So, if you’re interested in doing something related to the arts over this upcoming January term, you don’t have to look very far. There are some very exciting projects up this year in architecture, historical painting, stage design, and more. A synopsis of the art-related Winter Terms is after the jump. For all of the info you need, visit the Office of Winter Term’s webpage.
Catalog Dominican Republic Music & Dance Video
Elio Trabal, ’04, made nearly 60 hours of videotapes of music, dance, and other cultural activities in Dominican Republic in 2003-04. This project involves watching these videotapes, cataloging the contents, and preparing a condensed version of the collection, focusing on the footage with the greatest potential for study. The person will use either his or her own video equipment or equipment available from A-V in Mudd for the job. At this stage only minimal editing will be done, such as isolating blocks of good footage and putting a title at the beginning of each. Applicant should have minimal experience with a basic video editing program, such as iMovie.
Creative Activism – Towards Social, Cultural and Environmental Sustainabilit
Twelve Art and Environmental Studies students will travel to Amsterdam and designated sites to study strategies of Slow Design with Carolyn Strauss, architect and designer of the Slowlab, an International center to explore the Six Slow Design principles. These stuents will become immersed in Slowlab’s philosophy through a series of presentations and dialogues, site visits, studio exercises, and other creative explorations – using local people, settings and projects to stimulate their understanding of slow design as a form of creative activism and a valuable path to sustainability. Students will then return to the Oberlin campus as ambassadors and implement the strategies they developed during Spring Semester.
From Yarn to Garment VIII
Learn to weave and create at least one unique wearable garment – from start to finish Research and create your own design; plan, choose, and purchase the appropriate yarn while considering fiber(s), colors, structure, sett, weight, yardage, etc..; learn to dress and operate a 4-harness, perhaps an 8 harness, loom; weave and finish the necessary fabric construct your garment; model and exhibit garment.
Handshouse Studio: Lost Historic Wall Painting
Students will work with Handshouse Studio to produce a replica of a lost wall painting from the 17th-century Gwozdiziec Synagogue in Poland. Students will learn to use period tools and techniques, read on-going academic research on the history of synagogue architecture of the period, and work collaboratively with an expert staff of artists and architects to paint the panels. The finished panels will be installed in Mudd Learning Center in April 2009 as part of the exhibition Wooden Synagogues: Discovering History through Art and Architecture. (No previous artistic experience is required, just interest in the subject matter and a willingness to work hard and have fun!)
Oberlin Opera Theater, in association with Real Time Opera, is presenting a world premiere of the jazz opera LEAVE ME ALONE!, with music by Dan Plonsey and libretto by Harvey Pekar. This opera will feature Oberlin students as performers, both vocal and from the jazz department. Due to the nature of the writing, vocal soloists do not necessarily have to be classically trained singers, and the Jazz Department has expressed their willingness to help out as well. There are also opportunities for designers, technicians, performers and stage management students to participate.
The opera will feature Mr. Plonsey and Mr. Pekar onstage playing themselves, both as characters and as individuals having a dialogue about creating an opera. Often times the singers will take over from the authors themselves, giving an atmosphere of “reality opera”, where the creators and the interpreters are one and the same. This opera will be presented in Finney Chapel on January 31, and will have a live web-stream version that will open up the world of an international audience to this event. A kind of “Lost Highway” meets Dave Brubeck.
Primer: Introductory Architectural Design Studio
In this intensive three-week course, students will be involved in a condensed version of an introductory architecture design studio. The course will promote a hands-on attitude in an effort to offer students an overview of the skills needed for graduate-level architecture education. Beginning with a series of abstract exercises and culminating in a concrete design project, the studio will adopt a concept-driven approach that will expose students to basic techniques of architectural production and to basic ways of architectural thinking. Emphasis will be placed on spatial literacy, skill development and design argumentation.
Clarence Ward Art Library News 