Counternarratives Installation Examines Bias in the News Media</h1> <article> <h1>Counternarratives Installation Examines Bias in the News Media</h1> <p>anagy — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 18:54:42 +0000</p> <span>Counternarratives Installation Examines Bias in the News Media</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2018-10-23T14:54:42-04:00" title="Tuesday, October 23, 2018 - 14:54">Tue, 10/23/2018 - 14:54</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>On October 29, visiting artist Alexandra Bell will begin mounting large-scale works on the exteriors of two campus buildings—Terrell Main Library and the Allen Memorial Art Museum—as part of her <em>Counternarratives</em> project, which calls attention to how issues around race and violence are reported in the <em>New York Times</em>.</p> <p>Since 2016, Bell has used walls in public locations to mount photo-based works that dissect news coverage, ranging from police violence to athletic competitions. The works reveal biases and assumptions about race, gender, and power. The Brooklyn-based artist, who holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, urges viewers to think critically about the circulation and consumption of news and the politics of the narratives presented.</p> <p>A number of other campuses have hosted Bell’s <em>Counternarratives</em> project, including Bennington College in Vermont, Pomona College in California, and the University of Kansas.</p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>Alexandra Bell. Credit: Béatrice de Géa</figcaption> </figure> <p>“Bell’s work is viscerally powerful, and I knew the first time I saw one of her <em>Counternarratives</em> that I wanted to bring her to 91ֱ��,” says Andrea Gyorody, Ellen Johnson ’33 Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. “What she’s doing, across the visual arts, journalism, and activism is timely and critically important. It’s difficult work that 91ֱ�� students are ready to engage on all levels, and I hope it sparks conversations in and outside of the classroom.”</p> <p>Bell’s 2017 work, <em>A Teenager With Promise</em>, will be installed on the façade of Mudd Center, which houses the Terrell Main Library. The work responds to news reporting of the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri. A second work, <em>Charlottesville</em>, will be mounted on the Venturi Addition, which conjoins the Allen Memorial Art Museum and the Department of Art. This diptych deconstructs a front page <em>New York Times </em>report on an August 2017 march by torch-bearing white nationalists and the large counter protests that ensued. </p> <p><a href="http://www2.oberlin.edu/amam/Counternarratives.htm">Both installations</a> are on view from October 30 through December 21, 2018. </p> <p>Bell will discuss her project at <a href="https://calendar.oberlin.edu/event/counternarratives">5:30 p.m. Monday, October 29</a>, in the Hallock Auditorium of the Adam J. Lewis Center for Environmental Studies. The next day, Bell will facilitate a “Lunch and Learn” session with approximately 25 91ֱ�� College students and will discuss journalism, ethics, implicit bias, racism, privilege, and the critical reading of both texts and images (and how they interact with one another). </p> <p><em>Counternarratives</em> is presented by the Allen Memorial Art Museum and the 91ֱ�� College Libraries in conjunction with <a href="http://www2.oberlin.edu/amam/Radically%20Ordinary.html">Radically Ordinary: Scenes from Black Life in America Since 1968</a>, an exhibition curated by Gyorody.</p> <p>Coinciding with the exhibition, the museum will host “Creating Space: Curating Black Art Now,” a daylong symposium on Thursday, November 2. The keynote address of the symposium will take place during the museum’s First Thursday event at 5:45 p.m. on November 1. The keynote speaker will be Naima J. Keith, deputy director of the California African American Museum, Los Angeles. In addition, the Friends of the 91ֱ�� College Library will present a lecture by Maria Balinsky at 8 p.m. Saturday, November 3. Balinska is co-CEO and editor of the United States edition of <a href="https://theconversation.com/us"><em>The Conversation</em></a>, a nonprofit committed to transparency and credibility in news reporting.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2018-10-23T12:00:00Z">Tue, 10/23/2018 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Megan Harding</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Brooklyn-based artist Alexandra Bell will mount large-scale works on two campus buildings, prompting viewers to think critically about how race and violence are portrayed in the <em>New York Times.</em></p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2591">Art Installation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2378">Allen Memorial Art Museum</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2575">Activism</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Artist Alexandra Bell’s Counternarratives exhibition at Pomona College in California.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Claremont Colleges Library</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Johnny Coleman: From Concept to Creation</h1> <p>hhempste — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 13:29:53 +0000</p> <span>Johnny Coleman: From Concept to Creation</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2018-07-26T09:29:53-04:00" title="Thursday, July 26, 2018 - 09:29">Thu, 07/26/2018 - 09:29</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Johnny Coleman, Young Hunter Professor of Art and Africana Studies, was awarded an artist-in-residency position for this summer’s <a href="https://frontart.org/">FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art: <em>An American City</em></a>, a global art exhibition based in Northeast Ohio, running July 14 through September 30, 2018.</p> <p>As one of the six Cleveland-based artists selected to participate, along with six international and six national artists, Coleman was given workspace in The Madison, a building inside the new PNC Glenville Arts Campus in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood.</p> <p>View photos of his <a href="/news/artist-johnny-coleman-finds-inspiration-beaten-path">artistic process</a>, from conceptual sketch to the exhibition’s opening, for his FRONT project, <em>Reflections From Here: Elders of Glenville</em>.</p> <p></p> <p>Johnny Coleman typically relies on human interaction to lay the groundwork for his projects. Those interactions typically take the form of extended conversations, as was the case for <em>Reflections From Here: Elders of Glenville</em>.</p> <p>Coleman asked elders in the Glenville community two questions: What are your memories of Glenville? What are your aspirations for this community? Their responses inspired his installation at the now vacant St. Mark’s Church on East Boulevard in Cleveland. [Photo credit: John Seyfried]</p> <p></p> <p>Coleman’s conceptual sketch of the installation on the exterior of St. Mark’s Church. [Sketch by Johnny Coleman]</p> <p></p> <p>Coleman constructs seats from repurposed oak, which were inspired by the grandfather chairs of the Dan people from West Africa. [Photo credit: John Seyfried]</p> <p></p> <p>Coleman builds seats in his workshop. [Photo credit: John Seyfried]</p> <p></p> <p>Coleman paints the chairs by hand. [Photo credit: John Seyfried]</p> <p></p> <p>Coleman installs a pulpit facing church pews and East Boulevard in an area of Cleveland once called The Gold Coast. [Photo credit: Jesse Kucewicz]</p> <p></p> <p>On either side of the pulpit, two chairs are situated, seemingly in conversation, with repurposed oak pews placed outside of the church. [Photo credit: Jesse Kucewicz]</p> <p></p> <p>Coleman stands in front of St. Mark’s Church during the installation process. Speakers are mounted on the facade of the now vacant church. Voices of the elders emanate, each speaking to the richness, complexity, and challenges in their community. Alongside their stories, Bonita Wagner Johnson sings, “Move on up a Little Higher.” [Photo credit: Jesse Kucewicz]</p> <p></p> <p>An extension of his Glenville-based project, Coleman also placed sound installations, Upon Reflection (1) and (2), at Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA). The audio includes stories from Glenville elders and a telescope that points in the direction of the church. [Photo credit: Jesse Kucewicz]</p> <p></p> <p>A view of St. Mark’s Church during the opening of<em> Reflections From Here: Elders of Glenville. </em>[Photo credit: Hillary Hempstead]</p> <p></p> <p>Coleman addresses the crowd gathered for the exhibition’s opening day. Attendees include Glenville residents he interviewed for the project. [Photo credit: Hillary Hempstead]</p> <p> </p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2018-07-25T12:00:00Z">Wed, 07/25/2018 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Hillary Hempstead</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Johnny Coleman is an artist-in-residence for this summer’s FRONT International Triennial. This photo essay demonstrates his artistic process for <em>Reflections From Here: Elders of Glenville</em>, installed at St. Mark’s Church in Cleveland. </p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2591">Art Installation</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Professor of Art and Africana Studies Johnny Coleman stands in front of St. Mark’s Church in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood. </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Jesse Kucewicz</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Artist Johnny Coleman Finds Inspiration Off the Beaten Path</h1> <p>hhempste — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 15:42:39 +0000</p> <span>Artist Johnny Coleman Finds Inspiration Off the Beaten Path</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2018-03-13T11:42:39-04:00" title="Tuesday, March 13, 2018 - 11:42">Tue, 03/13/2018 - 11:42</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>People cautioned <a href="/node/5051">Johnny Coleman</a> about going into the swamp at night.</p> <p>“They looked at me like I was crazy,” said Coleman. But last August, under the cover of darkness and with detailed instructions from locals, Coleman hopped over a barricade leading into Dismal Swamp State Park in North Carolina. The reason for his late night leap? To collect nighttime audio recordings for an upcoming multimedia project about his ancestors who, in the 1700s, lived in the maroon community of freed and escaped slaves in the Great Dismal Swamp.</p> <p>More often than not, the Young Hunter Professor of Art and Africana Studies, relies on human interaction to lay the groundwork for his artistic projects. Those interactions typically take the form of extended conversations—or, as in North Carolina, careful instructions and a friendly word of warning from folks on the ground—about the topic he is exploring. He’ll visit gathering places and off-the-beaten-path fried fish joints to collect stories and tips. He’s even admitted to approaching individuals right on the street.</p> <p>“I plant as many seeds as possible,” says Coleman. “I’ve worked this way for 30 years now.”</p> <p>For another example of Coleman’s artistic process in practice, look no further than his first collaborative artistic venture in Northeast Ohio, back in 1995. At that time, Coleman was invited to participate in a project focused on Cleveland, called <em>Urban Evidence: Contemporary Artists Reveal Cleveland</em>. As a relative newcomer to the area who had recently relocated for his position at 91ֱ��, Coleman wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the city’s history. So to gather stories from a variety of people, he decided to cast a very wide net.</p> <p>“I put ads in the <em>Call & Post</em>, a black community newspaper, and in the <em>Plain Dealer,</em>” says Coleman. “I went to barber shops and barbecue joints and put up signs. I would walk the streets in Cleveland’s neighborhoods. People would refer folks to me and, slowly, by word of mouth, people would find me and ask to sit down and talk.”</p> <p>This organic, but very deliberate, process placed him in conversations with a range of individuals—the oldest aged 102 and the youngest 33 years old—all with diverse life experiences. “They shared so much with me about Cleveland. I really fell in love with the town and the history, and all of it came just from spending time with people, face-to-face.” Coleman notes that since meeting those individuals decades ago, he’s been able to stay in touch with some.</p> <p>Coleman plans to take a similarly people-centric approach to his next undertaking—an artist-in-residency position for this summer’s <a href="https://frontart.org/">FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art: <em>An American City</em></a>, a global art exhibition based in Northeast Ohio that will run from July 14 through September 30, 2018.</p> <p>As one of the six Cleveland-based artists selected to participate, along with six international and six national artists, Coleman will have the opportunity to live and work in The Madison, a building inside the new PNC Glenville Arts Campus in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood.</p> <p>The Madison, named in honor of the building’s designer and Ohio’s first licensed African American architect Robert P. Madison, once housed black doctors and dentists who could not rent space to practice elsewhere. The building, along with museums including 91ֱ��'s <a href="https://amam.oberlin.edu">Allen Memorial Art Museum</a>, civic institutions, and other alternative spaces across Northeast Ohio, will display a diverse range of projects, from artist commissions and performances to films and public programs.</p> <p>The Madison is located virtually around the corner from University Hospitals and the museums and businesses in University Circle. Coleman notes that the Glenville neighborhood is not bustling despite its proximity to populated areas. “Those resources and those investments have not yet trickled down,” says Coleman.</p> <p>When considering his project’s focus for FRONT, Coleman is committed to staying open to whatever inspires him throughout the neighborhood.</p> <p>“I’m going to spend many weekends in Glenville so I can gather stories and then share what I discover. I really want to leave it that open-ended. I’m just looking forward to hearing people’s stories and falling into conversations with people over the fence.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2018-03-12T12:00:00Z">Mon, 03/12/2018 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Hillary Hempstead</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Johnny Coleman has a history of casting a wide net to gather inspiration for his work. He’ll continue this approach as one of the six Cleveland-based artists selected to participate in an artist-in-residency program at The Madison as part of FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2414">Faculty</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2591">Art Installation</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4821">Africana Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Johnny Coleman, professor of art and Africana studies, stands in front of a church in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">John Seyfried</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Memory_Archive Explores Digital Identity</h1> <p>hhempste — Fri, 26 May 2017 21:12:24 +0000</p> <span>Memory_Archive Explores Digital Identity</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2017-05-26T17:12:24-04:00" title="Friday, May 26, 2017 - 17:12">Fri, 05/26/2017 - 17:12</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>When it comes to socializing, fifth-year Kirk Pearson says, “The virtual version of me has a much more active social life than the actual me.”</p> <p>That’s not to say that the dual degree composition and cinema studies student from New York City doesn’t talk with people in his everyday life. It does mean, however, that he admits to interacting with many more people digitally than he does physically.</p> <p>“I'd say this is true for nearly every college student today. Your digital profile is really just a surrogate of you that lives in a world where geography isn’t an obstacle,” says Pearson. “It makes no difference if my friends are in California or Indonesia. I communicate with all of them using the exact same series of clicks.”</p> <p>This realization about his social habits prompted Pearson to examine the implications of living such a large portion of his life online. But instead of these reflections amounting just to dorm room ponderings, Pearson pursued his musings further: “What would happen if the characteristics of the digital world started to permeate our physical lives?”</p> <p>Pearson’s response to this question was to design a four-story, surrealist installation about a corporation, called <a href="http://www.kirkmakesthings.com/memory_archive"><em>memory_archive</em></a>. This one-night-only show also served as Pearson’s senior recital composition piece, effectively turning the concept of the traditional senior recital on its head.</p> <p>“In a typical recital, observers sit in a room to observe and listen to performances—you become a passive listener. In this recital, we bent over backwards to make sure you'd walk to, in, and out of each piece,” says Pearson. “Performers changed what they were doing, different rooms opened up at different times of the night, and different scheduled events took place at different times. Thus, no two visitors got the same experience, and we're rather proud of that.”</p> <p>Set inside 91ֱ��’s Bosworth Hall, Pearson, with the help of a cadre of 37 student artists, programmers, performers, and designers, crafted a multi-sensory experience that explored what the digital world might look like in a physical setting. By incorporating numerous auditory and visual elements, Pearson’s depiction of a surreal world was intended to serve as a reminder that our digital identities are actually proprietary commodities.</p> <p>“Your virtual self lives not in a ‘cloud,’ but in a high security cluster of corporate-controlled server farms,” says Pearson. “Every action taken by our Facebook, Twitter, or Google profiles is closely monitored and legally sold to a suite of more than 3,500 data brokering companies. There is presently no legal recourse to prevent these brokers from distributing this information to third parties, including propaganda teams, fringe political factions, or government surveillance agencies. The persona you use to communicate most frequently is also one you have no practical control over.”</p> <p>Central to memory_archive was software built by student programmers who created a reactive, custom-built app that “scraped” data from each individual attendee’s Facebook profile. As a person moved through the installation, their personal information was incorporated into the art piece.</p> <p>“We used Facebook's official tools to request ten photos from the people who logged into the custom built app,” says Andres Cuervo, a fourth-year studying computer science and creative writing, also worked a developer on the project. “Then we stored those in a server for use later in the show.”</p> <p>The installation also used several visual techniques, one of which is called “projection mapping.” Sage Jenson, a fifth-year computer science, mathematics and TIMARA major, used projection mapping to impose patterns on the apse of the chapel inside the hall. “This allowed me to project patterns on the windows that did not touch the wall, and to light up certain bricks but not others,” says Jenson.</p> <p>More than 600 people attended the performance, including some from outside of 91ֱ��. “The experience overall was very powerful,” says Jonah Bobo, a student visiting from the School of Music at Ithaca College. “The squeamishness of the participants when it came time to register with Facebook was so eerie. This is something people do on a daily basis without thinking twice about it. But in the context of a spooky church, and with some carefully chosen contractual language, suddenly logging into Facebook was equivalent to selling your soul to the devil.”</p> <p>For Amanda Siskind, a fourth-year politics major who also stage-managed the production, a key takeaway for her was understanding the volume of personal information that is available online that can be monitored or used by anyone.</p> <p>“Everything that we used in the installation, every single video clip, image, and snippet of information, was obtained legally for free and mostly without needing to ask anyone’s consent,” says Siskind. “What little we did need to ask consent for could be summed up in a 350-word terms and conditions statement, and we actually asked for far less data from participants compared to what people give up freely every day on the internet when clicking ‘OK, connect to my profile’ or ‘Yes, I agree.’ [The project] as a whole demonstrated just how much of ourselves we uncaringly put out digitally into the world, because we’re so blinded by our need for entertainment or a quicker process.”</p> <p>Pearson emphasises that the installation was not intended to be a critique of Facebook. However, it was meant to be a reminder of a false sense of security that individuals have when quickly and mindlessly navigating the online world by sharing, liking, and clicking.</p> <p>“As sharing is so quick and simple, we tend to blind ourselves to the content we put out there,” says Pearson. “Facebook isn't stealing your data—they've just made it blissfully simple for you to hand it over.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2017-04-20T12:00:00Z">Thu, 04/20/2017 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Hillary Hempstead</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2591">Art Installation</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33331">Composition</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25256">Cinema and Media</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">In Kirk Pearson's surrealist art installation, projection mapping is used to impose patterns on the apse of the chapel inside Bosworth Hall.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-title field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Memory Archive</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Pang Fei Chiang</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <div class="photo-gallery__slides"> <div class="photo-gallery__slide__wrapper"> <figure class="photo-gallery__slide"> <div class="photo-gallery__slide__image"> </div> <figcaption> <span class="figure__caption">Projection mapping is used to impose patterns on the apse of the chapel inside Bosworth Hall.<br> </span> <span class="figure__credit">Photo credit: Pang Fei Chiang</span> </figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="photo-gallery__slide__wrapper"> <figure class="photo-gallery__slide"> <div class="photo-gallery__slide__image"> </div> <figcaption> <span class="figure__caption">Inside the server farm of the memory_archive corporation, visitors’ personal documents are run through an industrial paper shredder.<br> </span> <span class="figure__credit">Photo credit: Pang Fei Chiang</span> </figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="photo-gallery__slide__wrapper"> <figure class="photo-gallery__slide"> <div class="photo-gallery__slide__image"> </div> <figcaption> <span class="figure__caption">At the conclusion of the installation, each visitor is greeted with the personal photo that was taken at the beginning of their journey.<br> </span> <span class="figure__credit">Photo credit: Pang Fei Chiang</span> </figcaption> </figure> </div> </div> <div class="photo-gallery__navbar"> <figure class="photo-gallery__navbar__item"> </figure> <figure class="photo-gallery__navbar__item"> </figure> <figure class="photo-gallery__navbar__item"> </figure> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Pride of People</h1> <p>anagy — Fri, 26 May 2017 21:12:24 +0000</p> <span>Pride of People</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2017-05-26T17:12:24-04:00" title="Friday, May 26, 2017 - 17:12">Fri, 05/26/2017 - 17:12</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>When Aiury Cavallo entered a contest to design a mural for El Rincon Latino in Stevenson Dining Hall, the budding artist’s only comparable experience was with spray-painting walls and large surfaces.</p> <p>After a year of labor, the finished 16-foot-by-6.5-foot mural has been installed in the public space where students and faculty can practice speaking Spanish while having lunch.</p> <p>Cavallo, a third-year Africana studies and visual art major, is among a small minority of Brazilian, Portuguese-speaking students on campus. Cavallo also learned to speak Spanish in high school.</p> <p>“The Latinx community really is important to me. I wanted to make an image that’s a symbol of unity and us coming together, having fun together, organizing, and doing difficult work together, all in this space where people speak Spanish and eat together.”</p> <p>The college announced the design contest in late November 2015. The idea sprang from a guest lecture by muralist Cesar Viveros, who spoke about urban murals as a social tool. Viveros, an artist and muralist based in Philadelphia, is well known for his most recent mural, which was dedicated to Pope Francis in honor of his visit to Philadelphia in September 2015. His lecture explained how programs to create collective mural-making are powerful tools for generating dialogue, building relationships, empowering communities, and sparking economic revitalization.</p> <p>The Stevenson mural consists of four sections with acrylic paint as the primary medium. Cavallo explains that all the flags of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean are represented. The colors, however, “represent people to me, way more than the shapes of the flags.”</p> <p>“The forms of the flags tell a lot of the imperial, colonial history—the bloody history of how theses countries came to be and how these flags were created. The colors have an energy to them. They are the pride of people. The colors are what can be taken out of those flags and made ours again. I wanted to design around the colors coexisting with each other and intersecting. I also wanted each flag to be recognizable so that people can take it and apply it in our shared heritage, even if they were born here and removed from wherever their parents came from.”</p> <p>The process took longer and was more labor intensive than expected, but Cavallo was passionate about making it look professional.</p> <p>“It’s been a lot of fun. I loved making this.”</p> <p>A formal unveiling ceremony will be held later this spring.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2017-04-20T12:00:00Z">Thu, 04/20/2017 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Amanda Nagy</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2391">Languages & Literatures</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2591">Art Installation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2404">Cultural Celebrations</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Third-year Aiury Cavallo</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Dale Preston</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>