“WHAT KIND OF SHIT IS THIS?”

TAUGHT A CLASS CALLED SEX, VIOLENCE, AND EXPONENTIAL NIRVANA, SAID TO BE SO MIND-BLOWING THAT STUDENTS FROM ACROSS THE INSTITUTE WANTED TO ENROLL. LEVY ARRIVED ON CAMPUS AMID CENSORSHIP THREATS FROM STUDIOS ABOUT HIS FILMS, NOTABLY HIS 1967 DRAMA HEROSTRATUS. IN CLASS, HE SCREENED FILMS THAT WERE BANNED IN HIS HOME COUNTRY OF AUSTRALIA (AND ELSEWHERE).

Taken from an editorial about the music selection in the jukebox in a 1970s edition of the student newspaper, The Big News.

Composition faculty Arthur Jarvinen did some far-out experimental work influenced by various factions of new music (John Cage, Stockhausen, Lou Harrison, and others). Whenever a student was too quirky and the faculty didn’t know what to do with them, they were sent to Jarvinen because he knew how to communicate with them.

In The Simpsons episode “3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage,” preeminent conceptual artist and CalArts founding faculty John Baldessari made an appearance in a flashback scene with Marge, who attempts to snag an interview with him at a gallery for the Springfield Shopper . The episode also features Bart repeating lines at a chalkboard, a possible reference to Baldessari’s seminal work I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art (1971). Credit: ‘The Simpsons’ © and TM 2017 20th Television. All rights reserved. AT A WEEKEND WORKSHOP LED BY ANDRÉ GREGORY, STUDENTS HAD TO FORGET ALL OF THEIR SOCIAL LEARNING AND CREATE AN ENTIRELY NEW SOCIETY FROM SCRATCH (INCLUDING A BASIC LANGUAGE) BEFORE BEING ALLOWED TO LEAVE.

About Handbuilt

This 50th anniversary issue of The Pool was designed by Handbuilt, a Los Angeles-based graphic design practice with a passion for interdisciplinary collaboration. Founded in 2001 by Juliette Bellocq (arT MFa 00), Handbuilt is now a team of three CalArts alumna. Brooke Irish (arT BFa 14) joined in 2019 and Makena Janssen (arT MFa 22) recently jumped in.

Together they work in numerous formats, from print to digital, to environmental. They use design as a tool to collaborate with communities that advance diverse social agendas to visualize the stories that make them unique.

About Fisk

The CalArts 50th anniversary logo was designed by FISK, a Portland, Oregon-based graphic design studio that focuses on the enhancement of art and design in our daily lives. FISK utilizes graphic design, websites, objects, and physical spaces to visualize their ideas.

Founded by Bijan Berahimi (arT BFa 13) in 2009 while he was still a student at CalArts, FISK works with clients to make long-lasting, thoughtful design systems, campaigns, and experiences. Its goal is to express the nuanced feelings of their multifaceted collaborators through typography, image-making, and world building. By creating a practice that champions the wide ranging ethnicities, voices, and backgrounds of their team, clients, collaborators, artists, and consumers, FISK is able to appreciate and begin dialogues within their local and global communities.

THOUGH CLASSROOM A113 HAS REACHED LEGENDARY STATUS AS AN EASTER EGG IN EVERY PIXAR FILM, CHARACTER ANIMATION CLASSES ARE NO LONGER HELD THERE. GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDENTS HAVE LONG CALLED THE STUDIO HOME.

SCHOOL OF FILM/VIDEO FACULTY DON LEVY

TAUGHT A CLASS CALLED SEX, VIOLENCE, AND EXPONENTIAL NIRVANA, SAID TO BE SO MIND-BLOWING THAT STUDENTS FROM ACROSS THE INSTITUTE WANTED TO ENROLL. LEVY ARRIVED ON CAMPUS AMID CENSORSHIP

THREATS FROM STUDIOS ABOUT HIS FILMS, NOTABLY HIS 1967 DRAMA HEROSTRATUS. IN CLASS, HE SCREENED FILMS THAT WERE BANNED IN HIS HOME COUNTRY OF AUSTRALIA (AND ELSEWHERE).

AT A WEEKEND WORKSHOP LED BY ANDRÉ GREGORY, STUDENTS HAD TO FORGET ALL OF THEIR SOCIAL LEARNING AND CREATE AN ENTIRELY NEW SOCIETY FROM SCRATCH (INCLUDING A BASIC LANGUAGE) BEFORE BEING ALLOWED TO LEAVE.