We are now in the home stretch of Parsons Festival events, and we’ll be going out in a blaze of creative glory! Monday continues the live performances in Kellen Gallery (happening all this week), and Tuesday marks the opening of the AMT M100 Pop-Up Shop, opening receptions for the MFA and BFA Photography & BFA Fine Arts Exhibitions, as well as the BFA CDT Thesis Book and Web Launch Party, and Wednesday brings a slew of events from BFA Illustration. Thursday is of course the School of Art, Media and Technology graduation ceremonies, with a final presentation in Kellen Gallery by Jonathan Abbo. See below for details.
May 20th, 3pm
Frederico Andrade
#Kony, Hashtags and the Power of Communication
Presentation
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street
In a global environment where current events are widely available in real time, those with access to mass media cannot avoid exposure. Ability to participate in social media symbolizes freedom to travel and meet people from anywhere else in the world without having to leave one’s routine. The ability to communicate, organize and have measurable impact anywhere in the world is relied upon now more than ever. We have seen examples such as Kony 2012 in which social media stood at the center of an entirely arbitrary organization which, through the sheer size and the noise it generated, was able to mobilize a troop of american soldiers to be dispatched for action in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Another striking consequence of the power of communications through virtual networks was the Egyptian revolution, which relied heavily on twitter and facebook to not only coordinate events but also to spread valuable intelligence leading to the effective mobilization of the masses. Who has the real power able to make the greatest changes? Through intelligent use of the communications technology available to us today, it is not impossible to glimpse our own roles in the society we all want to live in, from choosing to learn about one’s global neighbors to choosing to make a change and leave a mark. It is time to add perspective to your social responsibility.
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May 20th, 5pm
Presentation by Robin Silevitch and Hope Weissman
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street
Robin Silevitch
“Ad-Opt-Ed”
We live in a highly media-influenced society. News channels, movies, and television are a large part of our daily lives and have a profound effect on our feelings and thoughts. Adoption has become a victim of these influences, and because drama sells it has become stigmatized. This has lead to a taboo on the subject, so interested parties are forced to rely on seemingly scripted adoption testimonials and government-issued facts and statistics, which can be unreliable. Ad-Opt-Ed aims to dispel all the myths surrounding the subject through “subjective education”: learning vicariously through the experiences of others. On the site you can get first-hand accounts of real-life experiences: recorded, uploaded, and sent in by the person telling the story. The range of topics covers all facets of adoption: reunion fantasies and realities, meeting your adopted child for the first time, the adoption process, saying goodbye to your baby, etc so that it will involve all members of the adoption community- adoptees, birth and adoptive parents, even siblings; anyone who feels their story is important to the conversation. My hopes for this site are that it will help a wide range of people: new birth mothers without options, prospective adoptive parents, and adoptees hoping to feel normal. It can help those who are just starting out on their own adoption journey.
Hope Weissman
Thesis Project Presentation/Discussion
My thesis stemmed from my own adoption story. During the months before my birth my birthmother made a quilt to give to me before letting me go. My adoptive mother also made a blanket years before, knowing one day that she would give it to her child. from this idea, i began to think about the connection between my own identity and thread as a means to examine connections between people and events. I combined a mix of drawing and embroidery to create images that portrayed this theme.
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AMT M100 POP-UP SHOP
May 21th – 23rd, noon – 8:00pm
May 24th, 10am-noon
68 Fifth Ave., Room M100
Take home a limited edition or one-of-a-kind work from students graduating from the School of Art, Media and Technology. A portion of the purchases made will be donated to support the NRM Gallery, a space within the Parsons Fine Arts floor at 25 E.13th street for students across AMT to curate and show work. The gallery was created in remembrance of Nicole Ray Muller, a Fine Arts student who passed away in 2012.
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May 21st, 12-1pm
Daniel Udell
Wikitongues Interviews (cont.)
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street
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May 21st, 3pm
Andrew McCausland, Bryce Williams and Christoper Lunney
Real Space / Virtual Space: A Conversation via Parsons
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street
As we advance in our mastery of modern technology, we begin to see how such technologies, new and old, can reshape our view of real space. Join three Parsons students as they present their current projects relating to the interaction of real and virtual space, along with a discussion of such experimentation.
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May 21st, 5-6pm
Daniel Udell
Wikitongues Interviews (cont.)
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street
OPENING RECEPTION: MFA PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
May 21, 2013, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
90 Fifth Avenue, lobby and 2nd floor
On view: May 13, 2013 – May 24, 2013 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
This exhibition features work by students in the MFA Photography program, which seeks to redefine the creative role of the photographer in contemporary culture. These pieces reflect a wide range of interests, areas of inquiry, methodologies, and approaches. The work of these emerging artists extends the boundaries of the medium and the limits of creative vision.
Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served
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OPENING RECEPTION: BFA PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
Tuesday, May 21, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Milk Studios, 450 West 15th Street, 8th floor
On view: May 21, 2013 – May 26, 2013 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Parsons The New School for Design and Milk Studios present an exhibition of photographs, installations, video projections, and magazine and book displays by graduating students in Parsons’ BFA Photography program. BFA Photography challenges students to use analog and digital technology to create work influenced by film, design, fine art, video, and sound. Exhibition sponsored by Sony.
Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served
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OPENING RECEPTION: BFA FINE ARTS EXHIBITION
Tuesday, May 21, 6:00–8:00 p.m
25 East 13th Street, 4th and 5th floors
On view: May 21, 2013 – May 24, 2013 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
The 2013 BFA Fine Arts graduating class is the largest in the program’s history. This exhibition showcases the diverse work of the program’s 48 graduating seniors, including painting, sculpture, performance, photography, video, and installation. As these students prepare to transition into their professional lives, the exhibition celebrates their accomplishments and the community they have formed during their time at Parsons.
Free admission; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served
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THESIS BOOK AND WEB PREVIEW: BFA COMMUNICATION DESIGN AND BFA DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
May 21, 2013 – May 24, 2013 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sheila C. Johnson Design Center lobby and Orientation Room, 2 West 13th Street
See the work of more than 100 graduating BFA Communication Design and BFA Design and Technology students. Projects in a variety of media address practical and theoretical concerns and reflect students’ optimism about the possibilities of design in a global context.
A launch party is scheduled for May 21, 5:00–9:00 p.m.
Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served
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THESIS BOOK AND WEB LAUNCH PARTY: BFA COMMUNICATION DESIGN AND BFA DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
May 21, 2013 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Sheila C. Johnson Design Center lobby and Orientation Room, 2 West 13th Street
Join students and faculty for the opening celebration of the print and digital projects showcased in the Thesis Book and Web Preview event, at which you can see the work of more than 100 graduating BFA Communication Design and BFA Design and Technology students. Projects in a variety of media address practical and theoretical concerns and reflect students’ optimism about the possibilities of design in a global context.
Refreshments will be served.
Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served
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THESIS SCREENING: BFA COMMUNICATION DESIGN AND BFA DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
May 21, 2013 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Auditorium, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 66 Fifth Avenue
BFA Communication Design and BFA Design and Technology seniors present narrative shorts and documentary, animation, kinetic type, sound, performance, and experimental videos.
Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served
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PECHA KUCHA: BFA ILLUSTRATION
May 22, 2013 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Auditorium, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 66 Fifth Avenue
The BFA Illustration program presents works and ideas in a variety of media, including editorial illustration, comics and graphic novels, picture books, motion and animation, toys and other products, and gallery art. The senior class present their thesis projects in a series of slide talks, each three to five minutes long and followed by a short Q&A. Faculty members facilitate discussion of students’ ideas and work.
Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served
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BFA ILLUSTRATION INSTALLATION SPACE
May 22, 2013 12:00-6:00 p.m.
2 West 13th Street, 8th floor
In its events in the Parsons Festival, the Illustration program presents works and ideas in a variety of media, including editorial illustration, comics and graphic novels, picture books, motion and animation, toys and other products, and gallery art. The installation space features installations and gallery-style exhibitions showcasing the range of work by senior Illustration students.
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May 22nd, 1pm
Ermioni Giakou
“Athens In & Out”
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street
Athens in & out is an online platform that hopes to provide a medium for young artists and designers from Athens to share their work and collaborate with each other. Tired of world news showing an Athens suffering from austerity measures, the site aims to show the world how the current economic crisis has influenced young Athenians to project their feelings and hopes through innovative projects.
Athens has been a city of great inspiration and progress since way too long ago, and we hope that it will remain so. Athens In & Out wants to give a chance to young artists and designers to promote their ideas by showcasing their work., to share their feelings and dreams through innovative ideas. Our mission is to unify young Athenians and make them act and react in a creative and inspirational way. Through our website we can prove to the rest of the world and to ourselves that we can change!
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May 22nd, 3-6pm
Naomi Sundberg
Pop-Up DIY Sewing Workshop
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street
Hazel is a contemporary lingerie brand that promotes women’s free expression. Innerwear is presented fashionably as outerwear. Via methods illustrated in the Hazel Manual, you will learn how to create your own looks by recycling the clothing provided. Old clothes that you don’t wear anymore, or clothes with tears and stains don’t need to go to waste if they are reconstructed. This is the playful side of Hazel, where the customers engage with their personal assets and rearranging them with their creativity and unique taste to create something new.
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May 22, 6-7
Dawa Dolma
“An Investigation of the Tibetan Lifestyle and Culture to Shed Light on the Chinese Politics Governing Tibet.”
Presentation
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street
Tibet is an innate part of me that has been endowed upon me by birth. Despite growing up in the culture, there are certain practices, customs and objects that are very alien to me. All of these have immense symbolism and complexity. The unique lifestyle, culture, and religion are a unifying force for all Tibetans, and it is for the preservation of this culture and its values that so many Tibetans are not even hesitating to self-immolate themselves to continue the fifty-year fight for freedom.
The Tibetans sacrificing themselves are crying out for help and recognition from the international community, and it is their cries that I would like to bring forward in this presentation. The design approach I have used to shed light on the political issues and difficulties faced by the Tibetans under the Chinese regime, have been through the medium of two videos and a typographic book. The book, titled A Fight for Freedom, is a very political piece showcasing the issues that Tibetans have been facing for decades under the brutal Chinese occupation. For the two videos, Tibetan Altars and The Mundane Tibetan Life, I have taken a more personal standpoint, wherein I choose to capture the Tibetan culture, its practices and religious activities revolving around it from my own perspective.
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BOOK RELEASE PARTY: BFA ILLUSTRATION
May 22, 2013 5:00pm – 8:00 p.m.
Sheila C. Johnson Design Center lobby, 2 West 13th Street
BFA Illustration’s senior thesis class releases its first Illustration Annual, featuring works by all the class members. The book contains images and objects representing the many facets of the industry. Celebrate the accomplishments of these graduating students.
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ANIMATION SCREENINGS: BFA ILLUSTRATION
May 22, 2013 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Orientation Room, ground floor
Animation in the BFA Illustration Program includes a range of time-based media, from traditional animation to more experimental works. Students in the senior class show off their unique takes on the genre in this screening of time-based animation works.
Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served
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May 22nd, 7-9pm
Sofia Falcon
“Let’s Hang Out & Talk About Feminism”
Interactive Performance / Discussion
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street
This interactive performance explores feminism as a personal identity and a broader cultural ideology. Creating a space for discourse and dialogue, this piece also addresses the stigmatization of constructed feminist identity and the term itself. Through conducting honest, open, and non-academic conversations among members of a community, this piece explores how creating such conversations can demystify feminism. This piece serves to observe how a community conducts a dialogue about feminism, as well as the pivotal role in-person communication has in dealing with complex cultural dynamics. By creating spaces for conversation we can begin to destigmatize feminism and critically address societal constructs surrounding identity and inequality.
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May 23rd, 4pm
Jonathan Abbo
Build The World
Presentation
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street
Build The World is a direct social impact gaming system, that provides a platform for players to create crowed sources solutions to critical social issues, by creating games that are directly linked to real data and NGOs. The two founding philosophies that each game is built on is that games remain fun and enjoyable, and that every stage of the game is dedicated to solving the issue. Build The World goes beyond raising awareness and money; it allows players to directly influence and fix the problem. With Build The World players never lose touch with the people they help.
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Ongoing pop-up “performances”:
*EXOH, artist Tara Long‘s ater-ego/muse extraterrestrial, visits and maintains ”Alone, together”: a 3-part installation featured in the exhibition. The act of maintaining the installation is a part of the isolation of the artist/alter-ego, “alone” in her work, yet “together” with the inadvertent spectator.
*Ariela Kader Berliavsky turns the act of daily social communications and interactions into a commodified experience producing tangible artifacts of trade.
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Ongoing Exhibions:
MFA PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
90 Fifth Avenue, lobby and 2nd floor
On view: May 13, 2013 – May 24, 2013 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
(Reception, May 21, 2013, 6:00–8:00 p.m.)
This exhibition features work by students in the MFA Photography program, which seeks to redefine the creative role of the photographer in contemporary culture. These pieces reflect a wide range of interests, areas of inquiry, methodologies, and approaches. The work of these emerging artists extends the boundaries of the medium and the limits of creative vision.
CROSSING SCREENS: SELECTED WORK AND LIVE PERFORMANCES FROM GRADUATION STUDENTS IN THE SCHOOL OF ART, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY.
Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street
On view: May 9, 2013 – May 24, 2013 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Today we think of screens as surfaces for display, though historically screens have been defined as filters, masks, and barriers. The objects, installations, performances, presentations, and workshops chosen for Crossing Screens from the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons represent the ways our bodies, in tandem with digital culture, act as filters for understanding the world and one another. The expressions of anxiety, pleasure, trauma, memory, and language present in these works champion the acknowledgment of meta and multiple narratives pointing to new ways of forming collective identities. In this way, the artists and designers in Crossing Screens present alternative constructions of what our relationships to objects, one another and ourselves can be, giving visibility to specific issues that may otherwise be screened from us.
—Amanda Parmer, curator
6 East 16th Street, 6th floor
On view: May 8-May 24, 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.The MFA Design and Technology thesis exhibition features installations and performances, objects and apps, games and video, and interactive experiences that explore the dynamic role of technology in our lives. We invoke the playful, the informative, the critical, and the subversive to investigate emerging issues and spark discussion. Join us, May 8th – May 24 for a vanguard exhibition of 80+world-changing projects by emerging artists, designers, coders, makers, hackers, educators, and thinkers. Please visit mfadt.parsons.edu for event details.
The Kitchen, 512 West 19th StreetThe MFA Fine Arts program at Parsons is proud to present its 2013 thesis exhibition. The MFA in Fine Arts is a two-year program in which emerging artists develop the formal, intellectual, and conceptual dimensions of their work. A cross-disciplinary program, MFA Fine Arts houses students and faculty whose practices span a range of genres and fields of research.This year’s exhibition is curated by Wendy Vogel and Jess Wilcox. Wendy Vogel is a writer, editor, and independent curator based in New York who has worked in the curatorial departments at MoMA and WIELS Contemporary Art Centre in Brussels. She has served as editor at Flash Art International and has written for many publications, including Artforum.com. Jess Wilcox is a curator and the programs coordinator at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. She has worked on the curatorial teams for the exhibitions 100 Years (MoMA PS1), PERFORMA 11, and The View from Here: Storm King at Fifty (Storm King Art Center).
Find the full list of AMT-related Parsons Festival events here!
- Program
