Periodic Table of Elements
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After a long journey (almost two years!) the Periodic Table of Elements installation is up! It now currently resides on the second floor of the Hoeffner Science & Technology Building on the second floor directly across from the chemistry labs.
The Dean of the Arts & Sciences, Peter Hawkes, at East Stroudsburg University (where I teach) asked me to come up with a bunch of proposals to install artwork in the new Science & Technology Building on campus. I proposed about 15 different projects that mixed art and science. This Periodic Table of Elements was the top vote getter amongst the science departments — therefore we went ahead with it.
What you see in the pictures below is a collaboration between students in my Communication Graphics class from the Spring 2012 and Spring 2013 semesters. Each element is designed by a different student in response to the Letterform/Counterform project in which the letters that denote each element are rearranged, juxtaposed and/or cropped in an interesting and creative manner (I have included a link below the pictures of the actual project assignment sheet if you are interested). The resulting installation is what I consider to be an innovative rendition of the normal periodic table of elements that students and faculty know and love. Now they can test their knowledge of the table and, at the same time, stir some creative juices. My personal view is that the sciences can always benefit from a little creativity and, alternately, the arts can always benefit from a little more analytical thought.
There was short period where it seemed as if the Science Departments decided to rescind their offer of allowing us to install the artwork in their building, but thanks to the efforts of Dean Hawkes the installation went forward.
My First Art Show
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I could not resist. I just came across this photo and I am pretty sure this is the first art exhibition I ever attended. It was for my brother, Jeff (that’s his artwork of King Kong and the Tyrannosaurus rex):
Inkling
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I have to share some exciting news. I just received my very own Inkling! And, as most of you well know, I am not into advertising for anyone, but I do have to say that I absolutely love my new Inkling. (You can check it out here on the official site). Basically, the Inkling allows you to draw in your sketchbook (or wherever) with actual, real ink and have an actual, physical drawing. Then you plug the receiver into your computer and you can then import the drawing as vector or raster art. This skips the middleman (the scanner or digital camera) and converts your drawing much more accurately in the digital realm. Gaz, I think you’d definitely dig this!
And, below, is the first ever image recorded by the Inkling in our house – -by my daughter Indira (well, most of it anyway):
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
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A quote from Nietzsche (from The Birth of Tragedy), taken slightly out of context, that I feel sums up the main goal of my reason for creating art:
“. . . something never before experienced struggles for utterance. . .”
M(i)(A)cro
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Comic-Thon 2011
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This past Fall semester 2011, the Student Art Association (for which I am the Faculty Advisor) received a special grant to conduct its first ever 12-Hour Comic-Thon. A 12-Hour comic drawing event – the goal: to draw one comic book page per hour for 12 hours straight. A grueling affair to say the least, but it was a huge success. Every participant had everything they needed – all supplies necessary to draw comics and enough food and drink to last 12 hours. East Stroudsburg University student Anna Maino was the first to complete one whole 12-page comic book story — congratulations Anna! Here are some pictures from the event:
We even made the local paper!
Read below for most of the text appearing on the poster (designed by Steve SImorka – thanks Steve!):
Get our your coffee! Local artists, art enthusiasts, and/or comic book lovers who want to test their creativity
and push their artistic limits are invited to this years 12-Hour Comic Event sponsored by the Student Art
Association of East Stroudsburg University. The day of extreme cartooning allows 12 straight hours for
amateur and professional cartoonists of any age to challenge themselves to write, draw, and letter an entire
12-page comic story in 12 hours (one page per hour).
Creating comic art can be lonely work; the 12-Hour Comic Event provides an opportunity to stretch creative
muscles and get invigorated by working alongside (or with) a group of fellow artists.
The event is all about sharing the love of comic book creation, and it draws in young and old, experienced and
novice. Don’t let lack of experience or materials keep you away — previous participants have been as young
as 7 and as old as 97!
