• Student Review: Amelia Modlin, Washington University

Doodles and Surrealism

Ravi Vakil, Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University, gave a lecture at Washington University in St. Louis entitled “The Mathematics of Doodling.”  He actually began his lecture by doodling an outline around the words “The Mathematics of Doodling”. He continued outlining until there were multiple rings of outlines surrounding the words.  His main question about doodling was: “Are the outlines getting more and more circular?  Why?”  After stating this question, he proceeded to reword it with mathematical symbols in order to form an equation that was solvable.  Through various mathematical comparisons and solutions, Vakil concluded that indeed the outlines progressively became more circular.  While this rational and concrete approach to doodling is helpful in mathematical terms, it greatly differs from the spontaneous doodling processes of surrealist artists.

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• Student Review: Hannah Wrangham, Washington University

Claudia Schmacke Speaks at SLAM

Claudia Schmacke’s lecture took place at the Saint Louis Art Museum on April 3rd, directly preceding the opening of her solo exhibition Currents 103. The beginning of the lecture was more poetry than introduction. Schmacke spoke in a darkened room with her film Umbilicus (2006) playing quietly in the background, and the sound of her clear, German voice mingled with the soft sounds of flowing water in the film. The gurgle and drip of the water was a constant undertone to Schmacke’s voice, as she discussed her fascination with liquids, particularly water, and the multitude of ways in which water is important is life. Her language itself was much like water, flowing from once sentence to another in an ethereal, sensuous manner. She described our life experiences as “seeing the world through water spheres”, and made a connection between the fluidity of water and the constant changes that take place in art. Schmacke’s lecture went on to describe several of her previous artworks, in order to provide the audience with the context for her current exhibition, which opened immediately following the lecture.

Umbilicus itself was more than just a backdrop.

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• Student Review: Katherine Foster, Washington University

“The New Ecology of Printmaking”

British art magazine writer and printmaker Richard Noyce’s presentation on “The New Ecology of Printmaking” discussed the constantly evolving field of printmaking, which relies on both traditional techniques and advancing technology. Students, faculty, and members of the St. Louis community gathered in Washington University’s Givens Hall, where Noyce defined the art of printmaking. He connected it to the modern world by relating printmaking to the field of ecology, which is the study of life and interactions between organisms and their environments.

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• Student Review: Anna Roseberry, Washington University

Communication Arts: 50 Years of Change

Hosted by the St. Louis chapter of AIGA, Communication Arts owner and editor, Patrick Coyne spoke Wednesday April 8th before an audience comprised of both budding and experienced designers.  The Washington University and St. Louis design communities came out to Steinberg Auditorium on Washington University’s campus to hear Coyne speak about the foundation and development of the visual arts magazine.

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• Student Review: Jenna Stempel, Washington University

Lecture: “Collaborative Aesthetics”

When attending an artist’s lecture, it is perfectly reasonable to expect the artist not to give free hugs. Fortunately, nobody told Brett Cook about traditional lecture dynamics. Wednesday, March 18th, in his lecture entitled
“Collaborative Aesthetics: a Dialogue about Community and Soul” at Washington University, Cook hugged every participant who offered their definitions of “community” and “soul.”

The rest of the lecture was much of the same. After beginning with a breathing exercise in order to better assess the artwork, Brett Cook exhibited photos of traditional portraiture in the faculty club at Harvard University and a cow sculpture painted with Mondrian geometry in a West Indian neighborhood. He displayed artwork that he views as inaccessible to the public and irrelevant to the community. In contrast, Cook presented his own portfolio, which was increasing representative of the spaces in which each piece was displayed.

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• Student Review: Christy Nigh, Washington University

Fred Tomaselli Speaks

In honor of the re-dedication celebration of Steinberg Hall on Washington University’s campus, Fred Tomaselli gave a lecture about his life and work. Tomaselli had been asked to speak by his gallery owner James Cohan, an alumnus of Washington University.

Tomaselli began in school by studying painting, but felt that the pressure of its art historical lineage was more than he could live up to.  As a result, he spent several years exploring sculptural forms.  Several of his works became interactive pieces requiring the viewer to be an active participant in the work.  For example, in his piece, “Box for Your Head”, the viewer is required to insert their head into a hole, covered by the neck of a T-shirt, in a wooden box that is hung on the wall.  The viewer is rewarded for this action by a view of an alternate reality, outer space.

His talk framed his work within the context of his life-long experience and interests.

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• Student Review: Casey O'Brien, Washington University

Designs for the Riverfront

As a resident of St. Louis, it goes without saying that if you drive downtown, you will see various angles of the Arch along the way. It stands as a tribute to the Louisiana Purchase among other historical events, and is an easily recognizable icon of Missouri at the very least. As a student tour guide at Washington University, I often point out the nearby Arch, which you can see on campus if you’re lucky (and it’s winter). It was all I knew about St. Louis for a long while – that the city was home to the “Gateway to the West.”

In late January, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum opened a new exhibit on Eero Saarinen, the architect who designed the Arch, and invited the public to join in a free symposium held at Washington University’s Steinberg Auditorium. The Symposium was hosted by Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts and sponsored by ASSA ABLOY. I dropped by for one of the last portions of the day-long discussions, arriving in time to hear Patricia Heyda, a visiting assistant professor of architecture at Washington University, speak about the “Riverfront Charrette.” The “Charrette” took place last November, with students gathering from Midwestern schools to re-design the Riverfront property (theoretically) here in St. Louis.

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• Student Review: Sam Clapp, Washington University

A Reaction to “private (dis)play”

Walking with a group of friends to see the opening of the new exhibition at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA), private (dis)play, I had no idea what to expect.  The concept sounded novel: exhibit pages from artists’ notebooks to gain an understanding of their inner lives, but I wondered how such an idea might be implemented effectively. After all, I thought as I jumped over the puddles of slush covering the unlit streets of University City, notebook pages alone are not very interesting.

As we entered the building and made our way to the exhibition room, I thought my worst fears were confirmed. The show was housed in a white exhibition space, and the nature of the art being shown made for a fairly drab appearance. Reluctantly I began to circle my way around the space, glancing at the notebooks and sheets of paper pinned and encased in plastic along the walls. Though the exhibit emphasized the sketchbook component of private work, the pieces took many forms. In addition to white sketchbook pages, the show housed larger sheets of paper with drawings done in pen, video monitors displaying digital animatics, lined sheets with watercolor, and even a few collages.

After I had perused through the gallery for a few minutes one of the curators, Jamie Adams, began to speak.

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• Student Review: Elaine Chow, Washington University

Eero Saarinen - Opening Lecture

Run a Google search on “top skylines of the world” and you’ll be hard-pressed to find St. Louis anywhere on the list. Although St. Louis’ skyline isn’t much to brag about, one aspect we have that sets us apart from most other concrete jungles of America is the Saint Louis Gateway Arch, a 630 ft. tall steel structure built in the 1960s, and designed by Finnish-American architect, Eero Saarinen.

I had the opportunity to attend the opening lecture for a two-month long exhibition at Washington University in St. Louis in honor of Eero Saarinen and the Arch.

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• Student Review: Marietta Alessi, Washington University

Get to Know Yuko

Yuko Shimizu is a Japanese born, New York illustrator who gave an entertaining and educational lecture in the Steinberg Auditorium at Washington University late Wednesday, February 18th. An illustrator with a love for saturated tones, texture, and dramatic figures, Yuko’s art has a complexity that is very intriguing. She once painted a ceramic rabbit with an intricate black and white pattern comprised of just dots. The bunny sold on Ebay for over a thousands dollars and the proceeds went to Save the Children Foundation. Other artworks she has done include: an evocative illustration for a sex story in New York Magazine where hundreds of couples were making love in the middle of a colorful Times Square, a chic aristocratic female lounging in ornate outfits for a Neiman Marcus advertisement, and an offbeat summer illustration of a wave rendered in a cable knit sweater pattern engulfing a swimmer as balls of yarn are tossed around for a Superphat magazine cover. Although her finished work  looks so polished, Yuko’s career path is almost as complicated as the patterns she creates.

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