Columbia’s Interdisciplinary Arts MFA Thesis show opens Friday, April 20, and anticipation is building for the unveiling. Coming from MFA candidates working in an academic fine arts environment known for being an intersection of analog and digital media in a contemporary arts context, there is the inevitable expectation of “collisions.” But as the projects approach completion, a different thread of inquiry is emerging—one of connecting the twenty first century’s communities through activist artistic practice.
On the Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts side is April H. Llewellyn, an artist whose work ranges from fiber and material arts to social media and websites. Her current work explores objects of labor and what she refers to as the “labor of love”— how crafting and gifting can build relationships between people, communities, and places. Her exploration of how different modes of generosity can be harnessed to build community is sure to provoke as many questions as it answers, challenging viewers to expand currently held ideas of community.
Working in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media, Mike St. John’s A Simple Cereal began as a way to explore what responsibilities industry has to individuals and communities. Over the past year, the project morphed and changed into a less-confrontational but more complex inquiry into the nature of producers and consumers, and an observations of a shared resilience to adversity, isolation, and globalization. In examining how people inhabiting these roles can collaborate to create healthy foods for a greater community, St. John poses questions that have an impact at the local, national, and international level.
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A complete list of students exhibiting and performing in the 2012 MFA Thesis Exhibition include Kaitlin Kostus, April H. Llewellyn, Daniel Lubniewski, C.J. Mace, Trisha Oralie Martin, Haley K. Nagy, Amy Rabas, Don Widmer (MFA in Interdisciplinary Book & Paper Arts); and Temple Jantu-tu, Jenny Garnett, Michelle Graves, Michael Chad St. John (MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts + Media). The exhibition runs from Friday, April 29 through Friday, May 18at the CBPA Gallery (2nd Floor, 1104 S. Wabash Ave., Gallery hours: Monday–Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.)
There are number of events scheduled in conjunction with the exhibition, including Student Gallery Talks (Thursday, April 26, 6:00-8:00 p.m.) and a Manifest ArtWalk and Artists’ Reception on Friday, May 4, 4:00-7:00 p.m.
