April 06, 2011

Professor Imatani presents work of 3-D Foundations students at national conference

Professor Imatani recently presented the work of his 3-Dimensional Foundations students at the Foundations in Art: Theory and Education held in St. Louis from March 30-April 2, 2011.

Professor Imatani recently presented the work of his 3-Dimensional Foundations students at the Foundations in Art: Theory and Education conference held in St. Louis from March 30-April 2, 2011. His students collaborated with students in Professor Anne Bentley’s Nanomaterials Chemistry class to use a scanning electron microscope and generate sculptural installations based on imaged samples. Students were asked to examine the implications of shifting imaging technologies which are no longer dependent on the human eye, wavelengths of light, or central perspective. Professor Imatani organized a panel session which included Professor Anne Bentley, as well as a colleague, Jason Watson from Appalachian State University.

The panel sought to address questions such as:

- How does one integrate interdisciplinary art making activities into classes that promote the intensive exploration of materials, processes that hinge on media specificity, and self reliance through individual exercises?

- Can a Foundations program maintain its standards of integrity in relation to traditional skill building and basic design principles that form the core of a visual art education, as we have inherited it, and still embrace these new approaches?

- How can we, as responsive studio art educators, address the issues of interdisciplinary study and collaboration that abound in the broader field of visual culture and contemporary art practice at the beginning of an art student’s academic career?

Participating students included:

ART103 - Lindsay Antos, Roxanne Davis, Jenn Dowdy, Frankie Gasaway, Cathy Grella, Diego Herrera, Corinne Monaco, Miranda Lancaster-Moore, Laura Nash, Sophie Rasmussen, Thea Strom and Sean Weinstein.

CHEM415 - Irena Bierzynski, Lorena Galvan, Sara Glazier, Stephen Kubota, Phil Mohseni, Zander Schrempp, Cassie Settle, Yusef Shari’ati, and Mika Yokoyama.

 

*For more news about Professor Imatani, please visit the end of his faculty homepage.