Tag Archives: animation

Cartoonist Kim Deitch to Headline Two Public Events at MoCCA

Events, Illustration Faculty, Illustration Industry, News, , , , , ,

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) announced that legendary underground cartoonist and graphic novelist Kim Deitch will make two special appearances at the museum in association with MoCCA’s current exhibit, Kim Deitch: A Retrospective.

Tomorrow, on October 30, Kim Deitch will host a Cartoon Movie Night featuring rarely seen animated cartoons from the 1920s and 1930s hand-picked for the occasion from Deitch’s own personal collection.  This period of animation inspired Deitch’s signature character Waldo the Cat and is the subject of his acclaimed graphic novel The Boulevard of Broken Dreams, which is featured in the exhibit.  As a special Halloween treat, MoCCA will also display for one night only selected specimens from Deitch and spouse Pam Butler’s extensive collection of antique toy cats.  The blurring of fact, fiction and autobiography in Deitch’s work is a major focus of Kim Deitch: A Retrospective, and this display will present a rare opportunity to see the historical artifacts that motivate the fictional narrative in Deitch’s graphic novel Alias the Cat.

On November 13, Kim Deitch will appear at MoCCA for a Q & A session with exhibit curator (and Parsons Illustration Part-time Faculty) Bill Kartalopoulos.  In a unique and wide-ranging conversation, the two will discuss Deitch’s work and career to date. Deitch will present examples of recent work and will also preview images from his current works in progress.

Both events are free and open to the public, and run as part of a regularly scheduled series of “MoCCA Thursdays” events at the Museum.

Kim Deitch’s career spans the entire post-war history of avant-garde comics, from the underground to the literary mainstream. As an early contributor to the East Village Other, Deitch was a charter member of the underground comix scene that exploded with the 1968 publication of Robert Crumb’s Zap #1.  Forty years later, he stands alongside Crumb, Bill Griffith, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, and Art Spiegelman as one the most notable and prolific artists to emerge from that milieu.  Kim Deitch: A Retrospective features ninety-seven pieces spanning the artist’s entire career, including comics originals, preparatory sketches, prints, and animation cel set-ups.

The exhibit runs through December 5, 2008.

MoCCA is located at 594 Broadway, Suite 401 (between Houston & Prince)
New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212 254-3511
MoCCA is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 12 – 5 pm
Suggested Donation during museum hours: $5
For more information please visit: http://www.moccany.org

Repost and Reminder: Beasts! in Movies Competition

Call for Entries, Competitions, Illustration Industry, , , ,

Jitter-Magazine has announced an international illustration competition: Beasts! in Movies.  Here are the details they passed along to us:

Jitter is the only German magazine focusing on illustration, comic art, and animation. Each issue covers a key issue like “drawing”, “music”, “laughter”, “fashion”–the forthcoming issue (October) covers “beasts”. In our categories interview, artist portrait, art show, image+narration, we present illustrators and designers, talk with art directors, publishers, university lecturers, gallery owners; we review comics, dvd, books on illustration, design, animation and fine art and related theory.

The main purpose of jitter is not only to show great artwork and artists but to have a close look at their context. We look on contemporary and historic illustration in regard to philosophy, psychology of perception, semiotics, media theory and art history. We believe that picture making is deeply rooted in mankind and not a thing of modernity or luxury.

Beasts! in Movies Competition
Entry of this competition is free.
Deadline is September 30th, 2008.

Beasts! What would man be without the creature? Whether admiration or contempt, emotion or horror, the ambivalent relationship between man and creature has been the source of countless stories of all cultures.

Seeing himself as creation’s crowning glory, man keeps his distance to nature only to use it as screen for all kinds of desires and fears. Over and over again this has been the reason for movies; whether they aim for a romantic view of a primordial lost world, used at the same time as a metaphor for the innocent of childhood or they aim for the darkest nightmares of an unnameable evil hidden in any unknown terrain — even in our own basement. The fascination of the creature is a never ending source.

All professional illustrators and students of art programs are eligible to enter. Work must be dated after August 2007 and should have beasts who appeared in movies as a theme. These beasts can be real, fantastic, harmless or menacing. The manner of the beast’s demeanor, its appearance alone, in pairs or in masses, as well as the staging of the encounter between human and beast are interesting starting points.

Work must have the size relations 1:2,35 (cinemascope) and be submitted in digital format. Work will be evaluated through a professional jury. All selected work will be showcased in Berlin in an exhibition at a cinema of the Yorck cinema-group. Faber-Castell and Adobe have kindly made available prizes amounting to Euro 3300.

We are especially happy to have a distinguished panel of judges including Armin Abmeier, Publisher (Die Tollen Hefte), GER; Andrew Coningsby, Representative (DebutArt Ltd & The Coningsby Gallery), London GB; Dr. Rolf Giesen, Deutsche Kinemathek Berlin, expert for phantastic film, GER; Steven Guarnaccia, Parsons New School for Design, New York USA; Andrea Offermann, Illustrator, GER; Prof. Albrecht Rissler, Illustrator, GER; Sabine Witkowski,Curator and Cultural Manager, H. Torsten Wolber, Illustrator, GER.

Download an entry form here!  Good luck.

JibJab’s success continues!

General Info, Illustration Alumni, Illustration Industry, , , , , ,

Illustration Alum Evan Spiridellis passed along this exciting news about the success of JibJab, a site he co-created with his brother, Gregg.

Four years ago we launched ‘This Land’ which, after almost 5 years of hard work, brought us overnight recognition.  Last night we had the honor of world premiering our 2008 election parody on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno!  That was our 12th premiere on the show in the past 4 years and after the west coast airing of the show the video went live on our newly remodeled website.  We have been working hard for the past 9 months redesigning and rebuilding JibJab.com to better reflect who we are as a studio and a company and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

A final bit of news is that the new video contains a Starring You!® component which enables you to cast yourself, friend or family member in the grand finale.  Since we launched Starring You! less than a year ago our audience has created over 12 MILLION heads (which is larger than the population of our home state, New Jersey!)

So, if you have a few minutes please swing by http://jibjab.com and, if you like what we’ve created, share it with your friends.  Or better yet put your friends IN it and then share it!

Bonus:  Here’s a short video about JibJab’s creation.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.646157&w=425&h=350&fv=]

Way to go Evan and Gregg–keep up the exciting work!

Student Street Art in La Romana!

Class Projects, Illustration Faculty, Illustration Industry, , , , , ,

Adjunct Faculty Dan Weise recently taught a Street Art workshop in the Dominican Republic at Parsons’ affiliate Altos de Chavon.  He kept a blog detailing his experiences with the students as they explored graffiti, animation, and murals.  It’s chock full of amazing photos of the art created during the workshop, as well as links to student blogs.

Good work to Dan and all the amazing artists/students involved!

“Beasts! in Movies” Competition

Call for Entries, Competitions, Illustration Industry, , , , ,

Jitter-Magazine has announced an international illustration competition Beasts! in Movies.  Here are the details they passed along to us:

Jitter is the only German magazine focusing on illustration, comic art, and animation. Each issue covers a key issue like “drawing”, “music”, “laughter”, “fashion”–the forthcoming issue (October) covers “beasts”. In our categories interview, artist portrait, art show, image+narration, we present illustrators and designers, talk with art directors, publishers, university lecturers, gallery owners; we review comics, dvd, books on illustration, design, animation and fine art and related theory.

The main purpose of jitter is not only to show great artwork and artists but to have a close look at their context. We look on contemporary and historic illustration in regard to philosophy, psychology of perception, semiotics, media theory and art history. We believe that picture making is deeply rooted in mankind and not a thing of modernity or luxury.

Beasts! in Movies Competition
Entry of this competition is free.
Deadline is September 30th, 2008.

Beasts! What would man be without the creature? Whether admiration or contempt, emotion or horror, the ambivalent relationship between man and creature has been the source of countless stories of all cultures.
Seeing himself as creation’s crowning glory, man keeps his distance to nature only to use it as screen for all kinds of desires and fears. Over and over again this has been the reason for movies; whether they aim for
a romantic view of a primordial lost world, used at the same time as a metaphor for the innocent of childhood or they aim for the darkest nightmares of an unnameable evil hidden in any unknown terrain — even in our own basement. The fascination of the creature is a never ending source.

All professional illustrators and students of art programs are eligible to enter. Work must be dated after August 2007 and should have beasts who appeared in movies as a theme. These beasts can be real, fantastic, harmless or menacing. The manner of the beast’s demeanor, its appearance alone, in pairs or in masses, as well as the staging of the encounter between human and beast are interesting starting points.

Work must have the size relations 1:2,35 (cinemascope) and be submitted in digital format. Work will be
evaluated through a professional jury. All selected work will be showcased in Berlin in an exhibition at a cinema of the Yorck cinema-group. Faber-Castell and Adobe have kindly made available prizes amounting to Euro 3300.

We are especially happy to have a distinguished panel of judges including Armin Abmeier, Publisher (Die Tollen Hefte), GER; Andrew Coningsby, Representative (DebutArt Ltd & The Coningsby Gallery), London GB; Dr. Rolf Giesen, Deutsche Kinemathek Berlin, expert for phantastic film, GER; Steven Guarnaccia, Parsons New School for Design, New York USA; Andrea Offermann, Illustrator, GER; Prof. Albrecht Rissler, Illustrator, GER; Sabine Witkowski,Curator and Cultural Manager, H. Torsten Wolber, Illustrator, GER.

Download an entry form here!  Good luck.

Typography! Animation! Zines?

Class Projects, From the Vault, Illustration Faculty, , , , , , ,

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.622231&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

Check out this great illustration by Illustration student Loa Hjálmtýsdóttir.  She created it for Daniel Weise’s Typography class this past Spring.  Go here to check out some of the other animations (scroll down!).  Some students created zines to illustrate their handmade typefaces.  We’d love to post some images, so if you’ve created one–send it along!

“Tones” a visual music performance

Events, Follow Up, , ,

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.622114&w=425&h=350&fv=]

We got this email from Professor Ernesto Klar, who taught the recent collaborative class between the Jazz, Animation, and Illustration departments here at Parsons, along with Anezska Sebek and Ben Katchor:

At this time we are in the process of post-producing the video of the Jazz and Animation Collaboration Studio performance that we documented at Theresa Lang Hall this past Spring. This is the original full-length version of the documentary that lasts approximately 10 minutes.

Thanks to MFADT students Andrea Lira and Melissa Marcus for their hard work documenting the work done in this exciting multi-departmental course. Special thanks to Andrea Lira for her post-production work throughout this Summer, and to the New School Communications and External Affairs office for their additional help in producing the shorter version of the documentary (which you can find here).

Thanks for passing this along, Ernesto!  And congratulations to all the students involved.  Job well done!

From the Vault: Cartoons for Peace–The Global Art of Satire

General Info, Illustration Industry, , , ,


Nora Krug (Associate Professor in Illustration) passed along this interesting article about revolutionary international cartoons and animations. Here’s a snippet:

In the fabled ‘60s, Japanese students joined the Revolution, rejected the career-track production-line model of education, hit the streets, shut down the national universities. (Many were inspired by manga). Some set about creating their own idealized institution, based on academic and intellectual freedom, autonomy, internationalism: Kyoto Seika University opened in 1968. (Seika may be translated as something like “quintessence”). Yoshitomi signed on. In 1972, after a grueling series of faculty meetings, he finally gained approval (Seika emphasized democratic debate) for setting up a Cartoon Department. Every day of the next academic year, he invited mass media in, to build the department’s profile and challenge his students’ motivation.
…
The Kyoto International Cartoon Exhibition, which Yoshitomi-sensei founded (or commenced conducting) in 1996, exposes Seika students every two years to role models from all over the world, and gives them a wider perspective on the role of cartooning (the 2000 show debuted in the UN headquarters in New York). It creates a priceless accumulation of teaching material, since all submissions remain in the department. And it educates the Japanese general public, revealing that cartoons thrive worldwide as a vital form of expression (serving to “ridicule, inform, and entertain”), and demonstrating beyond all doubt that cartooning is indeed a fine art.

Read the whole write-up here.

Thanks, Nora!

Parsons and Jazz students collaborate on “Visual Music Works”

Events, Illustration Dept. Events, Illustration Faculty, , , , , ,

“Dreamers Night” 
From The Team Of:
Christine Young, Myeong Jae Lee And Martin Isenberg

Animation students from Parsons The New School for Design and composers from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music will take the stage on Sunday, May 4, to present “visual music works,” which bring music and animation together in new and compelling ways. The event marks the culmination of the university’s first studio course in jazz and animation, in which students from the two schools worked together at a high level of collaboration to create original work.

The class, called Jazz and Animation, is taught by Parsons faculty member Ben Katchor, an award-winning and widely published illustrator, and Parsons and Jazz faculty member Ernesto Klar, a media and sound artist whose work was recently featured at the PULSE Contemporary Art Fair in New York. Among the works to be presented are an animated ecosystem that changes and grows in response to a musical score; a piece that brings to life children’s dreams, with the music and animation depicting the movement from consciousness to unconsciousness; and a performance in which the musicians are transformed into on-screen avatars who act out virtual stories through the music played onstage.

“From Wassily Kandinsky to Oskar Fischinger, artists have long been exploring the relationship between image and sound,” said Klar. “Today’s technology brings the work of visual artists and musicians to a whole new level, and over the past several months our students have experimented with a variety of analog and digital technologies to create innovative audiovisual works.”

The course harks back to founding decades of The New School, when it was a major center for modernist visual and performing arts. Artists such as Martha Graham and John Cage resided at the school and worked in egalitarian, collaborative ways, challenging traditional divisions between the arts. Jazz and Animation reflects the direction of the university today as it strives to weave together arts disciplines.

The performance will take place at 4:00 p.m. in the Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor. It is free and open to the public.