HI+RES ISSUE 3
UCM’S VISUAL ARTS MAGAZINE 2011
HI+RES VISUAL ARTS MAGAZINE ISSUE 3 Editor Dustin Williams
Staff Photographer Taylor Morris
Design Editors Wes Harbison Courtney Lacy
Contributing Writers Justine Harris Elaine Freund Tyler Dean King Keely Sprague Jeremy Mikolajczak
Staff Jon Linn Jake Gorman
Thanks to the following whose generous support enabled the printing of this issue of Hi+Res: UCM Academic Affairs, Provost George Wilson UCM College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Dean Gersham Nelson UCM College of Science and Technology, Dean Alice Greife UCM Enrollment Management, Dr. Rick Sluder UCM Department of Art & Design UCM Printing Services Russell Bloom Tim Pinkston Everyone who helped us with this and past issues of Hi+Res, Thank you.
Unless otherwise noted, artists featured in Hi+Res retain copyright to their work. We will be pleased to correct any mistakes or omissions in our next issue. Hi+Res welcomes editorial submissions; no responsibility can be assumed for unsolicited materials. All letters will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and subject to Hi+Res’ right to edit and comment editorially. Please submit all questions, comments, and proposals to hiresmagazine@gmail.com. Cover image by Mark Bischel (spread from artist’s book Resurfaced, 8-color screen print on Reeves BFK, 11" x 14" [22" wide when open]). Above photo by Tyler Dean King.
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR This is the third issue of Hi+Res, a student generated and operated publication that celebrates the vitality of the visual arts here at the University of Central Missouri and throughout the region. Hi+Res was born through student initiative nearly four years ago within the Art Special Housing Interest Program (ArtSHIP) here at UCM. With every issue it continues to delight and amaze as it grows in its scope and ambition. This year we celebrate not only Hi+Res in print for the third time, but also as an exciting digital publication and online destination: www.hiresmagazine.com. The online digital presence of Hi+Res augments the physical magazine and serves as an evolving window into the art scene on campus, within the region, and, in some instances, nationally and internationally. Over the last few years, among faculty and administrators at UCM, there has been a focus on identifying high impact learning experiences for students. These types of experiences are typically project-based and reflect solving problems in real-world situations that often require working across disciplines and at times within teams. It is my opinion that there is no better example of a high impact learning experience than Hi+Res. In the course of developing this publication, students with different majors, sometimes in different colleges, collaborate and work to create a professional product while gaining authentic experience in the areas of designing, illustrating, web and publication layout, writing and editing and working as a team to meet deadlines. What they produce allows them to showcase the art and design accomplishments of their peers and those who influence them: UCM Art & Design faculty, alumni and other visiting art and design professionals. It is with great pleasure that I introduce this third issue of Hi+Res to each of you and congratulate the talented, hard-working student staff who made it happen. I hope that you enjoy it. If you would like to be a financial sponsor of Hi+Res and assist in supporting its continuation as a printed publication, contact me at luehrman@ucmo.edu. Best wishes, Mick Luehrman, Chair Department of Art & Design
The University of Central Missouri is the only four year publicly supported institution in the state of Missouri that is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD). UCM has been continuously accredited by NASAD since 1986. For more information about Art & Design at UCM, visit our website at www.ucmo.edu/art. For information about attending the University of Central Missouri, contact the UCM Office of Admissions at 660-543-4290 or visit them on the web at www.ucmo.edu/admissions.
STUDENT
ZINES WITHIN A ZINE Continuing a tradition started in Issue 2, below are two student-created zines born within the last year. Students are often attracted by the immediacy, low costs, self-promotion and collaborative opportunities that zines provide.
Excerpts from Summer Fun, a collaborative zine about Toobin’, sodas, and pesky alligators. Includes work by Jake Gorman, Wes Harbison, Jon Linn, and Dustin Williams
STUDENT ORGANIZATION
STUDENT ARTIST COALITION Justine Harris, Chapter President
The Student Artist Coalition at UCM was designed for art students of any discipline seeking to establish a stronger art community on campus, in Warrensburg and in the art world. The primary task of the group is to offer opportunities to further the cultivation of art. In the past, SAC has sponsored professional artists like Anne Thompson, Jeff Pike and the faculty members of the Art Department to deliver demonstrations. SAC also invites working artists and professors to give senior critiques once a semester. To develop a stronger identity within the local community, SAC provides opportunities to display students’ work and efforts publicly. They have participated in the homecoming parade 2
and formulated fundraisers that require outside businesses and attention. The Red Balloon Art Walk originated in fall 2009 and is a community affair in downtown Warrensburg arranged to display student artwork. The Student Artist Coalition plans trips to experience art outside of the Warrensburg community. Last semester, a group traveled to St. Louis to view artwork in a metropolitan area. One of the most profound trips is a yearly trip to Chicago, where students are given tours of museums, galleries, studios, architecture, public artworks and more.
For more information about the Student Artist Coalition, please visit the link on the UCM art department website, www.ucmo.edu/art.
Excerpts from Sorry, Partner, All the Trees Are Chopped, a screen printed zine exploring a lesson in self-moderation. Written and illustrated by Dustin Williams
STUDENT ORGANIZATION
UCM AIGA STUDENT GROUP Marie Aholt, Chapter President
AIGA is the oldest and largest non-profit professional membership organization for design. The student chapter at UCM strives to create opportunities for creative and professional development through activities and events on campus and participation in the wealth of opportunities in the Kansas City area. Graphic Design students can meet and work alongside fellow students and professionals. By networking through Kansas City AIGA and the American Advertising Federation, students can create connections that may help land a job upon graduation. This year, UCM AIGA has worked to offer students more design-related opportunities. Students have visited design studios, attended
presentations by Stanley Hainsworth as well as other designers and participated in First Fridays in Kansas City. In addition, the chapter has also hosted a t-shirt design contest, designed and sold holiday cards, organized movie nights and begun a student design studio. In the spring, students take a trip to New York to visit design professionals and museums. There are many new ways for students to get involved in the graphic design industry.
For more information about the student chapter of AIGA at UCM, visit the blog at ucmaiga.blogspot.com or contact the chapter via email at ucmaiga@gmail.com.
According to the AIGA website, “AIGA’s mission is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force.” UCM students can choose to pay dues to be officially recognized by AIGA and reap the many benefits or just participate as a member of the UCM chapter for free. 3
LOCAL
THE ART STORE Courtney Lacy
In August 2010, the Warrensburg community received a much needed art supply store (located on Pine Street), opened by UCM alumni Kyle and Deborah Martin. Kyle and wife, Deborah, met as undergraduate students. Kyle graduated in 2008 with a BFA in Illustration and Deborah with a degree in Studio Painting and Art Education in 2009. As former Art & Design students, the Martins understood the importance for an art supply store in the area, as the nearest ones are located in Kansas City. Many students have been turning to The Art Store this academic year for their supplies; 80-90 percent of sales are from college students. The Art Store is stocked with supplies based off of class supplies lists. Since so many customers are students, the Martins have even begun making ready-made kits based off of teachers’ classroom supplies lists. In the future, The Art Store hopes to expand their selection to include craft related products, such as fabric and yarn, as well as hold workshops and classes.
STUDENT ORGANIZATION
INTERIOR DESIGN STUDENT ASSOCIATION Katie Parker, Chapter President
UCM’s Interior Design Student Association (ISDA) is a student organization that is highly involved in the design, local and campus communities. ASID encourages any Interior Design majors to join the organization. IDSA is a recoginized student chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers. They attend many International Interior Design Association funtions and other various design related events around the Kansas City region. They also fundraise thoughout the year for 4
potential field trips and for guest speakers to come to campus and speak on various interior design related topics. IDSA offers leadership opportunities, network opportunities and quality bonding time with other students within the Interior Design program. The Interior Design classrooms are located in Grinstead 305 and 307. Feel free to stop by and check out the department and program at any time.
For more information about IDSA (including meeting times) contact Susan Stevenson, faculty advisor, at sstevenson@ucmo.edu.
NEW FACULTY
HAROON SATTAR Elaine Freund
Haroon Sattar never thought in his life that he would become a teacher, let alone in Interior Design, but he is certainly enjoying it wholeheartedly. “I believe 90% is inspiration from my students and 10% is from the professor.” Studying architecture at the Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, he started the five year program with 2D, 3D, small residential and commercial projects, as well as construction documentation studios. Even though architecture was part of the engineering department Haroon also held interest in art classes. While he worked through the program, Haroon also participated in many design competitions; for example, designing a safe and homelike environment for a children’s village, in which he placed second. He also designed a memorial design for the country’s independence, as well as a participating in a Row House design competition, placing third. After graduating, he worked with senior architects at Diagram Architects in Bangladesh. Shortly after, he worked at CAPE with his friend and mentor Raziul Ashan. From 1990-1994, Haroon worked at Insight, collaborating on
small residential and commercial projects. This is where he began working with Interior Design projects, creating a very successful Toyota showroom in Dahaka. From then on, Haroon became interested in learning the institutional knowledge of Interior Design. Before he embarked on his Interior Design studies, Haroon established IDeA in Bangladesh with his wife. For some time they worked with both commercial and residential projects, until his acceptance into the University of Georgia’s Interior Design program. Even though Haroon had already acquired the technological knowledge from his architecture degree, he was looking forward to more exposure to art and his personal interests at the University of Georgia. Once he got further in his studies, Haroon was approached by his professor to be his teaching assistant and teach one studio per semester. Haroon was honored, as his professor never allowed another student to teach his studios. This gave him confidence and ultimately forced him to consider teaching as a second option. In 2004, Haroon and his family moved to Arkansas, where he become the Interior Design
professor at the University of Arkansas. In 2009, Haroon achieved his LEED AP. “I wanted to be more qualified and better rounded for my students.” He is currently seeking to pass the NCIDQ exam. Even though moving and transitioning to new atmospheres, Haroon still has a positive outlook. He has developed teaching methods that challenge his students to their best potential. In addition to his professorship, Haroon also dedicates his time by engaging in active research to better himself as well as his students. At the IDEC awards in March 2011, Haroon will present a paper on the sensory issues in space design, a topic that is very dear to his heart. “Not just as a designer, but also as a parent, space design is important for the development of children.” Haroon credits his participation to teaching and Interior Design to his students at the University of Georgia. He hopes to one day return to Bangladesh and establish an Interior Design school. Haroon conveys professionalism and sets a great example for his students. “Whatever I am teaching, I myself need to believe in it as well.” 5
STUDENT ARTIST
JOSEPH WULLNER Jon Linn: Just a few months before his graduation, several of us had the pleasure of spending the evening together with Joe in the school’s sculpture lab, his home away from home. He explained his newest projects, talking of biomechanical beings and android-esque creations, obsolete and rusting away. A natural storyteller, Joe spun several yarns, two of which stood out above the rest. These stories, to me, made everything clear. The first story dealt with a factory that he had visited years past. Entering the building, he found the factory filled with broken-down machines that appeared to date from the
industrial revolution, or at least the turn of the century. Fascinated by the forms, he wanted to take reference photos, but, unfortunately, had not brought his camera. When he returned some time later, with camera in hand, his desire to snap some shots of the machinery was met with resistance. The decaying machines had been replaced with industrial-sized bag upon bag of bird feathers. His second story dealt with his own work. As part of his McNair Scholars Program, he had created a series of sculptures that were too large to move easily. After the exhibition, he moved them home, storing them in the only area where
opposite: Allogamy #790007, bronze, steel, found objects above: Golden Dreaming, casting porcelain, porcelain cone 04 glazes, stain, luster
they would fit: the woods behind the house. Now patinaed and deteriorating, he explained that these sculptures’ fate just seemed natural; an appropriate evolution in the works’ life. These stories sum up his pieces so well. Although his ceramic pieces generally highlight the natural and organic, and his metal sculpture the mechanical, there is never a true separation between the two. His work acts as narration of this interaction between the natural and the synthetic. As one takes over, the other rots or rusts away. His art tells a story while simultaneously acting as an object of obsolete worth. Listen to its tale; you will not be disappointed.
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Kimberly Luther Sweet Mountain, porcelain and wool Kimberly Luther Sleeper II, porcelain and alpaca hair Tifani Carter Zach, scratchboard Michael Ferris El Campe贸n, screen print Dustin Williams Sunman, screen print
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FACULTY
ERIC CARLSON Courtney Lacy: Eric Carlson is a part-time Design III professor and a part-time handyman for the Department of Art & Design. He is skilled in a variety of media, including painting, ceramics, sculpture and jewelry making, just to name a few. Carlson constantly encourages his students to do the same and to “never limit your toolbox.” Can you tell us about your artistic and educational background? My artistic background, I had art in high school that we actually had to test into called the CAPA, or the gifted program. I remember skipping other classes to go to art. Art and athletics are what actually kept me in school. Art has always been my escape. From construction work to car restoration and even personal training, it all influences my artwork. I have my BFA in Ceramics and Metals & Jewelry from Illinois State University and my MFA in Ceramics with a minor in Fibers from the 10
University of Missouri-Columbia. When did you first become interested in pursuing art as a career? I became interested in pursuing my art career while I was in undergrad at Western Illinois University studying Athletic Training and Fitness. I started taking art classes as electives to have a way to relax and express myself. While taking a 3-D design class, I had a professor that made quite an impact on me. He actually cared about his students. I didn’t feel like a number in the classroom anymore. One of the projects for his class was a portrait bust made out of clay.
I became enamored by this newfound media. Gill [3-D Design Professor] saw this and really started to push and encourage me to come into the studio at any time and just start making stuff. That is how I really got started down this road. Teaching your courses, you emphasize the ability to work in a wide variety of media. How important is it, as a working artist, to be versatile when it comes to materials? I think it is extremely important as an artist to be as versatile as possible in the art world. Never limit your toolbox. When you do as an artist you can force ideas and work into the wrong media.
If you look throughout art history you find that many artists are multifaceted. Evolving as an artist takes growth. Once you stop, you limit yourself, stunting one’s growth and work. This is what I try to instill in my student as well. You yourself are well versed in quite a variety of media. Do you have a favorite? Clay is my favorite media to work with. You can do so much with it as a material. It just fascinates me as a substance to work with and always will. Your courses also stress the importance of context, researching and understanding the artists and theories behind the work. Are there
any specific artists or theories that you cite as influencing your own work? Specific artists that influence my work and me? I have so many artists that I look at that affect my work. The ones that affect me the most are all people I have had the privilege of working with as my mentors, i.e. ceramics artists: Paul Sacharidz (sculpture), Bede Clark (potter), David East (sculpture), Tom Malone (potter), Gill Stengal (potter); painter: Nyame Brown, sculptor: Gary Justice, metalsmiths: Dennis French and Donovan Widmer. All helped shape me into who I am as an artist and who I am striving to be.
One artist that I admire the most is the sculptor David Hammons. His career and work has really struck a chord with me. It’s very different than my own work but has always stuck with me at a gut and mind level. He was kind of my “ah-hah” moment within the contemporary art world, I guess you could say. As an active artist, what kind of advantages does teaching art courses bring? Are you able to bring experiences from the classroom into your own work? As an artist, teaching helps keep me grounded. It helps give me a spark to feed off of. Creativity generates energy. But what I enjoy the most is
opposite: Mama’s Boy right: My Rack Is Bigger Than Yours
watching when one of my students gets that “ah-hah” moment. I feed off of that. That’s why I teach. Your plush series is a favorite among the students. Can you tell us a little about the history behind these pieces? The plush work started off as ceramic guns but it didn’t get the effect that I wanted from the viewers. They were scared, but it didn’t stick with them. So while in graduate school I came across this book Children At War. On the cover was a small boy carrying an AK-47. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Thinking of a lot of my childhood friends that had chosen a fast life as I call it. We were all raised in an era of the hyper-masculine male action hero and thought that’s what we
should be like. In doing so, I watched as these guys went to prison, became paralyzed, or worse. So, thinking, I was in a fibers class at that time, and I pondered, “What if I started sewing toy guns?” What and how would that affect the audience I was trying to reach? My mother taught me to sew when I was very young, but my uncles and father soon stopped that because “boys don’t sew!” I found that I could make fun of myself while getting people to react to where violence and aggression starts. I found that humor was a much better tool to use while taking on such a political statement such as gun violence or violence in general, rather than being an aggressor and attacking the viewer and being so literal with what I was trying to say. From this, the first of many pink and white AK-47’s, hand grenades and other weapons were born.
You’ve mentioned beginning work on a new series. What can you tell us about your plans for future work? Well, my new series of ceramics work is based off of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. I find myself always going back to the body; I have always been enamored by it on a cellular level. Our mechanics and ability to function amaze me. It’s like I want to dissect it, but make the parts on my own to help me understand their function better. Maybe fixing parts that are broken or making them more efficient, placing these parts on pedestals that are ornate and decorative but deteriorating somewhat themselves. Relics of the past, in a way. This series is still very new to me but has me very excited to work on it. 11
STUDENTS
KEELY+TDK ADVENTURES The following pages contain medium format images taken with expired 120 film + “tweets” from various Keely Mar and Tyler Dean King Adventures. When they are not trespassing or falling into holes, Keely and Tyler like cheeseburgers, naps, dance parties, online shopping, owls, twitter and tumblr. keelymar.tumblr.com tylerdking.tumblr.com
“I kinda wanna get tased.”
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“In the name of a slush and Taco Bell, we’re in the ER waiting for Keely.”
“I could whistle before I could walk.”
“Why do you hate Owl City? ... You love owls!”
“Where are the mouse traps at?”... “I think they’re in the pet section.”
“Don’t use that, I slayed two goats with that.”
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WHOOP DEE DOO !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jeremy Mikolajczak Director & Chief Curator, UCM Gallery of Art & Design Featuring all things related to the frozen tundra, Whoop Dee Doo’s Underwater Icy Freezing Cold Watery Extravaganza!!! was composed of various vignettes that culminated into one colossal installation at the UCM Gallery of Art & Design. Opening January 13th and continuing for seven snow-laden weeks (including the blizzard of 2011), the main gallery was transformed into an equally frigid arctic landscape. The installation, created by Kansas City based performance/installation artist group Whoop Dee Doo, submerged viewers into an otherworldly experience that chilled to the bone and burst with laughter. 15
On view through February 18, the exhibition included an interactive sea monster disaster scene, icy treasure maze, abandoned submarine control room, deadly igloo, whale carcass video viewing rooms, and a large performance and video projection ice cave. Imbedded within the massive installation, Whoop Dee Doo exhibited six looped videos from past performances including their recent performance at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. The exhibition at the UCM Gallery of Art & Design was Whoop Dee Doo’s first complete exhibit-style installation and allowed viewers to enter into their phantasmagorical world and presented what they do best - play. Established in 2006 by friends Jaimie Warren and Matt Roche, Whoop Dee Doo started out as a kid-friendly faux public access traveling television show featuring pre-planned 16
performances accompanied by live audience participation. Based in Kansas City and now a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, Whoop Dee Doo calls their studio/performance space in the Crossroads Arts Districts home. Comprised of more than 25 artists and volunteers, Whoop Dee Doo strives to be an all-inclusive artists collaborative that works with a diverse array of performers and visual artists. With past performances at major art institutions in Chicago, New York, Sweden, and upcoming engagements in Portland and Philadelphia, Whoop Dee Doo continues to expand their vision while understanding the importance of the local community. In addition to their artistic endeavors, they are committed to arts education for underprivileged youth in Kansas City and provide workshops for organizations such
as “Operation Breakthrough,” a family service center located in east Kansas City. Whoop Dee Doo consistently challenges the division between art and entertainment. They demanded “no boundaries” when it came to creating the entire installation and experience of the Underwater Icy Freezing Cold Watery Extravaganza!!!. Taking more than seven days to complete, the installation was a 24 hour construction site and included the ideas and skills of 13 UCM Department of Art & Design students. Reinforcing the collaborative process, UCM students worked with Whoop Dee Doo members prior to construction for ideas and location of materials. “Trash to treasure,” a common theme within Whoop Dee Doos’ aesthetic, resulted in 80 percent recycled or found materials in creating their eccentric environment.
On Saturday, February 5, in partnership with the UCM Performing Arts Series, Whoop Dee Doo presented their interactive performance art experience. A three-hour long series of games, skits and contests, the performance centered around an “arctic” theme with members and volunteers dressed up as fishermen, cavemen, blue creatures and explorers. With games such as “finger or a carrot,” “drink the brown water” and “screaming contest,” audience members experienced the live participation advantages
to Whoop Dee Doos’ strength as artistic experience. The kid-centered event attracted more than 150 attendees with participants groaning, cheering, screaming, laughing, and shouting as part of the fun. Whoop Dee Doo’s Underwater Icy Freezing Cold Watery Extravaganza!!! exhibition and performance at the UCM Gallery of Art & Design was the first full-scale installation and performance in UCM’s gallery programming
history. It presented one example of the paradoxical shift in contemporary art discourse from single “artist” as the authoritative voice in the creative process and end result, to “artist” as collaborator in a democratic process in achieving a collective end result. Whoop Dee Doo’s strength thrives in its ability to partner unlikely performers and volunteers and engage audiences of all ages and cultural backgrounds in their stylistic vision and chaotic, circus-like variety show. Past performances have partnered
opposite: just a small portion of Whoop Dee Doo’s show installation right, below: Whoop Dee Doo performs in the UCM Gallery
local celebrities with church group choirs, senior citizen dance troupes with drag queen performances, and an aspiring kid rapper with a professional body builder, all while maintaining a strict, kid-friendly environment and diverse vision. Enhanced by the all-encompassing collaborative process, Whoop Dee Doo’s Underwater Icy Freezing Cold Watery Extravaganza!!! left a positive impression on the students of the
UCM Department of Art & Design and the community of Warrensburg. It presented an extraordinary level of creative inventiveness and the establishment of a cross-generational experience that left viewers with a childlike bewilderment. Whoop Dee Doo’s chilly installation and hilarious performance exemplified that art does not always have to be such a serious matter and it can encompass what we all like to do best - play.
To learn more about the UCM Gallery of Art & Design, visit www.ucmo.edu/gallery or ucmartgallery.blogspot.com
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An interview with
NEIL KRUG + JONI HARBECK
Tyler Dean King: Neil Krug and now wife Joni Harbeck could not have predicted that when they started taking photos with a headdress in a bedroom late one night, the Pulp Art images would blow up online. A baby, rockstars, music videos, and a lot of Pulp Art images later, these two show no signs of slowing down.
Hi+Res: What was the inspiration for Pulp Art? Neil Krug + Joni Harbeck: Recreating the oldschool paperback book cover ideas and pulling from vintage themes and characters. Did you always plan on making a book? No, we were just having fun and shooting in the beginning. After it quickly received heaps of attention online, we thought about creating a book. I had read in an interview that you guys were planning on making a video to go along with the Pulp Art series, called Orange Marmalade. Are you still working on this?
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Yes, but it’s in the early creative stages right now. We have a loose storyboard and are putting together some photographs of the characters in the film currently. We are hoping to get it shot and ready for release in 2011.
The brainstorming is the most fun and the day of the shoot we are both usually giddy ...
How important to you is communication during a shoot?
Unfortunately, in today’s world, social media is extremely important, because it’s the best beginning way to get your name and work out there. The internet is a huge part of society today and everyone seems to expect that every person should have some sort of website as their work and/or social medium.
Very. Usually we agree on a concept or agree that we don’t have a complete concept when we start shooting and that works great and we have a lot of fun. If one of us has a solid idea but the other one isn’t on board then it’s a struggle... Any specific part of the image making process from concept to final image you find the most enjoyable?
How important do you feel social media is to today’s creatives?
Favorite movie ever? Joni: Labyrinth Neil: Juliet of the Spirits
opposite, right: various images from Pulp Art Book
NEIL KRUG
JONI HARBECK
Hi+Res: Earliest memory of photography?
Hi+Res: Worst and best modeling experience?
Neil Krug: Pinhole photography in grade school.
Joni Harbeck: Worst - When I was 19 and modeling in Milano, I was held against my will on a yacht just off the coast of Nice, France, for about two days by a client. Another model and I were supposedly hired for a modeling job on location in France and in reality we were being pimped out to a famous race car driver for the weekend. After not eating or drinking anything except what I had carried onto the yacht myself for two days and throwing a huge fit, our stuff was thrown onto another boat and one of the bodyguards took us to shore where we were dropped off. We didn’t know where we were, couldn’t speak French, and had no idea how to get back to our apartment in Milano. A female taxi driver took one look at us and figured out something was incredibly wrong even though she didn’t speak English. She took us to the train station and bought us tickets back to Milano ...
How did you learn the techniques you use today? Self-taught, school, from assisting...? A mixture of assisting and being self-taught. I’ve picked up a lot of things from people I’ve worked for, but my style is self-taught. Photographers you admire? I really like contemporary photographer Ellen Rogers. Honestly I tend to look at paintings and illustrations for inspiration rather than photography. Tanino Liberatore and Robert McGinnis are two of my favorite artists. Going from Pulp Art to shooting for My Chemical Romance, did you see a lot of change (if any) in your artistic freedom? Completely ... it was their ideas versus ours. For MCR there was a specific shot list as well as what photographs I envisioned that needed to be taken by the end of the day. For Pulp, Joni and I just shoot until we are satisfied. Who is your biggest critic? My wife and I. Favorite camera to shoot with? Probably one of my favorites is the SX70 Polaroid camera.
Best - Flying to Australia on a regular basis for work and a campaign shoot I held for a few years...and going to such amazingly beautiful places like Bora Bora and Anguilla and staying at the best of the best hotels and spas. As a model, did you ever find it frustrating not being able to express your ideas for photo shoots (until Pulp Art, obviously)? Many times. I once did a job with a make-up artist that had a button on her purse that said, “the talent mustn’t talk.” We are paid to show up and play whatever part we are told. And that’s fine most of the time because we are getting good money for the work we do. And there is always a certain amount of expression expected of the model to take the idea that the photographer/client has and work with it. But completely running the creative side didn’t happen until Pulp.
Any future projects you are super excited about?
As the model, does it ever seem strange that so many people have seen you in Neil’s images?
Yesssss, there are a handful of personal photo and video projects Joni and I are planning in the new year that have been in the works creatively for ages. My feature film Invisible Pyramid is also due to be finished and released next year.
Not really. I have modeled for years and for many clients so I’m used to being in photographs. I’m honored that he wants to shoot me so much, though, and we have such fun working together and creating these photographs and characters. :-) 19
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PHOTOGRAPHY
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Ashley Wells Ashley Wells Hannah Brewer Emily Beasley Hannah Brewer
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ALUMNUS
MARK BISCHEL Dustin Williams: Graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from UCM in 1982, Mark currently resides in New York City, teaching at the School of Visual Arts, working with a myriad of clients, and continually showing his breathtakingly beautiful personal work. Recently returning to Warrensburg for “Next Stop,” his solo exhibit at the University of Central Missouri’s Gallery of Art & Design, Mark was kind enough to answer a few questions about his creative process as well as his time here at UCM.
Hi+Res: Can you give us a brief overview of the work in the exhibition Next Stop? Mark Bischel: The work in Next Stop is an extension of my interest in the city as a subject in itself, with its public spaces and extensive infrastructure. You’ve talked about strengthening your work by giving yourself an obstacle to work around. What kind of obstacle did you give yourself for the drawings shown in Next Stop? The works on the North wall that included Dolorous and Monumental, along with the four smaller works, are a little older and involve an 22
abstract drawing of forms that might suggest objects as a starting point. This means, rather than to go out and try to be inspired by a subject as it is and then to just draw it, I start by making a series of small abstract mono prints and, when I have one that is interesting, I grid it off and scale it up to a larger drawing in charcoal. Then, I look at this abstraction and try to imagine something there that has the beginnings of an urban scene. The idea is similar to one lying on the lawn and letting the chance formations in the clouds suggest faces and landscapes. Now that I write this, it sounds crazy, but this attempt to draw figuration through abstraction is the one of the obstacles I mentioned in the lecture that helps my approach to drawing. It is the obstacle
that brings in an element of mysterious difficultly that I can’t control. Also, if I do continue to draw a scene though the abstraction and it gets boring, I will erase a large portion of the existing drawing and then turn the piece upside down and sit down in front of it and ask myself what it is that I see now. Then with sketches and photo reference, I work back into the drawing and take it in a new direction. In this process, when it is successful, there is the tension of figuration through abstraction. On the other hand, there are the four large drawings of dancers and performers in the subway below Grand Central Terminal. These drawings, which are from late last year, use
photos as a starting point and then are altered with the addition of other elements from outside the original source, the original photo. This sets up another obstacle or problem that helps to remove the drawing from the usual processes. On top of client work, you’ve released a number of painting series and artist books. Why do you feel that it’s so important to work on personal projects outside of commercial work? As alluded to above, it is important for me to work on personal projects outside of my illustration work, as the personal work informs the rest of the work and helps to give it a direction that is deeper and richer. One may have likes and dislikes about what type of work one may want to focus on after school, but often, as it was in my case, there is a lack of financial security or opportunity to do exactly the type
of work one wants to be known for right out of school. Now, there may be those who go right to the top out of school, doing work that fulfills their vision, but if this not the case and one is working away at something less than imagined then it is important to have the creative self-determination to stage mini-revolutions and give yourself the space and time to develop work that is personal. An active sketchbook is the best defense.
from photos I had taken and bring these into the screen printing process and then bind them as books in limited additions. Hand-bound artist’s books are interesting as they can straddle that printmaking, fine art, illustration divide. It can even involve the graphic novel. Artist’s books and printmaking have a tendency to facilitate personal works that feed into illustrative imagery.
A lot of your illustrations are heavily based in printmaking. What is it about the hand-built process that translates so successfully into your digital work?
I do know it is key to bring the hand-drawn into the mix, as this is the element that helps to translate the hand-built into the digital. The original drawing, for all its imperfections, has a linear tactile quality and urgency that can then be scanned and enhanced by layers in Photoshop or by layers in screen printing, but the original source material is the drawing.
So a sketchbook is a great thing to carry around, whether it is drawing subjects on location or from your imagination. I found that it was interesting to take some of these drawings from sketchbooks on location and supplement them with drawings
opposite: image from artist’s book Resurfaced, 14" x 22", 8-color screen print on Reeves BFK left: Dolorous, 38" x 50", charcoal on paper right: one of 32 images for Endless New York myriorama, mixed media and digital
Can you tell us a little about the process behind your screen-printed artist book Through Corridors of Light, both conceptually and physically? How has the project evolved since its conception? Actually, the book began as a bookmaking assignment when I was getting my master’s, where we each developed an artist’s book for display for a show at the Society of Illustrators. The original book was a collection of drawings done on location in the city and Xeroxed at 150% on newsprint to give it a rough feel. I was not happy with the results, so over the summer of my first year here I reworked the book and screenprinted it on reeves BFK and had this second version hand-bound in time for the exhibition. I had printed an edition of 15, but never bound these flats and off to storage they went. After working on other things, I decided to drag
them out after several years and began to make additional pages and images. I had these handbound in the edition of 15, one of which was included in the show [Next Stop]. This essentially new book is called Resurfaced as some of the new images are printed over some very bad poetry that was originally printed on some of the spreads. How has your education at UCM carried over to what you’re doing now? The grounding I received in the drawing classes at UCM has carried over into what I’m doing currently. We were really drilled on how to draw, and the teachers we had then at UCM brought their diverse perspectives into what was valuable to them about drawing as well as the fundamental techniques of drawing. This really helped me because I imagined that I could draw
when I arrived, but Dr. Ellis revealed to me the errors of my ways and helped me to not just draw the subject I was looking at in a formal sense, but to see that it was as an actual object in space. As Jeremy [Mikolajczak] took us through a tour of the Art & Design department, it was clear that there is still this emphasis on drawing at UCM. Also, we were also grounded not just in illustration and graphic design, but also in the various technologies and history of the printing process—things like that. The fact that I was taking printmaking when I wondered how that related to illustration is a great thing, for example. So it was the grounding in basic skills as well as the diversity of subjects I was exposed to as a student at UCM that has been most valuable to me through the years. 23
ALUMNA
SHANNON BEAUMONT Dustin Williams: Literally days after graduating from UCM with an Illustration BFA in Spring 2009, Shannon was on a plane headed halfway around the world. Now an instructor at Qantm Institute in Munich, she continues to work on a multitude of personal and freelance illustration projects. Always drawing, always learning, and always willing to share, Shannon gave me the absolute pleasure of talking to her about her new comic Northern Echoes, teaching at Qantm, and life abroad. Hi+Res: Out of college, you moved from Warrensburg to Munich, Germany. What was that transition like? Shannon Beaumont: I’ll begin by saying it was not without its difficulties. I mean, look, in one week my entire life shifted from the lovely, somewhat carefree life of a university student to suddenly realizing “I am a professional” and being called Mrs. Beaumont. A few weeks later, after selling most of my college stuff, my new husband and I were living in Munich, going to operas, traveling in France, and soaking up the lifestyle together. I found myself realizing that this place just had 24
more to offer than the place I could return to. That was hard because that is where my friends and family reside ... my old familiar life. But looking at what is going on today with my career, lifestyle, and the possibilities ahead, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Plus there is not much that beats sitting in a Biergarten with a cold Radler in the summer. Can you give us a brief overview of Northern Echoes? Northern Echoes is a comic about a ship of fools surviving the summer together up in the wilds of Minnesota. It’s packed full of marshmallows, bacon, and gorp, college hippies, teenage
angst, growing up, sandals, canoes, life jackets, friendship, animals, insects (the bitey kind), trees, and plenty of socks. That’s what summer camp is about... right? What is it that draws you to the narrative format? Storytelling with words and pictures has always fascinated me, and maybe a lot of that is due to my horrible reading ability as a kid. I found myself attracted more towards animation, film, and comics. The stories were not all in a written language that I had to read and decipher, but spoken with a series of pictures that communicated events, emotions, and possibly character growth.
Your characters and the situations they find themselves in develop very naturally. How much of the comic is based on real life experiences? I draw a lot of my inspiration from life (no pun intended). When I was 14, my dad took me on my first Boundary Waters Canoe Area trip. I remember, when we returned from our weeklong adventure in the Quetico waters, I told him that it would be cool to work up in a place like that. Needless to say, right after my high school graduation, that was exactly what I did. I worked at the outfitter that supplied us on our canoe trip, and then went back ... and then again. For three summers, I was engrossed in the richness of nature, Ely’s locals, a diversely interesting staff, and boy scouts ... lots of them. You’re currently an instructor at Qantm Institute, a creative digital media college in Munich. How
opposite: Mr. Alberts, Col-Erase and Photoshop above, left: Northern Echoes sketches, Graphite (3B) and Col-Erase
above, middle/right: NE sketches, watercolor below, left: Crocs, Col-Erase below, right: Phil und Patrick, Graphite (3B)
has teaching influenced your personal work?
UCM, some of which I had to grow into. I think one of the most helpful pieces of advice was during my first year at UCM ... “There’s more to art than just characters.” I had the idea that character design was the end of all ends in art, along with manga and making “pretty pictures”… oh, my unknowing youth.
Teaching a drawing course has really helped me and pushed me to understand the underlying foundations of art. You know ... construction, perspective, line, shape and form, mark making, composition, light and color, with a little dab of art history, anatomy, and storytelling to top it off. All of the good stuff that will make your work so much more delicious for you and the viewers. And heck, it’s also pretty cool being paid to learn about art, to perform in front of a class of strangers, and to share the knowledge and enthusiasm of working in a visual field. Of all that you learned at UCM, what one piece have you found most helpful in the professional world? I was told a lot of great things by great people at
That really opened me up to a wider view of the art world and what was and is out there. Yet after going through my four year program, I found that, returning to what I really enjoyed— storytelling, animal character design, and character design—my skills had really advanced. But what I find it boils down to is that it is all art. Whether in comics, animation, character design, logo, painting, performance art or sculpting, for me it’s about the creative process; the joy I find in developing and making.
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Jeff Porter The Great Yellow-Billed Wadzookie, digital Michael Ferris Jeff Bridges, digital Sarah Souders Person of the Year, acrylic Jacob Gorman Y2k, digital Mike Blake The Secret of Mr. Grump, digital
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An interview with
PHIL “SIKE STYLE” SHAFER
Wes Harbison: Phil Shafer has experienced culture shock. Born in Brooklyn, Shafer moved with his family to the Midwest when he was 11, where he grew up and still resides. Now known to many as Sike, he is a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute and has received attention for his street art, his design work for local hip hop artists, and his clothing line, Sikenomics. UCM’s Gallery 115 opened 2011 with “Where It’s At”, a show featuring Sike’s unique work curated by UCM student Justine Harris. Hi+Res: At a young age you moved from Brooklyn to the Midwest, a place where hip hop culture doesn’t quite have the same groundwork as on the coasts. What led you to hold onto that culture and fuse it with visual art? Sike: I found that I didn’t really fit in with the kids in my new school when I moved to KC [Kansas City]. I was an angry zebra kid (having a white dad and black mom). I had a hard time relating to my new peers, who seemed like odd country folk to me. I spoke with a strange east coast accent, had brown glasses and a tiny afro before it was popular again. When I started high school, I made an effort to build my identity as something unique and fresh. I dove deep into hip hop and graffiti culture of the mid-90s and that’s what led me to continue my art as such. I had a good foundation for my art, building off my early memories of Brooklyn and the connections I made with the KC hip hop and graffiti scenes in college to make me the artist I am today. 28
Given the strong connection your work has with graffiti and street art, is it ever met with controversy? Not really. I didn’t destroy a lot of property when I was doing street art, so I never got slapped with a fine or a jail sentence. I was detained by KCPD once while wheat pasting, but that wasn’t an offense worthy of placing on my record. Some of my shirt designs have sparked some good conversations between the viewer and the wearer of the shirts. I think that’s great when people defend their shirt graphics. But no major controversies yet. How much of your work is done by hand and how much is done digitally? Right now I am getting back into doing more work by hand, with marker, acrylics, spray paint and silk-screened prints. But for the most part, I work digitally. So I’d say it’s like 80% digital,
20% non. But I do use digital images to make handmade work too. Talk a bit about being a DJ. How big of a role does that play in the Sike brand? DJing is a great way to supplement the artmaking budget. DJing eventually became a great way to get exposure for the brand. By doing events, I can always cross-promote my art/clothing company, hand out fliers, give out freebies, etc. Setting aside Sike for a moment, does Phil Shafer do any freelance work as a designer, or have your endeavors in entrepreneurship eliminated a need for that? I have done freelance work in the past for clients and still take on the occasional job from time to time. I work a lot with flier and album cover design and other similar graphic projects.
HI+RES VISUAL ARTS MAGAZINE IS ONLINE opposite: Spray painted cans top: Suit Man, digital
Can you offer some advice for art students interested in becoming entrepreneurs?
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I have a few pieces of advice for young artists looking to launch their own brands or sell art for a living: Stay business-minded about your art. Research other artists, brands and companies to see what else has been done and how you can make your work stand out or be a bit different. There is NOTHING new under the sun, but being aware of what others have done before you will give you a good idea of how you can separate yourself from the crowd. Don’t be scared of paying dues. It takes time to develop styles, clients, skills and contacts. It’s not rare to put in 5-10 years before you are able to see your efforts pay off... if that’s what you are going for. Lastly, but super important to remember, is that self promotion is an artist’s best friend and all publicity is good publicity.
*probably not true 29