Center of Vision - Issue #11

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CENTER OF VISION

Cover art by Illesha Khandelwal, Photography '17

Issue #11 March 2016

MassArt Center of Vision Issue #11 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 massartstudentnews.com | facebook.com/MassArtStudentNews

HELLO, WE’VE CHANGED. This semester, we decided to try something new. We found that the title “newspaper” was dissonant from what we really are.

Center of Vision is more than just college news. We wanted to create a new look that would better suit the creativity and style of MassArt and its people. Starting with this issue, we are publishing in a new magazine format to better reflect our content and readership. We hope you enjoy this new look!

– Center of Vision Staff

ABOUT US MassArt’s Center of Vision serves as a forum for the MassArt student community. We publish a range of mediums, both written and visual, continuously online and monthly in print.

Center of Vision is a place for our college community to explore its creative output, express diverging opinions, and discover what’s happening on campus and beyond. We believe the sustainability of this publication comes from allowing each new generation of students to make their mark. As a place where every student can have their say, Center of Vision belongs wholly to the MassArt community.

New members are always welcome to join. Here are some positions we’re currently looking for: Online Editor Print Editor Art/Music Reviewer

Columnists Photojournalists Event Reporters

If any of these interest you, email us at snews@massart.edu and we can help get you started.

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EDITORIAL & ONLINE STAFF Interim Editor-in-Chief David Gorelik Executive Editor / Photographer Jennifer Smith Lead Designer Nikki Chan General Editor Tommy Ouk

CONTRIBUTORS Music Review Column Clio Berta Writers Julie Cangrand Dylan McCusker Faculty Advisor Maura Smyth Publisher TCI Press Inc. 21 Industrial Ct Seekonk, MA 02771 tcipress.com

MassArt's Design and Media Center

Photo courtesy of New England Real Estate Journal

INCUBATING IDEAS MassArt’s Sustainability Incubator offers a new model of learning

by David Gorelik

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arlier this year MassArt unveiled its newest building, the Design and Media Center, after two years of construction. The DMC offers 40,000 square-feet of new classroom space, lighting and sound studios, a 130-seat lecture hall and a modernized wood shop. The building was designed to promote interdisciplinary studies and serve as a place for different majors to collaborate and learn together, all while physically connecting the different buildings on campus.

Besides the DMC’s new work spaces, it also functions as the home of a new program called the Sustainability Incubator. This initiative, led by professors Jane D. Marsching (Studio Foundation) and Joanne Lukitsh (History of Art), was designed as a new model of learning to unite the MassArt community and explore the roles of social justice, health and the environment in various art and design practices.

The program brings together work by faculty, staff and students in a hybrid studio platform that focuses on facing

the challenges of today’s global society. The Incubator offers weekly events, or “modules”, for the spring 2016 semester, which include lectures, art exhibits, film screenings, and public discussions. Many events are cosponsored by MassArt departments with various local institutions, as well as visiting artists and lecturers.

“Incubators are places which nurture and sustain growth,” explains Lukitsh. “Our goal is for the Sustainability Incubator to encourage MassArt students to think about the impact of sustainability on their practice, and on their lives. Issues of climate change provoke us to think in new ways about nature, about the life cycle of the materials we use, about how science produces knowledge, and generally, about the stories we tell, and have told, about our life on the planet.”

The Incubator is located in room D110 and is open to the entire community. For more information and a complete list of events, visit sustainability.massart.edu.

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FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS: David Nolta Interview by Julie Cangrand

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avid Nolta is one of five children of a former public school Latin and History teacher and a housewife who reads a lot. He’s been teaching Art History at MassArt for twenty-one years. Saying that he is a character is quite an understatement. “People have drawn me,” he says, “for example, I had this student last year in my freshman class, he drew me as a Minion. I thought it was hysterical, I loved it, I was flattered. People who talk fast like I do are neurotic, which I certainly am, they make better fictional characters in some ways than actual characters.” I brought up the two Tumblr and one Twitter accounts that students had opened to report the “shit” he says in class. “Yes, three years ago, a student told me ‘you know there is a site about you,’ and I was like ‘oh no, is this going to be a legal problem for me? Or what’s going to happen?’ So I went on the site and for me it was weird. I won’t deny it’s flattering to have people trying to remember what you said, and even twenty years ago when I started here, there was this student named Paul, when I would come into class, he would give me like the three things I said during the last class that he thought were the best, which was flattering […] But also, someone once showed me this professor site [i.e. ratemyprofessors.com] and I saw that I was compared to a gay Chihuahua! That really upset me and I told that to my students in the next class, and I started barking at them — you know, if it’s what they’re looking for...”

But there is more to Dahveed than his comedic lectures or being a MassArt social media celebrity. He has been writing poetry since high school and he has published most of it during the last five years. Though now, his goal is trying to get an agent to release the third manuscript of his fictional trilogy ‘The Ivory Tower Mysteries’. “The second mystery is set in England and one of the main characters is taking students on a travel abroad course and two of the students get murdered," he explains. We agreed on how hard it can be for a writer or an artist to get his work out there, especially nowadays when “consulting and promoting have become two of the major life paths”, but it doesn’t stop Dahveed from making art. Ten years ago, after a long-term relationship break-up and also trying to get over Miss Slavik, his 8th grade teacher who told him he would never be an artist, he bought some really cheap oil paints, and “what I did to start painting was I took a picture that I loved, like the Tempest by Giorgone, and I chose two or three inches of the canvas, and I tried to copy those few

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inches for my own picture, and I thought I knew the Tempest

by Giorgone, but oh my God! It was really eye-opening and it has definitively informed my Art History. And also truth to be said, that’s a very therapeutic hobby, even though I know that it’s a cliché — but it is true.”

MassArt definitely has a lot to do with Dahveed’s foray into painting. “Being here for me has been my education as an artist. I am inspired by my students and what they do, and their basic level of quality here is just shocking for a school where so many people have so many time commitments, where so many people commute, and have part time jobs,” he explains.

“All the students have to work to be here and the work they produce is something you would want to model your own work on, and so I have in a way. MassArt has expanded what I think I am, not just physically [laughs].”

Finally, I asked Dahveed for his most memorable moment at MassArt: “One of them was helping a student who was living on the streets to get housing and he was not the ideal student by any means, but he was living on the streets and that killed me, and so we got him housing. Another important moment was when, recently, a Dean said, and it’s the first person that ever said this to me, that he thought that it was good that I was able to stretch the boundaries of scholarship to include creative writing and poetry. I’ve had a lot of good moments though…my best moments are usually on Friday, coming out of the Survey, having had a pretty good class, and being in Boston on Friday afternoon, in the spring or the fall, well maybe that’s a little boring, too, but those are examples of three good sorts of moments!”

Photo by Julie Cangrand

SO LIKE: Music Reviews

by Clio Berta

New Release Rihanna, ANTI I’m listening to Rihanna’s January release, ANTI, as I cook dinner for myself. The second song, James Joint, sounds like water and is very charismatically turning my kitchen into a sweet sort of watery soundscape.

Unfortunately, it only lasted a minute and twelve seconds. As well as a very apparent breakaway from the standard four minute pop song, Rihanna seems to be experimenting with more dynamic compositions. Her vocals are at once more playful and intuitive; a refreshing contrast to the repetitive, constrictive melodies of Pour It Up or S&M. I was surprised at first, but quickly got accustomed to the sprinkled, experimental vocal phrases and funky, flowery spurts of instrumentals. So now I’m on track five, Desperado. There’s a type of cynicism in the melodic and lyrical elements of this track; a sort of iconic attitude unique to Rihanna. But, unlike some of her previous work, I feel more trusting of this cynicism– perhaps because I just heard her sing, “there ain’t nothin’ here for me, and I don’t wanna be alone,” an honest, relatable line. There is an authenticity to this song that makes me feel as though I’m listening to her riff in the shower as opposed to reciting a verse she’s constructed, revised, and re-constructed.

The vocals in Woo, the sixth track, are at once reminiscent of the auto tuned, unapologetic vocals of Kanye’s 808 Heartbreak. The album ends with Close To You, a sort of piano ballad. Although somewhat formulaic, the detailed instrumental arrangement adds refreshing movement to the song. To conclude, I feel as though I’ve really just gotten to know Rihanna.

ANTI is playful, intuitive, and honest. It is Rihanna in her articulate, unapologetic, dynamic element.

Photo courtesy of Vanity Fair. Artwork by Roy Nachum

Throwback The Langley Schools Music Project

Photo courtesy of Bar/None Records

In the mid seventies, elementary school music teacher Hans Fenger from Langley, British Columbia decided to record his students singing pop hits in the school’s gymnasium. Accompanied by xylophones, pianos, and timpanis, he taught thoughtfully arranged versions of songs by the Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, and David Bowie, to name a few. Originally popular among parents and adorning relatives, the album attained sudden fame when “discovered” at a thrift store in 2000. The album, named the Langley Schools Music Project, was suddenly heard nationwide, eventually reaching the ears of superstars that it covered. Of “Space Oddity,” Bowie said it was “a piece of art that I couldn't have conceived of.” Fred Schneider (frontman of the B-52’s), Richard Carpenter (of The Carpenter’s), and Neil Gaiman (author of Stardust, American Gods, and Coraline, to name a few) all praised the album. In fact, when Spike Jonze (screenplay writer for Where the Wild Things Are) approached Karen O to write the film’s soundtrack, he referenced the Langley Schools Music Project as an example of simple melodies that had a sort of visceral, emotional intensity. Listen to it. It’s very worth it, even if only for cocktail party reference material.

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THE GALLERY Student Work

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1. "Aesthetic", James Paolicelli, Animation '19

Want to see your art here too?

2. "Cabbage Maze", Dora Wang, Illustration '18

Email your work to snews@massart.edu and include your name, major, year of graduation, and the title of your piece.

3. "Allure", Czarina Shartle, Graphic Design '18 4. "Untitled", Illesha Khandelwal, Photo '17 5. "Persian", Julia Murphy, Graphic Design '18 6. "Untitled", Samantha Loos, Ceramics '16 7. "Untitled", Illesha Khandelwal, Photo '17 8. "Yarn Noodles", Dora Wang, Illustration '18 9. "Untitled", Annelise Freund, Illustration '19 10. "Homeless", Sarah Montrond, Painting & Art History '19

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POEMS Two Panels by Memling from the Brukenthal Collection The dog loved the boy and the boy is dead.

The man—his father—could not allow His son to be buried inside his head As if he had never lived. That’s how The artist, Memling, entered the picture (Figuratively speaking). The man let fall His coins and condition, one sly little stricture: “Paint all of the story, or nothing at all.”

And so, by the wellhead, his wife—the man’s— Assumed the pose in which Time would own her; She knelt, she joined her empty hands, As moving an image of Mother and Donor As the Pietà in the churchyard where She last had her child. Across the divide, Her husband, more literal, reads his prayer, Which Memling grants, for at his side His son resumes the familiar station Like the dog to the right of the woman’s knees.

The result is less a conversation Than so many stopped soliloquies.

Is grief what this man and woman were made for?

Their reasons vanished with their names.

But not the point—that’s what they paid for: The boy and the dog in their separate frames.

David Nolta

UGLY F UCK I NG DOL L Thought to be Red Riding Hood but when seen, I’m the Big Bad Wolf. Eyes that pull you in like the full moon. Hair that screams wild through every wiry piece. Clothed in a shitty dress that resembles my crumpled life. Red is the color that I hide in, fierce and bloody. Look at my face... can you see that I have no fucks to give?

M. Cole

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MOVIE REVIEW: Deadpool

by Dylan McCusker Deadpool (2016) Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller Director: Tim Miller Synopsis: A former mercenary turned street thug abandons his one true love to go through an experiment to cure his cancer. Ultimately he is endowed with accelerated healing, and a real thirst for revenge.

I have been waiting for YEARS for this movie. Since 2007, when my older sister gave me a few Deadpool comics, I have been waiting. Then “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” came along and I lost all hope. However, following many years of rumors and a lot of help from the internet, it was finally made! And it was GREAT. For many, I believe “Deadpool” will live up to the obscene amount of hype that has followed it since its official announcement.

People have grown tired of origin films. Everyone knows who Batman and Spider-Man are by now, but Deadpool is a relatively unheard of (until very recently) character. He needed an origin story to introduce him to wider audiences, and they did it right. It flowed so fluidly, interweaving his origins and his current situation. Now, there were some aspects of the film that detracted from the overall greatness of it, but they were for the most part very minor. For instance, the origin of how he got his super power was changed, seemingly unnecessarily, from what it was in the comics. Being a fan of the comics, this distracted me quite a bit whilst watching. But, for those of you coming into this fresh, it shouldn’t be a bother at all really.

Another item that detracted from the film was a few jokes that fell flat, a lot of which were ones from the trailers. Perhaps this was because I was already expecting them, or because they didn’t want to give away the best jokes in the trailers. Either way it was a bit cringe-inducing when some of the jokes didn’t hit the audience quite right. However, it seemed that the vast majority of jokes throughout the film were well received. Other than that, everything about Deadpool worked so smoothly.

His iconic breaking of the fourth wall didn’t feel out of place at all, as some people were nervous about. It felt in keeping with the spirit of the rest of the film, and was crucial to some of the funniest moments. The action choreography in it was also great. Because Deadpool is such a playful and funny character, the fights were all entertaining and uniquely crafted to him. The fight choreography did not feel like something

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

where any skin could be slapped on it and call it a day. Instead, it felt totally true to the character. Ryan Reynolds did a wonderful job acting throughout the film, of which he was in nearly every scene. He truly embodies the character and really carried it to its success both on and off the set. All in all it was a totally fun movie that was pretty much everything any Deadpool fan could ask for. And for those who aren’t Deadpool fans, they will be once they’ve seen this film.

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"Climate" James Paolicelli, Animation '19