Saturday, May 25 will be last chance to check out the 2013 Thesis Art Exhibition in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery. The special Reunion & Commencement gallery hours are from 10am to 5pm. And there will be a reception from 2pm to 4pm, with remarks at 2:45pm. The exhibition, which features the Class of 2013′s thesis students in the Department of Art and Art History’s Art Studio Program, offers a compelling window into the hard work and technical prowess that went into each thesis project. The exhibition is curated by Professor of Art Tula Telfair, and is co-sponsored by University Relations.

Last month, the seniors’ work was on rotation in the Zilkha Gallery: each week, five or six seniors displayed larger showcases of their work. For the year-end showcase, each senior has a smaller amount of work on display.  Each piece of art stands on its own as a testament to the artist’s creativity and longstanding devotion to their work. When placed all together in this single space, though, these pieces come into conversation with each other in interesting and surprising ways.

It’s hard to wrap your head around the sheer variety in media and subject matter in this showcase—in one area of the exhibit, photographs of celebrity impersonators occupy the same corridor as a huge sculpture of a chicken leg that’s coated in corn flakes.

I got a chance to speak to a few seniors about the artwork they have on display in the gallery. One of the people I caught up with was Alahna Watson ’13, the artist behind the aforementioned chicken leg. Her thesis, which reflects on her experiences growing up in the south, incorporates lots of different media—including watercolor paintings, computer print-outs, and sculpture. She spoke about her creative process, the inspiration behind her work, and how it feels to have her art on display.

Why did you choose the subject and medium that you did? What was the motivation behind it?

My subject matter stems from my time growing up in southern Georgia. While I was there, I never really felt like I fit in in my small, rural, insular town, and I often struggled to articulate the feeling of being an outsider in the place that I called home. I think coming to Wesleyan and meeting people from all different backgrounds, taking sociology and art classes, and, of course, talking about my life story with my friends until 5am, has finally helped me pinpoint and address the issues of class, race, and “outsiderness” that I wasn’t sure how to talk about before.

When it came time to do a thesis, there was never really a question of what I wanted to do it on. I think that doing a studio art thesis is about finding something that is unique to your own experience or viewpoint and being able to share that with a wide audience. My experiences in the south have shaped my identity so much that it was bound to come out in some form or another. I was lucky that the drawing concentration is so open in terms of media. My exhibition included sculptures, computer-based print-outs, and watercolor paintings, and they were all under the umbrella of “drawing.” I was glad that my ideas didn’t have to be limited to just 2D expression.

What was your creative process like?

It’s interesting that most of the stuff people saw in the final show was really only created in the last month or two before it went up. My adviser, Assistant Professor of Art Julia Randall, really stresses the importance of making “throw-away” drawings in order to get all of our ideas out and boil them down until only the good ones are left. There are a bunch of completely finished pictures and projects that never made the final cut. I would get an idea for a drawing in the shower or during lunch, spend days creating the piece, have it torn apart in a critique, end up throwing it away, and then return to the idea again, in a different form, weeks later.

How did it feel to be working on one huge project for such an extended period of time?

It was both exhausting and completely rewarding. Looking at some of the drawings I made in October or even over winter break is kind of like reading your diary entries from middle school—cringe-worthy. When you sit with the same idea for that long it morphs and develops and it really becomes a part of you. There was a time when I couldn’t go to Price Chopper without wondering if I could use the old food wrappers blowing around in the parking lot for a drawing. You start to see everything through the lense of your thesis. I think that’s what makes the final product so rich—you really have considered your idea from every angle. That being said, having so much time to think about the same thing leaves a lot of room for self-doubt. There were definitely times at 4am when I had drawn until my hand was numb that I started panicking, asking, “Do I even have a thesis? Are these ideas even cohesive? Who am I?!”

What was it like reflecting on your own background and experiences through this artistic lens?

I think one of the big things that I came to appreciate from doing a studio art thesis was that I always had to consider how my ideas would come across to people who weren’t familiar with me, my background, or my work. In talking about people, customs, and culture from a specific place I had to always make sure that I wasn’t being too judgmental or careless in my representations and opinions. I think having to constantly check in with myself and pinpoint exactly what I wanted to express made me reflect on my own background in an almost scientific way. By the end of the process I felt pretty detached from a lot of the personal experiences I have lived through because I was analyzing them so much.  But I think a certain level of detachment was good because it helped me put a lot of really personal stuff on display for hundreds of people to see without feeling embarrassed.

What’s it like to have your work up on display now?

It’s interesting that for the group exhibition people only get to see one piece from your final show. My giant fried chicken leg was the piece chosen, and I think a lot of its meaning is lost because it’s out of its original context. Of course it takes on new meaning because of the other people’s work that is displayed around it, and I think maybe people will pay more attention to its design and materiality now that it’s a stand-alone sculpture rather than a statement inside a bigger narrative. It’s a little weird having only one piece on display when the rest of my year-long project is rolled up in storage. That chicken leg is almost like a relic.

What do you hope visitors will get out of observing your work?

Like I said, I think a lot of the chicken leg’s original context is lost now that it’s by itself, but I hope people still find it startling, humorous, and maybe even a little uncomfortable. Fried chicken has a lot of problematic connotations in our society, which I hopefully touched on in my exhibition. By blowing it up to human-size and forcing you walk around it, I hope that, even by itself, it sparks some dialogue.

Today is the calm before the storm.

Not even today, actually — the next few hours. Then my family gets here, and then boom, it’s time for taiko practice, and then my friends will be queueing up for the screening of Much Ado while I run off to shower and head to dinner with my family, and then tomorrow it’s all departmental receptions and Phi Beta Kappa madness and some giant shindig with not only my family but the families of my housemates and then there’s some sort of all-campus celebration thing going on? And packing, obviously, and then on Sunday it’s graduation, and then — well. Then, it’s time for the calm after the storm.

For now, though, it’s just me and you, ducklings. And my housemates, as they move in and out of the common space.

[Under the cut: Musings.]

It’s sort of funny, but everything suddenly keeps reminding me of freshman year. Having my last weekend brunch at Usdan reminded me of the way we used to colonize the biggest table and still not have enough space for everyone. There was a reunion party for the people who lived on my hall (Clark 4!!) freshman year, and I’ve spent more time wit some of my former hallmates this week than I expected. Accidentally having a cuddle pile with some of my friends reminded me that we used to pile onto Ernest in the C4 Lounge and chat into the wee hours of the morning. (Ernest was what happened when we pushed the two lounge couches together into one giant couch. For the record, the couches were not named Ernest when they were apart.)

Also, I’m pretty sure that this week was the first time I’ve been at a Fountain party (taking place at a house on Fountain St, for non-Wes readers) since that one time in freshman year, and I enjoyed it a lot more this time around, since instead of standing around awkwardly and waiting to escape I could hang around outside chat for a while with the people I knew.

Unfortunately, this has resulted in my ankles getting bitten up by mosquitoes, but nothing’s perfect — although admittedly, some of those bites might have come from my housemate bonding day, in which we spent about an hour walking around a marsh in Litchfield, CT.

…Wait, I’m losing my sense of linearity. Okay, let’s see: Sunday was last Usdan brunch (or was that Saturday?) and then milkshakes&movies night, when a big group of us watched Ratatouille while hyped on sugar, and then people eventually drifted off and the few of us left played a surprisingly addictive boardgame called Spot It and then fell asleep on top of each other.

On Monday, I spent a good portion of the day in the lab making a book — I would have done that on Saturday or Sunday, but alas, the library was LOCKED and I could not get in. I was just really excited about finishing sewing this book because it’s a technique I’ve never used before — it’s called flexible sewing, and this one in particular is a herringbone stitch on alum tawed skin. Non-vegetarian, I know — I do feel guilty about that, but you guys, it looks so cool. And only took me about three hours to sew, which was pretty decent, considering that my boss warned me that flexible binding takes WAY longer than non-flexible binding. (And to be fair, setting up the frame took forever.) I haven’t put everything together yet, but I’ll take a picture later and you’ll be able to see how cool it looks.

At some point this week a bunch of people made hot pot at my house, but I can’t actually remember what day that was. Saturday, maybe? I don’t know, time’s kind of been running together.

Also at some point I made chocolate peanut butter lava cakes! Very intense, very rich chocolate peanut butter lava cakes! Lava cakes so intense that I actually could not finish all of mine!

Tuesday was my trip with my housemates out to White Memorial in Litchfield. Sadly, we had to skip the senior outing in order to do so, since otherwise we couldn’t find the time — we couldn’t go over the weekend, since one of my housemates had to go home for a funeral, sadly. So after much debate about where we wanted to go and how Housemate Katie’s debilitating fear of heights played into things, we went on Tuesday, ate lunch by a waterfall and then went on the aforementioned stroll on a boardwalk around a marsh.

Following which, I went to:
- a reunion dinner with my anthropology seminar (I made caramelized onion cornbread)
- an underwear party with Previously Mentioned Housemate Natalia (at which we did not intend to strip down to our underwear but ended up doing so anyway because the house where the party was being held was unbearably, swelteringly hot)
- the aforementioned Fountain party, because we were wandering around campus and saw some of our friends outside

Wednesday was the senior send-off lunch, which was basically a catered excuse for them to give speeches asking us to remember to donate money after we graduate. After that, the planned Wes Musical Theater Collective reunion quickly devolved into four of us just chilling for a while, and PMH Natalia helping us streamline the plot of the (still self-indulgent, still wonderful) musical that we outlined last year.

Also, PMH Natalia and I made chocolate-covered Mexican hot chocolate cookie dough truffles! Then to the C4 reunion, and then the birthday party of some friends we knew.

Thursday was cleaning day. JOY. So a couple hours of that, and then PMH Natalia, Housemate Katie, and two of our friends had a “pretty day” where we did our hair fancily (or rather, our two friends let me play with their hair to my heart’s content), and the three of us seniors got ready for Spring Semi-Formal.

Which was GREAT, for the record — pretty good food, excellent music, and lots of fun time dancing with friends. I had reason to be very glad that I wore comfortable flats. In fact, a handful of us stuck around until the DJ played the reasonably appropriate choice of “We Are Young” by fun. and then kicked us all out, after which I made the very very incorrect choice of going to hang out with friends at Alpha Delt instead of staying home and curling up to watch Design For Living (the film version, not the play) and then fall asleep. (It was a very tiring evening, okay.) Within about an hour and a half I amended that mistake, however, which was good because I don’t know how I have lived for this long without this movie in my life. It’s a movie from the 1930s about threesomes, you guys, and it is amazing. I’m not always a “classic Hollywood” person, but oh my god, between this and Trouble in Paradise I’m about ready to go back in time and marry Ernest Lubitsch.

And now we come to… today. I’ve gotten my diploma and the bound copy of my thesis; I’ve cleaned out my shelf in the book lab. I’ve started packing. I’ve been working on distracting myself from feeling maudlin.

The calm before the storm, ducklings. I’ll hopefully be posting one or two other things this weekend, so look out for that.

And now, puppies. Because I can.

Senior Bucket Lists are on bigger to-do lists this week…we heard rumors of a group of seniors who were, as part of their Senior Bucket Lists, “Bonding.” Bonding is a Senior Ritual where a group of students wearing sunglasses slowly roll up in a car blasting the James Bond theme song. As the unsuspecting students on the sidewalk turn to look at the car, the Bonding students slowly pull down their windows, and peel away. Mysteriousness abounds.

More friendly and less intimidating to-do’s are outlined in the Middletown Eye’s annual article, “Once Again: The Midd You Missed.” In the article, Wesleyan Professor of Biology and Middletown Eye Blogger Steven Devoto details a series of activities, eateries, and sights to be seen before you leave Middletown (forever? for the summer?). We’re especially partial to venturing out to Vecchito’s Italian Ice and checking out the arts, music, & film offerings at Middlesex Community College.

To see the full list click here. A small excerpt below:

“This is an update of an article published every year around this time, written by Ed McKeon with contributions from other fans of Middletown.  The Eye sends it out to graduating Wesleyan seniors, and the alumni and  families visiting our city this weekend.

Say you’re a graduating Wesleyan senior and you want to leave town (okay, no jokes), feeling you’ve seen everything you can see in Middletown. Or you’re a graduating senior who wants to ditch the parents and send them off for a few hours over the weekend so you can hook-up with a friend for the last time. Or say you’re a Middletown resident who spends too much time in the old cul-de-sac. You have probably had the best breakfast at O’Rourke’s, the best coffee at Klekolo’s, and the best tacos at Iguana Rana’s, but have you really seen all that our city offers?

Below are suggestions for places you, or your parents, can visit before departing the Midd.  Enjoy!”

Writer Daniel Handler ’92, who often writes under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket, was interviewed at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books last month.

Author Lemony Snicket and children’s book illustrator Jon Klassen sparred over their book “The Dark” at the Target Children’s Stage on Saturday afternoon at the Festival of Books.

Snicket, a.k.a. Daniel Handler, who always denies he is Snicket, wrote the words and Klassen created the illustrations for “The Dark.” It’s a picture book that features Laszlo, a child who’s afraid of the dark. The dark lives in the boy’s home, and the story is about how Laszlo overcomes his fear.

Snicket announced to the audience that all those waiting to see Lemony Snicket had been lied to. “I don’t know why anyone would lie to children,” he droned. “Although it is fun.”

Read more here…

Watch the video here…

Image: from litpark

Share this link: wesconnect.wesleyan.edu/news-20130523-daniel-handler

Related links

• Daniel Handler ’92 talks about new Lemony Snicket series
• Daniel Handler ’92 Writes Novel About a High School Breakup
• Mother Jones Asks Handler ’92 to pick his favorite nonfiction books
• Lemony Snicket’s website

Like Daniel Handler on Facebook ➞

Writer Daniel Handler ’92, who often writes under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket, was interviewed at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books last month.

Author Lemony Snicket and children’s book illustrator Jon Klassen sparred over their book “The Dark” at the Target Children’s Stage on Saturday afternoon at the Festival of Books.

Snicket, a.k.a. Daniel Handler, who always denies he is Snicket, wrote the words and Klassen created the illustrations for “The Dark.” It’s a picture book that features Laszlo, a child who’s afraid of the dark. The dark lives in the boy’s home, and the story is about how Laszlo overcomes his fear.

Snicket announced to the audience that all those waiting to see Lemony Snicket had been lied to. “I don’t know why anyone would lie to children,” he droned. “Although it is fun.”

Read more here…

Watch the video here…

Image: from litpark

Share this link: wesconnect.wesleyan.edu/news-20130523-daniel-handler

Related links

• Daniel Handler ’92 talks about new Lemony Snicket series
• Daniel Handler ’92 Writes Novel About a High School Breakup
• Mother Jones Asks Handler ’92 to pick his favorite nonfiction books
• Lemony Snicket’s website

Like Daniel Handler on Facebook ➞

Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

Be the first to discover who will be performing at Wesleyan! During the 2013-2014 season, Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts will be celebrating their 40th anniversary (the CFA opened in September 1973). On February 14, 2014, the 39th annual Crowell Concert Series presented by Center for the Arts and the Music Department will feature a concert by the Gold Medalist of this year’s Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which begins this upcoming weekend. You can watch the entire Van Cliburn competition online for free, and be the first to discover who will be performing an evening of classical and Romantic music at Wesleyan on Valentine’s Day 2014!

The sensational victory by pianist Van Cliburn (1934-2013) at the first Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow in 1958 heralded a new confidence in the quality of American music-making, as well as a new era in cultural relations between East and West.

The 14th edition of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which has been dedicated to the discovery of the world’s finest pianists every four years since 1962, starts this Friday, May 24, and concludes on Sunday, June 9, 2013, at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas.

All performances will be streamed live in their entirety starting at 11am this Friday, and will also be available on demand at www.cliburn.org. Watch 30 pianists from Australia, Chile, China, France, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States compete for the coveted Cliburn medals, more than $175,000 in prizes and awards, and three years of commission-free career management.

Enjoy over 110 hours of live broadcasts of performances, interview segments, and awards ceremonies over 17 days, along with symposia, competitor profiles, special tributes to Van Cliburn, and other behind-the-scenes glimpses and featurettes on the competition.

All competitors will perform two 45-minute solo recitals in the Preliminary Round (May 24-30). Then, twelve semifinalists will be selected to perform an hour long solo recital (June 1-4), including a specially commissioned work by American composer Christopher Theofanidis, and a piano quintet with the world-renowned Brentano String Quartet. Six finalists will perform two piano concerti with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Leonard Slatkin (June 6-9).

Make comments and submit questions to the Cliburn team and webcast host, pianist Jade Simmons; and vote for your favorite competitors (the winner of this vote will receive an Audience Award to be given during the Final Awards ceremony on June 9.)

Watch a teaser of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition on YouTube here: 2013 Cliburn Competition Teaser

And stay tuned for an announcement on June 25 about the rest of the programming for the 40th anniversary season of the Center for the Arts!

Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Gold Medalist Concert
Friday, February 14, 2014 at 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Tickets on sale Monday, July 1, 2013

“Besides its illustrious list of laureates, the importance of its prizes, quality of its judges and rigorous selection process sets [the Cliburn Competition] apart.”
—Gramophone

The folks over at The Center for Prison Education (CPE) have published their new Spring Semester Newsletter. Check it out here.

If New York City is the city that never sleeps…Wesleyan is the university that never lies dormant. When there are things to be done, Wesleyan students can’t relax. Case in point: rallying for Need-blind, bringing awareness to on campus profiling, or working with the administration to further academic minor options. We’re proud to say that students are civically engaged, and in their own unique ways. That’s what keeps Wesleyan weird a destination for young people with a diverse set of passions.

Here’s an excerpt from an end of the year Argus article, “News to Know” on some of 2012-2013′s highlights (and lowlights). Read the full article here.

“Wesleyan Introduces Three-year Graduation Option
September 2012

The University will now offer a three-year graduation option to students in the hope that it will create a more affordable alternative for students. This will accompany the University’s 3-2 engineering program to create a more diverse array of options for students.

Students Sanctioned for Protesting Board of Trustees Meeting
October 2012

Seven to nine students were issued citations for entering a Board of Trustees meeting that was closed to students. The students entered in the hopes of voicing their concerns about need-blind policy changes to the Board. The students were sanctioned under Regulations 14 and 15 of the Code of Non-Academic Conduct.”

An interview with Alex Kurtzman ’95, writer, director and producer, and his writing partner Robert Orci on their latest film “Star Trek Into Darkness” was featured in the Wall Street Journal.

Kurtzman, known for his work on “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” “Fringe” and the 2009 “Star Trek,” has also worked with Michael Bay ’86 on several projects, including “The Island,” “Transformers,” “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” Kurtzman’s directorial debut “People Like Us” was released last year.

The producing and writing duo of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci is behind some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster films, including “Star Trek Into Darkness,” which opens today, and the highly anticipated sequel to “The Amazing Spider-Man.”

Kurtzman and Orci, who are producers of the magician caper “Now You See Me” opening later this month, as well as the sci-fi adaptation “Ender’s Game,” also co-wrote the 2009 “Star Trek” reboot, a project borne of their own childhood love of “Star Trek.”

While fans of the original television series, the first film both of them saw in the theaters was 1982’s “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” considered by many to be one of the best in the franchise.

Read more here…

Image: from article/Getty Images

Share this link: wesconnect.wesleyan.edu/news-20130522-alex-kurtzman

Related links

• Blockbuster screenwriter Alex Kurtzman ’95 directs a family drama
• Kurtzman ’95, Orci Find Respect among Hollywood Executives
• Star Trek producers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci to be honored by Chrysalis Butterfly Ball
• Trying to pull heart strings, not grenade pins
• Alex Kurtzman on IMDb