Why AxS Podcast from ArtCenter: Dark Matter
Why AxS from ArtCenter
Ready to go dark and get deep? In the third episode of the podcast—where brilliant scientific and artistic minds ponder the important whys—we explore the infinite possibilities of the origins and nature of our universe. Our guests couldn't be more disparate in their paths, yet conjoined in their pursuits. , an internationally renowned visual artist and ArtCenter faculty member, is inspired by the natural world, on this planet and beyond. Her works are intimate and epic, earthly and ephemeral—a celebration of how we connect to our environment, below and above. Her large-scale...
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Why AxS Podcast from ArtCenter: Art and Science
Why AxS from ArtCenter
Did you know the intersection of art + science has been rooted in the DNA of Los Angeles from the very beginning? In this episode of our Why AxS podcast, alum + former ArtCenter Exhibitions director Stephen Nowlin unravels the rich intertwining origins of the artists and experimenters who landed in L.A. and pioneered new industries, from aeronautics to film. As humans, we aspire to find common ground between the two district sides of our brain. That’s why science needs art to tell its narratives in a language that makes data illuminating, immersive, complex and even...
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Why AxS Podcast from ArtCenter: Rosetta Mission
Why AxS from ArtCenter
Welcome to the Why AxS, ArtCenter’s podcast featuring brilliant scientific and artistic minds ponder the big why's that come with being a tiny part of this universe. Our first episode, How to Land on a Comet, takes you aboard JPL’s Rosetta Mission, as we’re joined by mission planner Art Chmielewski + alum/illustrator Liz de la Torre (BFA 13), who mapped the surface of speeding comet for a first-of-a-kind rendezvous with a spacecraft — from a single pixel. Rosetta remains one of the world’s most ambitious — and arduous — space exploration missions. Landing on a comet as it...
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Why AxS Podcast from ArtCenter
Why AxS from ArtCenter
Join us for ArtCenter’s new mini-series investigating the powers of art and science–and the extraordinary, unexpected outcomes when the two fields intersect. The four-part series, launching September 12, features prominent artists–often with connections to ArtCenter–and scientists tackling big ideas about dark matter and transcendence from right- and left-brain points of view. At ArtCenter, science and art often cross paths–after all, CalTech and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are in our backyard, allowing for unique collaborations through programs, exhibitions, internships and...
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Karen Hofmann on building an accessible, affordable and inclusive education
Why AxS from ArtCenter
To many of our listeners, this guest needs no introduction. She is someone who has burst through seemingly impenetrable ceilings – glass and otherwise – to claim leadership roles historically held by men. She rose through the ranks as a strategic industrial designer before returning to ArtCenter, her alma mater, for a transformative stint as Chair of our Product Design department. She was also a driving force behind ArtCenter’s innovative DesignStorm program, through which major brands engage our stud
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Jackie Amezquita on migration, memory and making art
Why AxS from ArtCenter
When we first heard from Jackie Amezquita four years ago, she was an ArtCenter Fine Art student on the cusp of graduating. In a raw and revealing interview, she traced the arduous path she’d walked to find the stability she needed to risk everything for her art.
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Aimee Mullins on Finding a World of Possibilities in Every Problem
Why AxS from ArtCenter
Aimee Mullins is a true polymath. Her passions and professional pursuits are as varied and boundless as the awards and groundbreaking strides she’s achieved within her many chosen fields. She broke new ground in athletics as the first amputee in history to compete against able-bodied athletes in the NCAA’s Division 1 track and field events. She went on to set records in the 100 and 200 meter races and the long jump.
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Artist Lita Albuquerque on Regeneration After the Fire
Why AxS from ArtCenter
We’re lucky as artists that we can recover much faster because we can express. Nature recovers and we recover.
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Artist Kim Schoenstadt on finding redemption through creativity and kinship
Why AxS from ArtCenter
Client hypothetical. This is the term pioneering architect and designer Eileen Gray used to classify the many Modernist masterpieces she designed in the absence of actual paid commissions. She was simply making things because that was what she was made to do.
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James Meraz on creating a path through unimaginable loss
Why AxS from ArtCenter
James Meraz joined the faculty of ArtCenter’s Environmental Design department in September of 2001, shortly before 9/11. In the wake of that tragedy he wavered about how to proceed with his planned curriculum. How would it all be relevant? In the end, he resolved to lean into the uncertainty of that “cataclysmic moment,” realizing that the only way out of the pain, chaos and confusion was to go through it.
info_outlineFor novelist Aimee Bender, magic is not a limited resource. Nor is it something to be feared, coveted, mistrusted or monetized. In her view, rather, magic is an everyday occurrence woven into the fabric of our lives captured in fleeting moments of transcendence all too often overlooked.
No wonderment, however small, seems to escape Aimee’s notice. And as her readers can attest, her comfort with uncanny occurrences can be found throughout her celebrated novels and essays. Whether she’s writing about a child’s ability to taste a parent’s depression in her bestselling novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake or a young woman confounded by inanimate objects that spring to life in The Butterfly Lampshade—Amy’s work gives voice and validity to the things we know and feel but can’t explain.
Aimee and Lorne share an interest in exploring the unknown and making sense of it in their writing. For me it’s best summed up by the subtitle of my book: from spaces of uncertainty to creative discovery. Whereas Aimee describes her connection to this terra incognita as a way of acknowledging “the presence of ghosts” and making room for a “different kind of thinking.”
Aimee is the rare artist whose warmth and gregariousness match her vast talents. And as you’ll soon hear, this conversation was no exception. As she sought to illuminate the mysterious and sometimes tortured nature of the writing process, she regularly invoked her students with deep affection. So it should come as no surprise that her creative writing classes at USC are among the most popular in the program.
Aimee and I also discussed the way creativity provides a “lab” for experimenting with uncertainty and how, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, writing, on a good day, can feel like dipping a cup into the river of ideas and delighting at the surprises discovered within it.
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