2B Continued...

Minimester work and volunteer hours has pushed back the scheduled start date of the magazine but hopefully will begin editing, publishing, designing, writing... June 19. 

I hope everyone had a good spring semester and can show off your amazing skills.

-Sami

Album Work

If you didn't see this on facebook: 

so ya knows how i discussed working on artz for our album?
well we are sufficiently into it, meaning weve got drums and a good skeleton of everything done (for the first half, we're talkin like 20 + tracks totall, and we are about 10 in). We are doing a show in Cleveland in June as kind of like a "debut" of all the new material, but also, we wanted to kind of do it as an art gallery. The venue, "now thats class" is completely down with that sort of thing, so we've reformated our scheme slightly:

1) anyone who wants to do artwork for our album is welcome, no matter what it is, we will display it at the show / use it in the release of the album. We are kind of going for a "cabaret" feel with the show, like art everywhere, all kinds of crazy antics, and of course music.

2) The process goes like this, anyone who wants to make art, can message me on here and come over during a recording session or at a separate time to give the stuff a listen to.

thats about it, I know I talked about this a long time ago, but I still want to do it, its just I'm never correct about how long things like albums take to make, haha. Let me know if you wanna help, I think this could be a blast.
--------------------

Slow

Hello Children,

I'm afraid the first day of class is a sign of the trend expected through these next 16 weeks.

Slow progress. Especially until the Orphan bill has passed or failed, I'm holding off production until I completely understand the consequences of the possibly new legislation.  No need to put everyone's work at risk.

Art Horde's Exclusive Interview with Award-Winning Artist KenA Kasch

1. What do you do?

I make paintings that represent our time and artifacts to educate future generations.  I specialize in oil, acrylic, latex and watercolor painting.  I mainly make money.  I'm taking classes at CCAD, as well.

2. Where are you from?

I'm from Fort Wayne, Indiana.  It's the second largest city in Indiana, located in the northwest corner.  I currently live in Columbus, Ohio.

3. Most influential books, movies, music, plays, poems, photos, artists?

Reading The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins and The Meme Machine by Susan Blackmore laid the foundation for my ideologies of art and life.  Music by 2Pac and Kanye West continually inspire me.  I'm currently reading A Life of Picasso by John Richardson.  My artist forefathers are Kehinde Wiley, Shepard Fairey, Andy Warhol, Barbara Kruger, Robert Indiana, Jeff Koons and Tracey Emin.

4. Does your work have a consistent message?

Yes, my paintings are overtly about self-promotion.  Our world is a struggle of ideas and a struggle for power.  The only intelligent way for an artist to handle this competitive environment is to explicitly present the subject matter, just like an advertisement.  I, the artist, represent myself in each painting, so I present and advertise myself in my paintings.  It's fundamentally the same as Facebook.

The human struggle for power manifests itself in competition for money and status.  While a painting is only a decorative product like a flower, it presents the owner with a high level of status, and it lasts for a long time.  If you are powerful enough, you could own a KenA Kasch painting.

5. Does your cultural background influence your work?

Yes, I went to one of the most ethnically diverse high schools in the United States.  I had friends in each of the communities (Black, White, Mexican and Burmese).  This allowed me to learn about many cultures and think about life from several different perspectives.

Black American culture, mainly rap music, has had the greatest influence on my artwork.  Rap music deals with self-promotion, status, controversy and money.  My work deals with these things, too.

6. What are your addictions?

Besides painting, I'm addicted to Mountain Dew Code Red, rap music and greatness.

7. Earliest exposure to art?

I have drawn and painted my entire life.  I was first exposed to the breadth of art in my elementary school.  It was a fine arts magnet school; we had a variety of classes in art, as well as classes in singing, band, acting, speech, ballet and creative dance.

8. What tools or mediums do you want to work with but haven't yet?

I look forward to learning printmaking because it's an efficient way to mass-produce images on a flat surface.

9. Have you been commissioned?  For whom and what?

I have painted several murals, mostly decorating rooms with a theme.  The exception was a 25-foot mural I painted for the WaterFurnace headquarters facility in Fort Wayne.  It depicted their worldwide manufacturing process.

10. Besides artmaking, what do you do?

Sleep.

Jordan Who?

Hi everyone, my name is Jordan Edwards. Here are my attempts at answers to some basic questions.

1. What do you do?
I am currently a sophomore at the Columbus College of Art & Design majoring in Graphic Design and Advertising. I am minoring in Copyrighting and Art History. Aside from schoolwork, I find myself doing a wide array of branding related work as well as web and print design. When not immersed in pixels, I enjoy working in graphite and colored pencil.

2. Where do you come from?
I was born and raised in Central Ohio (Delaware, to be exact) so the choice to attend CCAD came pretty easily for me. Columbus served as a second home for me growing up with many aunts, uncles, cousins and other obscure relatives living just outside the outerbelt.

3. Most influential.. books, movies, music, plays, poems, photos, artists?
It's no secret that I am an obsessive fan of the Harry Potter series. I've read (and reread) the books countless times and the movies play on an almost-constant loop while I'm working. Of course, that means I also enjoy the Potter movies but I also enjoy action-based and sci-fi films. I have come to appreciate the art of film making more and more while attending CCAD so I'll see just about anything (that doesn't mean I'll enjoy it, though).

I believe that I am most influenced by stories that wrap you in layer after layer of detail. For me, back-story and mythology are key because it gives my obsessive brain something to grip on to after the credits roll or I've turned the final page. I like to think this love of detail comes across in my art as well. I try to stretch an identity to the far reaches of the company, branding anything that will stand still long enough, and in graphite I tend to render (some say over-render) as meticulously as the deadlines will allow.

4. Does your work have a consistent message?
I try not to "preach" with my artwork. Message-based art is great for some but it's not for me. My pieces tend to be straightforward and to-the-point. Any deeper meaning is oftentimes found after the fact and treated like an added bonus.

5. Does your cultural/ background influence your work?
My background consists mainly of old, white men arguing about religion and politics so you can imagine why I refrain from letting it influence too much. Personally, I prefer things clean-cut and simple. One could say this preference comes from being raised to clean up my messes.

6. What are you addicted to?
As of right now, I am addicted to LOST (see Question 2, paragraph 2 for the reasoning).

7. Earliest exposure to art?
From as far back as I can remember I've wanted to be an artist. I remember watching the animators working on The Lion King during my first-ever trip to Disney World. I'm sure that played some part in my eventual career choice.

I was always the kid who preferred rainy days because I could draw during inside recess.

8. What tools/mediums do you want to work with but haven't yet?
I think sculpture is fascinating. I've always admired people who can think in three dimensions. I would love to work with clay or something of the like.

9. Have you been commissioned? If so, for who and what?
Most of my commissions have been for brand related projects. I worked with the Administration of the Buckeye Valley Local School District to develop a new brand identity (including logo and extensive web design). I've also done work for The Central Ohio Symphony creating a new branding solution for their 30th season. I recently began working with Campus Apartments (based out of Philadelphia) to develop branding and signage solutions for their Seneca building in Downtown Columbus.

10. Besides art, what do you do?
Sleep. It's a rare things for CCAD students but when I get the chance I'm on it.
You might also find me playing the saxophone with some friends at local coffee shops, enjoying a burrito at Chipotle or watching entire seasons of LOST in single sittings.

The Interview Expectations

What I intend to do for the interview, since I'm getting a lot of questions about it is that I am going to have a general set of questions- and after that a set of specific, personal questions for everyone.  Because I've been reading the answers and there is more that I'd like to investigate with each person.  I haven't had a lot of time to spend on designing since I've been blogging and reading interviews (correcting spelling) and whatnot, I do ask for those who have not submitted a completed interview that they copy and paste the questions and work from there... spell check for fuck sake annnd let's use complete sentences?

Professionals will be receiving this and not that I want to be a hard ass but.. I'm not going to put anyone in the magazine if I have to fix everything you're giving me.

But I am very thankful for everyone that is giving me 100% of their effort.

10 Questions with Steve Vanscoy

1. What do you do?

Right now I'm a sophomore at CCAD majoring in Advertising and Graphic Design and minoring in Media Studies but I'm focusing on the photography portion. Photography is my main hobby when I'm not busy staring at Adobe products. I'm also into music a whole lot and I really enjoy singing and playing my guitar.

2. Where do you come from?

I hail from a small city suburb of Akron, Ohio called Tallmadge. It's a very calm city and really doesn't have a whole lot of interesting places to visit. It's pretty typical, but it was a nice place to grow up.

3. Most influential.. books, movies, music, plays, poems, photos, artists?

Music is really influential for me, I usually enjoy classical music or acoustic folk music to listen to when I'm working. Also, when it comes to the type of art I create, I'm very influenced by what I see around in magazines and the web and what comes from my peers.

4. Does your work have a consistent message?

I'm not sure if there is a consistent message to my work, a lot of what I do depends on my mood or if I'm trying out something new.

5. Does your cultural/ background influence your work?

I don't really have a rich cultural background other than some Native American and I don't really take influence from it so I'm not sure that I can say there's any influence from my background. There might be some psychological influences though. My mom was really big on cleanliness when I was growing up and I love doing very clean minimalistic work.

6. What are you addicted to?

In terms of life or art? In life I'm addicted to cigarettes. In art I'm addicted to illustrators (I'm pretty envious of their abilities), typography and pen and ink.

7. Earliest exposure to art?

I've always had some type of exposure to art. My great grandfather was a painter, and I remember when I was just a wee child my mom and I would sit down together in the living room and draw still lifes.

8. What tools/mediums do you want to work with but haven't yet?

Well, off the top of my head I can't think of any mediums that I want to work with but haven't. I would, however, love to up my skills in digital painting and water colors.

9. Have you been commissioned. if so, for who and what?

I've not really been commissioned for much, but I've done some corporate photography work, I also have a wedding to shoot set up for September and I'm currently designing a logo for a coal mining company in Montana.

10. Besides art, what do you do?

Other than art I just live. School and in turn art pretty much consumes me you know?