Fall Photography BFA Program Entrance Reviews

Friday, November 16, 2007 

Deadlines: (no late applications will be accepted)

Do before or by November 12:
1. ***Submit to Art Advising, 2 BFA Application Support Letters from Western Faculty (1 must be photo area faculty) who would be willing to serve on your committee.
2. ***Submit to Art Advising, a BFA Application.
3. Sign up for your interview time (sign up sheet will be located outside the “long room” in the photo critique room).
4. Submit two enveloped packets (to Bill Davis and Ginger Owen) with a current resume’ (please list art exhibits that you have been involved in, if applicable), artist statement (description of work), and a personal statement of reasons why you would like to become a BFA student, goals you plan on accomplishing as a BFA student and your future goals after degree is awarded.

***Application forms can be found in Advising office (art advisors: Ellen Armstrong or John Kollig) or on WMU website under “Advising” page.

Requirements, for November 16 – Interview:
1. Must have taken 1 Basic Photography course, college level at WMU or equivalent as a transfer student.
2. Present a portfolio of 10-15 works of art. Choose work that best represents your craft and personal vision.
3. Come to your interview 10 minutes early. Be prepared, your interview will last no longer than slotted time. A list of interview questions will be distributed before interview, please inquire with Photo Area Faculty.

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After Stonewall

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The companion film to Before Stonewall, After Stonewall, narrated by Melissa Etheridge, explores gay history in the U.S. from the 1970s through the 1990s. Like its predecessor, After Stonewall attempts to cover much ground in a short amount of time; however, with only three decades to span, the assignment is more manageable.

The film covers the predictable highs and lows of the last 30 years of the 20th century. On the side of triumph, it explores the declassification of homosexuality as a disease; the growth of gay presses and writers; gay wins in political office (notably Harvey Milk and Elaine Noble); and the formation of a national gay lobbying presence in the Human Rights Fund. On the flip side, we witness the antigay hysteria evoked by Anita Bryant; the rise of AIDS, the blind eye of the federal government; and the growth of the Christian Coalition. Perhaps the most significant contribution of this film is its mapping of a gay presence within popular media. Through TV shows such as South Park and covers of Newsweek and Time, as well as “out” popular performers like k.d. lang and Ellen DeGeneres, the case is made that gay culture has “arrived” in America–a huge leap from the days before Stonewall when the common idea of a gay person was someone to snicker at or otherwise dismiss as a lunatic. –Katy Ankenman

Next up: Jesus Camp on 11/6

class compiled web art links

 

http://www.nickbarker.org/home.html

http://leoburnett.ca/FLASH/

http://www.addictinggames.com/theimpossiblequiz.html

http://www.fischer.com.au/

www.diadenter.org/webproj/

http://www.newrafael.com/

http://heeereswilly.ytmnd.com/

http://www.netzwissenschaft.de/kuenst.htm

http://www.velikanov.ru/1109/default.asp

 

www.whitneybiennial.com

which takes you to a bunch, these are cool:

 

manetas.com/eo/wb/files/joel.htm

manetas.com/eo/wb/files/golan.htm

manetas.com/eo/wb/files/rafael.htm

 

 http://www.teleportacia.org/war/war.html

http://www.angelscamp.ch/

http://www.lalodiez.com/rhizome/click_to_disturb/clicktodisturb.html

 

http://jonesrock.ytmnd.com/ 

 

http://nails.hoogerbrugge.com/

http://www.urbansoldierz.com/

 

http://www.diaart.org/closky/ 

 

 

 

 

Al LaVergne 11/1 Lecture

Image Credit: Al LaVergne
with his sculpture, “Passion”

Al LaVergne
November 1
RCVA Lecture Hall, 2nd Floor
5:30 pm

A major concern in Al LaVergne’s sculptures is to develop a vocabulary of interactive movements between forms and spaces. The subject matter is rarely preplanned, even when figures are involved. LaVergne works in several mediums, but welding fabrication with reconstituted metal gives him the most freedom. The ability to apply metal directly allows LaVergne to develop and capture a personal spirit as he constructs the works of art. The resolution of the compositions is developed during the exploration of spaces as he negotiates with the laws of gravity to achieve balance.

Lalla Essaydi | Converging Territories

Image Credit: © Lalla Essaydi
Converging Territories # 10, 2003
48 x 58 1/2″ chromogenic print

Lalla A. Essaydi grew up in Morocco, and lived in Saudi Arabia for many years. Currently, she resides in New York City. She received her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in May 2003. Essaydi’s work is represented by Schneider Gallery in Chicago and by Hoard Yezerski Gallery in Boston. Her work has been exhibited in many major U.S. cities, including Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Texas, Buffalo, Aspen, and New York, and is represented in a number of collections, including the Clark Museum.

Her art, which often combines Islamic calligraphy with representations of the female body, addresses the complex reality of Arab female identity from the unique perspective of personal experience. In much of her work, she returns to her Moroccan girlhood, looking back on it as an adult woman caught somewhere between past and present, and as an artist, exploring the language in which to “speak” from this uncertain space. Her paintings and current body of work titled, Les Femmes du Maroc appropriate Orientalist imagery from the Western painting tradition, thereby inviting viewers to reconsider the Orientalist mythology. She has worked in numerous media, including painting, video, film, installation, and analog photography. “In my art, I wish to present myself through multiple lenses – as artist, as Moroccan, as Saudi, as traditionalist, as Liberal, as Muslim. In short, I invite viewers to resist stereotypes.”

Lalla Essaydi is represented by Schneider Gallery in Chicago.

More images can also be found in the (here)

Capturing the Friedmans

The investigation into Arnold Friedman’s life started after he was caught in a pedophile sting operation when he received a magazine of child pornography from the Netherlands by mail. In searching his house, investigators found a large collection of child pornography, which led them to expand their investigation. After learning that Friedman taught children computer classes from his home, the police began to suspect him of abusing his students.

Some of the children Friedman taught had alleged Friedman played bizarre sex games with them during their computer classes. Jarecki interviewed some of these children himself; some stated that they had been in the room with other children alleging abuse, and that nothing had happened. One of the “abused” children related a story full of contradictions, and admitted that he had remembered nothing until undergoing hypnosis. The film portrayed police investigative procedures as the genesis of a “witch-hunt” hysteria in the Friedman’s community.

The Friedmans took home videos while Arnold Friedman (and, later, his son Jesse) awaited trial. They were allowed to stay at home in order to prepare for court. The pictures were not made with publishing in mind, but as a way to record what was happening in their lives. The movie shows much of this footage; family dinners, conversations and arguments. Arnold’s wife eventually advised her husband to confess and protect their son.

Arnold Friedman pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sodomy and sexual abuse. According to the Friedman family, he confessed in the hopes that his son would be spared prison time. Jesse Friedman later confessed as well, but now claims he did so to avoid being sent to prison for life. He said in mitigation that his father had molested him. Arnold Friedman admitted to being a pedophile, and to molesting two boys, but not those who attended his computer classes. He is also quoted as admitting that, when he was 13, he molested his younger brother, Howard, who was eight years old. Howard Friedman has said he does not recall this. In addition the lawyer for Jesse Friedman, Peter Panaro stated that Jesse had admitted to him that he was sexually assaulted by his father as a child. He also stated that Jesse had in fact admitted to him that he had sodomized 14 boys. Jesse denies telling the lawyer this and states that the lawyer told him to plead guilty and blame his father.

Arnold Friedman committed suicide in 1995, leaving a $250,000 life insurance benefit to his son. Jesse Friedman was released from prison in 2001 after serving 13 years of his sentence and is currently preparing an appeal. (From Wikipedia)

Next up: After Stonewall on 10/30

Karen Bondarchuk 10/25 Lecture

Corvus Deflatus, 2007, 25″x25″x68″, scavenged roadside tires

Karen Bondarchuk
October 25
RCVA Lecture Hall, 2nd Floor
5:30 pm

Karen Bondarchuk is Foundation area coordinator in The Frostic School of Art at Western Michigan University, and has taught in the Foundation Program since 1997. Born in Canada, she received her MFA in Sculpture from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and her BFA in Sculpture and Video from The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Bondarchuk is a practicing visual artist who works in kinetic sculpture, drawing and performance. She has shown her art in the United States, Canada and England. Her artwork is in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada and other private collections.