May 19-May 2009
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ARTISTS 2
Omar Amigon Color Relation
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Hristo Atanasov Robot Dreams
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Zohar Avgar What's The Matter?
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Orhys Brown Hydrant Design
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Shaidyn Cedeno DogStop Vending Machine Company
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Medhi Doha High Tech Mobility Magazine
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Gregory Dvorak Longer Look
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Cristalia Garcia Music According toBillboard Charts (1958-2008
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Saadia Lomeli Party Crasher
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Lorena de Miranda Marques The Dogwalker
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Cesar Rivera Moralas The People of the Sun
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Joey Rodriguez The Autobiography
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Kandi Russell The Male Subject
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Nahomi Takada The Redesign of SubTalk
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Gustavo Urena Fossil fuel VS Renewable Energy, who’s winning?
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Tiba Vieira Body in Motion
Piet Mondrian meets Andy Warhol
Artist: Omar Amigon Title: Color Relation As we look around we see many objects that are part of our daily lives. Something very insignificant as your morning Starbucks coffee cup, but what we see is the color of the objects that are recognizable to the eye at a quick glance. Color is very important, since it is something that we can record in our brains and keep it stored until it appears again and we can distinguish the item at an instance. I will explore color in different fields that are not related to art, such as the color theory of Aristotle that was the beginning of the color theory known today, the color meaning in flags, stones and even horoscopes. But artists from Piet Mondrian to Barnett Newman to even El Lissitzky have been a huge influence in my exploration of color. As a BFA students at City College of New York, my thesis will explore the color relation that have been used by well known artists in the past centuries. As a result of these artists, among more others later mentioned, I will merge various artists work of art to have an outcome of sixteen overall art works.
omar_mgn@yahoo.com | www.omaramigon.com
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Artist: Hristo Atanasov Title: Robot dreams Robot Dreams is a visual translation of a short story by the famous science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. This intriguing animation is about a robot with rather disturbing dreams. His name is Elvex, and he has been designed by Dr. Linda Rash, a new employee at a company called US Robotics. In her attempt to create Elvex with a human-like thinking, Dr. Rash uses fractal geometry, which results in him having dreams that tend to disobey the principles of his creation following a logic that outgrows the laws by which he is built. Elvex explains to Dr. Rash and Dr. Calvin, a senior robot engineer, that in his dreams he is not a robot but a human who feels that all robots are abused by humans and wants to rescue them. The story depicts and develops a bit further the general fear that a lot of people have when it comes to technology. Many people on this planet are negative towards the fast progress of technology and envision doomsday scenarios, in which humankind ceases to exist because of some technological discovery or another. Here we have the same situation - through advanced technology humans create something that puts their own existence at risk.
www.ratherrandomreality.com
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Which one is the Kosher chicken?
Artist: Zohar Avgar Title: What’s The Matter? This thesis project examines how objects can become symbols through the meaning that has been attached to them. Since we are so well trained to decode embedded meaning from the visual symbols we see, the process of extracting meaning out of these symbols becomes more of a reflex rather than a conscious cognitive process. My intention is to extract the visual stimulations that trigger these automatic responses and thus allow the viewer to investigate highly symbolized items by exploring its structure and material. To do so, I utilized X-ray imaging technology, which incorporates high voltage light beams to penetrate the surface of the items, and generates a radiographic image of the items. Using this image, the viewer can inspect the material and structure of objects, free from the instinctive decoding of its underlying meaning. Along with the X-ray images, so to compliment the sense of abstraction, I built opaque boxes that allow the visitor to experience objects using their tactile sense, preventing their pre-conception from interfering with the experience by not seeing them. This will, once more, enable them to get the essence of the matter without its layers of embedded meanings.
zoharavgar@gmail.com
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Artist: Orhys Brown Title: Hydrant Design A redesign of New York City’s fire hydrants based on an innovative underground hydrant system. The valves are located at ground level and marked so it can be easily noticed. Eliminating the standing hydrants on the sidewalks and its need for 30 feet of clearance, ultimately accomplishes several goals: more parking space in city neighborhoods, eliminating unauthorized access, and dong away with the issue of clearance and visibility. The website creates a learning environment to help inform the public of the underground fire hydrant’s design, and how it helps create and better city. Promotional efforts through web design have been extremely successful as the information is easily accessible, concise and to the point, and then easy to share.
orhys.brown@gmail.com
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Business Plan
Which one is the Kosher chicken?
Artist: Shaidyn Cedeno Title: DogStop Vending Machine Company Frustrated of the same old dog walk because you keep forgetting you frisbee? and there’s no Petstores in sight to buy it from? or have you ever run out of biscuit while training your dog? Or lose your ball in a game of fetch? Well have no fear DogStop is here. Yes, move over Cokes and Pepsi, vending machines has gone to the dogs. DogStop is an eco-friendly, energy efficient vending machine that offers your dogs entertainment, clothing and food in just one stop. It’s your one stop doggie shop for all your doggies needs and wants in the most convenient spot, parks and runs. It’s proven to be successful and a profitable business. So if you’re looking to start your own business while keeping your day job. DogStop is the business for you. Become a vending machine millionaire like millions of others and join us now while you still can.
shaidynd@gmail.com
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High Tech Mobility Magazine
Artist: Mehdi Doha Title: High Tech Mobility Magazine This magazine comes in a unique size. It is 4x7 inches in size. This magazine includes thirteen amazing articles with three sections. The sections are Mobile Gadgets, New Innovation and Mobile News. This issue consists of a PDA version of the magazine because my goal is for readers to be able to download this magazine to their portable devices such as Iphone, Ipod and EBook reader. I figured as technology quickly advances, new ideas for mobile learning will also rise and this magazine is designed as an innovative resource that provides knowledge, encouragement, and entertainment for readers who are willing to learn about new technological innovations. Technology is universal it is open to readers with any culture and ethical background. This magazine is very informative and it will educate readers and keep them up to date with the latest inventions in our society.
mehdidoha00@yahoo.com | 718.427.0478
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Which one is the Kosher chicken?
Artist: Gregory Anton Dvorak Title: Longer Look In this series of photographs of the West Harlem landscape at night, one is able to explore the areas beyond our visual limitations. Through the process of long exposure an image reveals itself that is not easily seen with the naked eye. Devoid of people and taking a long look at the environment itself, the energies of the subjects show their true colors. Many people, especially New Yorkers, are too used to their surroundings and don’t spend time to appreciate what is around them, especially at night. Obstructions (fences, grates, darkness, etc.) can change one’s perception of a space, as well as making it hard to reach. However, you can view past these obstacles; then are they obstacles anymore or have they accentuated the beauty and added breadth? Lighting and color contribute extra dimensions, with the ability to entirely alter the mood of a space. The film has compiled a long gaze of the area easily accessible for the viewer, in hopes that these areas at night can be given the time of day.
dvorak.gregory@gmail.com
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Which one is the Kosher chicken?
Artist: Cristalia Garcia Title: Music According to Billboard Charts (1958-2008) Music is the rhythm of owur lives, a universal language, and the stress reliever everyone needs. I decided to base my thesis on music to design something that will show how it has evolved throughout the years. I planned to create art that would take the viewer back in time to remember music from fifty years ago and be able to compare songs from the 70's to current ones. As years pass music has evolved and popularity of genres continue to change, as well as sales and formats in which music is sold. Even though people attach themselves to one music genre, we should explore different styles instead of focusing on one.
cristaliag@gmail.com | www.cristaliagarcia.com
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Meet Shambles
Artist: Saadia Lomeli Title: Party Crasher As a college student, while working and trying to complete internships, I have little to no time to understand politics. Typical political issues require crucial research and learning to understand what one will be voting for. Although, as students, we are now required to take a political science class in order to complete our general core requirements, this only forces us to learn about politics and usually does not activate personal interest past the class environment. I created the Party Crashers pamphlets and posters as a consistent political propagation focused on young adults. This will give them and up-todate understanding and knowledge of our political world, so they know which side they stand on early on, allowing them to form an educated decision for upcoming elections. Each pamphlet discusses summaries of major and well-known issues as viewed through that particular party. On the reverse side of each pamphlet is a piece of a poster that will form one big poster when put together.
saadialomeli@gmail.com
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A Day for ‘Carlos’
Artist: Lorena de Miranda Marques Title: The Dogwalker “The Dogwalker� project is a short movie documenting the day of Carlos, a New York City professional dogwalker, who has been providing dog care to the Upper East Side for over 10 years. For more information about The Dogwalker project please visit the blog below: http://lorenademirandamarques.blogspot.com/
lorenammarques@yahoo.com | 917.291.0754
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Artist: Cesar Rivera Morales Title: The People of the Sun The Aztecs’ cultural heritage, literary production, and traditions are often times overshadowed by a gruesome focus on religious practices such as sacrifice and cannibalism. A number of media forms like documentaries, movies, and animation have tended to portray Aztec religion as doomed and evil. These negative and simplistic depictions ignore or blatantly disregard exquisitely crafted sources for understanding and contextualizing the Aztecs’ religious practices, such as the wealth of Aztec songs, poems, intricate rituals, and complex belief systems. In the sixteenth century Codex Florentine, compiled by Bernardino de Sahagún, one ceremony in particular, “The Ceremony of Toxcatl,” beautifully illustrates Aztec cultural and religious achievements. “The Ceremony of Toxcatl,” the subject of my animated short film, was a one-year celebration wherein the Aztecs chose the most perfect captive enemy warrior and taught him the arts and traditions of their culture, treating him like a god for one year. The warrior would play the flute around the city, and would freely practice the other arts he had learned. When that year came to an end, the warrior would have embraced the Aztecs’ religion, and voluntarily offered his body for sacrifice. According to Aztec beliefs, this sacrifice guaranteed the continual movement of the sun, as well as fertility and life on earth.
cesarriveram@hotmail.com
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Artist: Joey Rodriguez Title: The Autobiography Poetry has been a very influential art form in my life. I have been writing since I was around 9 years of age. I started In Spanish because I lived in the Dominican Republic and I began to grasp the vocabulary. My favorite poets are Pablo Neruda, Jose Marti and Nicolas Guillen to top them off. I have no favorite poets in the English language but I have listened to many Hip-Hop artists such as Common, Mos Def, Q-Tip and Talib Kweli just to name a few who I believe are true modern poets. My thesis is based on an autobiography that I am writing in poetry. In this autobiography I am narrating my life from birth to present day. It consists of many subjects such as cultural diffusion, religion, politics, family and friendship, among others. I want people to visualize themselves in my life, which can relate to many people from all backgrounds.
arjoey15@aol.com
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Artist: Kandi Russell Title: The Male Subject Glamorizing nude women in paintings were usually seen as objects of pleasure, in addition to being a disempowering figure. The fascination of nudity was something that men artists used to promote themselves, being that it was so commonly accepted. It was never allowed for women to reproduce arts that expressed or included nudity. Hence this statement, I have created and expressed through the arts, illustrations that expose and objectify the male subject in a fashion were I have taken my examples from historically recognized paintings of the female nude throughout history. . A viewers instinct reaction to seeing a nude woman in a work of art would possibly, be "Oh look, there's a naked women... look at her body‌.look at her breasts, etc. It's become acceptable in a sense. In my opinion there’s nothing thought provoking about a female nude. What I truly hope to achieve from this proposal is a form of equality so that the female nudity will not be something to be gazed at, but rather something a viewer can fully and sincerely appreciate at a level like other works that do not encourage the female nude or artworks that reflect the potential of the female artist, as well as the ones that I have created in this thesis project.
krussel00@ccny.cuny.edu
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Artist: Nahomi Takada Title: The Redesign of SubTalk My thesis is about the communication of visual language. As a student who studies a second language, language and communication have been one of my greatest challenges since I moved to the United States from Japan. Through this thesis, I gained an understanding of the importance of visual images and its universal language. For my thesis, I propose new poster designs for the New York City subway. In particularly, evacuation and emergency instruction posters, and safety and manner posters, which are called “SubTalk.� Specific use of visual language is employed to the posters so that it is easily understood and communicates beyond the language barrier. The designs are not only easily comprehensible to everyone, but also humorous, unique and playful. New York is such an international city, and it is a perfect place to experiment with how people communicate with visual language.
nahomi.talada@gmail.com | 917.309.3729
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Artist: Gustavo Ureùa Title: Fossil fuel VS Renewable Energy, who’s winning? In my thesis I will be exploring how CO2 is produced and what are our immediate alternatives to minimize the use of fossil fuels in the city of New York. My topic is fully charged with a lot of information beginning from, what types of fossil fuels the city uses to generate energy? What type of energy is consumed by industries and what is their usage percentage? What is renewable energy and how does it work? And what are the immediate options of clean energy available to people living in cities like New York. The main reason of my thesis is to concertize people about our choices and their consequences and to educate them about the simple, cleaner, environmental responsible ways to perform our daily task.
www.GustavoUrena.com | 646.281.1787
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Which one is the Kosher chicken?
Artist: Tiba Vieira Title: Body in Motion My thesis is a video that explores the human body in motion through the art for of capoeira. It captures and presents some of the core movements of capoeira so that people who aren’t trained in the art form, will not only be able to experience the beauty of those movements but also be able to understand how the body performs them. And in the context of capoeira movements, I also explore the human anatomy and have a better understanding of how bones, ligaments, and joints work together when the body is in motion.
www.tibacapoeira.com | 646.228.7268
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BFA SEN IOR THES IS 2009 SHOW Omar Amigon Hristo Atanasov Zohar Avgar Orhys Brown Shaidyn Cedeno Medhi Doha Gregory Dvorak Cristalia Garcia Saadia Lomeli Lorena de Miranda Marques Cesar Rivera Moralas Joey Rodriguez Kandi Russell Nahomi Takada Gustavo Urena Tiba Vieira
The City College of New York