Roden Resonates in Austin

Otis Fine Arts alum Steve Roden's recent two person show (the other artist was Stephen Vitiello) at Lora Reynolds Gallery in Austin struck a chord with reviewer Kate Green in the Dec/Jan issue of Modern Painters.

Describing the choice of the two artists, both involved with sound pieces for a long time Green wrote- "Steve Roden and Stephen Vitiello...share a Fluxus-influenced interest in how it (sound) might look or feel when synesthetically translated into other media. Their pairing...seems as if it should have happened a long time ago."

Green's take on Roden's work focused on the piece Another, Another Green World. Created in 2002, he sculpted clay forms with eyes closed and using only touch in response to music as his guide. "the resulting balance between intuition and discipline resembles the structured play of a musical composition."

In concluding her assessment of the show she said "This layered work embodies Roden and Vitiello's experimental dialogue about how visualizing sound emphasizes its ability to stimulate our other senses.

A Conversation with Caroompas

In advance of her new solo at Western Project, longtime Otis Fine Arts faculty member Carole Caroompas was featured in the Nov/Dec 07 issue of Artillery magazine.

The article by Ezrha Jean Black starts out as a light read- "As we enter the studio, we're greeted by one her (Caroompas') cats, a lion-sized marmalade named Arthur Lee, followed by a slightly smaller Asian blue named Lux..." but as the article moves toward a discussion of her current work, it morphs into a much denser exchange- "...an element of transcendence one step removed from Sartrean (and perhaps Hustonian) existentialism- the flip side of the absurd universe Maxine, Shannon, and the others swim through, the Huston jungle absurdly destined to become the Puerta Vallarta of Burton and Taylor: what for Caroompas anyway, appears to be the possibility, however fraught or contingent, of meaning."

Working through the whole article is worth it, you'll have a better sense of what drives Caroompas in her work and the physical space in which she makes it.

Her exhibition at Western Project remains up through December 22nd.

For another take on Caroompas and her work, here is an interview from earlier this year, done as a part of Otis' faculty profile series. Enjoy.

Holy Helio!

For the Fall 2007 issue, Helio Magazine teamed up with several of Otis' Communication Arts students and now their work is featured throughout the edition.

Danielle Buerli, Julian Callos, Jessica Cooper, Saul Espinosa, Kim Lewis, Aya Masuda, Aaron Needham, Evelyn Salmeron, Joseph Anthony Samaniego and Niguel Sanders all contributed illustrations for the magazine and they provide short reflections about their inspiration for their piece on the contributors page.

For example, Jessica Cooper, who has the back cover said-

"Helios was the personification of the sun in Greek mythology, who drove a chariot through the sky with a team of magnificent solar bulls. I wanted to take this description of the sun personified and modernize it in an illustration while maintaining the integrity of the Helio flame logo."

Helio Magazine is an extension of Helio, the folks who tell you- it's not a phone, is a mobile experience...They recently opened a store on the Third Street Promenade and have also partnered withe former Otis Fine Arts student Tim Biskup on a couple of projects.

So check out the fall edition when it becomes available and see the great work our students did!

Pollari Picks Up the Props

Linda Pollari's architecture firm PXS, was honored by the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects for her project "barcode housing system." Pollari, who is the chair of the Architecture/Landscape/Interiors program at Otis received a Citation in the Next LA category.

A listing of all the winners can be found in the September/October edition of Form magazine.

Congratulations Linda!

Rosebud Was His Blog?

Otis student Christopher Barischoff took the notion of the research paper in new direction last month when he created the Citizen Kane:Case Study blog for one of his Digital Media courses.

It provides a quick primer on this remarkable movie- I remember watching it over and over again for my Intro to Film course at Chapman- complete with video and additional references.

Have a look at his blog and then have another look at the film!