By: Corinne Speckert, The Spartan Daily
Posted: 10/23/08
Students will be offered the opportunity to gain hands-on experience by working with artists in the creation of the first in a series of artworks developed to increase awareness of global climate change.
Joel Slayton, a professor of art and design who was part of the panel of judges that included international participation, said one of the criteria looked for in artists was an understanding in their approach to the problem of greenhouse gases.
"We wanted the most interesting, radical strategies that we could find, and ultimately the winner would produce a piece of art unlike anything in the world," he said.
The Climate Clock is a collaboration between the university's public art program, the Montalvo Art Center and the city of San Jose. It will allow students the chance to work with three finalists teams that were chosen by a panel of judges in September.
The artists of the three finalist teams are Usman Haque and Robert Davis; Chico MacMurtrie with Amorphic Robot Works; and Freya Bardell, Brian Howe and Brent Bucknum.
On-campus presentations of the projects will begin with the first team in January 2009, the second in fall of 2009 and the third in spring of 2010. The intervals will allow students to work with the artists on their designs for three months.
"Students will get to participate with the artists in ways to help inform the designs," Slayton said. "There will be an opportunity for students across campus, but it will be selective. We'll have to determine how students will get involved, which is completely dependent on the project."
The Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering hosted a seminar in May, where about 50 proposals for the Climate Clock were viewed.
"It was neat when they had the colloquium because they put up renderings created by each artist," said Pat Lopes Harris, SJSU media relations specialist. "And it's neat to see what artists come up with. I'm not an artist, but it blows your mind. Highly imaginative."
Slayton has been working on this project for the past year-and-a-half and said one of the reasons he was drawn to the proposal of the Climate Clock was that he saw it as an opportunity to get SJSU involved.
"When this project was brought to me, a light bulb went off and it was like 'Oh yeah, we can actually take this idea and turn it into something globally important.' And SJSU would have a substantial leadership role in the evaluation of the project," Slayton said.
Belle Wei, dean of the College of Engineering, said in an e-mail that she sees this project as an outlet for student involvement.
"The Climate Clock initiative is a great way to get students involved in interdisciplinary projects that teach them to be environmentally informed and responsible," she said. "We promote projects that develop solutions for environmental sustainability. We want our engineering students to help the world reduce its carbon footprint."
Lopes Harris said that although one of the reasons SJSU became involved was for students, she thinks that it will also help increase environmental awareness throughout the city.
"What we do here is first and foremost for our students but we are always cognitive that what we do here reverberates throughout the valley and that applies to the Climate Clock," she said.
The Climate Clock is expected to be unveiled in 2010 at the 3rd Biennial 01SJ Global Festival of Art on the Edge and will be displayed in Downtown San Jose. The final proposal selection will take place in July 2009.
© Copyright 2010 Spartan Daily
No comments:
Post a Comment