring 2010

Ruben Ochoa (’97) with “At First Blush,” installation at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Jacobs Building

Photo: Pablo Mason

Daphne Yap (’04) with Avatar Director James Cameron

Camille Rose Garcia’s (’92) “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland,” book cover

Eduardo Lucero’89 Fashion DesignFeatured: The Geffen, L.A. Fashion Week; Museum of Latin American Art gala, Long Beach; Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, Mexico City

Daniel “Red” Carter’92 Fashion DesignSwimwear partnering with Jessica Simpson collection 2010, Miami

Sakona Kong’04 Digital Media Art Director, Blind Design Studio, Culver City

Hanjin Park’07 Toy DesignCollaborated on development of the GX Racers and GX Skate

Heather Goldberg ’09 Fashion DesignShadowplay line of jewelry, featured in New York magazine

Award-WinnersRobbie Cavolina ’87 Fine ArtsGrammy Nomination: DVD “Anita O’Day: Life of a Jazz Singer”; No. 1 on “Picks of the Week,” July 27, Time magazine

Nakisa Nowzar ’06 Toy Design2010 TOTY (Toy of the Year) Award nomination: One Kiss Tiana Doll, by Mattel from Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog

Daphne Yap ’04 Toy DesignConcept 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

In PrintKent Twitchell ’77 MFA Fine ArtsExhibition: Berlin Wall Display, L.A. Times Rose-Lynn Fisher ’78 Fine Arts“BEE,” Princeton Architectural Press, April 2010 Richard “Kam” Jacoby’85 Communication Arts“Layers: Composite Photographs from the Lompoc Valley,” Haagen Printing, 2009

Ruben Ochoa’97 Fine Arts“Vitamin 3-D, New Perspectives in Sculpture and Installation,” 2009

Jenny McLean’02 Communication Arts Interview: Fabric line Tula Pink

Mia Araujo’07 Communication Arts Interview: Art Nouveau magazine

Ryan Riddle’08 MFA WritingSan Francisco Bay Guardian

In MemoriamGeorge 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 agoodrich62@hotmail.com

Holly Phillips’07 Fine Arts passed away in Berlin, Germany, September, 2009.

Alumni in the news

Guerilla Gardening

ochoa

PhilliPs / Karlsrud

yaP garcia

Cool Designers continued

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.

“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.

02

03

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Rose-Lynn Fisher (‘78, Fine Arts)

Flora Kao (’08, Fine Arts)

01

★

OMAG 28 Class Notessection: Otis College of Art and Design Alumni Magazine 29 OMAGClass Notessection: Spring 2010

310.665.6869

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 akhachtourians@otis.edu ●

alumni ParticiPation is vital

How to Contribute

01 02 03

otis.edu/givenow

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 ●

Design with re-PurPose

=

ALUMNI CONNECT

NYSF

LA

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GivingReceiving

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. ●

Santa Monica Place the Mannequin collective

♥♻

$ $

Aaron Maninang (’07), Marcus LeBlanc (’06), Kirk Von Heifner (’06), Ozz Nooryani (’06), Dale Balenseifen (’06)

Rosemary Brantley, Chair of Fashion Design (center front) with New York alumni at the John Varvatos Showroom in Manhattan. Thank you, Marcus!

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)!

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.