thesis update

This is an update on where we are on the Thesis class, please keep reading till the end as there is information on our next class. On Friday 13 November we collected everyone's draft thesis proposals. Those people who did not have the ten annotated images and the annotated bibliography of books, articles, poems, novels etc. need to put the revised printed proposal in my mail box for tomorrow Wednesday 18. The same goes for those of you who missed class. The specifications, as discussed in class are here on the second page of the pdf. http://bfathesis.blogspot.com/2009/09/download-revised-thesis-syllabus.html

We also asked people to do a blog review of the first year MFA show in the gallery, paying particular attention to the way in which the space was used and the pieces worked, or didn't work, in the space. This show is not curated, students are simply assigned a space and have to hang a show. Think about how you would have arranged the show. That should be posted asap, we asked the students who were in class on Friday to post it by that evening. Some of these are up and I have read some really thoughtful responses. We will discuss what we can learn from this series of Mason Gross shows in class.

Students also collected the resumes and artist statements that they had handed in previously. Those I have not yet looked through I will put in your mail boxes by the end of the week.

We stressed that you have until the Wednesday after Thanksgiving, December 2, to bring all of your blog posts up to date. Next class on Friday November 20 is a writing week, we have decided that the class will not meet but that we will give you the opportunity to work on your blog, revise your resumes etc. We will return the thesis proposal drafts, with our comments and suggestions during the following class Friday December 4. I want to stress that these are drafts, we don't expect your written thesis to be finished this semester, rather we want to get it underway to make sure you are thinking about your thesis in a critically informed fashion. Next semester you will be producing the actual Written Thesis and developing your Thesis Show. The final Written Thesis won't be due until near the end of the semester, and it will go through revisions up to that point.

I am happy to hear any suggestions you may have for the structuring of next semester. This iteration of the Thesis class is based on the feedback from last year's students. So please email if you want to give feedback.

bauhaus exhibition at MoMA

This has just opened and will be up until January 2o1o. The Bauhaus linked art and design education and inspired much of modernist design. Those of you who are drawn to clean simple solutions can find the origins here. There are a series of workshops inspired by the Bauhaus that you can take part in and and a Bauhaus lounge.

Design Show in New York

This show's theme could be interesting for you designers and artists, some big design names are involved.

Control Print

A Collaboration with the Royal College of Art, London
Considering the Fate of Ink on Paper Through Explorations in Design, Craft, and Technology
Saturday, November 7 - Sunday, December 20, 2009
Opening Reception: November 6, 7:30-9 p.m.

What is the fate of print in a digital age? Parsons The New School for Design takes on this challenge with Control Print, a collaborative exhibition with the Royal College of Art (RCA), London, which explores the intersection of craft and technology. The exhibition will be on view from November 7 through December 14 at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center. An opening reception will be held on November 6 from 7:30-9 p.m.

Control Print features works by a number of notable international artists and designers who play with the notion of digital technology. In this first American presentation, prominent members of the Parsons community create work in traditional, digital, and mixed media that extend the idea of ink on paper and showcase how machinery and technology can enter the representational process. First conceived by RCA as a research project investigating the possibilities of a customized future for digital art and design, Control Print also features the results of these experiments in a series of limited edition book spreads, large-scale artwork, and digital projections and renderings.

“The Control Print research project was an effort to elevate the digital press, and consider its place in the future of the printed page,” said Russell Warren-Fisher, co-organizer, designer, and lecturer in Communication Art and Design at RCA. “Partnering with Parsons has allowed us to keep this investigation alive through a reflective, cross-cultural dialogue.”

Among the featured artists are co-organizers Lucille Tenazas, Henry Wolf Professor of Communication Design at Parsons, Warren-Fisher, and Dan Fern, Head of the School of Communications at the RCA; Parsons-commissioned artists Andrea Dezso; Danny Durtsch, Jesse Hlebo and Arthur Ou; Zachary Lieberman with James Powderly, Evan Roth, Chris Sugrue and Tony Quan (TEMPT); Spylab (Benjamin Bacon, Glendon Jones, Kyle Li, and Sven Travis); and Allan Wexler; and RCA-commissioned artists Chris Bigg of V23; Sara Carneholm and Leah Harrison Bailey; Malcom Clarke, and Mark Wilson. Also participating remotely are designers Reza Abedini (Iran), Bruno Monguzzi (Italy/Switzerland), Leonardo Sonnoli (Italy), and Catherine Zask (France).

“We often think of digital technology as alienating, as removing us from the production process in some way,” said Tenazas. “Using the RCA project as a starting point, Parsons is exploring the notion that technology can also be a tool to re-engage, to adjust the tactile tradition of craft for the digital age, which is a particular focus of my work at Parsons.

In timing with Control Print, Parsons will present a series of related programs, including three intensive 24-hour workshops, where the public can view teams of Parsons students and faculty creating work that actively explores the boundaries between traditional and digital technologies. A symposium on November 7 will bring together a number of the participants, including Clarke, Tenazas, Warren-Fisher, and Wilson, as well as leading voices from the worlds of art and design, including Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art, and Susan Yelavich, Assistant Professor in the School of Art and Design History and Theory at Parsons, who will discuss the future relationship of design, craft, and technology.

“This show is just the beginning of a long-term partnership between two world-class universities to explore urgent issues relating to all aspects of contemporary culture,” said Fern, who also chairs the RCA's International Development Group.

For more information on the symposium and other related programming, please visit the Public Programs page.


General Information:
Sheila C. Johnson Design Center


Parsons The New School for Design, 66 Fifth Avenue at 13th Street, New York


Gallery hours: Open daily 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. and late Thursday evenings until 8:00 p.m..; closed all major holidays and holiday eves.
Admission: Free


Info: Please contact 212.229.8919 or visit www.parsons.newschool.edu/events.

list of posts

Here are the examples of posts I promised. They all engage with their exhibition in different ways, they are models of what we are looking for on the course. They also give a broad sense of what is going on in contemporary art, so take a look. 

Andrea Ryan

David Shaughnessy

Ed Freeling

Fran Eber

Hannah O'Brien

Jamie An-Wong

Jeffrey Masino

Jennifer Manning

Julie Wongbandue

Kyle Farell

Marteha Stewart

Matt Mancini

Mike Benevenia

Mike Costa

Neil Tropel

Rohan Mitra

Nakeya Brown