// SVA Alumni Rachel Loube and John Mattiuzzi Win Student Academy Awards//

SVA alumni Rachel Loube (MFA 2011 Social Documentary Film) and John Mattiuzzi (MFA 2012 Computer Art) are among the select winners of the 40th Annual Student Academy Awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to recognize and encourage the best student filmmaking at the college level in the U.S. To become finalists, students participated in one of three regional competitions with films representing drama, documentary, animation, and alternative film. Heading into the final round, SVA had more films than any other school in the running.

Mattiuzzi’s film The Compositor, which follows a young man on a surreal journey of self-discovery and awakening, was recognized in the Alternative category. Loube’s documentary Every Tuesday: A Portrait of The New Yorker Cartoonists follows four of the venerable magazine’s illustrators (Drew Dernavich, Emily Flake, Sidney Harris, and Zach Kanin) as they meet for a weekly “roundtable” with lunch as the backdrop. Past Student Academy Awards winners include Spike Lee, Robert Zemeckis, John Lasseter, Pete Docter and Trey Parker.

Loube and Mattiuzzi will travel to Los Angeles for a week of networking and industry activities that culminate in the awards ceremony on June 8th at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal placements will be announced at the event; Gold medal winners will receive $5,000, while Silver and Bronze medalists will receive $3,000 and $2,000, respectively. Comedian, actor and 1978 Student Academy Award winner Bob Saget will host this year’s ceremony.

For more details and ticket information, visit the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences website.

Reblogged from SVA’s Trending Now.

// Crossing Platforms - 2013 MFACA Thesis Exhibition//

Crossing Platforms

May 18 – June 1, 2013
Reception: Thursday, May 23, 6:00 – 8:00pm
Visual Arts Gallery

School of Visual Arts presents “Crossing Platforms,” an exhibition of selected thesis projects from the MFA Computer Art Department. Curated by Charley Lewis and Hsiang Chin Moe, the exhibition will be on view from May 18 through June 1 (closed at 2pm on Friday, May 24 through Monday, May 27 in observance of Memorial Day) at the Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26th Street, 15th floor, New York City.

“Crossing Platforms” explores the themes and media of digital art. “MFA Computer Art Department graduating students showcase their talent and skill to get their stories and concepts across to their audiences,” say the curators. According to Department Chair Bruce Wands, “Digital art is rapidly emerging and taking a leading role in contemporary art. This exhibition is the another step forward in this evolution.” The exhibition highlights the unique multidisciplinary approach of the artists and includes 3D animation, motion graphics, experimental video, networked media, interactive/video/audio installations, digital fine art, and painting.

The MFA Computer Art Department emphasizes creativity and a multidisciplinary approach to making art with computers and emerging technologies. Dedicated to producing digital artists of the highest caliber, the department guides each student in the development of a personal artistic style in a course of study that is individually tailored to meet his or her needs. Students come from around the world to study in this two-year MFA degree program, which has distinguished itself with six Student Academy Awards. Please call 212-592-2778 for more information.

School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers, and creative professionals for more than six decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, dynamic curriculum, and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprised of more than 6,000 students at its Manhattan campus and 35,000 alumni in 100 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world. For information about the College’s 31 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, visit sva.edu.

The Visual Arts Gallery, located at 601 West 26th Street, 15th floor, in New York City, is open Monday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm, and closed on Sundays and public holidays. The gallery will be closed from Friday, May 24 at 1PM through Tuesday, May 28. The gallery is accessible by wheelchair. For more information, call 212.592.2145.

Artist Credit: Daniel Sierra, Oscillate, copyright 2013

// MFA Computer Art Open Studios//

The creative work encompasses a wide range of media including video, animation, audio, interactive installations & media, digital sculpture and physical computing. “As digital art evolves, the line between it and contemporary art is disappearing. We see it simply as artists using digital techniques to express their creativity.” states department chair Bruce Wands.

Exhibiting Artists
Meng Chih Chiang
Ga Hyun Kim
Joonsung Lee
Alicia Martin
Kamil Nawratil
David Rhoderick
Xun Wang
David Woo
Zhongyuan Zyia Zhang

// 5 MFACA Students Receiving SVA 2013 Alumni Awards!//

We would like to share a wonderful news with everyone that 5 of MFACA graduating students are receiving SVA 2013 Alumni Awards this year. The artists include: Min Liu, David Rhoderick, Xun Wang, David Woo and Zhongyuan Zyia Zhang. We are so very proud of every one of you. Below are their Thesis projects:

Min Liu - In the end, I realized… (working title)

This rotoscoping animation reveals Min’s perception of death based on her personal life experience of losing a friend to colon cancer. Min hopes to express death is not as fearsome as it may seem. We shall take it as part of life.

David Rhoderick - Exaptation 1

Exaptation 1 is an exploration of the use of tropisms in plants to convey an expression and message.  By creating a numerically controlled environment, a plant will be documented responding to light and watering in its hybrid existence of natural growth and information expression.

Xun Wang - IRON HANS

IRON HANS adapts traditional animation techniques to retell Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale, which transport the viewer to Xun’s childhood bedroom when she would listen to books on tapes with her mind drifting between reality and dreams. Here is the blog for this project: http://ironhans.wordpress.com

David Woo - Unhappy Day Part 2

The most recent project, the Unhappy Day part 2 is an expansion of David’s previous video installation. It’s based on his experience being punished in Korean schools. Three sculptures, head, hand, and body, represent emotional destruction, gestural distortion, and physical injury. Each sculpture embeds one or more monitors that displays corresponding themes with motion reactive graphics.

Zhongyuan Zyia Zhang - Light Confusion

Light Confusion is a room-sized immersive installation. With LED lights and fluorescent acrylic panels moving around the space, audiences are guided into a surreal world to feel the existence of “FAKE”, like being lost in a daydreamy world.

Stay tune… we will announce our Thesis Presentation date/time so you can come check out their finished works. To see the complete list of award recipients, please visit the SVA Alumni Society website.

// MFACA Chair Bruce Wands at ELECTRONICS ALIVE VII//

ELECTRONICS ALIVE VII
January 29-February 23, 2013 
University of Tampa, Scarfone/Hartley Gallery
Bailey Art Studios 310 N Blvd, Tampa, FL 33606

The University of Tampa presents ELECTRONICS ALIVE VII, a biennial invitational exhibition of computer animations, interactive digital work, and virtual spaces from around the world. Participating in the exhibition is Bruce Wands, artist/musician and Chair of the MFA Computer Art Department at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His work, (Visitation 1,2,3), is a triptych of abstract images based on Buddhist sacred geometry. 

Also in the exhibition are 2D/3D animations from MFA Computer Art graduates: Ihsu Yoon (The Light), Haowei Hu (Seasons), Anila Jaho (Drawing of Mom), Ashley Pearsall (Embrace), Donald Poyntner (Dreams of a Restless Mind), Go Yook (Mustard Seed), Jean Alix (Through Disconnect), and Ying Hsu Lai (Connected). Please click on the names of their projects to view the video.

// MFACA Alumni Received Honorable Mentions at the Taiwan International Student Design Competition//

SVA MFA Computer Art 2012 alumni, Heejin Kim, Hsin Pei Liu and Yiu-Chen Yang received honorable mentions at The Taiwan International Student Design Competition. The competition encourages students from all around the world to compete, participate and gain exposure for their talent in product design, visual design, and digital animation. Taiwan, China, and Japan are also participants. For detailed information about the award, you can visit the competition website. Please check out the links below for their amazing works. Congratulations!

Heejin Kim - Make a Wish

Hsin-Pei Liu - Be you tiful

Yiu-Chen Yang - The Box

// Post-Sandy Panel | January 31, 2013//

(Image courtesy of John Mattiuzzi’s still from the film, Frankenstorm, 2012

Post-Sandy Artist Initiatives and Relief Efforts
Thursday, January 31, 7-9pm | Amphitheater, 209 East 23 Street, 3rd Fl., NYC
Free admission & open to the public

Please join the Office of Alumni Affairs for a Post-Sandy panel discussion on the relief effort and artists’ response to the storm. Charles H. Traub, chair of the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department, will moderate the talk.

Alumnus John Mattiuzzi (MFA 2012 Computer Art) will discuss his video Frankenstorm where he captured the human and emotional impact of the storm from Brooklyn. Alumnus Jessica Rionero (BFA 2010 Film and Video) from BeGracious.org, and founder Chelsea Mario will describe their non-profit’s mission to raise money for the purpose of re-building people’s homes. Dena Muller, director of new initiatives at the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) will explain the impact of the store has had on the wider community as well as the art world, and what steps NYFA is taking to provide assistance.

// SVA MFACA Alumnus Beyza Boyacioglu Curating Fiction-Non at Maysles Cinema//