Spring 2006
UGA Journal for Undergraduate Research Opportunities

The Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) at the University of Georgia highlights outstanding undergraduate research at UGA during its annual symposium. The Best of CURO issue each year features select research in the humanities, arts, and social sciences presented at the symposium.

AUX Launch: Art, Representation and Commerce on the Web

John Crowe
Faculty Advisor: Mark Callahan
University of Georgia

AUX Launch utilizes the web as a platform where the lines of separation between art, design, and commerce are blurred. Competition between traditional music industry distribution strategies and alternative models such as filesharing and inexpensive downloads is contributing to the emergence of new web-based models of artistic representation and content distribution. This project combines creative and technological research in the creation of a web site that accompanies the publication of AUX, a collection of experimental sound from Athens, Georgia . The development of the AUX web site is one component of collaborative project supported by Ideas for Creative Exploration (ICE), an interdisciplinary initiative for advanced research in the arts at UGA. The initial stage of the project brought together recording artists who share a connection with Athens’ thriving independent music scene and graduate students in the Lamar Dodd School of Art’s acclaimed Printmaking and Book Arts program. The result was a limited-edition audio CD in unique packaging printed and assembled by hand. AUX Launch supports the distribution of the CD and will remain online as documentation of the project when the edition is no longer available. The site, http://auxfestival.com/auxcd/, provides information about the artists on the compilation and sense of context for the project within the global community. The development of the site is the result of individual effort using Macromedia Flash software and original ActionScript programming. The project evolved through numerous prototypes and code refinements to launch-ready status. The innovative design reflects the unconventional nature of the compilation through the use of layered graphics, sound, animation, and minimal text. A dynamic interface activates subtle contrasts in color, negative space, and popup animations, creating moments of intuitive navigation and discovery.

John Crowe is a senior Digital Media BFA candidate in the Lamar Dodd School of Art. In 2005 he was a CURO Summer Fellowship recipient. He is affiliated with Ideas for Creative Exploration (ICE) an interdisciplinary program for advanced research in the arts, and received a 2005-2006 ICE Project Grant.

April 16, 2006
Optical Atlas music blog

AUX: Experimental Sound from Athens, GA
By Jeff Kuykendall

The full story is this: in late 1999, on their last tour as a stable unit, Olivia Tremor Control came to the Crocodile Cafe with The Minders in tow. The audience was a mix of what was then a typical Elephant 6 fan-black-rimmed glasses, staring fixedly at the band without moving or smiling or anything-and the other sort that would fill out any venue playing live music in downtown Seattle on a given night-screaming at the band, groping their girlfriend, attempting to high-five the OTC fans who were only glaring back at them.

I had brought a couple of things for the Olivias to sign, but realized how uncool that was when I arrived, and didn’t say anything to them. It was a good show. Don’t get me wrong. The 8 Track Gorilla was there, temporarily leaving the merch desk to interrupt the Olivias midway through the performance; “Hey, look everyone, it’s the 8 Track Gorilla,” Will deadpanned while the man in the gorilla suit jumped around onstage before an audience that was split straight down the middle: the Elephant 6 fans staring up bewilderedly, somewhat annoyed; the drunken frat boys screaming out, “Woooo! Ape-track gorilla! Woooo!” There were a few moments when the band needed to stall for time while Bill replaced a string or an impromptu sound check was performed, so Scott would lead everyone in a group meditation that involved pretending to be a tree. And at a few points they merged tracks with a little bit of avant-garde noise, or allowed a song to build deliberately slowly-for example, into “Grass Canons,” which would begin properly whenever they damn well pleased. But then that second contingent in the audience got a little antsy, and even some of the Elephant 6 fans began to chat with each other, and someone very drunk screamed in my ear, “Play songs!” Scott looked terrified but smiled at the other guys onstage and said, “Okay!” And then the Olivias started jumping fences again.

There’s another divide within the Elephant 6 community: those who like the pop and those who like the experimentation. But the Olivia Tremor Control always straddled that fence, most noticeably in the album they were promoting on that tour, Black Foliage, which would sway from Brian Wilson harmonies to John Cage sonic hiccupping in the space of a second. I was in grad school at the time and one of my fellow classmates, who was also a temporary member of Unbunny, was there; in the intermission he said, “These guys are good, but I wish they’d stick to the songs. Everything else, it’s like-Sonic Youth has already been there, you know?”
That’s the first thing I think of when I think of experimental music. The other thing is a long argument on the E6 Townhall a couple of years ago when Everything Is was re-released and “Aunt Eggma Blowtorch” became a hot topic again. There were Neutral Milk Hotel fans who just couldn’t stand to listen to it, and thought it was shit. I tried to make the argument that “Aunt Eggma Blowtorch” was brilliant because it created a real alternate universe, a place you could live, an expansive space. Or something. I also just thought it was fun. But some folks just really wanted Jeff Mangum to stick with the tunes (by footnote, “Aunt Eggma Blowtorch” actually pre-dates most everything else Neutral Milk Hotel). Major Organ and the Adding Machine is a good litmus test for the NMH fans, as well.

I’m keeping this on an Elephant 6 track because this is what the website’s about, but I should also note the obvious: AUX: Experimental Sound from Athens, GA is not an Elephant 6 compilation. It limits itself to Athens musicians, but look who’s here: W. Cullen Hart (of Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System), Korena Pang (Jefferson), Heather McIntosh (of The Instruments), Hannah Jones (of Circulatory System), and Chronicle Ape and the New Sound (if I’m not mistaken, of direct simian relation to the 8 Track Gorilla). The other names, such as Pelican City and Noisettes, should be familiar to those who’ve been following Athens music for a while.

I listened to this CD a couple of times this morning, and the tracks mesh with one another so well that I was astonished it was an experimental compilation. Usually the listening experience is a bit more (deliberately) jarring on these kinds of CDs. The biggest blip comes from Korena Pang’s “excerpt from Dogbirthed Brother in Eggsack Delicious,” which is a 2:22 collection of belches, snoring, and someone with an English accent describing a wizard (I can only think of Harry Potter, try as I might to transport myself). I like it, but if you’re new to this kind of thing, it’s the most trying track on the record. I like Will Cullen Hart’s “Dimensional Snail and Friend” a lot better (it actually succeeds in presenting the subterranean feeling which I never got from Hart’s Silver CD, which actually was recorded underground), and the thing is, it’s seamlessly sequenced right after the Korena Pang track. The whole CD is seamless, from the liftoff one feels after Paul Thomas’ “Hope” and Chronicle Ape’s “Antique #1” all the way through the settling descent of “The Breathing Table” by Manipulated Sound Source.

It’s a compilation, so by definition it’s hit and miss, but I found this a much more pleasing listen than Athfest 10, the other Athens compilation released last week. That, a more typical comp, scrambles in a dozen different directions at once, satisfying no one. This tunnels its way in a singular direction, as all the artists are interested in discovering new sounds, juxtapositions, and experiences. Some succeed more than others. I particularly liked Hannah Jones’ “Bells for Electronic Owl,” the title of which seems apt, and Sarah Black’s “Music Box,” which begins like a broken version of its namesake before departing through another dimension.

At $30, it’s pricey, and when you get it, you become apprehensive that it will fall apart within the week. (The cardboard CD cases were assembled by hand, which is why there’s only 200 being printed, and why it’s $30.) But it fulfills my pretentious-sounding requirement for satisfying experimental music: it creates a space for you to explore, and it engages you. If you know what side of the fence you fall on, you know whether or not you need this CD.

April 11, 2006
Jesse Jarnow’s music blog
link to original article

another set of flowers in the museum

November 18, 2005
Washington University Record
link to original article

Carmon Colangelo named first dean of Sam Fox School
By Liam Otten

Carmon Colangelo, director of the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, has been named the first dean of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced Nov. 16.

“Carmon Colangelo is an accomplished artist and an experienced academic leader,” Wrighton said. “In both capacities, he has demonstrated an exceptional ability to incorporate new concepts and new technologies alongside traditional art and design techniques.

“His creativity and passion will help fulfill our vision of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and realize its considerable potential.”

Formation of the Sam Fox School – which aspires to become a national model for the creation, study and exhibition of multidisciplinary and collaborative work – comes amidst a nearly $60 million campaign to improve campus arts facilities. Plans include extensive renovations to existing facilities as well as two new buildings designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki, both scheduled to open in fall 2006.

Colangelo’s appointment – effective July 1 – follows from the work of an advisory committee chaired by Richard J. Smith, Ph.D., the Ralph E. Morrow Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences.

Colangelo will oversee the Sam Fox School’s four academic units – the College of Art, the College of Architecture, the Graduate School of Art and the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design – as well as the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, home to one of the nation’s finest university collections of modern art.

In addition, Colangelo will serve as a member of the University Council and as the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Community Collaboration in the Arts.

“This is just an amazing opportunity, and I am absolutely thrilled to join Washington University as first dean of the Sam Fox School,” Colangelo said. “This new structure presents tremendous opportunities for innovative collaboration and to become an international center for creative activity to address, explore and contemplate the challenges of contemporary design in the 21st century.

“Two beautiful new Fumihiko Maki buildings; nationally ranked architecture and art programs; and one of the very finest university art collections and galleries in the country – the combination and potential are extraordinary.

“The Sam Fox School will strive to be a leader and one of the most unique and dynamic schools of design and visual arts in the world. I am honored to join its faculty in a leadership role.”

The current deans of Architecture and Art will report to Colangelo, who in turn will report directly to Wrighton. In addition, Colangelo will chair the Sam Fox School Executive Committee, comprising the deans of Architecture and of Art; the director of the Kemper Art Museum; and leaders of the Department of Art History & Archaeology in Arts & Sciences and the Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg Information Center.

“I think we have succeeded in hiring one of the most talented arts administrators in the country,” said Jerry Sincoff, dean of Architecture and a member of the advisory committee. “Under Carmon’s leadership, the Lamar Dodd School has completed design and planning for a new $40 million campus that will unite its arts and design programs in a single location.

“I am certain he will bring that same energy and collaborative approach to St. Louis.”

Jeff Pike, dean of Art and current chair of the Sam Fox School Executive Committee, and Sabine Eckmann, director of the Kemper Art Museum, also served on the advisory committee.

Eckmann noted that Colangelo was founding director of Georgia’s Ideas for Creative Exploration, which promotes “innovative, multidisciplinary projects and advanced research in the arts through publications, performances and exhibitions.”

Pike added, “At Georgia, Carmon effectively built new interdisciplinary initiatives while strengthening both the faculty and the graduate program. We look forward to working with him.”

About Carmon Colangelo

Colangelo is a widely exhibited artist known for large mixed-media prints that combine digital and traditional processes.

Over the past decade, Colangelo’s work has been featured in 15 solo shows and dozens of group exhibitions in Argentina, Canada, England, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico and across the United States. His work has been collected by many of the nation’s leading museums, including the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University.

Born in Toronto, Colangelo earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in printmaking and painting from the University of Windsor in Ontario in 1981 and a master of fine arts degree in printmaking from Louisiana State University in 1983.

From 1984-1996, Colangelo headed the printmaking department at West Virginia University and was named chair of the Division of Art in 1993.

In 1997, he became director of the Lamar Dodd School, which encompasses approximately 1,000 undergraduate and 90 graduate art majors. He was named a distinguished research professor in 2003.

Under Colangelo’s direction, the Lamar Dodd School started a significant visiting artist scholar series; recruited more than two dozen full-time faculty and staff positions; increased graduate and teaching assistantships by more than 50 percent; and renovated the recently named John D. Kehoe Center, a 13th-century monastery in Cortona, Italy, for its study abroad program.

U.S. News & World Report ranks the school’s M.F.A. program among the top 21 in the nation and the printmaking program among the top three.

Colangelo and his wife, Susan, have three daughters: Jessica, 19, Ashley, 17, and Chelsea, 11.