Jennie Park

MFA 1 - Art

DIY Political Machines: Circular to Linear Motion

Three kinetic sculptures explore relationships between circularity/co-opting/recycling and linearity/polarization/binary-ness, and how personal agency or positionality intersects with these linked mechanics. (They’re NOT “voting machines;” they reflect the operation of many large systems, frameworks and conversations, e.g., the relationship between the DIY ethos and capitalism, between the political far left and far right, and among nested systems such as science operating within politics (which operates within law).

Vision Test / Viewfinder

This "vision test" or (tourist) "viewfinder" presents alternate interpretations of the same images, via 4 phrases: "WE ARE THE VIRUS," "THEY ARE THE VIRUS," "WE RESIST THE VIRUS," "THEY RESIST THE VIRUS." (An optician asks, “Lens A or B,” to ascertain visual acuity.) COVID-19 exists in a world structured by metaphorical “viruses:” the unhoused, imprisoned, etc. are deemed societal “diseases;” at once, capitalism, pollution & social media are deemed viral. In a given context, who are "we" & "they?" What's a "virus?" As "resist" has political and immunization-related meanings, what does it mean to "resist the virus?"

Pierre Emmanuel Mariaca

The Net and the Self “The Net and the Self is an interactive music and dance installation mirroring our networked society. The audience enter in a room illuminated by UV blacklights where dancers and musicians interact through an amplified harp that has its strings connected with fluorescent fishing lines attached to the walls. The installation […]

Usha Venkat

Radical Practice Radical Practice is a series of podcast conversations between CalArts Graphic Design Program alumnae and current students. Each episode features an alumna with a distinct professional practice, including BFAs and MFAs whose endeavors range from cultural to corporate and from singular enterprises to ambitious ideas. We’ll discuss how they have defined success for […]

Carson Schafer

A Drum Solo Visualized Hello, I am a Jazz Drums MFA ALUM (’19). My goal with this submission has been to find a way to make visuals that clearly represent what drummers practice –moving around the kit and using multiple limbs at once to create music. I wondered if there was a way to visualize […]

Vanessa Kwan

Ernestine and Delilah Ernestine and Delilah navigate their love in an apocalyptic world. Collaborators: Claire Brnjac https://vanessakwan.art/

John Tejada

Future Stars class compilation album John Tejada, a frequent guest on Touched Music compilations, hatched the idea of turning the final project for his CalArts “Advanced Electronic Music Production” class into a compilation album for the established label. John Tejada Presents Future Stars features 15 of Tejada’s students at their best, as well as an […]

Mechatronic Art and Music

Kai-Luen Liang Tomorrow There Will Be Wind ( Automatic Windchimes ) A performance of playing an Arduino controlled set of wind chimes. Vibration motors are activated through a motor driver creating divisions and polyrhythms based on various “states.” First iteration prototype with beer bottle activation.   Trevor Bock 4-Note Bottle Blowing Instrument I have always […]

Ward Melnikoff

Return Of The Radiolarian After a 20 year pause, my Radiolarian Landscapes are returning. http://wardmelnikoff.com/

Susana Pineda

The Mermaid is a collaborative music video and one of the 6 pieces of my thesis project “Inner Creatures.” “Inner Creatures” explores the development motivations, characteristics and environments of the different sub-personalities within the psyche. “The Mermaid” is the sub-personality that deals with the emergence of sexuality, sexual identity, femininity and the need for self-determination. […]