(Above: Installation by Doran Walot, a student in the University of Oregon’s master’s of fine arts program. The artist statement reads, “Objects that at first scan as rusty bricks of consistent size and inconsistent materiality reveal themselves to be concrete castings from VHS ‘Squeeze & Shake’ rental sleeves, effigies not of the technology of the video cassette but of the vessels that protected them. These unfussy artifacts recall the chronologically recent but reasonably inaccessible space of the video rental store, a browsable archive curated not by algorithm but still shaped by the invisible hands of capital and regional demand.”)
By Randi Bjornstad
It won’t be the same as being there, of course, but the continuing coronavirus pandemic requires that everybody come up with novel ideas for simulating normalcy, and the University of Oregon’s School of Art + Design is a perfect example.
In normal times, the school would have a big reception, and art lovers would flock to the campus to see an extensive exhibit of the creations of the UO’s current batch of seniors and graduate students.
Far From Me 7, a digital comic from a series by Phoebe Mallory, a recent graduate of the UO’s bachelor of fine arts program in Art and Technology
This year, that celebration of art and design will be online, and — look on the bright side — maybe even more people than usual will be able to see this work and understsand what the art-and-design department does.
Charlene Liu, the director of the school, said as much in announcing the show.
“This year, while we were unable to be together in person to celebrate, we are grateful that we can share their work with you online,” Liu said. ” I feel proud and deeply privileged to see the creative vision of a new generation of artists and designers. Their work is unique, inventive, and thought-provoking—spanning a range of subject matter, media, and ideas on power, aesthetics, identity, the body, and social and environmental concerns.”
The show, now available online at https://artdesign.uoregon.edu/2020-exhibitions, features the work of undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of disciplines, including fine art, sports product design, art and technology, and product design.
The online exhibit is set up like the floorplan of the gallery space. Click on the center “hallway” and hear Liu’s full opening remarks, as well as greetings by Trygve Faste, the head of the product design program, and Amanda Wojick, who heads the arts program.
Display spaces to the right feature exhibits of product design by master’s and bachelor’s students and members of the ARC, an academic and residential community at the UO.
On the left, bachelor’s and master’s students in art and art and technology show their work. The third display space features an exhibit called Spring Storm, an annual show of work by all three areas which incorporate “21st-century approaches, using traditional and new media to address compelling questions in contemporary culture.” These creations range from what appears to be a model of a residential, orbiting space station to an exquisite wooden chair.
Each section of the show can be entered by pressing a “button” on the gallery space and then scrolling down to the “enter” bar.
Charbel Houinato from Benin, West Africa, is a student in the UO Sports Product Design program; here is a series of drawings for one of his projects to provide performance enhancement for athletes; during his academic career, he has worked on projects sponsored by Target, Umbra, Johnson & Johnson Federal Mogul, and Comcast Xfinity.
