AbstractsCommunication

The title of the show is a little ambiguous. It could have as easily been named How to Make Wheat Paste, or An Apology to Seymour Chwast, but those titles seemed equally as enigmatic. The posters for the show, and late-night postings came about as a result of events after September 11, 2001. The brutal act of the downing of the World Trade Centers in New York City was about to be replaced with an equally brutal act of invading Iraq. The United States, in the fall of 2003, was on a singular course to save the world from terror, and, unilaterally, strike against a sovereign nation. With shaky evidence of Weapons of Mass Destruction, America headed to war. My goal, then was to express my displeasure, in whatever terms I could, be they vocal or visual. I figured that the best medium for me was that of the serigraph and a bucket of wheat paste. I have been in the graphics field in some capacity for the last 15 years. During that span, the computer has given designers the ability to control the production of artwork with much more fidelity than ever before. These technological means have had a two-fold effect. And one of the benefits has already been explained, that of more control of the printing process. However, graphic designers are trained to complete projects quickly and efficiently, and the computer has given artists the ability to copy and mime successful and previous campaigns. The latter of the two 'benefits' of the computer has been the most vexing. Our printed forms of media are being designed by people with little knowledge of design history, principles of layout, and effective messaging keep the aesthetics of low quality. The discipline has gotten so concerned with how to operate the computer, that design becomes secondary to the method that produces it. My goal was to return to a real sense of our own visual culture and history in order to protest the war that seemed so inevitable. I turned to my history books, my favorite movies, ideas, ideas, ideas. Advisors/Committee Members: Gravdahl, John (advisor), Ronda, Bruce A. (committee member), Frickman, Linda (committee member).