2009 VOL.6 2009 MAGAZINE DESIGN AND ART OF COLLEGE OTIS

Non-Profit Org Otis College of Art and Design U.S. Postage 9045 Lincoln Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90045 PAID Los Angeles, CA Permit No. 427

Otis College of Art and Design Magazine 2009 Vol.6 Can we Teach Creativity? • Green Design IN THIS ISSUE: THIS IN Misremembering the Future • Digitizing Naked Ladies .otis.edu 6800 665 (310) www FEATURE FEATUREFEATURE Thinkers, Communicators, and Integrators

By Steve McAdam, Founding Chair, Product Design

Over the last half century, mechanical functionality has been replaced by technological achievement, enabling designers to create things they could only once imagine. Change and opportunity go hand in hand, and it is very much in the spirit of Otis College to develop a new program to produce the hybrid designer for the 21st-century creative economy.

In the fall of 2004, the Product Design (PD) Department began as restricted the creative, aesthetic and career potential of the student, a career-focused program with the mission to produce a new type and rarely brought forth creative designers of importance. At best, of product designer with vision, creativity, multidisciplinary design it produced skillful technicians or super elves, and not the creative skills, and the ability to integrate information, technology and busi- visionaries, strategic thinkers and design leaders who will lead ness strategies that address not only user needs but also complex, industry and fuel the creative economy. interconnected markets and industries. Product Design has enjoyed continuous growth of student The emphasis of the curriculum is on developing creative enrollment since it began five years ago with 12 students. There were Thinkers who are self-inspired and capable of generating lots of 80 students in 2008/09. The program boasts an average of over 87% ideas; creative Communicators who can effectively articulate their placement of its students in internship positions in furniture design, ideas in 2D, 3D, written, verbal, and multi-media presentation; and fashion accessories, consumer electronics, design consultancies, creative Integrators who can synthesize information, technology, shoe design, sports and medical equipment, home décor and enter- materials and methods, and business strategies to design with tainment. Graduates work for Apple, Guess, Wet Design, Disney intent and create innovative solutions that address cultural, social Consumer Products, Disney Imagineering, Inter-Pacific Corp., Nectar and marketplace needs. Design, Warner Brothers Consumer Products, Lanard Toys, Target, The curriculum shifts away from the conventional industrial and Anthropologie (among many others). Alumni have also entered design approach of specific-industry focus and the development of graduate school as far away as the Design Academy Eindhoven in specialized technical skills. Experience taught us that this approach the Netherlands and as near to home as Cal State Long Beach. ➤

We knew early on that we had the opportunity to create a unique program that leveraged the strengths of the type of student Otis attracts. These students use technology, but are not technicians or engineers; they are creators, artists and makers who thrive on

diversity and engaging in design challenges. Designer: Designer: Designer: Shaun Redsar Nathan Woods David Lean

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Ultimately, we’re striving to create an educational At no time in history have designers had the experience in the program that achieves parity with the range of technologies, materials and information global professional world, but also to expand product from which to create products. But thinking design beyond products and market imperatives. We train our students to research, develop and design about product design today means thinking products for 5, 10, 15 years into the future rather than beyond the product and recognizing the complex to become slaves of industry or trendsetters. issues of business, technology, sustainability and user experience.

The program focuses on a holistic and simplified They work in wood, metal, ceramics, plastics bring design solutions and services to a rapidly The successful product designer of today approach to product design, and focuses on and fabrics and the process of object design and changing global market. Otis students took must be multifaceted like a diamond. the issues that are at the core of supporting user development. a university-level business and entrepreneurial The larger number of facets, the more experience and therefore likely to withstand In the junior year, students “interpret” the class and jointly participated in a real-world social forces, economic trends and technological world. Through sequential courses, they refine experience of forming a product, business and brilliantly it shines. This requires that invention over a long period of time. their studio skills to develop a personal vision, media plan for a small company. the Product Design curriculum must In the sophomore year, students “decon- creative practices and design methodology. Engagement with the corporate community struct” the world to focus on developing a Students develop multidisciplinary design skills is an essential part of the student’s development continually be assessed and enriched heightened sense of aesthetics. They learn to in two broad product categories: “soft-line” in the program. Corporate sponsors collaborate with educational opportunities and design with intent through the practice of non-durable products (fashion accessories, with faculty and students to identify the real-world multidisciplinary experiences applying the unifying principals of design and shoe design and home decor items) and design opportunity, define deliverables, deter- the aspects of color, surface texture and form. “hard-line” durable products (furniture design, mine resources, and evaluate design outcomes. that will better prepare our students consumer electronics, medical devices). The emphasis in each project is on innovation. to be the design leaders of the future. Throughout the sequence, issues of sustainable In a recent corporate-sponsored research project design are considered. for HRI, the intra-group think tank of Omron, In the senior year, students “revolutionize” students were challenged to project what will the world. The emphasis is on designing for the be the potential products and services needed future; preparing for their careers as profession- for society in 2025. als and developing a thesis project that reflects Where product design will go in the the culmination of their training. creative economy of the 21st century remains In fall of 2008, Otis product design students to be seen. Yet while many of the same ques- collaborated on a project with Loyola Marymount tions our students ask today about product University Business School’s Entrepreneurial design they will ask again as professionals, we Designer: Department, with the goal of creating a synthe- as a faculty feel confident that their answers Yoonah Bae sis of design and business to explore new to those questions will always reflect their own business models that will drive innovation and unique creative voice and vision. ●

Designer: Designer: Designer: Designer: Jung Mi Na Arron Au da Silva Michelle Pak Maxine Wong

“The Otis/LMU project allowed students to experience an environment that approximates the reality of business and partnerships. They learned that integrating their design skills with the skills of negotiation and mutual respect refined their vision of how success in the future will be measured.” — Michael Kollins, Assistant Chair, Product Design Designer: Designer: Designer: Designer: Designer: Designer: Joon Han Lee Tyler Haggstrom Joon Han Lee Kevin Melchiorri Rebecca Reisman Judith Uribe

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Christopher Paterno, Instructor Materials and Methods/

“I believe that tactile qualities Green Design of a material inspire ideas and design more than book or By George Wolfe Internet research alone.”

The Product Design student saunters along the library aisle, stopping to peruse the characteristics of green materials. She runs her fingertips along the cardboard shelf, the cellulose shelf, the copper shelf, and the cotton shelf, before hitting the Ds — dandelion?! She eyeballs the explorative display. Could she use the stems as part of a new composite building substance? Could she incorporate the flower’s ubiquitous yellow into a systemic design scheme?

Devin Week, 100% wood surfboard; no resins or fiberglass

She makes a beeline to the nearby research hub and quickly In the end, does going green really pay? Back in a boxy classroom, one of Paterno’s young conserva- “Sometimes, ending up with a question is as good as coming brings up a list of projects and resources related to dandelions Yes, but you’ll need to think of the whole system — how it’s tionistas presents his Powerpoint report on Earthships. He runs up with an answer,” adds Paterno, picking up on the exploration and other weedy raw materials. She likes what she sees and made, distributed and disposed. That means you’ll have to through the history of this anomalous species of predominantly through crits and research. “And sometimes changing the name prints out a few pages. She returns to the shelves, picks up the consider the environment, the economy and the consumer. Southwest living, and speaks to the gutsy, systemic approach can alter your approach. Instead of ‘chair,’ try starting with ‘rest- dandelion display, and eventually checks it out at the front desk. InterfaceFlor, a carpet company, was failing and was a toxic night- begun by the movement’s founder, Mike Reynolds. Tires rammed ing place.’” Such a subtle difference can be tremendously liberat- Welcome to the brain of Christopher Paterno, who teaches mare. The owner, after rethinking the way he did “carpeting,” with earth are the Lego-like building blocks of curvaceous walls; ing: for the designer, the consumer, and the world. the Materials and Methods/Green Design course. This is the went very green, redesigned his product into snazzy, eco-friendly water gets re-used for various purposes (filtered rainwater for That’s how you end up with not just a house, but an earthship; future that excites him, and the present he offers his students each interchangeable carpet tiles, and saved his company. In some cooking/showering, gray water for interior gardens and toilets/ not office furniture, but Herman Miller; and not a car, but a Tesla. week. “I believe that tactile qualities of a material inspire ideas ways green design can mean more expensive, but not always. showers, and black water is naturally broken down and output- “But keep in mind that green design doesn’t just mean and design more than book or Internet research alone,” he says. Some companies just can’t see past the initial costs of re-tooling ted to exterior gardens); the merciless desert sun provides a using natural materials,” adds Paterno, “it’s all about materials Meeting outside on the verdant lawn alongside the Ben Maltz for long-term savings. For it to work, we’ve got to get beyond benevolent stream of solar energy to the south-facing abodes, management. Some say Green Design is a trend or fad, but I Gallery is apt for his class. The students air eco-ethical examples the mentality of: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ which are partially embedded in the ground for maximum energy think green design is synonymous with smart design, and smart culled from recent news: bio-based plastics and fuels … untapped preservation. And, of course, tucked away out back is plenty of design is always top design. Top designers create good, uses for seaweed … bamboo paneling … elephant grass … How are green-leaning, well-meaning designers supposed to compost mentis. eco-conscious designs. I hope to create armies of designers that hempy stuff … hay sugars compressed and made into furniture, work within the parameters of the corporate world, where there Earthships go a long way toward showing that seeing green are aware of their actions, aware of their environment, and aware etc. Fortunately, there is no shortage of innovation, and Paterno may only be the desire to portray a green image? needn’t be dull — it can be sexy, too. The womb-like environs are of good, smart design.” digs into the considerable questions: Green Responsibility brings up the chicken or the egg question. uncommonly seductive. Some of the most effective and elegant Interruption of the waste stream is the ecocentric challenge Is it the consumers’ or the government’s responsibility to demand re-designing begins with re-defining the basic assumptions and facing these young men and women. But by truly confronting our What’s the real motive for jumping on the green bandwagon? green products and manufacturing, or is it the manufacturers’ slaying a few sacred professional vows; it requires thinking out- bad habitats of waste and exploring new realms of consciously It really doesn’t matter why they’re doing it as long as they are responsibiity to educate the consumer? If the designers know side the vox populi. virescent design, and embracing our newfound Father Nurture doing it. Green design becomes a bottom-line issue: businesses how to design green and save on materials and design to role, we can all one day live in a material world — in the best aren’t going to change ways just to save the world — mostly lower manufacturing costs, then they can infiltrate from inside. possible sense. ● you have to design knowing how to source it out and do it in Greenies can see right through “greenwashing,” where suits smart ways. may only want to appear green.

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“It has always been exciting to Ismael Basso In what ways did your training at Otis help you know that I was the very first in your new position? to sign up for this brand new First up at Apple That’s a difficult one to answer because it wasn’t any one specific skill or a specific class that I program in Product Design.” had taken. It was a combination of many things, What circumstances led to your Apple interview? more than I probably realize myself. I guess it I think most people would be shocked to hear comes down to the open-ended philosophy be- that I applied to Apple online, for a job posting hind the program, which was still in its infancy. requiring a minimum five years of experience! I couldn’t believe that students were given so The interview process was exhaustive, exciting much input into shaping the program, and yet I and nerve-wracking. It felt like it took forever, sensed this was crucial. But you only get out of but it was really more like two to three months. the experience what you put in. Maggie Hendrie, Instructor For the interview, they flew me to Cupertino headquarters. A few hours turned into an entire Tell us briefly about your years in the Product day of interviewing, and ended up continuing Design Program into a second day! It has always been exciting to know that I was the very first to sign up for this brand new Experience Design How were you able to get a job at Apple, which program in Product Design, and almost blindly is highly competitive? since I did not do Foundation Year at Otis. A big milestone for me was participating in the By George Wolfe Luck had a lot to do with it. I was what they were looking for, before they knew it. But it should NeoCon West Furniture Design Competition. be no surprise that, with hundreds if not We were just rookies, but ended up beating thousands of applicants, competition does exist third-and fourth-year students from Art Center, Antikythera. Affordance. Iterations. Kodak. Design with intent. Personas. Portable defibrillators. within the industrial design studio. One of my UCLB, and Yale. We came in second, and our colleagues went through what he described as a classmates came in first. I learned that being Attentiveness. Nanotechnology. Hyperinstruments. These are just some of the products and six-year “interview” process! I was the first part of a new program was no excuse to aim concepts that Maggie Hendrie explores with her students. applicant in almost a decade to be hired straight low, and realized that we were destined for out of college. great things. Other memorable moments were What they have in common as products, or what they speak to as con- and accessories (giving new meaning to the concept of Shaker design). presentations by Segway human transports, cepts, is the notion that the experience IS the design. “I try to get them to think in terms of the ecosystem of design,” What do you think it was about you or your Sony’s robotics division, and other guest But where, exactly, is the line between the many other design disci- explains Hendrie. “Basically, the human experience of a product is made skills in particular? lecturers. Despite all the hard work, we had a ● plines, and and product design (PD) in particular? up of many facets, and these live together in a kind of ecosystem. I think it was my energy and desire to learn. lot of fun times too. With “hard” products such as mobile phones and computers, there is Traditionally, product design has focused on the one-dimensional device Much of what Apple does is highly specialized certainly an interactive element. A car can be thought of as a manifesta- design, but increasingly designers have to be able to conceptualize — and unique, so an open mind was key. Most Editor’s Note: Ismael Basso (‘07) was a member tion of interactive design (i.e., its responsiveness to the driver, or items or at least collaborate — on other facets of a product to make for an of the more experienced applicants were of Product Design’s first graduating class. like voice-responsive GPS screens), but does a car really meet the litmus effective, integrated, branded user experience.” more entrenched in their ways and less flexible. Chair Steve McAdam interviewed him about his test? What about a house (sure, maybe Bill Gates’ house, but what about Among those systemic components are: Device (e.g., home PC), Of course a strong, polished portfolio and journey to Apple and his beginnings at Otis. grandma’s?)? And aren’t cities simply huge interactive products, with Content (e.g., Facebook), Customer Support (e.g., carmaker Saturn), a jam-packed resume helped a great deal. urban planners, architects, politicians and municipal agencies acting out Inter-Operability (e.g., iPhone), and Service (e.g., Patagonia). roles as designers and shaping and revising their product’s features over For a classic example of a more truly integrative design, look at many years and iterations? Good or bad design notwithstanding, people visionary inventors like George Eastman, who intuitively understood the regularly engage with and experience these urban commodities. revolutionary value of Kodak’s “You take the picture, we do the rest” cam- And with “soft” products such as stuffed animals — say, Roger Rabbit paign. “It’s a superb example,” says Hendrie, “of understanding that user or a Mimzy doll — their designs determine whether or not a kid will experience is a system of interrelated devices, products and services. He interact with it or leave it forever under the bed with rest of the dust simplified and unified all of these, then crafted an elegant solution where bunnies. This is true for clothing and fashion, too. At their best, aren’t they ease of use trumps complex technology.” ultimately about an intimate connection between the product and the Looking into the future, PD is expected to find fertile soil in fields like Randall Wilson wearer, or the effect of clothing on a runway model who has a responsive nanotechnology, where we increasingly design on the atomic and encounter with an audience? And what about a favorite couch or Laz-E- molecular levels, often with medical solutions for the human body as a Mastering Ikebana Boy recliner or auto-messaging chair that somebody practically develops goal. Then again, practicality is not always the end goal of future-leaning a personal relationship with? technological design. “Context and user-aware products don’t have to By Joan Takayama-Ogawa It’s Wednesday afternoon on the 5th floor, and the Experience Design be all about things like cell phones,” says Hendrie. “Technology can be students take turns explaining the musical instrument each is in the pro- used to create inspiring art objects, like the electronic sensing jewelry Otis Product Design differs from many industrial design cess of inventing and how each addresses the class criteria of interactivity. from Philips Design.” programs because it integrates creativity, aesthetics, philos- The theme of this particular semester is sound, partly inspired by MIT’s Despite the volume of new product designs, the human brain stands ophy, design principals, materials, and fabrication techniques Tod Machover, who made a “hyperinstrument” specifically for Dan Ellsey out for Hendrie as her choice for most ideal PD application. “Many other along with entrepreneurial skills and business practices

(who suffers from cerebral palsy) so that he could write, perform and living creatures do a lot of basic things better than us — smell, run, reach, to produce a well-rounded designer. Senior Lecturer Randall Randall Wilson (MFA ‘97) conduct his music, and to help others learn how to compose, too. Hyper- see, hear, echolocate, etc. — but the human brain is so responsive, so Wilson (MFA ’97) epitomizes this approach in his sophomore and Joan Takayama-Ogawa instruments are sometimes referred to as the “opera of the future.” plastic and has evolved so dynamically that I’d say it is our central, special Forms and Structures studio, which explores the vessel One student steps up and explains his concept: a DJ who spins and human attribute. How the brain works also reminds me of the creative beginning with Ikebana (Japanese Flower Arrangement). dispenses his music visually, creating an interactive dance floor. Another design process: observe, deconstruct, understand, recombine, imagine Students looked closely at Yokohama woodblock prints, student presents a system for creating and amplifying ambient sound and generate the new.” studied the Japanese vase tradition, and observed a demon- from falling raindrops upon various materials. A third speaks about her That’s good, because after all is said and done in Hendrie’s class, her stration by an Ikebana master. They made both wooden gesture-responsive belly dancing belt. There’s a drum set that’s off the students will get a chance to put their own noggins to the test by going and ceramic Moribana vases, and, after a trip to the beaten track of drumsticks and instead uses the tension of pressured out into the world and creating smarter, more responsive, more ecologi- downtown L.A. Flower Market, completed their arrangements metals and other distressed acoustic substances for maximum effect. Then cally systemic products that truly enhance our user experience and blow in an installation. ● there are Jangle Bangles™ that double as musical bracelets, necklaces, our own minds. ●

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“The Department of Architecture/Landscape/Interiors (A/L/I) advances the orchestration of our material Technical Precision, Aesthetic Sophistication, & Conceptual Rigor surroundings through sequential exploration and a The Architecture/Landscape/Interiors curricu- lum offers courses in four major areas: Studio, synthetic realignment of the disciplines of architec- Technologies + Ecologies, Digital Media, and ture, landscape, and interiors. These three fields History + Theory. organize and shape the spaces and contexts for all Studio I immediately immerses students in the language of three-dimensional space (plan, our activities and relations.” — Linda Pollari, Chair section, elevation, and models), design process, and the fundamental issues of scale and struc- ture — and is fondly referred to as “boot-camp” (at least by the faculty!). While this course introduces students to three-dimensional forms and, most importantly, space, it also tests their interest in the necessarily and, to those most fit for the major, interestingly abstracted modes of thought and communication. Urban Park, Venice, CA Studio II Landscape/Furniture Joem Sanez’s project exploited an existing disturbance in the urban grid of Once empowered with the ability to communi- misaligned streets and topographies by interweaving and layering beach grasses and hardscape materials. Instructor: Margaret Griffin cate aspects of three-dimensional spaces and forms in Studio I, students are directed in the design of buildings, landscapes, and interiors multiple courses in stand-alone architecture, Photoshop), students learn digital drafting, 3D in the following “site-based” Studios II through landscape and interiors programs. For example, modeling, rendering and fabrication; and the VI. The projects for these studios are set in real- Technologies + Ecologies III: Building Technol- application and manipulation of images and world sites, which students visit, analyze and ogy introduces students to the materials and type for use in design presentation boards. In Synthetic document. Most sites are in Los Angeles, except methods of building construction in wood, steel, these courses, students develop basic proficien- for Studio VI: Building and Landscape. Students concrete and unit masonry as well as basic cy such that they are able to gain internships in visit this site on a class field trip. structural principles of forces and resultants. architecture, landscape and/or interiors Work in the site-based studios is supported This condensed delivery of knowledge empow- offices as early as the end of their first year in by the knowledge and skills gained in the ers and enables students to produce both cred- the program. History + Theory courses provide Technologies + Ecologies, Digital Media, and ible as well as inventive designs in their studio the cultural and intellectual framework neces- History + Theory “support” courses. Technolo- courses across three disciplines, in only three sary to produce informed and articulate design gies + Ecologies courses provide knowledge years (sophomore, junior and senior). propositions. Spatialities Digital Media courses introduce students This combination of coursework is designed of the materials and methods of landscape, building, and interior construction. Each of these to computer software and skills in their first to produce studio projects that exhibit technical Student-designed and -built installation for Class of 2008 exhibition comprehensive technologies courses presents year in the program. Through selected software precision, aesthetic sophistication, and concep- Otis’ unique, multi-disciplinary Architecture/Landscape/Interiors curriculum information that is typically located between (AutoCAD, Rhinoceros, Adobe Illustrator and tual rigor. ●

was initiated in fall 2000, when Linda Pollari became to invent them. The broad scope of spatial design is Chair. Upon Ms. Pollari’s arrival, she revised the depart- directly related to its demands for communication and ment’s existing curriculum, which had addressed product collaboration: with clients, engineers, product represen- design as well as architecture and urban design. The tatives, contractors, craftsmen, and numerous other newly renamed curriculum focused on the spatial design experts and constituencies. The study of architecture, fields of architecture (buildings), landscape (the spaces landscape, and interiors at Otis does not address its between buildings), and interiors (the spaces within fields simply as service industries but provides critical buildings). Ms. Pollari’s goal was to present the discourse reflection on their activities and promotes speculation and expertise of each discipline in preparation for on alternative scenarios.” professional practice, while simultaneously seeking Many A/L/I students work in professional architec- synchronicities among those disciplines. Most ture, landscape or interior design offices while training importantly, the department’s focus was shifted from in the program, often as early as sophomore year. craft to design in order to empower graduates to be Graduates are working at the following firms, among

uninhibited by craft or material limitations, and able others: Ellerbe Beckett, San Francisco; Bennitt + Mitchell, (above) Community Pool in Monteceito Heights Entry for “Launch Your Career in Exhibit to collaborate with artisans and craftsmen working in Los Angeles; GRAFT LLC, Los Angeles; Chang Jo Karin Silva developed an elegant, two-level scheme that took Design” Competition any scale, material or technique. Architects, Seoul; LIGHTING DESIGN ALLIANCE, Long advantage of the natural topography of the site to provide Studio III: Interior/Display/Exchange “Unlike many other design fields,” says A/L/I Chair Beach; Mansilla + Tuñón Arquitectos, Madrid; Richard pools on a lower level and a dramatic entry at street level. Justin Kim designed linear galleries of Instructor: Antony Guida continuous display surfaces for the Linda Pollari, “the related disciplines of architecture, Meier & Partners Architects LLP, Los Angeles; Shubin + walls, ceilings, and floors. landscape, and interiors address forms and spaces Donaldson Architects, Santa Barbara; Clive Wilkinson Instructor: David Reddy that are much larger than the necessary representations Architects, Los Angeles; WOLCOTT ARCHITECTURE | of them. These fields convey instructions and intents INTERIORS, Culver City. Graduates are equally prepared Multiple Live-Work Apartments in Downtown L.A. through documents—through words and images—that to enter competitive graduate programs for Master of Studio IV: Private/Interior Architecture (near left) Danny Phillips designed narrow one-storey are not the thing or product itself. Consequently, spatial Architecture, Master of Landscape Architecture or Master apartments with rooftop gardens for the Wurlitzer Building. design is invariably a mediated and abstracted practice, of Interior Architecture degrees; in fact Otis A/L/I gradu- (far left) Billy Tam designed multi-level apartments with a continuous skylight for the Santee Alley though one that has very real and material implications. ates may enter several Master of Architecture programs Manufacturing Building. Spatial designers are the directors of spaces and with advanced standing, bypassing the first year of that Instructor: Richard Lundquist events, but generally not their producers or performers. three-year graduate curriculum. Graduates are studying In this way, spatial design exists as the organization, or have completed Master of Architecture degrees from reconstruction, and dissemination of information in its Princeton, Yale, UCLA, and USC. Two alumni began broadest sense. The designer is responsible not only graduate studies in landscape architecture at Harvard. ● to ‘solve’ problems, but also to frame problems—even

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David Orkand’s Cross-Cultural Pilgrimages By George Wolfe

Keeping up with globetrotter David Orkand (‘04) is like trying to fixate on some solid shape while looking into a kaleidoscope, or trying to distill a singular taste from an everlasting Gobstopper, or merely taking a ride on a Mobius Loop.

Most recently he is the recipient of a Monbukagakusho Doctoral “At the end of high school, while visiting prospective univer- “Up until this point I hadn’t realized how little effort I had himself on a research quest, traveling to Iceland on a Research Scholarship, which means he’ll be jetting to Tokyo next sities, I came down with a severe case of pneumonia, which put into my education, coasting through high school and never Butler Fellowship. fall to study with Yoshiharu Tsukamoto (from Atelier Bow-Wow) was quickly revealed to be a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. really giving much serious thought to the world around me. At “Iceland had a tremendous effect on me, and my thesis proj- as a Fellow at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. This summer, he I was put on an intensive regimen of chemotherapy and radiation Otis I also immediately took a liking to classes dealing with form ect was definitely born of my experiences there. It was a surreal returns to a gig in Madrid, Spain, with Mansilla+Tuñón Arquitectos, that would progress well over the course of a year. Up until this and space, declaring my major in environmental design (now experience on a number of levels, and it challenged my usually which got put on hold for a three-month Assistant Instructor moment in my life I had a strong desire to become an artist, as I Architecture/Landscape/Interiors) shortly thereafter. I experienced rationalistic modes of production and expression. There is some- position at Princeton (where he did his graduate work). He always found it easier to express my complex emotions though the greatest degree of comfort and excitement I had ever felt in thing about a never-setting sun and an infinite expanse that can touched down in Madrid in spring 2008, after a month in China. images rather than words. an educational setting, being engaged by the faculty, who opened make any man go a bit crazy.” Before China, he spent six months in Tokyo, splitting his time “While undergoing my treatment, however, I found myself in me up to new lines of inquiry and modes of conception. How does Orkand not go crazy himself, with all the whipsaw working for Tezuka Architects and Atelier Bow-Wow. And that’s excess of contemplative time and in absence of graphic stimuli, “The more immersed I became in the subject matter, the more cross-cultural transitioning that he’s done? just the relatively pedestrian chunk of the last few years. which enabled me to become intensely aware of my surround- my passion for architecture grew, and during my senior year, “For some reason it takes little coping on my part. I always Before that, he really travelled around and had some con- ings. Spending weeks at a time in the same room and bed, I I decided to go to graduate school at Princeton, feeling it would find more similarities than differences between cultures, and the sciousness-shifting adventures. He wandered — and wondered began to realize how effective space is in the conditioning of the best fit my desire to be involved in the profession of architecture overwhelming generosity of the people I have met has made it — with good friends through Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand individual. Formerly, I had viewed space as being neutral or pas- at the level of practitioner as well as educator or theoretician. all the easier. In general, I find that people who are desirous of (“hiking through rainforests, lying on beaches, and otherwise sive in the reception of daily life; now I began to see it as being While at Otis, my growing interest in the theoretical issues more experiences and fewer things seem to really enjoy the world appreciating all that small communist countries have to offer”). charged with meaning and having an extraordinary potential as surrounding art and architecture was definitely marked by people around them. There’s a lot of beauty out there and it’s not that He gallivanted through India and traipsed solo through the jaw- an artistic medium in its own right. like Bob Somol and Dave Hickey, and I feel privileged to have hard once you’ve decided to throw yourself in the middle of it. dropping, eye-catching Himalayas. (“India will undoubtedly have a “Over a year after my diagnosis, having deferred my college been given access to such incredible minds. Also, the financial “I guess I would rather strive for the impossible, which great influence not just on my future work, but also as a model for acceptance, a hairless and disheveled version of my former self support given to me by The GROUP, among others, made it pos- seems to be inscribed in the education of an architect, going a way of life. I saw how much my education has been dominated headed off to Otis. I was physically torn apart and uncertain of sible for me to continue on with my education beyond the walls both broad and deep. An overriding interest in theories/concepts by western discourse.”) He rounded off his adventure by riding myself at this point, yet from the beginning I felt not only chal- of Otis, and I am greatly indebted to them.” and rhetoric has definitely helped me mediate between these hoary camels though the jilted desert near Pakistan —“throughout lenged academically but, even more so, energized by the faculty’s At Princeton, in addition to keeping up with his studio obliga- spheres though. I am always trying to find balance in my life, but all my travels, seeing as much exquisite architecture as I could.” belief in my capabilities. Faculty members like Parme Giuntini, tions, Orkand indulged in “a long-neglected craving for an excep- for some reason I tend to operate at the extremes. I think it is in Consider all this Orkand’s panacea after seven straight years who demanded that I be placed in all of the honors classes, tional liberal arts education,” eagerly opting for diverse classes, the moments when my obsessive desires confront the ‘everyday’ of college education, including being Otis’ valedictorian back in pushed me to be critically minded and achieve things I could from media theory to the study of pirates. With a secret hankering that the most interesting things happen — in the friction between 2004. Or perhaps it constitutes a certain making-up for downtime never have expected of myself. for the high seas, it’s probably no wonder that he soon found fantasy and reality, between the real and the virtual.” ● prior to arrival at Otis …

Top: Aerospace Museum outside Tucson Instructor: Wes Jones Bottom: Downtown L.A. Live-Work Housing Instructor: Richard Lundquist OMAG 12 13 OMAG Fe atured visiting designer Fe atured visiting designer

Hakan Tung In the Donghia Master Class, we learned to approach other cultures as Architecture/Landscape/ designers. The project challenged us to analyze, investigate, and research Interiors student, Donghia Master theories for cultural and design problems. Students moved freely around Class Participant ideas throughout the course. The team-based method created a friendly mood in the studio where students almost lived together during the week. Although it was an intense, short-term program, the project offered Eva Maddox enough time to investigate, theorize, and present. The lectures from other professors and artists were really valuable, and Eva Maddox made Designing for me more “aware,” and introduced new skills and information. the Client’s DNA

As Design Principal of Chicago-based Perkins + Will Branded Environments group, interior designer Maddox begins every project with the question: What’s your organization’s DNA? An expert in designing work environments for a changing culture, she was the perfect choice for the Angelo Donghia Foundation’s first Designer-In-Residency at Otis in fall 2008. Eva directed a select group of Architecture/Landscape/Interiors students in the one-week Donghia Master Class and presented a public lecture.

Maddox believes in a research-based design approach Donghia Master Class Design Brief Mumbai that identifies and integrates a client’s DNA into tangible In a global economy, each business, city, or entity has to Students analyzed the Indian culture through the textures, colors expressions and environments. Among her successes put forth its unique attributes and value proposition in order and details that Indian residents use and see every day, and chose are interiors, environmental graphics, and/or strategic to be able to compete for a slice of the global market share. a pattern based on the lotus to organize systems for circulation branding for DuPont, Haworth, Ogilvy and Mather, along An airport is the gateway to a city, a country, and a culture. and views. Their proposal for the Mumbai Airport Terminal con- with many healthcare clients. In order to attract more visitors and transfer travelers, the sisted of four levels that overlapped and wove together to merge In her Otis public lecture, Maddox presented airport has to be of ultimate functionality and a place where tourism with the commercial marketplace. The four levels were four major projects. At Chicago State University, one would enjoy spending time. It should serve as a home- organized systematically and designed to weave their way down, she employed African-American symbols and African away-from-home with all the amenities needed by the sequentially merging the tourists, who arrived at the top level and construction methods that were meaningful to the modern traveler, accessible to everyone from every walk then descended, into a busy Indian marketplace at the bottom. The Donghia Master Class and Residency University community in her design for the student of life and of varied requirements. The airport character was enormously successful. Students union. At the University of Cincinnati’s George and should be infused with local flavor and unique distinctive Morocco enrolled in the course were fully engaged Helen Smith Athletics Museum, she was able to integrate attributes from its location. As one of the most modern countries on the continent, Morocco academics and athletics. For Bank of America’s corporate has raised its inhabitants’ quality of life over the last 20 years. with the new design ideas and practices headquarters, she faced the issue of changing workplace Three teams of three students each selected Mon- The team determined that Morocco needed more educational that Eva Maddox presented to them. Interior design for George & Helen Smith habits, including flextime and web commuting. treal, Mumbai, and Morocco, and researched the culture, opportunities, and created an interactive learning center to serve She directed students through research Athletics Museum,Richard E. Linder Center, Recognizing that all employees must be included in uniqueness, and global market value of each location. as a classroom for children and a museum for adult visitors. University of Cincinnati the brand strategy, she created a collaborative Ysamur Flores-Pena, Ph.D. (Associate Professor, Otis and design, using the same steps used environment that celebrates community activity with Liberal Studies), spoke about how cultural identity is Montreal by her firm. Responding to her clear a hub area that brings employees together in a social manifested in design in Latin countries. Guest speaker Montreal, as a city of innovation, a design capital, and a UNESCO direction and sequencing, the the students space. Over four years, her work with the office Merry Norris spoke about the public art program for LAX. “City of Design,” presented an ideal situation for exploration furniture company Haworth has resulted in award- The teams mapped out the ideal experience of each of an unconventional form of the airport terminal. Inspired by produced and represented unique, winning interiors that reflect the company’s commitment visitor, creating a narrative that layered cultural signifi- Montreal’s Cirque du Soleil, the team used acrobatic illusions and creative proposals within a very short time. to environmental sustainability. Haworth’s showrooms cance with visitor “touch points” They then defined the interlocking forms suspended over a pool that allows ice-skating in L.A., Dallas, Chicago, D.C., London, Calgary and brand/cultural message and components (pattern, color, as well as water shows. ● Linda Pollari, Chair, Architecture/Landscape/Interiors N.Y. all express the company’s interest in innovation symbols, cultural attributes and sensory experiences). and openness.

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Russia in Transition Blurring the Boundaries

Annetta Kapon (’85) of Photography

I spent one night in London at (former faculty member) Susan Barnet’s flat and the next Minori Murakami (’96) day we flew to Moscow where we were guests at the Center for Contemporary Art for I have been based in Tokyo since 2002, working as a photographer with my partner, Zoren. two nights. We are known as Zoren Gold and Minori.

We had a lovely Soviet-type apartment with two bedrooms, Between 1924 and 1991, Ekaterinburg was known as Sverd- kitchen, living room, and bath, but the toilet was outside the lovsk, after the Bolshevik leader Yakov Sverdlov. We stayed in the We simply started working together because of our mutual Visuals communicate with us, while awake, as they do when apartment. During the day we spent some time in Red Square, very nice Central Hotel for four nights. My most vivid memory curiosity in mixing each of our different skills. We hoped to we dream. Dreams communicate with us beyond any possible the Kremlin, and Lenin’s mausoleum, and had tea in GUM, will be of the suffocating heat in the room. Every indoor space in invent a new aesthetic in photographic imagery. Our desire to verbal communication. They are beyond logic and often unex- the famous shopping mall. Russia, including the university, is heated to 80 degrees. Outside: see unborn and unseen imagery has lead us to experiment plainable within our physical reality—we can’t recall the dream Our flight from Moscow to Ekaterinburg was four hours late, 20-30 degrees. with combining photography with other mediums such as when we wake up. But, the feeling and the experience of the so when we arrived we were taken directly to the Ural Gorky On our last day in Ekaterinburg, we were taken on a tour of drawings, collage, hand-made props and computer graphics— dream are quite real and make perfect sense. University where we gave talks about our work to the students the city’s major monuments: the War Memorial, popularly known the fusion here is one of photography and illustration, digital and When we re-shape and reinvent images, we blur the bound- of visual studies. The conversation afterwards was more about as the Black Tulip, and the famous “Church on the Blood,” on the analog. Such manipulation of images made us more optimistic ary of real and the unreal. The image no longer belongs to how things are in the U.S. than about our work. All of this site where the last Tsar, Nicholas Romanov, was executed by the about modern-day photography in that it is no longer only about either of us. It becomes detached and independent, confronting was done though an interpreter, who was one of the students. Bolsheviks in 1918. Tsar Nicholas has now been canonized by the capturing a moment of physical reality. us with unfamiliar feelings and territories, which exist only At the conference, “In Transition: Cultural Identities in the Age Orthodox Church, and is the object of renewed popular nostalgia Our approach to the photography of images is always to within ourselves. This combination of paradoxes, known and of Transnational and Transcultural Flux,” I presented my work, and affection. ● leave room for creativity and for the subjects to remain in a unknown, surrounds us constantly. ● and other presentations focused on issues such as a critique of real or unreal environment. By playing with the images and multiculturalism as official ideology, the new post-Soviet citizen Editor’s Note: In October 2008, Graduate Fine Arts Assistant Chair improvising with materials, we maintain spontaneity, www.mi-zo.com identity, and gender citizenship. For me the highlight was and Professor Annetta Kapon spent six days in Russia to take which plays a key role in unlocking our fantasies. The image going to lunch in the student cafeteria with the graduate women part in the exhibition and conference “In Transition Russia,” in itself triggers our sense of freedom and allows us to see it students from the Germanic Languages department, who had Ekaterinburg, October 16 – November 16. The exhibition was then from different angles, combatting our prejudices against any simultaneously translated the conference talks. I wanted to find shown at Moscow’s National Center for Contemporary Art, limited or fixed ideas of reality. out about what it’s like to grow up in a post-Soviet era, where/ November 22 – December 22. how they live, etc.

Top right: Cover, Object that Dreams, published by Die Gestalten Verlag

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On the Other Side of the Looking Glass Scott Grieger interviews Mario Ybarra, Jr.

S: It really showed. The weird thing about the professor gig is that I can often tell who is marked to do well in the arts. There are students who come out of nowhere, and after some struggle do really great, despite indications to the contrary. I’ve learned that you can never take bets on who is going to do well. I guess what I’m asking is: What were your struggles, if any, after you left Otis? M: When I was in school, I thought of myself as the tortoise, taking my time and determined to finish the race. The biggest struggle for me was to wrap my head around all the things I was being exposed to all at once – the visiting artists, the instructors, etc. I thought: How could I take that info and make it my own? I always felt like I was a spy trying to steal information. My peer group was looking at things the same way.

S: That’s interesting because my next question is about the strong group of fellow students you were tight with. M: It was a tight group for a few reasons – it was competitive, and we Scott: I remember you vividly in a lower-division drawing class I was were like dueling banjos or breakdancers trying to outdo each other. I’d teaching, even though it was years ago. What impressed me about you see my friends, like Ruben Ochoa (‘97) and Gajin Fujita (‘97), working in was how original you were from the very first assignment. Your drawing the wood shop or library. When I saw Ruben’s name on a card in a library skills were excellent and your unique point of view was sort of “pre- book, I would get mad because I wanted to be there first. It was like a installed.” The project result was far beyond a typical beginning drawing competition of the nerds. student. Can you account for this or maybe you don’t remember at all? Mario: I remember your drawing class like it was yesterday. You allotted S: It seems to me that you and some of your peers broke the mold of the space for us to do anything we wanted to do. I made little action a rather old and irksome idea of identity politics and culture wars. figures that were L.A. Mexican gangsters – about a year before the Homies You went over, around or through a type of art world racial stereotyping. came out. This was my first understanding that I could be onto something, Is this true? that I could pull things out that were happening in the culture. It was a M: At the old Otis campus there was a group called LASO (Latino Artists good way for me to gauge that my ideas were good. At first I was Student Organization), and they would do shows at the Luna Sol Café discouraged because those Homies came out and it was kind of “Oh, that across the street. By the time we got out of school, we had done all the was MY idea,” but then I gave it a second thought and realized “that’s basic things we could do related to cultural identity, so that forced us cool, I’m still in school and that’s one idea, but I’m going to have a million to figure out what we were going to do on our own, to develop our own ideas. But aside from having a million ideas, I want to find that one idea vocabulary and language. We couldn’t rely on Ruben’s gangster toilet that makes me a million dollars. I haven’t gotten there yet, but I’m still or my action figures any more, so our work had to come from a more working on it. personal space. So we found diverse subject matters.

S: I’ve always had the opinion that a student’s attitude counts in teaching. S: I have lived long enough to experience students who come back as What I liked about you was that you seemed to pick up what I was trying teachers. I enjoy seeing that, aside from being reminded of how old I am. to teach you without a lot of difficulty. Is this true? You have returned to Otis to teach. How’s that sitting with you? “I try to guide students into the looking- M: You really were able to illustrate things in a manner that we young M: I think it’s fun to come back and teach. I’m on the other side of the artists could understand, through metaphor and allegory. I remember a looking glass from when I was a student. There are cats in trees, and walk- glass world of being an artist, and story that I ripped off and told my students – about intention. A Japanese ing cards, and queens that cut off heads, but it’s navigable. I try to guide help them to find their individual place screen painter’s intent was to paint 100 black crows in a snowstorm. He students into the looking glass world of being an artist, and help them to spent a long time painting these highly detailed crows and finally, when find their individual place in the other world, the art world. Outside the in the other world, the art world.” he was done, he splashed white paint all over the screen. Anyone who looking glass, around the corner, over the horizon – there are all kinds of saw it would have thought that he ruined the screen with the big splashes places to fit in. It’s inspiring to see the students’ projects because they of white paint. But his original intent was to paint those crows in a snow- may be comic book artists or web designers – all these creative paths are storm, not just crows by themselves. open to them.

S: You had a really great attitude. S: Thanks Mario, it’s been great talking with you. ● M: They say that things that happen to you are 10%, and 90% is the attitude you have toward the 10% that keeps you going, and I think that I really wanted to learn. At that time in my life, ten years ago, I was Editor’s Note: This is excerpted from the first in a series of interviews receptive to new ideas, and that’s what school gave me. All these new that Fine Arts Professor and Program Director of Painting ideas, things to learn, whether practical or conceptual, challenged me. Top: Sweeny Tate, 2007 installation at the Scott Grieger conducts with alumni he has taught during his 30 years Tate Modern, London at Otis. Read the full interview and see more of Ybarra’s work at Bottom: (detail) Take Me Out . . . No Man www.otis.edu/alumni/outstanding_alumni/mario_ybarra_jr.html is an Island, 2008 installation at the Art Institute of Chicago

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Creativity is Serious Business Digging it at Pixar in Southern California Derek Thompson By Beth Wooster By George Wolfe

“Art and design education promotes the flexible, adaptive, and Assessing the Creative Economy: Towards Informed Policy-Making,” the panoramic thinking that fuels an economy in which boundaries between U.N. researchers discuss the state of the creative economies worldwide, art and design and other professions are increasingly porous. The only and suggest what might be done to better establish these economies in constant is the importance of nourishing young talent.” developing countries (such as fortifying their intellectual property laws). So began the meeting that launched the 2007 Report on the Creative Looking ahead to the third annual Otis/LAEDC Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region. Otis commissioned the report from Economy of the Los Angeles Region in November 2009, it is interesting the Kaiser Center for Economic Research at the LAEDC to define the to note that the student body currently studying at Otis hails from more universe of organizations that comprise the creative economy, and to begin than 30 countries; as such, it serves as a microcosmic view of both these tracking the industries’ influence (such as the large number of indirect jobs regional and global creative economic developments. When this diversity each creative job generates in the Los Angeles region). The goal was to is combined with the rigorous departmental curricula that challenges commission the report annually, and to discuss the findings at a meeting of these creative individuals to work individually and together in teams, educational, business, governmental and civic leaders. The result would it is clear how vital Otis’ environment is for sparking new ideas that have present a compelling case for valuing working artists and designers, as well global reach. What are the words a storyboardist like as for funding art and design education from an early age. In addition, Otis faculty members often extend the boundaries of Derek Thompson (‘94, Illustration) dreads hear- In October 2008, the second Otis/LAEDC Report on the Creative studios and classrooms to provide real-world challenges. This semester, ing most? Being on a small team at Pixar that Economy of the Los Angeles Region was released. This report found that “Future Sensing,” a collaboration between the Human Renaissance churned out more than 157,000 drawings for the creative industries continued as one of the largest business sectors Institute in Tokyo and Otis Product Design, asks students to research and WALL-E, you’d think those words would be: in the region, generating nearly $100 billion in sales/receipts in Los Angeles forecast trends 15 years from now, considering individual and family “Do it over again.” Not so. County and more than $3.8 billion in state tax revenue. It also offered nearly lifestyles; community, corporate, educational, and environmental transfor- “The very nature of the work is rooted in “Storyboarding… is like a paleontological dig, where at a certain one million direct and indirect jobs in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. mations; and the impact of technology, the economy and sustainability on revisions,” says Thompson. “In the final analysis, The report also highlighted the fact that the creative industries are these factors. a story artist has to be prepared for any kind of point you know you have a dinosaur but you don’t really know sometimes difficult to quantify in full; the location of self-employed creative Product Design also began offering a transdisciplinary course with direction. We have to stay flexible throughout the what kind of dinosaur you have yet.” workers, for example, can prove a challenge to even the best economists. Loyola Marymount University in 2008, teaming Loyola entrepreneurship production process. Our department probably Andrew Stanton, Director, WALL-E However, there also are changes for the better, such as more precise students with Otis product designers to develop a formal business has the most potential for revision and change, data categorization and new data streams that get more to the heart of the plan and end product. One such product is a wheelchair that enables the but there is an appeal for me in working this way. creative workforce’s influence. occupant to swivel the seat and face others without turning the whole Still, there’s a point where there can be no more Last year also saw the first report from the United Nations on the chair. This foray into the more direct development of creative entrepreneurs storyboarding, and other departments have to After graduation, Thompson picked up a slew feature films from the ground up, and therefore global creative economy. In “Creative Economy 2008, The Challenge of has been well received by both students and faculty members at both take over, but that tends to be pretty late in the of work in various disciplines, and he still appre- the sense of participation and creative reward is institutions, and will continue next year. game. A good deal of the ‘re-writing’ happens ciates each for what it taught him and for what it different than working at a visual effects compa- It is an exciting time for art and design students, as well as for working in the story reel, which becomes sort of a visual uniquely offers: “Comics are probably one of the ny like ILM — work is relegated to the VFX parts. “The creative industries continued as one of artists and designers, to participate in the creative economy of the Los script by the end of the process.” purest of the art forms — very often what you It’s not the total filmmaking experience. That’s Angeles Region, and to spur the development of new creative economies Having done the freelance lifestyle at Dark draw is what’s on the final page. The potential not to say it wasn’t a satisfying and rewarding the largest business sectors in the region, worldwide. For those who work on behalf of the students at Otis — from Horse Comics, Electronic Arts and Maverick freedom in content is very appealing, too. If you work experience, simply different.” generating nearly $100 billion in sales/receipts faculty to industry mentors to fundraisers — it is increasingly more mean- Studios, Thompson now appreciates the col- want to make your own stories, no one can stop Having been obsessed since age five with ingful to enter the Colleges’ 91st year by actively nourishing the young laborative experience at Pixar (he’s been there you. It’s a slower process for me, though, and drawing dinosaurs and monsters, Thompson in Los Angeles County and more than $3.8 talent who will fuel these creative economies in ways yet to be conceived. ● since 2005) that much more, despite the fact that the pay wasn’t great relative to the workload and really connected with boss Andrew Stanton’s billion in state tax revenue.” Read the full report at www.otis.edu/08report it’s fraught with a ton of directives and changes. schedule. Illustration comes with its own variety description of storyboarding as “like a He observes that being thrown into the mix fills of challenges, but I’ve enjoyed it. I liked spend- paleontological dig, where at a certain point each day with a sense of excitement in the uncer- ing a long time on a single image. You have a you know you have a dinosaur but you don’t tainty — the unknown factors. “The possibilities whole different relationship with a piece if you’re really know what kind of dinosaur you have are limitless, and that makes work more exciting! spending 40+ hours on it. And development art yet. Finding out what kind of dinosaur we’re Editor’s note: On October 1, Otis released its second annual report As a freelancer, you get isolated and thus less for video games and feature films comes in so building is part of what making these things on the creative economy, commissioned from the Los Angeles County stimulated. I’ve always found I grow more as an many forms it’s hard to judge it in its totality. come to life is all about.” Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). To discuss the findings, artist when I’m working at a studio.” I think the variety inherent in this work has been “I consider storyboarding to be one of prominent leaders of creative industries and organizations joined The roots of this appeal harken back to his great for me and has allowed me to be involved the ultimate hybrid art forms,” adds Thompson. President Hoi at a panel moderated by Val Zavala, KCET Vice President. academically intense and socially tempestuous in a wide range of subject matter.” “To be an effective and successful story artist, Nancy Sidhu, Senior Economist, Kyser Center for Economic Research years of the early ‘90s, when Otis was still at Thompson’s eclectic background led him to a one must wear a lot of hats. The story artist (LAEDC) presented the report and answered questions, and panelists the MacArthur Park campus. “Ultimately, apart dream job when he was invited to join Industrial has to think like a director, actor, editor, cinema- included Michael Alexander, former Chair, California Arts Council; Robert from strengthening my creative discipline and Light and Magic as a concept/storyboard artist, tographer, production designer, art director, Eckert, CEO of Mattel; Kelly McDowell, Mayor of El Segundo; Roger developing critical thinking skills, it’s the totality which culminated in working on Star Wars: and more. There needs to be consideration for Wyett, President and COO of Hurley; and Laura Zucker, Executive Director of the experience itself that I’m grateful for: the Episode III. He says that the biggest difference all aspects of filmmaking, and then you have of Los Angeles County Arts Commission. The event was supported by teachers, fellow students, the courses, and all the between ILM and Pixar corporate cultures comes to be able to draw it all and communicate the the California Community Foundation, Dept of Cultural Affairs, Arts for twists and turns.” from the nature of the work. “Pixar creates ideas visually.”● L.A., Mattel, and Nike.

Top left: photograph by Debby Coleman Left to Right: Laura Zucker, Roger Wyett, Kelly McDowell, Robert Eckert and Michael Alexander Top right: Story art for WALL-E, 2008 © Disney/Pixar

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Air Force Base and the Space and Missile Systems accommodated in urban contexts, and could easily in and around an abandoned warehouse on the objects; story objects; history objects; and objects Center (SMC), which is responsible for space- be adapted for use by emergency service coordina- Raytheon campus, the Fire Department responded with visual energy and complexity. related acquisition for the military. El Segundo’s tors within the city. with startling authenticity to a simulated dirty- The objects themselves come from a variety Collaborating coastal skyline consists of a Chevron oil refin- During the course, students eschewed the bomb attack. As emergency vehicles arrived and Misremembering the of sources. We combed through private and public ery, Scattergood Power Plant and the Hyperion conventional, received vernacular of disasters and firefighters began to flood the site, students collections of postcards, stereocards, photo- with Catastrophe Treatment Plant. emergencies, and gradually developed their own wandered in shock, lay moaning in their assigned Future at the graphs, and films; through illustrated magazines The combination of high-profile industry, vital disaster design-related vocabulary. In one example, positions, vomited apple-cinnamon instant and newspapers, humor journals, comic albums, By Christopher Michlig infrastructure, and the dramatic contrast between parochial terms such as “warning”, “danger” and oatmeal, grasped for their dismembered limbs, Ben Maltz Gallery science-fiction, fantasy and utopian socialist 1 worker and residential populations makes disaster “caution” were substituted with nuanced emoti- and oozed packages of fake blood – all under novels, medical texts, and films; through books on By Margo Bistis In line with projects such as the 2008 Post-Disaster preparedness a top priority for the City of El cons such as “(X_X)”, “(@_@)”, “(>_<)”, and “(-.-)zzZ”. the careful direction of the Fire Department. 2 industrial design, architecture, and urban plan- Design Competition in which New York City Segundo. The Fire Department conducts seasonal Capitalizing on the communicative power of type This exceptional experience effectively closed the ning. Our research took us far beyond Jules Verne sought innovative provisional housing proposals CERT training courses, and continually fosters the and design, several of these terms were developed gap between the speculative and the definite The Imaginary 20th Century is an archive as story; and H.G. Wells novels into hundreds of eccen- in anticipation of a catastrophic coastal storm, development and training of fire personnel to meet as stencils to facilitate emergency response and ways in which design mediates, facilitates, assists, history fictionalized before, during, and after the tric and even perversely ordinary sources. The this project engaged in a site-specific, conceptu- the community’s evolving needs. The city views its coordination in a disaster scenario, in the likely or impedes such an event. curatorial fact. Influenced by notions of aperture emphasis on the ordinariness of material culture ally dynamic approach to disaster design. Students partnership with Otis as an invaluable opportunity event of the failure of existing communication I was momentarily shaken by the thought and correspondence (already put to use in the meant that we avoided the fine arts altogether. It considered pre-, mid- and post-disaster design for critical inquiry and responsive design. infrastructure. that this scene has been and continues to arise interactive media novel Bleeding Through: Layers was equally important to steer away from overly potentials to achieve a diverse range of outcomes. Engaging in a significant way with a site Expanding on the standard function of emer- as a reality for multitudes. How such catastrophes of Los Angeles by Klein, Kratky, and Rosemary familiar objects that shouted “turn-of-the-century” Rather than focus on a particular type of disaster, partner allows privileged access to a spectrum gency and first aid kits to heal, mend, and minimal- are prepared for, predicted, mitigated, stopped, Comella), we settled upon “the space between” or “la belle époque” (a retrospective nostalgic term they broadly responded to any catastrophic event of information and resources. Rather than being ly sustain basic needs, students integrated cultural or recovered from is dependent on design in as our working principle. The loose alignment of coined after World War I). To put it another way, that critically compromises basic city services, limited to speculative or referential outcomes, and social comforts and amenities to expand the its rawest and most exacting forms. Insofar as archive and story generates a navigational sense anything that a commercial database like Corbis infrastructure, housing and transportation. students benefit from direct interaction with the conventions of this disaster design niche. Students successful communication is contingent on of chance and discovery. The user’s mental International would be sure to have under these The City of El Segundo Fire Department was city’s fire personnel via interviews, conversations broadened their interpretation of first aid kits successful collaboration and vice versa, the studio correspondences allow the aperture to create an search terms was off limits. the site partner, and played a supportive role by and collaboration. to include essential social and cultural comforts model implemented by Integrated Learning organic rhythm. Streaming clusters of variously- Our attempt uses archive and the picaresque providing access to privileged information, An excellent example was an open space such as yoga mats and couture reinterpretations of preemptively acquaints students with the dynamic sized images leave interstitial spaces that prod the form of storytelling as a way of getting to the resources, and city personnel. Students engaged in analysis completed by student Christine Snelling. spartan safety equipment. Productively broadening level of interaction necessary to establish and user to puzzle out the historical contexts, fictional bottom of collective anxieties about the coming a deep understanding of disaster design in relation Christine Snelling (below, center). She responded notions of survival, students reacted energetically sustain a compelling, legitimate design practice. ● ironies, and what Klein calls “the misremembering of the twentieth century. We mix fact and fiction to the particular characteristics of El Segundo. to the city’s need to accommodate a large non- to the notion that regardless of whether individu- of the future.” A flat, graphic interface integrates to recount the adventures of a clinically depressed In addition to a residential population of local population in the case of a catastrophic event als have a roof over their head or a door that can Editors Note: In interdisciplinary teams, students the various media elements of The Imaginary 20th world traveler named Carrie and her quartet of 16,000, the City of El Segundo is home to 90,000 by analyzing open space, and identifying and be locked during a catastrophe, many threats exist in Integrated Learning work with a community Century. Users visually interact with the novel like fumbling admirers. The imaginary twentieth cen- daytime workers and several large aerospace representing every green space greater than 45,000 to psychological well being. organization, moving beyond the traditional they scan an illustrated magazine or newspaper. tury wobbles on its axis. ● companies including Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed square feet. This provocative analysis allowed At the apex of the fall 2008 course, students boundaries of the classroom to respond to commu- Our intention is to echo the dominant visual codes Martin, Northrop Grumman, and The Aerospace for an immediate understanding of the difficulties participated as victims in a mass-casualty exercise nity challenges. This year, students have made of the turn of the century, before cinema took Editors Note: Curated by Meg Linton, Ben Maltz Corporation. It is also home to the Los Angeles faced when large populations must be swiftly organized by the El Segundo Fire Department. Set dramatic changes in K-12 sustainable education at over. Images slide in panels, like maps unfolding. Gallery Director, and Tom Leeser, Director of the the Accelerated Charter Elementary School (ACES); It was important, therefore, that we allowed Center for Integrated Media at California Institute introduced students to real cultural diversity with differences in our personalities and collecting of the Arts, The Future Imaginary featured work Homeboy and Homegirl Industries, and addressed tastes to guide our collaboration. From Klein’s by eleven artists who responded to the new interac- environmental and ecological concerns with The eclectic book collection, we gathered many of the tive DVD novel The Imaginary 20th Century by 1 Baldwin Hills Conservancy. database’s best oddities, “gag” images used to add Norman Klein, Margo Bistis, and Andreas Kratky. punch to the episodic tale. Kratky’s taste for the The story is a journey into comic and perverse ordinary photograph and stories about everyday phantoms – factual, and at the same time, very (X_X) WARNING life buried in daily newspapers brought narrative fictional. It contains a double story: the story of the Bottom left: Douglas Repetto, Fly Away flexibility to the archive. My interest in social his- century that opened at the Chicago World’s Fair in (Not Going Very Far) tory and illustration with a satirical edge deepened 1893, and the story of a woman (Carrie), who in 1901, Bottom right: installation view of “The Future the archive’s historical focus and meaning. From selects four men to seduce her, each with his own Imaginary” with Deborah Ascheim’s Nostalgia in foreground our differences, we evolved four archival types: gag version of the new century. DANGER (@_@) 2

(>_<) CAUTION

Emoticons

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in a papier mâché mask and huge headpiece. I was The Woman’s Building was portraying the Venus of Willendorf for a gigantic the capital of cultural feminism, Digitizing video to be projected 12’ high over a church altar Educating Change Agents in Cheri Gaulke’s MOCA-sponsored performance where the spiritual and the Naked Ladies: piece. It took weeks for the bug bites to heal. political met and rowdily merged By Gwynne Keathley But one of my fondest memories is a project 4 that Cheri and I dreamed up while in an altered Lucy Lippard, Feminist Activist and Author Otis and Art Center co-hosted an Association of Independent Colleges of and teach art and design. Presenters addressed sustainability, change, My Experience state. Kate Millet had created several massive Art and Design (AICAD) symposium entitled, “Artists and Designers as Agents community, ethics, and empowerment, and suggested strategies from research sculptures called “Naked Ladies” while an artist Just this year, Otis received a grant from the in Feminist Art for Change” in early November for more than 80 faculty members from the and cross-disciplinary collaboration to relational thinking, systems-oriented in residence at the WB. After the exhibition, all Getty to help organize an exhibition about the 3 36 AICAD member schools. The goal of these symposia, organized annually approaches, and reflection and inquiry as ways to grapple with these except one had found homes. It was just hanging WB for the Ben Maltz Gallery in 2012. As part of By Sue Maberry by AICAD’s chief academic officers, is to share best practices and address issues in our classrooms. Patricia Moore, renowned gerontologist and designer, around, taking up storage space. The structure that the Getty-sponsored “Pacific Standard Time,” Meg emerging concerns in the education of artists and designers. Otis Provost and Mel Chin, internationally-noted conceptual visual artist whose work the WB rented was a beautiful three-story red brick Linton will curate an exhibition about the impact John Gordon and Art Center Dean Mark Breitenberg organized a compelling springs from social, political and cultural issues, presented keynote addresses Throughout the 1970s and ’80s, the art scene in building in a remote industrial part of downtown. of the Woman’s Building, and contextualize its array of presentations that explored a range of initiatives and practices that were both memorable and exemplary. ● Los Angeles was home to an exceptionally strong We thought it would be fun to hoist that sculpture artists, exhibitions, and activities within the devel- that brought real-world issues to bear on the ways we understand, practice feminist art movement. I moved to L.A. to work to the top of that building where she could serve opment of the Southern California art scene. With within a major hub of this activity—the Woman’s as a beacon to women all over the city. Surpisingly, grant funding, scholars in residence will consider Otis faculty and staff who attended the event shared the following thoughts about the conference and its potential influence: Building (WB), a public center for women’s culture. we convinced Leslie Labowitz, then PR Director, the impact of the flow of artists and design- It changed my life. that it was a good idea. ers through various organizations and colleges, Given Otis’ commitment to and leadership in community engagement in education, Attending the AICAD symposium re-energized my According to feminist activist and author Although made out of fiberglass, the sculpture including Otis. For instance, Sheila de Bretteville we served as an authentic locus for this AICAD exchange regarding artists and practice as an artist, confirming my commitment Lucy Lippard, “The Woman’s Building was the was huge, unwieldy, and very heavy. Cheryl taught in the first feminist art program at Cal Arts, to making work that affects others beyond the capital of cultural feminism, where the spiritual Swannack, who was great at construction, rigged went on to co-found the Woman’s Building, and designers as agents of change. I was excited to hear the multitude of initiatives among small art world. In addition, I was reminded that and the political met and rowdily merged. It was ropes and pulleys and figured a method to secure then moved on to found Otis’ Communication diverse peer schools to advance art and design learning through projects of social the practice of teaching is inherently about creat- an off-center center, defying the marginalization it. We got Kate to agree, organized the women, Arts Program in the early 1980s. Cindy Marsh and change. The symposium has clearly affirmed today’s opportunities to expand the role ing social change, and I was inspired to continue of women’s lives and arts.” It was the center of and invited the press. It was absolutely terrifying to Susan King were very involved in the WB, and later of artists and designers in society. to encourage a sense of social responsibility in my students. my world for eleven years, the space where I met, watch this massive sculpture rise up three stories, directed Otis’ Communication Arts and Book Arts heard, and interacted with world-renowned artists, until it was finally tied there, leaning slightly programs (respectively). Suzanne Lacy participated writers, and designers. Out of that community, my out over the front door. Somehow it all worked. in the earliest Fresno Feminist Art Program, and President & Teaching Program Artists, Community and Coordinator, Assistant Professor Liberal Arts and Sciences Associate Professor, STEINBERG KERRI Liberal Arts and Sciences Director of Art History, GIUNTINI PARME HOI SAMUEL Management President of Enrollment and Assistant Vice Dean of Admissions MEREDITH MARC Sciences Liberal Arts and Associate Professor, PENA FLORES YSAMUR Associate Provost GWYNNE JAQUIS MICHELE KEATHLEY closest lifelong sister-friendships emerged. And, The event was covered by all the evening TV went on to CalArts where she met de Bretteville. it was there that I met my life partner of 30 years. news programs, and on the L.A. Times front page. Suzanne then founded the Performance Studies It was artmaking as adventure. By the late 1980s, the funding for artists’ Program at the WB, and is now Chair of Otis

One day, I was riding in the back of a hearse organizations was drying up. In addition, the need Graduate Public Practice. Leslie Labowitz-Starus followed by a motorcade—nine of us, transformed for separate women’s organizations had subsided. received an MFA from Otis, went on to work at the into 8’-tall figures completely draped in black. We When the WB announced its closure, I was WB, and collaborated with Lacy on some of her each represented a victim of the Hillside Strangler. working at Otis as Director of the Library. The major public projects. Somberly, we emerged from the hearse and pro- Smithsonian Archives of American Art acquired all The scholars include: Vivien Green Fryd, Art ceeded to the steps of City Hall. As shutters clicked the WB documents and papers but they didn’t History, Vanderbuilt University; Alexandra Juhaz, I left with a set of provocative questions: and cameras rolled, one by one we approached want the slide collection. I brought it to Otis with Media Studies, Pitzer College; Jennie Klein, Chair, How can cultural anthropology contribute to help our students make the the microphone and delivered our message: “In the intention of taking care of it until an appropri- Art History, Ohio University; Michelle Moravec, The symposium was especially timely. Barack Obama linkages they need to transition between the studio and the academic field? memory of our sisters, we fight back.” This was ate home could be found. History, Rosemont College; and Jenni Sorkin, Art won the election a few days earlier, and the belief in How can Liberal Arts and Sciences be a platform to develop a dialogue a new type of performance staged for the news Over the years, I have been able to obtain Historian, Curatorial Associate at Yale who worked progress, hope, and change--Shepard Fairey’s call to between fields? Are there tools that can be applied cross-culturally to bet- media by Suzanne Lacy, Leslie Labowitz (’72), and some funding to support this archive. In 1997, as on MOCA’s 2007 exhibition “Wack!: Art and the arms in his now infamous poster triptych--was palpable. ter equip our students to compete in the global arena? How can I inform Bia Lowe, as a public ritual of rage as well as grief. part of the “Faces of L.A.” Project, Getty funding Feminist Revolution.” Otis Faculty Advisors include To my mind, the posters, the president elect, and the myself on the philosophical issues posed in the studio worlds to make our Another day, I found myself naked on a hilltop enabled the digitization of 1500 slides that are now Debra Ballard, Meg Cranston, Marlena Donohue, presentations were inseparable, representing a clear courses more viable? in Malibu and, hours later, in a pile of rubble in part of Otis Library’s Digital Collections Online. Parme Giuntini, Gwynne Keathley, Suzanne Lacy, demonstration of the potential of artists and designers downtown L.A., covered in mud, my head encased Kali Nikitas, and Kerri Steinberg. ● as catalysts for change. Leslie Becker’s visual presentation and complemen- tary text convincingly argued that sustainability must For me, Mel Chin’s keynote include an ethical awareness of the role of the image Sustainability was a recurrent theme throughout presentation was THE highlight. 3 in the landscape and culture of consumption. I was the conference and one that art and design col- He was funny and engaging — all impressed with her argument that teaching students leges cannot afford to shortchange or pigeon- while presenting sobering data to think critically and comprehensively about the hole. Heidrun Mumper-Drumm’s presentation about the plight of New Orleans. impacts of their work (in human lifestyles and the acknowledged the necessity of design education His Operation Paydirt is brilliant. environment) may lead to an increased ability to posi- The next time someone questions to incorporate sustainability by presenting both tion socially-relevant work at the center rather than liberal arts and studio courses that move far why art matters, I’m sending them the margin of design practices. beyond “recycle, reclaim, reuse.” They promote straight to Mel Chin. critical, reflective quantitative and qualitative research to reinforce every aspect of the design process from initial conception to fabrication, Provost John Gordon summarized the impact of this three-day gathering of AICAD faculty: “Dean packaging, delivery, and retail. Breitenberg and I were delighted with the focus and intensity of this year’s symposium, which was timed “ Pink,” 1975 poster designed by Sheila de Bretteville, to immediately follow the U.S. election. Artists and designers may once have been relegated to the side- Founder, Otis Communication Arts Program lines of the economy and our society, but this national symposium demonstrated clearly that our gradu- More information is at ates now have the opportunity to play key leadership roles in creating a more sustainable and equitable https://wikis.otis.edu/AICAD/index.php/Home future for our nation and the world that we share with so many remarkable cultures and traditions. The “take-away” from this conference for both our faculty and our students was: “Aim High.”

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a tradition of teaching creativity. Since the early After all, 89.8% of incoming 1950s, artists and designers who are teachers have learned best practices from experience and genera- Otis students surveyed consid-

Can We Teach tions of teachers. ered “creating artistic work” The job Research in psychology has also provided is to deliver Creativity? support in expanding our ideas about creativity. an essential objective for their Praise in reality Practice By Katie Phillips 5 Researcher and synthesizer Robert J. Sternberg has college experience. public, developed the widely accepted Triarchic Theory admonish compas- of Human Intelligence, wherein he posits that sionate ––– ♦ ♦ ♦ ––– in private analytical intelligence is only one part of human humor As artists and designers, we tend to think of For many years, I’ve studied creativity; the intelligence. In successful people, it is balanced creativity as particular to our domain. Creativity creative process, as a topic unto itself, an integral by creative and practical intelligence. Each one is primary to our way of thinking, making and part of art and design, but not exclusively so. of these abilities must be present for a person to producing, and basic to the success of any designer Can creativity be taught? After witnessing function at a high level. For the first time, research or artist. In reality, creativity is present, to a greater the transformation that can occur when students equates creativity with analytical intelligence (such or lesser degree, in all humans. It is present in discover that they can develop and hone creative as that measured by traditional IQ tests). Come to our genetic structure from the moment of concep- practice skills, I began speaking directly to this Sternberg also believes “that to a large extent If it’s tion, and like all genetically based traits, can be issue at the Foundation (first-year) level. Five years do the creativity is a decision.” One might think that serious, enhanced by learning. later, I saw students integrating their newfound job— students attending a college of art and design had walk and Creativity is the ability to solve problems with abilities to organize their thinking in a conscious nothing made the decision to be creative. After all, 89.8% of Show up talk them novel responses, to think beyond current informa- way in order to dramatically change their way of else incoming Otis students surveyed considered “creat- over- around tion to construct new problems or re-contextualize looking at their methods. ing artistic work” an essential objective for their prepared Pay current problems. It is creativity that allowed Initially talking about thinking and creative the block college experience. attention individuals in the history of our species to solve acts can be difficult. The cultural myth of genius Ah, if it was only that easy! As it turns out, problems of everyday survival. Consequently, is one of the key reasons I believe that we talk Sternberg’s belief that “creativity is a decision” is creativity evolved as a standard part of our genetic around the topic of thinking or creating. Whether based on the student’s decision to learn a con- heritage. Although we share the ability to create one believes that talent is God-given or lucky DNA, fluence of skills, including new ways to acquire with our primate relatives, the creative ability society has a tacit agreement that thinking and knowledge of their “chosen domain,” and to devel- is far stronger in humans than in other primates, being creative happen naturally for some people op what Sternberg calls the intrinsic, task-focused and it reaches into all areas of human behavior. and not for others. motivation also essential to creativity. As Malcom The creative instinct allowed Obama’s We are wary to examine our thinking/creative Be Gladwell, a keen cultural observer, has pointed out: Show, campaign team to solve problems in new ways process. Perhaps we fear that if we examine our straight iveG the Few perform at high levels without the investment don’t tell via the Internet. Human creativity will allow us to own creative powers too closely, we might learn nswersa of approximately ten thousand hours of practice. become free from our dependence on fossil fuels, that we aren’t one of the chosen few! Or that if (dispatch Teresa Amabile, in her article “Beyond Talent,” and creativity will enable us to design new ways we are among the fortunate, looking at our abilities Be on time dvicea states that “people will be most creative when they of living on this crowded planet. It is important to might jinx our chances for future innovation. every time Teach by nda tell it are motivated primarily by interest, enjoyment, keep in mind that humans can create for ill as But once students do meta-cognitive exercises traight)s satisfaction and challenge of the work itself.” As example well as for good and, in fact, all human endeavor is and see how this affects their thinking methods, educators in design and art, it is our job not only moved forward by our creative ability. most see that thinking about thinking can be benefi- cial — a skill to develop. Being a thinker conscious of the cognitive process helps students learn the Creativity is the ability to solve problems with novel distinctions, processes and types of creative think- ing awareness. Learning to recognize the distinct Fool them Buy them responses, to think beyond current information to construct stages of the creative process, and the constant into lunch if new problems or re-contextualize current problems. juggling and overlap of intuitive process — along they need it with the constant juggling and overlap of intuitive Magnificent becoming their better processes with critical viewing and contemplation Failure is Laugh at — brings home the idea that being creative is a as good selves to teach the discipline, but also to develop an edu- them all So creativity is far broader than its application process, not only an act. as an “A” cational environment that supports learning and the time to the arts. Almost by default, art colleges and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,one of my favorite motivation, and challenges students to work hard university art departments have become leaders writers, has done research whereby his to become their best creative selves. in teaching creativity and educating creative subjects ultimately attribute their achievements To this end, last fall, faculty members Linda problem solvers. to their ability to enter their own creative space, Hudson, Scott Grieger, and Andy Davis spoke at an Given the importance of creativity in human and describe the challenge and pleasure they informal colloquium about teaching and learning achievement, it is interesting to note that few experience. These talented people have honed creativity at Otis. Excerpts from Hudson’s presenta- disciplines are committed to enhancing creativity. their abilities to learn to rely on their own You’re going tion follow: Be While many disciplines now focus education solely creative practice. Taking this research to heart, reliable to get some on teaching analytical skills, the visual arts have many students understand that they too can on you cultivate habits and design situations to access Let them their peak experience more quickly. know you John Cage said: “Value judgments are destruc- are proud tive to our proper business, which is curiosity of them and awareness.” We try to develop critical thought without becoming entrapped in judgment. ●

Scott Grieger, Fine Arts Professor and Director of Painting, has developed these rules for teaching during his 30 years of teaching at Otis.

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This is a small sampling of recent alumni accomplishments. To keep up with Otis’ ever-active alumni, and to see the fully illustrated digital newsletter, click on ONEWS at www.otis.edu/alumni To submit news and images, contact Sarah Russin, Director of Alumni Relations, at [email protected] or call her at (310) 665-6937.

Danh Tran (’06 Fashion Design) Cynthia Hoey (‘88 Fashion Design) Robert Dobbie (‘01 Communication Arts) Yong Sin (‘95 Fine Arts)

Soloists, Entrepreneurs, Entertainers, Carmine Iannaccone Vincent Ramos Susan Wesley ASID, CID Meggie White ’93 MFA Fine Arts ’02 Fine Arts ’83 Environmental Design ’06 Fashion Design “Usable Histories,” Solway Jones “Motown Took Us There and Owner: Wesley Design Inc., Owner: Meggie boutique, Union Cool Designers, Award-Winners, Gallery, L.A. Motown Brought Us Back,” high-end residential, retail and Street, San Francisco Crisp, L.A. commercial interior design Yong Sin ’95 Fine Arts Hazel Mandujano Cynthia Hoey Entertainers In Print, In Memoriam “This is the Same, but Different, ’03 Fine Arts ’88 Fashion Design Robbie Cavolina Part II,” Andrew Shire Gallery, Otis Millard Sheets Library, L.A. Founder/Designer: ’87 Fine Arts L.A. Cyn & Luca N.Y. Producer/Director: Anita O’Day: Soloists Larry Fodor Stuart Arends Ann Gooding Timothy Tompkins Life of a Jazz Singer John Mason ’73 Fine Arts ’81 MFA Fine Arts ’87 MFA Fine Arts Sandeep Mukherjee ’03 Fine Arts Mita Wardhana ’57 Fine Arts Koan Boxes: Paintings by “Six A-Squares and One Large LA Artcore, Union Center ’96 Fine Arts DCKT Contemporary, N.Y.; ’89 Fashion Design Scott Holmes Recent Sculpture, Frank Lloyd Lawrence Fodor, Lannan Wedge, New Aluminum for the Arts, L.A. Sister gallery, L.A. “Temporal Arcadia - When the Owner: Flush Floral, specializing ’93 Communication Arts Gallery, Bergamont Station, Foundation Gallery, Santa Fe Works,” Björn Ressle Fine Arts, Past Becomes Present,” in orchids, San Francisco “Tooth-fairy” and “Wink” Santa Monica N.Y.; Works 1997-2008, Studio John Kilduff Ruben Ochoa Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy sequences from Hellboy II: Michael Knight Dabbeni, Lugano, Italy ’87 Fine Arts ’97 Fine Arts Nena Amsler The Golden Army, Dark Horse Ken Price ’73 MFA Fine Arts Jancar Gallery, Chinatown, L.A. “Collapsed,” Peter Blum Gallery, Nate Frizzell ’92 Fine Arts Entertainment ’57 Fine Arts TAG Gallery, Santa Monica Alison Saar N.Y. ’06 Communication Arts Owner: Haus Gallery, Pasadena L.A. Louver, Venice ’81 MFA Fine Arts Tim Biskup “Put on a Happy Face,” Cerasoli: Ellen Hee-Jung Jin Over Hilary Baker Rochester Contemporary Art ’88 Fine Arts Otino Corsano LeBasse Gallery, Culver City Sonia Boyajian ’96 Communication Arts Lawrence Wallin ’76 MFA Fine Arts Center, Rochester, N.Y. “O/S (Operating System) New ’00 MFA Fine Arts ’01 Fashion Design Art Director, Tinkerbelle and ’64 Fine Arts “About Abstraction,” Paintings, Sculptures & Prints,” “4 Grids,” p/m Gallery, Toronto Michael Brunswick Sonia Boyajian Jewelry, featured the Lost Treasure, Disney. Giant “Oceano Romantico,” Guggenheim Gallery, Mark Dean Veca Addict Galerie, Paris ’07 Fine Arts at Comme des Garcons guerrilla tea pot at “Pixie Hallow Meet Terminal One, LAX Chapman University, Orange ’85 Fine Arts Patrick Hill “In Motion,” Lora Schlesinger store, L.A. and Greet,” Disneyland, Anaheim “Painting, Wall Drawings and Bari Kumar ’00 MFA Fine Arts Gallery, Bergamot Station, Leslie Labowitz-Starus Karla Klarin Collaborations,” Art Gallery, ’88 Communication Arts David Kordansky Gallery, Santa Monica Robert Apodaca Terrance Zdunich ’72 MFA Fine Arts ’77 MFA Fine Arts University of San Diego “Foreign Bodies,” Bose Pacia Culver City ’03 Architecture/Landscape/ ’98 Communication Arts “The Performing Archive,” “Karla Klarin Paintings & Kolkata, Kolkata, India; Kathrin Burmester Interiors, Owner/Designer, Fifth Co-Creator/Screenwriter and Akademie fur Bildene Kunst, Drawings,” Schomburg Gallery, Elisabeth Condon “In Transit,” Grosvenor Gallery, Robert Dobbie, aka Bob Dob ’07 MFA Fine Arts Floor Gallery, Chinatown, L.A. Actor: Repo: Opera, live show Berlin, collaborative multi-media Bergamot Station, Santa Monica ’86 Fine Arts London ’01 Communication Arts “Tour,” Seeline Gallery, and film screened in L.A. and N.Y. installation with Suzanne Lacy, “Windows Project,” GrantPirrie “New Paintings by Bob Dob,” Santa Monica Kristin DuCharme Chair, Otis Public Practice. Joe Potts Gallery, Sydney, Australia; Darren Waterston Billy Shire Gallery, Culver City ’89 Fine Arts, ’05 MFA Fine Arts Manasi Patel Ashish Founder: Foodology ’77 Fine Arts Lesley Heller Gallery, N.Y. ’88 Communication Arts Michelle Wiener Owner/Instructor: ’06 Digital Media “Mogility,” Side Street Projects, “The Fourfold Sense,” Gallery 16, Sabine Dehnel ’08 MFA Fine Arts Fireworks Studio, fine arts glass Assistant Coordinator, Avatar, Harrison Storms L.A. Cindy Kolodziejski San Francisco; “Aurora,” Michael ’01 MFA Fine Arts “If I do what you tell me, will workshops, supplies and James Cameron’s film releasing ’72 MFA Fine Arts ’86 Fine Arts Kohn Gallery, Beverly Hills “Ailleurs/Elsewhere,” Galerie you love me?” with Tucker Neel fundraising projects, L.A. December 2009. Johns Canyon, PS Zask Gallery, Marcus Villagran “New Work,” Frank Lloyd Gallery, Esther Woedehoff, Paris (’07 MFA), Samuel Freeman Rancho Palos Verdes ’77 MFA Fine Arts Bergamot Station, Santa Monica Warren Keating Gallery, Bergamot Station, Vam Moua Michael Tavarez “Now & Then Sculpture by ’89 Communication Arts Cristy Thom Santa Monica ’06 Communication Arts ’08 Digital Media John Taye Marcus Javier Villagrán,” Art Space Steve Roden “Overview,” M.J. Higgins Fine Art ’01 Fine Arts Fashion graphics “Origins,” Director: “Street Fighter” music ’72 MFA Fine Arts at AK Restaurant + Bar, Venice ’86 Fine Arts Gallery, L.A. “Tacky Hawaiian Tourist Items,” featured at H.H.H. Metrodome, video with Otis alumni crew: Figurative Art, Runyan Gallery, “Recent Works,” Susanne Flazh!Alley Studio, San Pedro Entrepreneurs Minneapolis Assistant Director, Lauren Piper Newport Visual Arts Center, Yoella Razili Vielmetter L.A. Projects, Chris Sicat Dick Termes ’08 Digital; Lighting Director, Newport, OR ’78 BFA, ’81 MFA Fine Arts Culver City ’90 Communication Arts Wendy Given ’71 MFA Fine Arts Matt Stone ’09; Make-up/ LA Artcore, Union Center for the “Tag a Log,” Space 47, San Jose ’02 MFA Fine Arts “Up Down and All Around,” Wardrobe, Krysta Olson ’08 Fine Arts, L.A. “No Man’s Land,” Hands-On Partnership for Arts; and Lead Gaffer, Yanko photographic installation, Science, Literature and Art, S.D. Sanchez ’08 Digital Media Solomon Projects, Atlanta

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Right: Top to Bottom Richard Evans (‘45 Fine Arts) Morgan Cuppet-Michelson (‘08 Fine Arts) Ralph Bacerra ceramic piece

Jesus Aguilar (‘08 Architecture/Landscape/Interiors) In the Land of Retinal Delights: The Juxtapoz Factor Curated by Meg Linton, Director of Otis’ Ben Maltz Gallery, and Museum Director Bolton Colburn; Laguna Art Museum, Jesus Aguilar Lincoln Smith Barbara Maloutas June 22 – October 5, 2008. Artists: Richard Evans ’45, Anthony Cool Designers Kathleen Ahmanson passed ’08 A/L/I ’07 Digital Media ’02 MFA Writing Ausgang ’83, Sandow Birk ’89, Tim Biskup ’88, Andrew Brandou Rey Aldaco away in late December. Design Assoc., The Los Angeles Visual Effects Supervisor: Side First place, Sawtooth ’90, Gajin Fujita ’97, Camille Rose Garcia ’92, Bari Kumar ’88, ’92 Environmental Design A passionate supporter of Design Group. Effect, awarded Best Short Film, Poetry Prize, 2008 for Masami Teraoka ’68, Jeffrey Vallance ’81, Mark Dean Veca ’85 Senior Architectural Graphic Otis for over 35 years, she held Environmental Graphic Designer, Oldenburg International Film The Whole Marie, Ahsahta Press, and Peter Zokosky ’81 Specialist: P+R Architects for the distinction of being the “Surefoot N.Y.” flagship store Festival, Germany, and 2nd place Boise State University The Americana at Brand, longest-serving Board member, U.K.’s premiere horror film Glendale, CA; Bella Terra in having been appointed as a Bita Rad festival “Dead by Dawn,” Scotland C.S. Reid Huntington Beach; The Lakes member in 1972. In the same ’08 Fashion Design ’03 MFA Writing at Thousand Oaks year she was one of four Stylist/Designer for Freelance writer, educator, and founding members of THE The Jonas Brothers In Print musician. Work featured in Blaine Fontana GROUP, an active support organization that continues to provide Jeffrey Vallance “Poems-For-All, The Truth About ’02 Communication Arts annual scholarships. Kathy was a steadfast supporter through Kali Fontecchio ’81 MFA Fine Arts. the Fact:” International Journal “In My Absence – An Emerald the challenges Otis faced in the 80s and early 90s. When Otis ’08 Digital Media Relics and Reliquaries, published of Literary Nonfiction Anthology, City Homecoming,” Vans Mural separated from Parsons and became an independent, private Concept Artist: John K. by Grand Central Press Monkeybicycle, 1097 Magazine, Project, Snowboard Connection, college in 1991, the Board was restructured into the Board Enterprises (creator of Blue Fifth Review, Shadowtrain, Seattle of Trustees and the Board of Governors. Kathy’s commitment Ren & Stimpy), Encino Judy Freya Sibayan Word Salad, Apt, and Raven was so strong that she chose to serve on both Boards, and ’84 MFA Fine Arts Poetry: Online Poetry Journal; and You Sun Hwang and continued as an active member until her health prevented her Publisher/Editor: a poetry chapbook, Walking Near Sondra Wiener from regular participation. Her memory lives on each time Journal of Contemporary Art the Precipice (Lily Press) ’03 Toy Design Award-Winners our students, faculty, and staff pass under her name on their Gayle Gale online publication Designers: “Littlest Pet Shop,” way in and out of the Kathleen Holser Ahmanson building. Hasbro Inc, Pawtucket, R.I. ’81 MFA Fine Arts Annie Buckley “Kids For Peace,” collabora- Tracy Cheney ’03 MFA Fine Arts Krisztianna (Ecsedy) Ortiz tive mural arts program and ’85 Communication Arts Editor in Chief, ’03 Communication Arts special project of the Dalai Lama Co-author: The Pitiful Gardener’s Artweek Magazine Art Director, BLT and Associates, Foundation. Winner of the 2001 Handbook: Successful Gardening Hollywood Fete d’Excellence Gold Medallion in Spite of Yourself Chin Ko of Excellence ’06 Digital Media In Memoriam “ When It’s a Photograph,” curated by Fine Arts Interim Rich Morrison Designer: Visual Development, Stephanie Burkart Walter Gabrielson Clio Chafee Program Director in Photography Soo Kim, Bolsky Gallery, Otis, Cindi Hron (Harper) ’85 Communication Arts PDI/ Dreamworks Feature: ’06 Fashion Design ’65 Fine Arts ’99 Communication Arts L.A. November 1-25, 2008. The exhibition included work by three ’87 Fine Arts Author/Illustrator: Search for “The Making of Star Wars Designer: Versace VJS, Italy. California artist passed away at Passed away on January 3, 2009. alumni: Morgan Cuppet-Michelson ’08, Yanina Spizzirri ’05, and Fellowship for Drawing and the Flying Fish: the Incredible ‘The Force Unleashed’” Former Assistant Designer: Akris, the age of 73. An obituary Funeral was held in Providence, Carly Steward ’03. The exhibition and catalogue were supported Works on Paper, Pennsylvania Journey of Einstien, Aggro St. Gallen, Switzerland by Suzanne Muchnic appeared R.I. She was a graphic designer by the Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation, Nancy Berman Council on the Arts, Harrisburg and Swoops, a children’s book Michelle “Mia” Araujo in the Los Angeles Times. for a Boston architecture and Alan Bloch. Danh Tran published by CreateSpace ’07 Communication Arts firm. Her friends remember Nick Fedak II Feature: “Emerging Artist: ’06 Fashion Design Alan Garrett her as a brilliant woman and ’88 MFA Fine Arts Hideko Takahashi Michelle ‘Mia’ Araujo,” Head Designer at Howe, Personal ’66 Communication Arts gifted designer. Juror’s First Award: “New York ’97 Communication Arts Juxtapoz Magazine Jesus suit, available at Nordstrom, Passed away on September 19, Photowork ’08,” curated by Illustrator: The Peace Bell, “Influences: A Survey Exhibition featured on an L.A. Times blog 2008 after a long battle against Dominic Ambriz Donna Ruskin (ICP), Barrett Art Henry Holt and Company Wendy Park and Issac Choi of Contemporary Ceramics of hemochromatosis. He is ’02 Toy Design Center, Poughkeepsie ’08 Digital Media Southern California,” dedicated to Yu Kito survived by his mother, Loa Jane Passed away in August 2008 Tofer Chin Cover art and two-page spread, Ralph Bacerra (1938-2008), Beckstand ’07 Communication Arts Meyer of Oregon. from brain cancer. He had Chris Oatey ’02 Fine Arts Axis Magazine, Toyko and Walker Galleries, Palos Verdes Art Designer: Big Machine Design, most recently worked as a ’06 MFA Fine Arts Photographer: Vacation Center, November 21, 2008 – January Burbank Senior Designer at Mattel. Durfee Foundation Artist Standards, published by Rojo. 11, 2009, included Keiko Fukazawa ’86,

Resource for Completion grant. Exhibition: “All That We Have Jerry Rothman ’61, and Porntip

Press: NY Arts Magazine Left,” Ghettogloss, L.A. Sangvanich ’87 and Paul Soldner ’57

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Lawrence Wallin (’66 MFA)

When I went to Otis it was Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles County, and the tuition was very affordable. In the current economic situation, unless a student has a generous source of income, graduation means facing a large debt, making it difficult to take the time to find oneself artistically. I would

like to help today’s students have the opportunity I had. Giving for the Future

The calendar year-end was an exceptional time However, we have some more work to do Last October, Otis celebrated its 90th anniver- for Otis. Like Lawrence Wallin, you probably before the end of our fiscal year, June 30, 2009. The ��� for ���k sary at Homecoming Weekend (without the received a letter from Kent Twitchell (’77 MFA) You might be surprised to know that tuition does Challenge football). Alumni from the 1950s to recent or a phone call asking you to support the not cover the total cost of an Otis education; grads, as well as parents and former faculty O-Fund, Otis’ Annual Fund. The O-Fund is the in fact, tuition covers 80% of what it really takes We are pleased to announce that members, attended. Mark Dean Veca (’85 Fine foundation of all giving, supported by alumni, to educate one student at Otis. The rest is made alumni Dawn (Teitelbaum) Baillie (’86 Arts) created Phantasmagoria, a site-specific parents, and friends of the college, renewable up from individual contributions to the O-Fund, Communication Arts), Sally (Merz) Layden installation for the Ben Maltz Gallery and Bruce 1 on a yearly basis. Most gifts made to the O-Fund from supporters like you! Alumni gifts to the (’89 Communication Arts), Nancy Newberg Yomemoto (’79 MFA) was commissioned are unrestricted, which means they can be used O-Fund are especially important because they (’84 Fashion Design), Lowell and Wilda to produce the video installation Simulations, where the need is the greatest; currently that also help improve our alumni participation rate. which premiered during the weekend. Ed Engel Northrop (’67 Fine Arts), and Cassidy Park need is in student scholarships and financial aid. When making their philanthropic support (’88 Communication Arts) showed his enthu- (’88 Fashion Design) have been so Not only does the O-Fund help provide to colleges and universities across the country, siasm by traveling from St. Louis, and designed scholarships and financial aid, it also helps corporations and foundations base their primary impressed by the recent surge in giving a 17-ft. nostalgic timeline. The community also improve campus infrastructure, upgrade support decision on one important number: that they have offered to give a combined enjoyed a preview of Art is What I Do: The Life technology in our labs, and support the work of the number of alumni who give back to their gift of $20,000 to the O-Fund. In order for of Ralph Bacerra, a documentary by Jo Lauria 4 our acclaimed faculty. alma mater. Every gift from an alumnus or us to receive the challenge gift, we need to (’90 Fine Arts) produced by The Boardman We are happy to report that you, our alumna, no matter the size, helps us improve our secure 200 new donors to the O-Fund! The Family Foundation in cooperation with Otis. 2 3 generous alumni, parents, and friends heeded participation rate. Yes, that means your gift of 200 for $20k Challenge ends June 30, 2009! Look for more photos and video interviews our calls and helped us set records never before $5, $10, $20, $100 or more makes a significant To make your gift, please visit our secure at www.otis.edu/alumni in Events Archive. seen at Otis! With your generosity through difference each and every year! site: www.otis.edu/givenow. You can track If you would like to share photos you took at [email protected] the mail and our phone outreach program we If you haven’t made your gift yet, please the progress at www.otis.edu/200for20k. the event, please contact were able to: visit www.otis.edu/givenow and make your gift or join the Otis Alumni Facebook Group and • Increase our alumni participation rate by a on our secure online giving form and help shape post images there. 6 staggering 500%! Otis’ future.

• Increase our leadership giving For more information or to make your 1 Richard Daskas (’90 Communication Arts), Jim Rygiel (’80 MFA • Secure a match challenge slated to increase gift over the phone, please call Andre PROGRESS BAR Fine Arts) and Raymond Zibach (’90 Communication Arts); 2 Otis our participation rate by another 500%! Khachtourians, Annual Giving Manager at 180/200 donors as of April 20 90th Anniversary banners lining Lincoln Blvd. 3 Kent Twitchell (’77 MFA Fine Arts) with his former student Mark Dean Veca (’85 Fine (see details in side bar) (310) 665-6869 or [email protected]. Arts) at Veca’s installation of Phantasmagoria at the Ben Maltz On behalf of all the students at Otis College Gallery. 4 Kristopher Enuke (’85 Fashion Design) and his son of Art and Design, thank you for your support viewing a special installation of 26 years of Fashion Show videos 5 World Premiere of Simulations a 24’ x 40’ video projection and generosity! installation by Bruce Yonemoto (’79 MFA Fine Arts) commissioned by Otis to celebrate the 90th Anniversary. 6 Otis Designs Book 5 7 Signing. 7 ”Draw Down!” Outdoor Group Drawing Extravaganza organized by faculty member Gary Geraths

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