Part 1:
Kim Garza – Graphic Design
Garza has spent 14 years as a designer, and 5 years as a faculty member here at St. Edward’s university. Kim Garza discussed the multiple titles she has worked as, as well as what graphic design means to her personally as an art. Kim said that she believes in Graphic design as “liberal arts for life”. As a designed, Garza said that she is constantly learning and growing as an artist within her field. Kim discussed both her for-hire work, on a travel app called Eventurist (which I’m definitely going to download). Garza also showed us clips of her personal collaboration with her husband, which is a combination of video editing and original music. I thought that it was wonderful to see the range of work that Garza has done in both her career and in her personal work.
Tammie Rubin – Fine Arts/Ceramics
Rubin discussed her love of the word “chimera” as an object or thing that is hoped for, but is ultimately an illusion. As a ceramic sculptor, Rubin discussed her art as a combination between manufactured and natural beauty, and the use of plastic forms in her artwork. I liked that Rubin discussed that her work as fragile, but durable and practical after firing. She discussed the idea of ascribing power to objects, and the personal connections to the material that she likes to comment on during her work. I enjoyed Tammie’s work because of the way that she played with whimsical imagery as well as manufactured forms.
James Scheuren – Photocommunications
Scheuren discussed the “human aesthetic” to his photography, the fact that he does not take photographs for their aesthetic value, but more for their human qualities. James talked about looking for the beauty within the mundane, and finding the accidentally human art in the world. James discussed his photography as borderline surrealism, acknowledging that he works sometimes to channel the unconscious in his photographs in order to provoke a response. Schooner discussed that he looks for beauty within the failures of everyday life, and is trying to to create both a personal and world connection to his photographs. Recently, Scheuren has been looking into Astral imagery in his photography, which intrigues me. He looks for the constellations and galaxies in the things that we see everyday, and has gotten really good at spotting the unexpected art in everything.
Part 2:
This semester, and particularly this course has been great. The class is relaxed enough to be enjoyable, but structured enough to know what to expect and what is expected from us as students. I have really enjoyed the Visual Seminar class as a way to get to know the field that I am going into , as well as the people that make up that field – both professional, students, and faculty. This seminar has been a good experience for me, because it has allowed me to look into my discipline through other disciplines within the fine arts major.