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(04/30/12 4:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Between the fast-food wrappers, splintered plywood and battered baseball gloves, the latest Fuller Projects exhibit could be labeled as trash — and proudly so.On Friday night, the exhibit presented “Treasure Hunting,” a compilation of students’ projects from the class U401: “Working with Trash and Other Odd Materials.”As people filed in and out of the small room in the McCalla School, Reinhold Engberding, class professor and member of the Program for International Visiting Artists, looked on.Engberding explained that though the idea for the class was not an environmental or political stance for him personally, he still felt it was crucial that reused material be seen with significance.“It’s about changing your view on ‘trash,’” he said. “By working with the materials, you put more value into them. They have their own history, too.”For some of his students, the class was revolutionary in more ways than one.Laura Ruchti enrolled in the class, her first formal art class in 30 years. Now, “Treasure Hunting” is also the first time her work has been in an exhibit.Ruchti said she liked the idea of using materials in which their “energy was already used, instead of reaping the earth.” She said the environment is very important to her.However, reusing came at a price.“Sometimes it was hard because the litter was very dirty,” Ruchti said. “There would be hair on things and alcohol bottles that people had been drinking. I didn’t wear gloves because I need to feel it. I can’t be separated from the material.”After her first piece, Ruchti made some improvements.“Eventually, I learned how to pick better trash,” she said, laughing.Her featured project, appropriately titled as “Litterrose,” was composed of such as torn-up Sprite boxes and soiled fabric. These materials were then wrapped around one another to mimic the petals of a rose, with loose yet purposeful angles.Other showcased items included a hanging collage of old grocery bags, all of which were tightly woven together. Pictures were then hung on top of the bags. The artist, Jessica Shafer, stated in the description the attraction of “opposing precious memories with old plastic bags.”Other works also focused on contrasting opposite ideas. A piece by Nikki White showcased the competing ideals of food and beauty in American culture.Her work took the shape of a cupcake, with the base made out of old magazine cutouts, including one of Megan Fox, and was then topped with the “icing” of different food wrappers. The final touch was a crumpled yellow wrapper of a McDonald’s McChicken sandwich. Graduate student Payson McNett was one of many onlookers of the exhibit that night. He said he felt a personal interest in it, as it mirrored his own work.McNett has gathered a variety of what-would-have-been wasted materials such as cast-iron from an engine plant or plywood from a crate-building company. These “leftovers,” he stated, were the entire groundwork for his thesis.“It’s the concept of reclaiming,” McNett said. “You find something discarded, and then you make it beautiful. My grandfather used to say, ‘One man’s trash, another man’s treasure.’ This exhibit exemplifies that.”
(04/30/12 4:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Despite dreary conditions, participants lined up during AsianFest’s showing at the Bloomington Farmers’ Market Saturday morning.Presented by the IU Asian Culture Center, the festival featured free food, cooking demonstrations, performances and information booths, all related to the Asian community.Student assistant Ian White has been volunteering with the center for three years.The annual festival is now well-established, with recruiting for volunteers starting after spring break, White said.“At this point, we know what we want to do,” White said. “We want it to be a resource area for people who aren’t familiar with Asian culture in B-town, so we collaborated with the Farmers’ Market.”The strong, spicy smell of Asian food possibly drew the largest number of spectators in the 40-degree weather.A makeshift assembly line composed of white rice, tofu curry and chicken curry was set against a backdrop of spectators watching one of many cooking demonstrations.Small white sheets were placed at the beginning of the table with step-by-step instructions about how to make “Kaeng Luang (Yellow Curry).”Bloomington resident Ashante Thomas was one of many standing in line to try the curry.Though she made a trip to the Farmer’s Market for sweet potatoes, she had also read about the AsianFest events in the paper. She joked that she wasn’t quite sure what she was waiting for but was excited to try something new.“It adds a little something extra to the Farmers’ Market when cultures are showcased here,” Thomas said. “It makes the community richer.”For those who found the weather too undesirable, different information booths were set up nearby in City Hall. Advertisements for events including “Your Name in Korean” or “Bento, Sushi, and Furoshiki workshops” drew in curious onlookers.The Asian American Association was one resource on campus represented with a booth.Volunteer Gloria Chan explained that the association is all-inclusive. Chinese lanterns and bracelets from the Philippines were on display for the festival.The other volunteer working the booth, Katie Allis, was new to the group but had already experienced eye-opening insights into the Asian community.“One time, we had a big group discussion about racial stereotyping and the use of derogatory terms,” she said. “Being white, it’s honestly never something I’ve had to deal with. And to hear from people firsthand that I know that have experienced it, wow.”Learn more about Asian CultureWHAT “Asian Cultures Around Campus”WHEN 5 to 6 p.m. tonightWHERE IU Asian Culture Center, 807 E. 10th St.MORE INFO The event is free and will introduce the art of henna, including its origin and different techniques of application. The workshop will offer hands-on experience.
(04/23/12 3:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Player’s Pub was host to “Rock for the Red” on Sunday, drawing an almost-packed house merely 30 minutes into the show.The event, a major part of the Red Cross’ spring fundraising campaign, brought together bands such as Gypsy Revival and Compass Rose to help raise money for the nonprofit organization. Flyers encouraged a $5 donation upon entering the venue.Red Cross Executive Director Sue Gulley stressed how important fundraising is for their relief efforts.“A big misconception with the Red Cross is that people think it’s funded by the federal government,” Gulley said. “It’s not. We raise the money on our own, and that’s why events like these are really important to us.”Gulley said the ultimate goal for the entire campaign, known popularly as “Heroes for the American Red Cross,” is $75,000. This money is used specifically to aid local disaster relief efforts and assist families of military members.Marcus Debro, a member of the Board of Directors for the Red Cross and a member of the event’s planning committee, said it was a “tremendous opportunity to help the Red Cross help other people.”“I was born here and raised here in Bloomington,” he said. “Now I have the opportunity to give back. And this event brings together different people of different taste.”Among the throngs of different people at Player’s Pub was Amy Thomas. A Bloomington resident and IU alumna, Thomas said she hoped the evening would simply bring “good music and good times.”She first heard about the event from participating last year in Ride for the Red, another part of the Red Cross’ spring fundraising campaign, which features a motorcycle ride through several Indiana counties. The ride honors military heroes. This year’s ride, the second annual, will take place May 19. Apart from the Red Cross’ organizers and attendees, the owner of the Player’s Pub said she felt a personal connection to fundraising efforts.Hoping to maintain her late husband and previous owner’s vision for the pub, Mary Hill said she felt helping out the Red Cross was a “win-win.”“The whole concept of a pub is to be about the community, the atmosphere,” Hill said. “It’s supposed to bring a healing feeling, and we were approached about it shortly after the tornado. It was a perfect fit.”
(04/12/12 5:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Rapper Mac Miller will take the stage for his second Little 500 performance tonight.The show will begin at 7 p.m. at the IU Auditorium as part of his Macadelic Tour.The Pennsylvania-born performer will be flanked by up-and-coming rap groups the Cool Kids and the Come Up as opening acts.This will not be the first visit to Bloomington for Miller, who performed last year with rapper Wiz Khalifa during Little 500 weekend.PJ Tolentino, disc jockey for the Cool Kids, is also experiencing a return to the college town. An IU alumnus, Tolentino typically plays foam parties at Jake’s Nightclub during Little 500 season. The auditorium will be a new venue for him.“There are some Cool Kids fans, but I’m expecting it to be really a Mac Miller audience,” he said. “A lot of people will be seeing us for the first time and, at first, may be not sure what to make of it.”Tolentino, however, is convinced the indecision won’t last long. What he describes as the group’s “futuristic old-school” sound will win over the audience, he hopes. “We take influences from the past and do new shit with it,” he said.Though the IU Auditorium was unable to release exact numbers, an employee stated the show is selling well. Senior Zack Montgomery will attend with about 15 residents of his all-male floor in Ashton Center. Though he was unfamiliar with Miller when he heard about the event, he searched Miller’s name on YouTube. Montgomery said he appreciated Miller’s refreshing sound.“It didn’t sound like what’s popular right now,” Montgomery said. “It didn’t sound like Kanye West or Lil Wayne ... like spoken word with a beat behind it. It was more of a Beastie Boys meets old school.”In addition to the concert, other events will also be taking place throughout the day. Dope Couture, a boutique on North College Avenue, will host a meet-and-greet from 4:20 to 6 p.m. with the Cool Kids and special guest DJ Clockwork.Directly following the concert, there will be an after-party at Jake’s Nightclub. A shuttle service is being offered from the venue to the club that will run until 3 a.m. Ticketholders can email promo@danyolsonmusic.com to arrange for pick-ups. A $10 cover will be charged at the door.
(04/02/12 1:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Girls Inc. gymnasium was an array of makeshift sustainability Friday — the floor was lined with Christmas lights, bits of fabric posed as a red-carpet runway and a small laptop served as speakers. Then, of course, there were the clothes.Runway fashion consisted of only reused clothes found in bins or on hangers at a local Goodwill. These articles were then remade by student designers to fit today’s trends and serve as a testament that good fashion can also be green. Girls Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering girls to understand and assert their rights. Erin Policinski, program director for Girls Inc., said that, since working with Students in Free Enterprise, an organization that promotes business ethics, entrepreneurship and personal financial skills, the girls seem to place a greater value on sustainability.“They’re more energy conscious,” she said. “I’ll notice little things. In the winter, when someone leaves the door open after carrying something outside, they’ll be like, ‘Okay, we need to close the door so the heat doesn’t get out.’”As the show began, the eight models were ready to show their friends and family just how fierce they could be in head-to-toe awareness.As they entered the catwalk, all smiles and some shyness, they struck signature poses to the tune of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” The audience roared in response.Sophomore Ashley Sowders, member of SIFE, was among the onlookers at the show. Though she said she was more involved with the fair-trade aspect of the organization, she wanted to support the other members in a cause she has tried out herself.“I think it’s really interesting to turn these old garments into something new,” Sowders said. “I’ve made a scarf before on my own and a duct tape bag ... things like that. It’s cute, fashionable, fun.”Many of the models sported long skirts and ankle-length dresses whose fabric was then fastened in one way or another onto the top half of their outfit, whether a ruffled flower or paisley lining. Today’s popular trends, such as color-blocking, also made an appearance.Jackie Cottrell, senior in the Individualized Major Program, said she heard about the opportunity to design for the show in one of her classes. Though at first she “let it go” and didn’t plan on participating, she said she started to feel excited about the prospect of working with younger girls. After signing up, Cottrell had only a week to make four outfits.“I just thought, ‘If I were 11, what would I want to wear?’” Cottrell said. “It was about getting in the mindset of a young girl. So of course came the colors, little frills and leopard print.”As all the models lined back onto the runway for the finale, audience members were thanked for their participation and asked to make a small donation to Girls Inc. SIFE hopes to later supply the facility with touchless water fountains, which would lowers costs and energy usage for the facility.At the end of the show, Policinski said she believed Girls Inc. individuals learned an important lesson.“It’s about giving something to the girls that’s not physical,” she said. “They’ve been given the knowledge to make better choices as they get older and become consumers.”
(03/30/12 2:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students in Free Enterprise will sponsor a fashion show that focuses on a consistent concern at IU — sustainability. The show, which will take place at 6 p.m. Friday at Girls Inc., is a result of months of partnership between students and the nonprofit organization, in which young girls are taught the value of eco-friendly choices in fashion through simple lesson plans.One past activity included watching color dye and water spread across a coffee filter, showing the girls a visual example of the chemical properties in dye and illustrating the necessity of large amounts of water.“It’s a fun process,” said Mary Embry, a professor in the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design. “We’re connecting things that aren’t usually connected. I know adults who can’t understand the connection between fashion and sustainability.”Now, the many lesson plans are accumulating into one major show, which will feature the young girls as models. Clothes for the event were pulled from Goodwill and altered by student designers, illuminating the importance of reusing material. The young models were able to draw beforehand what they each wanted their outfits to look like.One designer, Alicia Leffers, said she has enjoyed the process of working with her young models.“It has been really fun to get old clothing and rip it apart knowing that the garment has a new life ahead of it,” she said. “Old clothing ends up in landfills, so if more would buy second hand, we could diminish the amount of pollution.”Marya Ruchala, a freshman and coordinator for the show, said this project is a unique opportunity for Girls Inc.“It’s a pretty cool thing,” she said. “Because they’re so young, I don’t know when else they would be able to be in a fashion show.”Although the show is free, a $5 donation is suggested. Proceeds will be added to the $300 in corporate donations Girls Inc. has received so far. Ruchala said students in the group hope to raise enough money to make the facility of Girls Inc. more sustainable, specifically by installing touchless water fountains — an investment that would not only save the nonprofit a large sum of money but potentially lessen a harmful ecological footprint.Embry said though the group might be young, it is crucial to increase environmental literacy at a younger age.“I think it’s one of the most important solutions to environmental problems,” she said. “Kids to need to grow up thinking about these issues.”While the students have enjoyed working with Girls Inc., they are excited to show off their progress.“I’m really excited to show the community what we’re doing,” Ruchala said. “And I’m excited to show the parents what we’ve been teaching their children.”
(03/07/12 2:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Next to a metal shop in the School of Fine Arts’ McCalla building, behind a sliding glass door, sit three revolutionary machines. Professor Nicole Jacquard said they are “the top end of this cutting-edge field.”These machines — two monstrous printers and a CNC Wood Router — offer entry to the world of 3-D printing, where students can design an object and have it printed into tangible, life-size versions.“We’re at this fortunate moment of time where we’re just finding out what this software and equipment can do,” said Jacquard, who has a Ph.D. that focuses on integrating the technology into the classroom. “Before, it was more industry, but now we have students pushing the limits of these machines.”However, these machines haven’t always been in the McCalla building. They originated in an entirely different department — physics.Professor Paul Sokol, a former director of the department’s cyclotron facility, first brought the machines to campus to build what is now known as the IU Health Proton Therapy Center, where patients can seek cancer treatment through the use of protons.The huge machine needed for this treatment, known as a cyclotron, was incredibly expensive, with facilities now costing about $120 million. Sokol decided he needed to carefully control costs. He purchased the 3-D printing machines in hopes of designing the components of the cyclotron by computer first, making sure all pieces fit together, before starting on the real cyclotron.“It’s not like we were building things that sold for $19.95,” he said.Later, when Jacquard approached Sokol about utilizing the 3-D printing machines in the fine arts department, he had no hesitation.“We weren’t using them as heavily anymore, and the arts department was really picking up,” he said. “It seemed like the logical thing to do.”The two wrote a grant for New Frontiers in the Arts and Humanities, a funding program. They were awarded $25,000, and the machines were then moved.Art students have created a variety of customized objects using 3-D printing, including pieces of jewelry, freestanding sculptures and guitars.However, 3-D printing is not confined to the SoFA.Jacquard has already interacted with a variety of other departments interested in utilizing the software and equipment, from an individual in medical sciences hoping to scan various bird skulls to a math professor interested in making his own dice to better teach probability.“I think we’re really moving from an era of mass production to mass customization,” Jacquard said.Because of all the parties that could benefit, Jacquard said she is hoping to bring a fabrication lab, or “fab lab,” to IU’s campus. This addition would reflect a partnership between IU, Ivy Tech Community College and the Bloomington community, who would ideally all be welcome to utilize the lab for both academic and personal endeavors.Anne Fiala, a second-year graduate student in metalsmithing and jewelry design, started using a fabrication lab during her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign after she severely burned her hand while glassblowing.“One of the goals of the fab lab is to arm the general public with digital technology in order to give them the ability to make anything,” Fiala wrote in an email. “It was great to see kids as young as 5 and as old as 85 learning open source technology and finding new and improved ways to problem solve using the CUC Fab Lab resources.”Jacquard now wants a stamp of approval from the University to start the same venture. The biology, theater, kinesiology and computer science departments have expressed interest in the availability of a fabrication lab on campus for research purposes. However, the ultimate goal would be a lab also based on community outreach, specifically through entrepreneurship and the reduced need to outsource production.“It’s all about how they can use it creatively for their own practice,” Jacquard said.Payson McNett, an associate instructor who serves as the CNC router technician, said he would enjoy the lessened workload of a fully-staffed lab.McNett designs wooden pieces by hand, in addition to utilizing a CNC router that cuts the material for him. He stressed that traditional ways of working with material shouldn’t be entirely lost, but enhanced. “It is very important to me to work with both contemporary and classical means of creating,” he said.To fund the new space, Jacquard and her partners are currently applying for grants. Until the time when the fabricated lab can become a reality on campus, she maintains high hopes for the future.“We’re thinking of a larger picture,” she said. “We want to do something that can benefit the whole Bloomington community.”
(03/05/12 4:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>About 30 people came together at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures on Saturday to artistically explore Celtic culture. It was the museum’s last Family Craft Day for this academic year.A mixture of young children, their parents and IU students worked with cotton balls, egg cartons, paint, fabric and glue to create Celtic-inspired items such as sheep and tartan. Curator of Education Sarah Hatcher said March seemed like the perfect month to plan this particular craft day because of St. David’s Day and the popular St. Patrick’s Day.“American culture is actually heavily inspired by Celtic roots,” Hatcher said as she helped a young girl glue cotton balls onto a cardboard toilet paper roll. “For example, plaid, which we see everywhere, came from tartan.” Tartan is a crisscrossed pattern typically found in wool.Freshman Catherine Krege sat at the tartan table with a few of her friends. Though she was there to fulfill a requirement for an honors class that stressed community involvement, she said she was pleasantly surprised by how much she was enjoying herself.“I’m actually having a blast,” Krege said. “Normally in university life, you don’t have the opportunity to do crafts. It’s a fun way to spend a Saturday.”Though students were present, most attendees were young children. Sabrina Sullenberger, a professor in social work, brought her three children to the event after recently seeing how positive it was for them to learn about different cultures.“We all went to an Indian dance festival together and for the next two weeks, they were dancing in the same way,” Sullenberger said. “We looked up some things about it online, and it ended up being a great way for all of us to learn about another culture.”This event specifically hit home for Sullenberger. Her daughter, Ireland, was named after the Irish roots in her family. She hoped the craft day would continue to expose her girls to other cultures, much like the dance festival did.Though this was the final Family Craft Day at Mathers, Hatcher said she hopes the turnout will be just as positive for the Lotus Blossoms World Bazaar on March 31.The free, family-focused event takes place at Binford Elementary School and will also explore multiple cultures through arts and education.
(01/30/12 3:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>About 70 art enthusiasts gathered together for the 26th Annual Friends of Art Benefit Dinner Saturday evening. The noise level rose as the room filled to near capacity. Laurel Cornell, president of Friends of Art, introduced the speaker to the crowd after it became silent.Bret Rothstein, a professor in the Art History Department, is known for his work in Netherlandish paintings. But tonight, he would be speaking about something else: puzzles.“I’m sure that introduction just sent a chill down your spine,” Rothstein said after making his way to the front of the room.Rothstein filled his hour-long lecture with his passion and fascination with these mischief provokers — not the jig-saw type of puzzles, but the type meant to frustrate, confuse and even needlessly challenge the viewer.In his PowerPoint, he presented elaborate mazes, boxes and strangely hinged 3-D objects. His hands moved quickly around an invisible puzzle in the air as he tried to show the audience how they could solve the one shown on the screen.The audience took it in. Weathered hands could be seen in almost every row, stroking beards,mustaches and lips in a mask of concentration, only interrupted by a church-like chorus of “mmm” after understanding the puzzle.But shortly into the lecture arose a question about puzzles and about all the effort in trying to discern them: “What’s the point?” The answer, explained Rothstein, is much like the puzzle itself — it’s possible that its value can be found in the pointless effort one gives to solve it, in the value of play.“To play well is to compete, and to compete is to make things hard for your opponent,” he said. Puzzles knit together a group of people who are able “to master that usefulness,” he said.After the lecture, the group moved to the IU Art Museum’s atrium, where black-clothed tables sported an array of appetizers and wine. Norman and Mary Crampton were among the crowd. Due to Mary’s determination, the two became members of the organization two years ago.“I’ve always said, ‘In my second life, I’m going to be an artist,’” she said, with a smile.Though in regard to the night’s lecture she said she was not “a puzzle person” and felt “a little bored,” her husband had a different opinion.“I’ve always been intrigued by the useless objects in my life,” said Norman Crampton, who often makes wooden furniture during his spare time. “So, it was interesting to see a systematic way of doing these things.”
(01/12/12 2:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Friends of Art, an organization that supports IU School of Fine Arts (SoFA) students, will have its 26th annual Fine Arts Library Benefit Dinner at 6:45 p.m. Jan. 28 in the Fine Arts Library. This year, Associate Professor Bret Rothstein of the History of Art Department will present a lecture titled “Playful Objects.”According to the Friends of Art’s website, Rothstein has long been interested in puzzles, especially after seeing the Lilly Library’s collection. Now, puzzles take up “virtually every waking moment, having even become the heart of his current research,” according to the website. In addition to dinner, the night will include a a silent auction, which will feature handmade, wooden puzzles.The dinner costs $64 per person, of which $32 is tax deductible. Reservations should be made by Jan. 20. To make reservations, call the Friends of Art office at 812-855-5300 or email foart@indiana.edu by Jan.New FacultyThis spring semester, the SoFA has received an addition to their faculty. Margaret Graves, the professor of Islamic art, said she hopes to spend the next several weeks building on her predecessors work. “I’m doing a survey of Islamic Art as my class this semester,” Graves said. “The students are really great. They seem keen and interested, so I’m very pleased.”Graves, who hails from Scotland, was excited about the department’s international scope.“It is unusually global,” she said. “It has a very broad focus for an art history department, which I think is one of its real strengths.”Although it’s just her first week, Graves has found IU’s atmosphere has also made the transition easier.“People are very friendly here,” she said. “I mean, coming from the U.K., everyone seems incredibly friendly. It’s really a pleasure.”LECTURE SERIESIn addition to faculty changes, SoFA’s art history department is continuing the Robert and Avis Burke Lecture Series, which will feature three new speakers scheduled to present this spring. “It is an opportunity for top scholars in their respective fields to present their research to the Department of the History of Art, the faculty and students at IU and the larger Bloomington community,” coordinator Alicia Guebert said. The lectures were named after Avis Burke, the wife of artist Robert Burke, who was a professor emeritus of IU fine art for eight years.Though Guebert is still confirming the last speaker, she said she expects the information will be posted in the next few days. These lectures will be in addition to the department’s annual graduate student symposium. Further information regarding the lectures and this semester’s speakers can be found at www.indiana.edu/~finaweb