Sightlines

Senior Shows: Spring '09

2009-05-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

The week before finals, the seniors in Graphic, Industrial, Interior, and Multimedia Design held their senior shows. Studios and galleries were filled with family, guests, and students as the seniors displayed their semester-long projects.

Prometheus 2009

2009-05-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

The Furlong Gallery and the Prometheus editorial team hosted a reception April 17, to launch the 2009 edition of Prometheus magazine .The reception featured student readings of poetry and prose and an opportunity to view this year's art exhibition.

Fashion Without Fabric - "Philias and Phobias"

2009-05-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hundreds turned out to join students from the Department of Art and Design as they worked the runway in this year’s Fashion without Fabric show Saturday, April 18, in the Great Hall of the Memorial Student Center. The annual event featured works by 3D design students and was one of the highlights of Family Weekend. Close to seventy-five fashion-forward creations were constructed with lots of imagination from anything but fabric. First place and best of show were awarded to the team of Daniel Kanitz and Fue Vang, second place to Diana Witcher and Emily Brownson, and third place to RT Vriese and Erik Gordon. The winner of the award for working the crowd was Cody Pinnow.

2009-04-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

Laura Short recently discussed a collaborative project among UW-Stout industrial design students, St. Thomas engineering students, and DesignWise Medical with Noah Norton, assistant professor of industrial design.

Laura Short: Can you tell me more about your collaborative project with DesignWise Medical and St. Thomas engineering students?
Noah Norton: The idea behind this project was to create designs for an alternative way to deliver oxygen to children ages 0-6 while they slept. The current way is either taping hoses to their faces or strapping masks to them. Both of these are undesirable solutions that create bad experiences for the children and parents. Ann Gettys, founder of the chILD Foundation (children's interstitial Lung Disease) came up with the idea of a hood that would deliver oxygen to the child in a less obtrusive way. She created a prototype out of a kid’s tent and some hoses; the OPOD idea was born. She has been working with Brad Slaker, founder of the non-profit company DesignWise Medical. They have been engineering solutions with St Thomas since September. We were mainly concerned with the experience-end of things: interaction, cleaning, piece of mind. The students came up with a wide array of solutions that really pushed the boundaries of what was expected. We figured out a way to eliminate the wasteful use of many feet of disposable tubing, among other things.

LS: How many industrial design students were involved?
NN: Eight. Linnea Londborg, Hans Neilsen, Steve Lambert, Grayson Smith, Jennifer Seward, Jenny Byrd, Ben Heard, and Dave Keyes

LS: What were the ID students’ role(s)?
NN: Make the product easy to use for parents: easy to assemble, disassemble, clean, access bed sheets, tell that it is working correctly; make it fool proof. For the children: make it "non-medical,” take the fear away, give them piece of mind and relief. We were also looking at ways to make it more efficient.

LS: What was the result of the project?
NN: The prototypes are now being considered for further refinement and eventual production. One will be chosen and worked on more, engineered, etc.

LS: Will a prototype be available at the senior show?
NN: I am not sure yet. This is a junior project and I do not want to step on toes...

LS: Who started the collaboration? DesignWise Medical?
NN: Brad Slaker from DesignWise Medical contacted us over Xmas Break. We had a few meetings and came to an agreement.

LS: How did Stout become involved?
NN: Brad came to a design senior show in the fall and decided to contact us.

LS: What is the possibility the product will go to market?
NN: Positive thus far. There is still refinement, but I believe that is the plan.

Stout Students Attend AIGA Portfolio 1-on-1

2009-04-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

Over the past weekend graphic design students from UW-Stout spent the weekend at the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Portfolio 1-on-1 event at Solera in downtown Minneapolis. The two-day event allowed students to visit a variety of design studios and firms in the surrounding area, network with professional designers and other university students from the Upper Midwest, and have their portfolios reviewed by design professionals.

A UW-Stout student’s experience.

Department of Art and Design Brown Bag Lunch Talk

2009-04-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

James Bryan, assistant professor of art history, recently presented his
paper "Carriage Makers in the American South: 1700-1820" at this year's
joint annual conference of the Popular Culture Association and American
Culture Association, held in New Orleans. The paper covers the history of
the trade in the Southern states, describing where its major centers of
production were, what related occupations were pursued by the
craftsmen/businessmen involved, and what their social status was. For those
interested, Dr. Bryan will present this paper again on Tuesday, April 21,
from 12:30-1:30, in Applied Arts 201. Feel free to bring a lunch if you
wish to attend.

Student reflects on Hildesheim Exchange Program

2009-02-17T07:56:00.000-08:00

Allison Meshnick on Hildesheim

Though it may sound incredibly cliché, studying abroad in Germany was truly a life-changing experience for me. By staying the entire year, and not just studying a single semester abroad, I was able to truly immerse myself in German culture. Germany literally became home, and over time I felt less and less like a visitor or outsider and began to feel at home in my surroundings.

While there I lived with three German students. Living with natives allowed for a lot of exposure to interesting mindsets and different views of politics and cultures and opened the door for many conversations. One of my favorite memories is having long and leisurely breakfasts on the weekends while discussing the current topics in the newspaper that had been delivered that morning. Living with Germans also allowed me to learn the language much quicker than I believe I would have, had I been living alone or with other exchange students.

I was fortunate to be one of the students who went to Hildesheim during the 20th year of the program being in existence. This meant that shortly after I returned to the States, there was a reunion conference held in the end of September at UW-Stout. This was a great way to network with fellow colleagues that had previously completed the program and the perfect compliment to returning from Germany. Although virtually strangers at first, it was remarkable to witness the ease and comfort in which we could all communicate and discuss our experiences, regardless of how far apart we were in age, or when we completed the program. It was so interesting for me to hear different perspectives from those who had completed the program long before me, and to see where they were currently and how it had affected their lives.

International Design Conference

2009-02-17T07:46:00.000-08:00

The Department Art and Design was proud to host the International Design Conference on campus this past September. The conference, coordinated by Nancy Blum-Cumming, was a celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the student exchange program between UW-Stout and Fachhochschule in Hildesheim, Germany. It brought together alumni from not only the Hildesheim program, but from other international exchange programs as well as students, faculty, and the general public for a series of presentations and activities. An exhibition of design work by alumni of UW-Stout’s international exchange programs was presented in the Furlong Gallery. Conference speakers included Stefan Hartung, Creative Director, HartungKemp Design Agency, Minneapolis; Claas Kuhnen, Assistant Professor, Digital Fabrication Technologies at Ferris State University, Grand Rapids; David Linderman, Professor, Hochchule fur Gestaltung Offenbach am Main and Creative Partner, Fork Unstable Media in Berlin; Olaf Stein, Partner at Factor Design AG, Hamburg, Germany; Byron Trotter, Advanced Strategic Industrial Designer at 3M, St. Paul; Nick Zdon, Senior Designer, Web Strategist at HartungKemp Design Agency, Minneapolis; Jill Borofka, EFI- Electronics for Imaging, interface Designer for Product Design Group, Foster City, CA; and Ross Brown, Dean of Faculty at Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London.

Allison Meshnick, an Art and Design student in the Hildesheim Exchange Program, reflects upon her experiences as a student in Germany. Read more...

Artist Spotlight: Jennifer Ekstrand

2009-02-16T15:19:00.000-08:00

Questions from Jada Schumacher

1. What is the role of memory in the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) movement? How do the concepts of “memory” and “modular” inform each other?

The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) movement has influenced memory just as anything can influence the memories of people that participate in it. By completing a variety of processes without the help of professionals, a person can gain a greater connection to the items and spaces around them. By fixing up a home on your own, you gain a greater sense of ownership to that home. When you have put a great amount of your time and effort into that space, it is now more than a space you occupy. It is a space you helped to create. The DIY movement includes more than just the home; it has touched everything from photography, to cooking, to fashion. Because of this I think that DIY has given people a sense of self-accomplishment. With the accessibility to the Internet and information being at our fingertips, a person can learn to do ultimately anything; a person can become an “expert” in anything they choose.

Modular can describe memory as memories are always small parts of a larger all-encompassing whole. Just as a modular structure is made of smaller modules, our lives are innumerous events creating memories we keep whether we choose to or not. The many events that occur throughout a person’s existence create a life. The concept of modular can inform everything in our lives. There is always something bigger and that something bigger is a part of something even larger. I think it is interesting to think of these concepts and how they can connect my previous body of work and my more current body of work. Everything is connected; there is so little way around it. As humans we make connections and we create modular structures literally and figuratively.

2. Considering previously discussed interventions such as “Pimp-My-Billy” and Aisle Studio Project, how does art involving the DIY process affect consumer perceptions of the big box shopping experience? How can DIY art change/enhance/enliven my daily to-do-list?

The “big box” shopping experience offers a consumer quick, easy, and inexpensive options for home decoration, design, and home improvements. They are similar to fast food restaurants, where a customer can quickly get a meal “their way,” yet it’s just like every other meal that leaves the drive thru window. Art dealing with the DIY process could possibly affect consumer perceptions of the “big box” shopping experience by offering alternatives. An artist dealing with these issues turns sources of conformity and sameness into a source of creativity and change. By dealing with these topics, a more all encompassing questioning occurs; our culture is questioned. America is a place to be free and unique yet it is far too easy to fall into norms. Each person wants to stand out but not too far.

Although these ideas come through in work dealing with the DIY process and making use of objects easily purchased from big box stores, it also speaks of art history and the use of the ready made object. By purchasing objects from Ikea, I take an already existing and successful aesthetic, and give it a new purpose and author. By placing manipulated Ikea-made objects into a gallery setting, they no longer fill a necessity within a home. Instead, they become a cultural object with little of the function that they once held.

DIY art can change, enhance, and enliven a person’s daily to-do-list by simply calling into question certain ideals, perhaps freeing people from their mandatory daily to-do-list. Big box stores like Target, Walmart, Home Depot, and Ikea ultimately enhance a person’s daily tasks. They are little helpers making our lives so much easier and so much more stylish. I do not wish to suggest that these institutions are a completely negative thing. Instead, I wish to appropriate the objects available to a consumer through these stores and make use of an already existing aesthetic.

3. What things in life require reading directions to accomplish? Which labels/directions do people usually skip (or gloss over)? Can passed-down generational wisdom be considered as “directions”? What things in life do you wish came with directions?

Things in life don’t actually require reading directions to be accomplished. I think that everything could be self-taught. However, directions provide a stepping-stone and help in accomplishing tasks with greater ease. Often times, people don’t read directions and do not want to be directed. There is something about the Ikea instructions that are often more confusing than informative to the assembler. They completely avoid the use of the written language to help a consumer assemble their products. They are entirely visual and become interesting drawings on their own.

People tend to skip or gloss over almost every label or direction. The public will choose what they want to pay attention to. When it comes to written directions a person would more likely skip over the written, step-by-step directions and refer more to the images. In this way Ikea plays to that tendency in people. However, the problem with this is that there are always things lost in translation between the visual and the written language.

Everyone has moments where they wish they had directions to get them through. I don’t know that in the end that would be the most helpful option. I do sometime wish that art making came with directions. However, the challenge of it all tends to be my motivation. I wish to overcome the confusion I encounter while trying to convey my ideas and understand ideas of other artists. I think the struggles we come across in our lives are important to a greater understanding.

Questions from Lars Jerlach

1. What do you hope to achieve by making art?

There are a great number of things I hope to achieve by making art. Making art is a great vehicle to question. In our culture it is easy to become complacent and art doesn’t allow that. Because of this, making art helps me to question events in my life as well as the culture I am a part of. I hope that by making art, I can create in people a questioning as well. I also hope to achieve a greater understanding of a variety of topics including art in general.

2. What is the motivation behind your practice?

I am a student and I am an artist. I am motivated by a constant want to understand, be understood, and be believed. I want to create artwork that I can believe in and that others can believe in too. I am constantly searching to understand art making and the reasoning behind the art I create. I am motivated by the desire to learn how to best communicate my ideas visually and intellectually. I am also motivated by something completely unknown to me. I have a desire to make, and I think it is something that artists have in common. When not making or not researching in some way, I feel as though I am not contributing. This sensation motivates me to keep creating, researching, and thinking critically.

3. Do you think about the audience when making art?

The audience is extremely important to me when making art. Without the audience there is virtually no point to making art. To make art for no one completely removes a purpose to the act of art making. Making art is to convey some kind of idea or message to an audience, I think it is dangerous to not consider an audience whatsoever when making art. That said, I do think about the audience when making art, I think about how my work will be seen and how it will be interpreted. I think about how I want my art to be seen and interpreted.

4. What is the role of memory or nostalgia in your work?

Memory and nostalgia played a greater role in past work that dealt with the death of my father and my attempts to understand memories as well as the person my father was and what that has made me. I haven’t completely come to understand how memory and nostalgia will play a part in the work I make for the artist-in-residence grant, but I think it is important for me to consider if I wish to find a common thread in past work and future work. I don’t think that I need to continue in that way, but naturally, the art I make will have those elements because I feel past experiences and memories will influence my work whether I choose to make that a main element of my work or not. It’s just a matter of me finding these more subtle elements. My previous body of work dealt with memory and nostalgia more literally, I think the role of these themes will play a much more abstract and subtle role in the work I am creating at this time.

5. How do you create a sense of universality between yourself and the audience?

I hope to create a sense of universality between the audience and myself by using materials and a language that are relatable and simply by conveying ideas that are encountered by most people. In the past I addressed ideas of memory and loss, ideas that affect everyone in a lifetime. In my current body of work I hope there will be a sense of universality by using materials that people encounter on a daily basis in their homes, media, and stores. By using Ikea specifically, I am using a language that is quite established within our culture with the Ikea catalogue being distributed to well over 100 million homes. Ikea even speaks about diversity, their goal is to supply furnishing solutions for our diverse way of living today. I think by using an already established aesthetic creates a great sense of universality.

6. On what criteria do you judge the relative success of one of your pieces?

I judge the relative success of my work on criteria based on understandability and believability. Does my audience trust in that I am a reliable source and does that audience understand what it is that I am trying to convey? One of my pieces would be successful if it is expressing the ideas I want to speak to and that it is clearly stated. I also judge the success of my work on my understanding of it. If I don’t understand it yet, I have little control over my audience and the work, leaving it lacking a power I’d want it to possess. Success also comes with finding a unique way to convey certain ideas. It is a daunting task to create something “new,” but I think it’s still possible to find somewhat unique and interesting ways to make art and communicate. I would also consider my work successful if I had some amount fun making it. I often find myself stressing over every bit of my process, I’ve found that if I’ve enjoyed the process it has felt more successful. Of course it helps if my peers find it to be a successful investigation. I am human, and tend to need the encouragement of others. I think that’s a natural part of art making. We all want to be accepted.

7. How would you describe the process of your art practice to somebody with no artistic background or knowledge?

To be successful in describing the process of my art practice is a challenge when explaining it to a person with no artistic background. It is incredibly difficult to explain how almost anything can become art. I try to explain my art practice as a way of communicating my ideas visually. I will find an interest in an idea and attempt to communicate this idea through a visual means. I may choose to use painting, photography, or video; whatever will best convey my ideas. In order to arrive at the final product, most of my time goes into research. After I have researched, I will create some form of a final product and further my understanding in what I wish to convey to my audience. A large part of the process of finding a greater understanding of my work is through conversations with my colleagues.

Artist Spotlight: Mary Overman

2009-02-16T15:11:00.000-08:00

Questions from Andy Ducett

1. Who do you want your ideal audience to be? What decisions (both materially and conceptually) can you make to better reach your target group?

I’m not concerned so much with a target group as I am with making sure there is a balance between content and visual imagery. I don’t consider the target group, because I don’t intend on changing my work based on how a target group may feel about it. Instead, I believe it’s more pertinent to think about how well the content works with the visual imagery and if the viewer is able to understand my ideas without being too conspicuous.

Of course, I take into consideration how the viewer sees the work, but again, that’s based on finding a balance between those elements, rather than making work that one bracket of people could appreciate.

2. Where do we as viewers position you in relationship to your subject matter?  

I don’t know where the viewer might think of the artist in relation to the work, but I can tell you where I see myself. My interest in cosmetic surgery initially arose from my mom having had a few procedures. The social interactions in the family because of them, was really fascinating. After one of her procedures, my mom gave my brother, sister, and I a call, crying, and told us what she had done. This really affected my younger sister who had had an eating disorder and was very responsive and vulnerable to these issues. I, on the other hand, couldn’t understand why she’d done it. Me being the older sister, I felt a parental anger at my mom for having gotten surgery without possibly thinking how it might affect my sister.

But those were the initial responses, and there is more than just the present. My mom had an insane childhood. Her mom was an alcoholic and verbal and physical abuse was severe, but a certainty. Her mom died when she was 16, and left behind 10 children, and my mom wasn’t the youngest. I’ve considered how those events might affect her internal reasons for making this choice. Through my readings on the psychological side of cosmetic surgery, I’ve noticed there have been postulations concerning a desire of love, of acceptance and of a physical normality felt through the changing of one’s body by people who have been abused.

Even more than that, though, I’ve simply become enthralled with plastic surgery as a whole. Those were my initial and personal reasons for choosing the subject, and although those thoughts still remain with me, my research is taking a different turn. As well as the psychological side, I’m studying the different procedures and how they are accomplished, the social interactions between surgeon and patient, the collective vs. personal view of identity, and what cosmetic surgery can implicate in terms of the direction of society and technology.

3. What role will titles play in the work... how leading/specific/ambiguous do you want to be?

I’ve been holding off on titling until I have a larger body of work complete. Titles are extremely significant, of course, and I need to visually understand how a group of my work will function together before I can title them. I’m doing this because I don’t want to be too specific, but I also don’t want the viewers to be lost in ambivalence; there is a specific concept that I want them to discern.

Questions from Tamara Brantmeier

1. On one hand your paintings could be considered self-portraits, and on the other hand using oneself (artist) as subject can be interpreted as universal (“every woman”); talk about your decision to use your likeness in your work, how it affects the content, if the self-portrait adds to or diverts from your  narrative and if you will use other women as subjects (why/why not).

  I distort all the images I work from; none of them are self-portraits. In fact, all of them are fictional characters, which is one reason for changing the likeness of features. Distortions can add a peculiar beauty to a figure. Idealized distortions like the heavy eyelids from the renaissance, or the unusually high and rounded breasts of the 15th century are uncanny, but attractive. It’s the idea of this strange beauty, who overall is a Venus, but when looked at in segments, is slightly grotesque.

I also play with inconspicuous distortions, ones that cause a figure to look slightly off but without it being obvious why. It’s possible to make a slightly turned face isometric, which allows almost imperceptible enlargement of one eye. Eyes too close together give an overall odd appearance, and dainty lips in their “prettiness” can give an artificial impression.

I plan to use different models as a means to show gender and age, but also because the distortions made are guided not only by my final intentions conceptually, but by the genuine image of the model. Still, the models I work from, whether others or myself are inconsequential regarding who they are in reality. What’s significant is their transferred life; their personal and social conduct in a painting.

2. Why does/is the variation of paint application/technique become important in your work and how is it connected to your content, narrative and overall concept? What have you discovered by utilizing distinctly different techniques and what is your central struggle regarding this approach?

The textured paint application is a narrative all it’s own. It’s distinct, but contingent upon the characters I portray. It very much represents the psychological states of the characters, but also creates a path to guide the eye through a painting. The backgrounds, more so than the figures, are meant to illustrate beauty in a fixed state of turmoil, emphasizing the questions that come with our contemporary ideals of beauty. Are they healthy or reasonable, and now that they are feasible, are they desirable?

Our physical world is fashioned by a multitude of textures, and the question is, how can these textures come together in a world that exists in determined dimensions. My struggle has been in the reconciliation between the handful of different painting styles used in one work. Still, I am investigating this, and exploring different techniques, integrations, and styles in order to find a successful way to convey my content.

3. How do you think about the use of imagery of women in your work? More precisely, how and why do (potential) feminist implications/perceptions connect with your content in an historical and contemporary framework?

Since I am a woman using cosmetic surgery to talk about identity and beauty, I realize the implications of feminism. It’s difficult to get away from that label, especially because thus far, my imagery has been principally of women. But I am not a feminist. I intend to incorporate more images of men in order to divert ideas of feminism.

I chose cosmetic surgery because it’s an engaging way to talk about the transience of identity and beauty. Both are ever changing in their ideals and personal and social perceptions, yet both are ever lasting in the moments in which they are captured in a work of art. Most paintings, historical and contemporary, deal with images attached to a moment. If the imagery is not concrete, the medium is, hence that moment will last on that canvas forever.

Besides what I am thinking about in terms of content, I also chose cosmetic surgery because I am simply fascinated with the technical aspects. Our wealth of knowledge always amazes me, yet particularly in medical fields our lack of understanding is clearly visible.

Questions from Charlie Lume

1. Do you think visual pleasure plays a role your in paintings, either in the making of them and/or in looking at them?

The making of a painting entails visceral pleasure that, no doubt, transfers to visual pleasure for the viewer, but this can be one of the adverse effects of the medium. A beautiful painting can disrupt proper thought. It’s easy to get wrapped up in color, texture, light and overall imagery without being perceptive about the idea in the work. One of the questions I’ve been asking myself is how can I paint beautifully but still push content? I’m investigating a reconciliation between the two.

A good example of this is Jenny Saville’s paintings. Close up, her marks have an elegant disorder to them; they’re really lovely. Far away, they represent flesh in such a suitable manner that the viewer is able to see the image as a whole and isn’t easily distracted from content.
Application of paint, when it is used insightfully, can impart an energy and vitality on a painting. Thus far there is a lot of investigation into the reconciliation of a handful of different painting styles in one work. Our physical world is fashioned by a multitude of textures, and the question is, how can these textures come together in a world that exists in determined dimensions. Unless it is intentional or integral to the work, there needs to be a certain amount of harmony between the textures, the figures, and the background.

2. What other artists/painters’ art traffics in issues about the flesh? How might their art shape your approaches both in paint application and conceptual consideration?

Orlan is a French artist who does what she calls “carnal art”. She has a series called “The Reincarnation of St. Orlan”, in which she took features from women in art historical paintings, such as Botticelli’s Venus, and da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and had them surgically reproduced on her face. These were performance surgeries where she was given local anesthetic and viewed live from galleries all over the world.

She talks about not being interested in the final result, but in the constant modifications and the indefinite nature of identity. She says that her work “is not a stand against cosmetic surgery, but against the standards of beauty, against the dictates of a dominant ideology that impresses itself more and more on the feminine flesh.”1

She speaks about cosmetic surgery and identity in a unique and powerful way. The stigmas attached to cosmetic surgery are something I seek to avoid. Like Orlan, I don't intend to protest cosmetic surgery, but instead to question the ideals it makes possible, the new ideals it creates, and the impact this has on relationships, identity and society.

Cosmetic surgery is a field all it's own. It's the only field in medicine that doesn't deal with diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease, and is, in fact, all about harming the body. All cosmetic procedures entail deliberate trauma and involuntary restoration. When discussing his pharmaceutical pieces, Damien Hirst talks about medicine evoking "an idea of confidence, of trust in minimalism", and adds, "there's something dumb about it". 2

There is a confidence in medicine that often exceeds logic. Patients have credence for doctors and what they say, and in their trust or desire, forget the doctor's fallibility. Cosmetic surgeries are serious procedures that defy the definition of medicine. They don't deal with disease, but they still carry the idea of cheating death, even while the biological factors are still in play.

Jenny Saville's use of paint is luscious and expressive, yet frank. Simon Schama said about the way she handles the medium, it "is really about the anatomy of paint as it construct the body."3 Her mark making and exploration of contemporary bodies are often referenced in my own exploration. She deals with identity from the outside vs. the inside; how society views a body type contrasted to the individual's view. She's exemplifies the use of this medium as a way to transform the repulsive into the resplendent.

3. In what ways can paint “be” flesh and “represent” it? And can it be done simultaneously in one painting?

Paint can “literally” and conceptually be flesh. Literally, it can be shown figuratively, it can be represented as actual flesh. Through the tactile application, light, color and texture of paint, it can conceptually embody the idea of flesh. The myriad textures, forms, and colors pose multiple levels of formal investigation into anatomy, pigment and paint.

Industrial Design Students’ Work Showcased at Design Within Reach

2009-02-16T15:05:00.000-08:00

UW-Stout design students exhibited their molded plywood furniture designs at the Design Within Reach (DWR) in Minneapolis this past November. The designs were the products of projects in the junior industrial design studio, Art and Science of Production. The students were to design and build full-scale working prototypes of a furniture design that was easy to mass produce, ship and assemble. Materials were limited to steel and 1/16th inch maple veneer. “The lamination process was a challenge, “ Noah Norton, assistant professor of industrial design, commented. “We used vacuum bags and ratcheting straps with two-part molds to bend the wood into the desired form. It took a great deal of experimentation but results were great.”

The work was exhibited in the Student Gallery that showcased the process on one side and the finished work on the other. Design Within Reach, a high-end designer furniture retailer, agreed to exhibit the designs in their Minneapolis Showroom in November after seeing the work. Many pieces in DWR’s collection were actually used as inspiration for the project.

Gary Schott Named Metals Department Chair of the Southwest School of Arts and Crafts

2009-02-16T15:03:00.000-08:00

Stout alumnus Gary Schott recently joined the Southwest School of Arts and Crafts in San Antonio, Texas as the new chair of the Metals Program. He received his BFA in studio art with a concentration in art metals/jewelry from UW-Stout in 2004 and his MFA from the University of Illinois Urbana. A nationally recognized institution, the Southwest School of Arts and Crafts has active programs of arts instruction, renowned national and international visiting artists, and performance events in addition to hosting one of the premier contemporary art exhibition spaces in the region.

IIDA: Student Org Update

2009-02-16T14:58:00.001-08:00

The International Interior Design Association has been low key this past semester but is looking forward to putting together quite a few activities in the next semester. During the Fall, IIDA participated in one fundraiser selling Tastefully Simple items, and next semester are planning on putting together a Spring Formal along with ASID. IIDA are also planning on doing some firm tours in the twin cities, and are looking into participating in the NEOCON show in Chicago. Last semester IIDA also hosted a guest speaker from Minnesota's Good and Green foundation which focuses on Minnesota structures that are either being built or remodeled and making these structures more eco-friendly.

ASID: Student Org. Update

2009-02-16T14:47:00.001-08:00

Last fall ASID participated in several events around the community. This included Adopt-a-yard and helping decorate the Mabel Tainter Theater for Christmas. This is something the club does every year at the Mabel Tainter. Some members even participated in ASID Real World Design Week. This was the first year this was offered to student members. Those who participated got to shadow a designer for a day.

Next semester ASID is planning on hosting several speakers as well as planning a trip in the spring.

GDA: Student Org Update

2009-02-16T14:44:00.000-08:00

Last semester’s activities included:
Helped with Todd Boppel Scholarship fundraising. (Raffle)

Heather Olson gave a talk about AIGA.
Design Camp- Nisswa, MN.
Decorated a car, handed out candy and flyers for the Homecoming Parade.
Members’ mini posters “tell us a random fact” were posted on our Bulletin Board on 1st floor.
Trip to the Walker (film)
Member made posters for Comedy Club.
Bill Moran talked in Furlong Gallery about his work and brought Woodtype Film to our meeting.
Continued the process of tshirt designs from end of last semester.

Some events coming up for this semester:

Feb 5th- AIGA Cocktails with Creatives 6-8pm Kitty Kat Klub 107 Washington Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401
Feb 13th- Website launch party AIGA, 6:30-8:30 @ Sevnthsin
March 6th 6-8pm MCAD Galleries: Opening Reception “Made at MCAD, Momentum: The new comics, Theater of Operations, 300 Jumps”
April 10th-MCAD Auditorium 150 John Hendrix

Fine Art Association: Student Org Update

2009-02-16T14:41:00.001-08:00

For the fall semester 2008 The Fine Arts Association was involved in an array of great activities. For the first time since 1996 the FAA became involved in university Homecoming activities. We took part in the campus community as a group and were able to even have two art students from the organization win Homecoming king and queen. It was great fun and was successful in creating a bond with others involved.

The Fine Arts Association also held a costume car wash in the parking lot of K-mart. We raised over $100 for the organization by dressing in various costumes and washing cars for people in the community. It was based on donation only but people were excited to take part in the spectacle of getting their vehicles washed by a huge bottle of mustard, a furry tiger and the like.

Throughout the semester we also organized a couple of student critiques, which we plan to continue through the continuing semesters. It was a great opportunity to get work looked at by fellow peers outside the classroom and away from professors. It was quite successful and the students who participated seemed to get good, open advice and feedback.

We also put on the biannual art sale in the Furlong Atrium. We got a lot of submissions of work from art students outside the organization as well as from members. As a group we worked the sale, marketed our stuff, spent time together, and had a lot of fun.

The FAA is also affiliated with ‘A Clean Poorly Lighted Space.’ The gallery is a great opportunity for students to be involved in curatorial practice, gallery direction, and gallery maintenance. We did all of these things without direct funding from the university.

Next semester we will be receiving funding for our proposed activities so we will be able to do even more. We’ve planned trips out of the area, guest speakers, gallery openings, dances, and the opportunity to do other activities that students would be interested in doing. We also plan to continue the monthly student art critique.

IDSA: Student Org. Update

2009-02-16T13:50:00.000-08:00

This semester has been very productive for our UW-Stout Chapter of IDSA. One of our main goals this semester was to get underclassmen to be more involved in our organization. To achieve this, we offered them the opportunity to come in to get advice on what classes or professors to take. Many of the younger students took advantage of this by attending our weekly meetings. Another opportunity we offered them was a chance to bring in some of their work so we could give them feedback. It’s great for students to be able to get feed back from peers, especially ones that have already been through the same classes that they are taking.

Some events that IDSA has organized this semester were a guest speaker and a portfolio review. The guest speaker that we brought in was Chris Barmore, a Stout alumnus and an industrial designer for Insight Product Design. He talked about industrial design in the real world and what makes a good portfolio. The other event that we planned was the Worrell portfolio review. Here, students were able to take their portfolios to Worrell Inc. (an industrial design firm in Minneapolis) to have their portfolios reviewed. Not only was this a great opportunity for students to have their portfolios to be assessed, but it was also a valuable lesson in networking within the professional world.

Furlong Gallery Exhibitions

2009-02-16T13:27:00.000-08:00

Current and upcoming exhibitions in the Furlong Gallery:

Through February 27: “Department of Art and Design Faculty Exhibition”

March 9th – March 27th: “Best of Design Show” – north gallery and “Strange Fruit” (Geoffrey Wheeler, sabbatical exhibition)– south gallery
March 12th: Reception, 5:00 – 7:00

March 27th: 12:30, Gallery talk – Geoffrey Wheeler

April 6 – May 1: “Prometheus”
April 17: Awards Reception, 3:00 – 5:00

May 7- Sept. 11: “End of Year Student Exhibition”
May 8: Opening Reception, 5:30-8:30

The Poster Offensive is coming to the Furlong

2008-11-05T14:26:00.000-08:00

Poster Offensive 4 will be on display in the Furlong Gallery from November 11th to December 13th, with an opening reception on Nov. 13th at 5pm. For more information on the show, visit the Poster Offensive.

Plycore Show in the Student Gallery (Nov 3 - 8)

2008-11-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

Junior Industrial Design students are currently displaying their Plycore related work in the Student Gallery from November 3 - 8 with a reception on Nov. 5th.

Senior Seminar Series

2008-10-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

End of the Semester: Senior Shows

2008-05-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

The end of the semester here at UW Stout means Senior Shows and End of the Year exhibitions.

Brooks Stevens Design and UW-Stout Design Students

2008-05-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

There was wine, cheese and .... a four-wheeled folding vehicle?!? Yes, that's right. The renowned Brooks Stevens Design firm has recently started a new branch in Saint Paul and graciously offered its facilities to host an exhibition of senior industrial design work. Rich Walters, senior designer and UW-Stout alumni, arranged the event with Jennifer Astwood and Noah Norton (industrial design faculty) as a way to showcase senior level industrial design work and to announce the opening of the new Brooks Stevens design facility. The Stout Seniors showed a diverse range of products developed over the semester with the basic theme of addressing a social issue.

The event was attended by a wide range of design professionals from the area including: 3M, Target Corporation, Worrell Designs, Phillips Plastics, Hubbard Scientific, Integrated Design Solutions Skyline Exhibits, and Stearns flotation.

Drew Barrett: Design for Longevity
Jason Burbank: Lighting/Plant unit to lighten mood
Emily Dubay: Slow Design Dishware
R.J. Deutsch: Chair for Guitar Players
Andrew Karutbauer: Outdoor seating encouraging plant growth
Chris Kelton: War-Hammer Tank Delivery Craft
Aaron Kurth: Eco-Tennis Shoe (replaceable sole system)
Casey Nugent: Compressed Air Vehicle
Jesse Probst: Sifa Expanding Sofa
Tim Parmer: Washing Machine for Developing Nations
Eric Polk: Portable Ski Bag (ski locker)
Wade Simmons: Human Powered/Electric vehicle
Amanda Schneider: Humor in design: Beau Seau Mop Bucket
Jimmy Sommerville: Torque-It Ergonomic Wood Clamping System

Industrial Design: Brook Stevens Senior Show

2008-05-13T12:52:00.000-07:00