Department of Art News

Dominic Lippillo, professor in the Department of Art, was recently featured in an article about his collaborative project with Mark Schoon, “Anti-Local.”

Read the article!

Nikki McKenzie

Nikki McKenzie, a student in the Department of Art, is a finalist in the 33^rd Annual College and High School Photography Contest hosted by Photographers Forum and Nikon. Over 16,000 international entries were entered, and only a fraction were accepted.

The jurors Neil Campbell and Photographers Forum photo editor selected the finalist group.

From the finalists, the judges, Steve LaVoie from the Art Center College of Design, Linda Lowell from Barbara Cith College and Rob Winter from Brooks Institute, will select the award winners.

All finalist will be published in the Best of College and High School Photography 2013.

 “Nikki is a very talented photographer with tremendous potential,” said Assistant Professor Dominic Lippillo. “I am certain she will continue to be published and have work in competitions and exhibitions in the future.”

For more information on the 33^rd Annual College and High School Photography Contest hosted by Photographer’s Forum and Nikon please visit the Photographer’s Forum website http://pfmagazine.com/.

Jamie Runnels, professor in the Department of Art, recently had a paper, “Medium Superior to Message: Is there a Medium/Form Bias in the Book Arts Community,” published in The International Journal of the Book, Volume 9, Issue 4.

Abstract: Since the concept came into being, society has had different ideas about what constitutes art. Some feel it is the medium that defines a legitimate art form and constitutes value, but this has raised debates over which mediums are considered valuable. Consequently there have been debates over the differentiation between fine arts (or high arts) and crafts. Likewise, varying production methods or intents within a single medium can spark debate about value and legitimacy. Each culture, generation, and practitioner has a perception of what mediums or forms are considered part of the art canon. Does the book art community also harbor ideas about value and legitimacy within its form? Is the codex more valuable than the accordion? Is a letterpress work more important than laser print work? This paper shares results from a survey of binders, curators and collectors from the U.S. to see if they do have biases towards certain book art mediums, production and binding methods: in book arts, is medium superior to message?

Anna Katherine Phipps | “Homophony” | Acrylic & latex | 40 W 25.5 H

Anna Katherine Phipps, a December 2012 graduate from the Department of Art, was selected as “Runner Up” in the Fine Arts category of Creative Quarterly: The Journal of Art and Design (Issue 30).

Her submission, “Homophony,” was completed under the instruction of Professor Brent Funderburk for her thesis body of work.

According to the national magazine, “Runner Up” entries receive a majority of votes by the judges. Phipps’ work will be reproduced in the online gallery when the coinciding issue of CQ30 publishes this spring.

See the complete list of winners. (Phipps is listed under runner-up | fine art: student)

An identity for Green Rabbits by Department of Art Professor Peter Bain was selected from more than 1,900 international entries for Communication Arts magazine’s 2013 Typography Annual.

According to their website, Communication Arts is the premier source of inspiration for everyone involved in visual communication.

 View the full list of winners.

“Bones” made by Department of Art students. (Photo by Adrienne Callander)

(Story by STEVEN NALLEY | Starkville Daily News)

In the spring, Washington D.C.’s National Mall will be covered in bones.

Every clay artwork bone created in “A Path Forward,” a fundraising challenge offered by the Students Rebuild initiative, will do more than generate a $1 donation to help rebuild lives torn by genocide in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The bones themselves will become part of the One Million Bones project, an art installation on the National Mall aimed at calling the federal government to act against genocide.

Mississippi State University hosted one opportunity for volunteers to make bones for the project Wednesday at South Hall, and it will host two more opportunities in the coming weeks: one from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 27 in a conference room on South Hall’s fourth floor, and another from 7-10 p.m. Nov. 27 in the Colvard Student Union Ballroom.

Antoinette Jenkins, a senior at MSU, is the One Million Bones state coordinator for Mississippi, and she said every site coordinator is responsible for 7,000 bones.

Volunteers are allowed to make bones of all types from the clay provided, she said, and a contributor can also have a bone made in his or her name in exchange for a $5 donation.

“Each bone is a universal symbol of someone’s life that has been lost as a result of genocide,” Jenkins said. “We are so blessed to live in America where we don’t have to worry about someone going outside our house and shooting. When I looked on the website to see what (One Million Bones is) about, I instantly wanted to be involved.”

Jenkins said she intends to reach out beyond MSU to reach the 7,000-bone goal, finishing by Jan. 17. Wednesday was the first major bone-making event she has hosted, she said, but other organizations on campus made bones before then, and any organization can contact her about making bones at amj182@msstate.edu or amj182@saffairs.msstate.edu.

“I’ve reached out to every major university in Mississippi, but there are several community colleges that are interested in helping out with the program as well,” Jenkins said. “I’m also going to try to do this at the junior high (schools) and middle schools throughout Mississippi. We already have some interest from the high school here and the junior high (school).”

Jenkins said she is grateful for the support network that has already built around her branch of One Million Bones. S&W Storage donated two storage units for completed bones, she said, and Dandy Doodles donated the use of its kiln to bake the clay.

The MSU art department has also expressed interest in letting Jenkins use its kiln, she said, and the department has already played a significant role in getting students involved. For instance, Adrienne Callander, an art professor at MSU, came with several art students to Wednesday’s volunteer event.

“I thought it would be a really good opportunity to have a hands-on art-making experience outside the classroom that was socially significant,” Callander said. “Anything that’s going to raise awareness and potentially slow genocidal movements is worthwhile.”

Callander said One Million Bones is not only activism, but also a work of art, and she likes the fact that its creators do not have to be artists in the traditional sense to partake.

“If you think of art as a vehicle for communicating ideas, there you have it,” Callander said. “In this case, you have an idea that is political and pacifist. Plus, it seems like the visual impact of the project is something that can reach far more people than, say, a congressional paper on the subject.”

One of Callander’s students, Kaylie Mitchell, said Callander presented One Million Bones as a voluntary assignment, but the cause was strong enough to attract her on its own. Mitchell encourages others to join the project, she said, and her favorite part of One Million Bones is its hands-on nature.

“Instead of signing a petition or throwing in a dollar,” Mitchell said, “creating something with your hands is so much more meaningful for a cause than passive ways of funding it.”

Read the story by Hillary LaPlatney at The Reflector.

Art Professor Dominic Lippillo has been featured in the fall 2012 issue of exposure, The Journal of The Society for Photographic Education.

The work, Anti-Local, was a collaborative photography project by Lipillo and peer Mark Schoon.  Lippillo and Schoon both attended graduate school at Ohio University, where they “separately explored the notions of place and placelessness in photos of their native midwest.”

In the journal, the artists describe their method:  “Beginning independently, one photographer creates an image of his home and sends it to the other. The recipient in turn responds to the image with a  second, paying attention to subtle details such as light, colo, and texture to find similarities and differences in his home.”

Lippillo now lives in Starkville, and Schoon lived in Queens, N.Y, but currently resides in Carrolton, Ga.

Dominic Lippillo and Mark Schoon, Untitled #19 (bed), 2010-2011, C-prints, each 11×14 inches

Check out some of the work at http://antilocal.blogspot.com/

Austin Edwards

Austin Edwards, a graphic design student in the Department of Art, will be featured in the Best of Photography 2012, published by Photographer’s Forum magazine. Edwards placed as a finalist in the 32^nd Annual Student Photography Contest, co-sponsored by Sigma.

Amateur photographers from the United States and Canada, as well as from 60 other countries worldwide, submitted over 12,000 photographs.  Only 13% of the entered photographs were selected to be accepted into the Best of Photography 2012 .

The judges were college-level instructors Ann Cutting, Art Center College of Design; Gene Strickland, Columbus State Community College; and Sherri Taylor, Syracuse University.

“I am not surprised that Austin was selected as finalist,” said Professor Marita Gootee, who is the area coordinator for photography at Mississippi State.  “He created the image in my entry-level photography class, Photo Survey. This just shows you of his incredible talent.”

Gootee said the  image was created for Edwards’ final project.

“He was inspired for the idea after the Childhood Memories hand-tinting project,” the photography professor said. “In the final series Austin really took the idea to a new level, and this was one of his images.”

Best of Photography 2012 is set to publish in December 2012.

Read the story by Margartet Kovar | MSU University Relations.

Learn more about the Best of Photography 2012 and Photographer’s Forum magazine.

Creative Quarterly | Issue 37 | Cover photo by Jamie Runnells

Jamie Runnells | 10 in x 10 in | Watercolor and pen

Jamie Runnells, associate professor of graphic design, was a winner in the Professional Illustration category for Issue Number 37 of Creative Quarterly: The Journal of Art and Design. 

The illustration was part of her series “From the Market.”

As part of the submission, artists were asked to send an image of what inspires them, and the photo she submitted was chosen for the cover of the issue.

See the full list of winners.

“Green Treefrog” | Kyle Newton, photographer | Jason Demarte, instructor

“1960″ | Smithsonian Exhibition Poster series | Kyle Newton, designer | Jamie Mixon, instructor

“1970″ | Smithsonian Exhibition Poster series | Kyle Newton, designer | Jamie Mixon, instructor

“1980″ | Smithsonian Exhibition Poster series | Kyle Newton, designer | Jamie Mixon, instructor

Kyle Newton’s photography and graphic design work was selected to appear in CMYK’s Top 100 New Creatives 54 magazine, which is expected to publish this fall.

Newton received his BFA in graphic design from MSU in May.

His winning graphic design work is a series of posters Newton created in Professor Jamie Burwell Mixon’s graphic design course.  The posters were made to promote an exhibition of the history of the 45 rpm record player for the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

See the full list of winners and judges.