Architecture dorks unite!
There seems to be a wave of interesting art and design documentary films coming out of the woodworks, from Helvetica to Beautiful Losers. One of the most recent one’s I came across is archiCulture, a film about studio life in architecture school. I find this one particularly interesting, partly because I experienced it myself: sleepless nights (some times 2-3 day all-nighters), throwing a dust bag (a bag full of eraser dust to prevent your drafting tools smearing your drawing) at your studio mates face, x-acto injuries, and essentially living in shanty villages/cubes hobbled together from cardboard, foamcore, plywood, and 2×4s. While I have only seen the trailer it looks quite interesting.
Studio culture is an interesting thing, one which I have only seen glimpses of here at Eastern, partly because graphic design can be done at home on one’s laptop, and partly because there is no space here that someone can claim as their own. There are moments when I see several students up here working late (using the silkscreen equipment or just working together on group projects), but most often the studio is empty. Studio culture is a vital thing to success of most programs it gives students a place that they can come work and share their dorky passion for type, or motion, or posters, etc. So I put this question to all who read this, how can EMU build its studio culture (not even just graphic design, but for the entire Art department)?
There is a nice interview with the directors of archiCulture on Archinect.
by Ryan M | 03.20.08 | Uncategorized |
you guys have been trying valiantly to get this going and i really do appreciate the time you have had for me. i think the biggest issue is that emu is a major commuter school. aside from that, i was always a major procrastinator - maybe you could set up procrastination night before each assignment is due and keep the lab open late. just a thought. a dumb thought. i really didnt want to be around much until my last year or so, but group work does force people to meet up. perhaps more collaborative efforts? a lot of the stuff we do at my job are design by committee. a plotter would definitely bring people in, too.
The art department seems so underfunded… I remember we didn’t have soap in the painting class I took over the summer, and you guys have had to build so much stuff for the design department. Space is an issue… EMU needs to appropriate more space for art! Students have to become interested and engaged themselves, though… too bad Chris Farley isn’t here anymore to offer some motivational speaking!
Also, it’s just easier for lots of people to solve design issues on their own at home, so if they don’t have that private space in the classroom, all sorts of things can interfere with the completion of their projects. Although, a lot of great collaborative stuff can come out of being forced to work in the same room with a bunch of other students.
btw, that’s a pretty cool site for the Archiculture thing… I think this blog is a good way to start for the EMU community… as a new outsider, I’d like to see students post their projects more often, especially when they’re proud of something they did…
—- maybe you could set up procrastination night before each assignment is due and keep the lab open late. just a thought. a dumb thought.–
While I agree our facilities are a problem as Nick stated,
I do not want to encourage procrastination.
I think we have enough problems with that as is.
As to a plotter…the library has lowered their prices to like 50 cents a square foot, which is on campus. Really no sense in us getting one of those.
I think it’s probably just too easy to get into the program…lots of people seem to give up and there’s not a lot of competition, which usually leads to better design.
That collage competition was fun! A weekly competition might give people more imagery to use in their projects, and possibly force them to do things they might not normally do.
I always felt it’d be better to have a weekly AIGA thing where people are actually designing rather than talking about it.
i think all of these comments are very interesting. when i went to calarts i hung out with the designers in their studio. they had all personalized their cubicles…. they even had a community lab cat called “rap cat” which was inspired by a youtube video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=BjfbS_Kj-J0)…
i’m pretty jealous that they devote their time to design and hang out in their studio… it makes me wonder what my life (during undergrad) would have been without rowing. jackie was telling me about state’s program and she told me that all of the art classes were in one building (with an art store on the main level) - i think if we had a similar scenario it would be easy to keep it open 24hrs and the art community would be more involved and integrated with each other, creating a great support system.
- canada