1982disks
John Benson
2003
"1982disks" is an interactive narrative written on the labels of empty floppy disks. Engaged by the user, disks are taken and rearranged; grouped and reordered as per the importance or meaning created through the individuals' exploration and interaction with the stacks of disks. As a result, personal sub-narratives become intertwined into the piece when the user supplies a new context for the information on display.
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2674753332
Rick Banister
2003
Beginning with a collaborative exhibition of homemade t-shirts, the branding of my phone number has become a signature in my work. The shirts have undergone three iterations; the third being this submission. Their intention is to engage an audience at a personal level-viewing the phone number and understanding its context requires making eye contact (to some extent) with the wearer (implicitly, the owner of the number). The number is displayed in three stacked rows, right-aligned to create an icon containing contact information. The number has become a stamp. The original goal was to test an audience, to determine whether they would receive their cue and call the number, the calls themselves are not important (they are usually quite base).
The project questions branding, naming, and communication technology as the phone number becomes an icon with greater meaning as well as dynamic location/address. The t-shirts illustrate a defense mechanism by disarming observers and placing a filter (the telephone) between artist and audience, yet simultaneously become a conversation spark.
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Bike_Dead
Charlie Cottone
2004
Bike_Dead is an installation about finding a positive voice in a negative situation. After a Septa bus ran into a white bicycle, a written letter addressing their accountability for the event was delivered and ignored. The short film was completed using digital video from nights spent wheat pasting the letter in the public eye (near and on Septa stops). The installation includes one of the letters, the broken bike and the "Bike_Dead" film.
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Claret
Elizabeth Williams
2004
This book and accompanying CD is a collection of music, photography, poetry and prose inspired by the theme, claret, which is evocative of a range of associations from the literal (red, wine) to associative (love, anger, purity). The artists typically present their work on the web and this collection brings them together in a new format. Miss Williams served as editor and designer, binding and silk-screening the book by hand.
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Constant Comment
John Benson
2005
"Constant Comment" is the deconstruction of a body of work speaking to a wide spectrum of ideas politically, socially, and academically. The installation punctuates the gallery space, spreading out across several rooms with pieces that comment on digital privacy, encryption technology, branding, and information design. Juxtaposed are sentiments of gender and body image, conspicuous consumption, and the temporality of experience.
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Dear Alex
Rick Banister
2004
Following an unfortunate and embarrassing incident (and lapse in judgment) I found myself in an awkward situation with my former roommate Alex Gilbert. An apology became a piece of mail art and my incident became a public broadcast tackling public vs. private, repentance, forgiveness, and diffusion of responsibility. 500 postcards were distributed to friends and strangers with postage paid and our address affixed. The incident and the subsequent public broadcast reached a level of absurdity by bearing witness and collecting feedback on such a wide scale. Nearly 200 postcards were received, some to Alex's delight, some to his dismay. The postcards were scanned and cataloged online for those who submitted to view their peers' commentary.
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MMTypo Books
Ronnie Lee Grissom
2004
'MMTypo Books' is a collection of 3 chapters that when grouped, creates a narrative of the Multimedia student, represented through the work and interviews of three seniors in the department. This piece emphasizes the individual on focus, while fulfilling the overall constrained vernacular environment of the computer desktop in relation to the user covered.
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Myrityoma amritam gamaya
Elizabeth Williams
2005
The ugly is often composed of the most beautiful. In this black and white photographic diptych death is confronted in intimate focus as the viewer is put within an inch of a dead and partially decomposed bird. The skeleton has retained some degree of animation, however, as in this particular framing the bird can be seen as still yearning and grasping for life. The title is Sanskrit for 'From death lead me to eternal life.'
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Photoarchive
John Benson
2004
"Photoarchive" is an annotated online photo database that captures a struggle to come to terms with aspects of human memory. By nature memory fades; we rewrite events and experiences in our mind, and as we grow and change our recollection of the past is almost immediately imperfect. By sharing a process I have created for recounting the past, I am exposing this truth about memory. Doing this using a digital medium that never fades, that is instantly and indefinitely duplicable and publicly available, I am subverting some physically degenerative as well as the singularly personal aspects of memory.
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Proa
Elizabeth Williams
2005
Proa is a series of three color photographs taken with a plastic camera, the aesthetic of which infuses the images with nostalgia and faded memory, as if they are of another place and time. The title means 'prow' in Spanish, referential to a becoming, a jutting forward and sending forth that is subtly present. There is an analogy here of the progression through the three stages of life - birth, life, and death - as the viewer moves through the frames.
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Skivies Homme
Rick Banister
2004
A refreshed view of the male undergarment that avoids taking reference from both ubiquitous underwear solutions (boxer, brief, boxer brief) and faux-functional couture ($50 a pair yet still uncomfortable) affords self-confident, self-realized males with another solution. Undergarments emphasizing function through form and material also offer aesthetics through playful use of fabric design, pattern and print. Exploration of fabric (thread count, weight, elasticity, breath-ability, and texture to a lesser extent) and visual design (use of appropriated recognizable pattern-toile, etc. as well as original pattern design, dye printing, pigment printing) creates a new dimension of underwear fashion, and justifies the need for such a product line. Prototyping, printing, manufacturing, marketing, and subsequent synthesis of the process were completed in boutique do-it-my-self fashion. Latent themes expressed in the printed imagery include: gender, self-promotion, craftsmanship, defense mechanisms, and sexuality. Live models show the underwear as it was intended.
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The Superlative Crowd
Rick Banister
2005
This short fictional trilogy illustrates a narrative arc of social interaction, self-deprecation, defense mechanism, frustration, and reward. The narratives are auto-referential and in some event autobiographical, yet rely on a fictional vehicle. That vehicle is a collection of ideals and ideal circumstances which are gilt and fleeting. Characters, context, and voice, being overwritten, provide a meta-layer of content and diversion.
The accompanying garments remediate and typecast the characters I have created, illustrating their personalities, strengths, and shortcomings. Our outward manifestation of personality in physical appearance (specifically fashion) is a direct representation (or reaction) to our more latent inner-workings. The details of the stories and garments act as gestalt, offering insight to the characters I have created and their contexts. Models interacting casually in the clothes produce a reaction with the audience, precipitating in expectations of the characters' personalities.
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Systemantics
Justin Todd Rauschkolb
2005
'Systemantics' is a video installation that compares organic and synthetic systems through the use of projection. Synthetic systems found in factories are filmed and then projected onto surfaces found in natural systems. The product of these projections are filmed and then projected once again onto concave and convex surfaces in a gallery space. A mix of factory and nature sounds is played through speakers placed behind the surfaces. The mechanical properties that are projected onto the natural objects become an allegory for the natural surfaces they are projected on.
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Tag, You're it
Amy DeRemer
2003
"Tag, You're it" is a hand made book comprised of digital photographs and is 8.5in. X 4in. The photos in this book were all taken in Philadelphia, PA. The images captured were of art that had been left behind as a signature or identifying mark, leaving a message or statement.
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Thanatopsis
Keegan Fink
2005
"Thanatopsis" centers on the subject of dreams and my attempt to reassemble the fragmented narratives of our the subconscious. After waking, one quickly begins to lose grip on the finer details of nocturnal exploits. By keeping a dream journal, it is possible to establish a hold on what would otherwise be fleeting mental imagery. It is this very imagery that embodies Thanatopsis' curiosity. The goal is to graphically reinterpret my own dreams through the print medium illustrating my inner musings and the assumptions drawn from these nightly visions.
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Untitled Series
John Benson
2004
This series of Gum Bichromate prints is the product of using the computer and metallic pigments to push the conventions of the printing process. Digitally created imagery and compositions enabled rapid output of negatives during the development of the prints.
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Urban/Rural Sprawl
Jason Miller
2001
"Urban/Rural Sprawl" is a series of photographs blending urban settings with rural landscapes; the compositions were made using multiple negatives while still retaining a full frame border. Montages were created entirely in the darkroom with attention detail and exposure.
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