Graduates 2013
Alex Bogdanov
Fine Arts
I am a socially engaged artist without a social agenda. My projects attempt to create private mental realms in the public space. Each of us experiences the world in unique and often irreconcilable ways. I attempt to prompt individuals to re-experience the world on their own terms; we are in this together, yet we are, each, alone. The context, content, and meaning of my projects depend on its participants.
AlexBogdanov.com
mail2bog (~at~) gmail.com
Ryan Bulis
Fine Arts
Whether it be Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral, mankind has found a way to shape the natural world to meet his needs. This Anthropocentric view not only effects our collective attitudes toward the natural world, but it also manifest in the physical world leaving the unquestionably unique signature of Homosapien. My academic and artistic investigations are directly concerned with this phenomenon.
rabulis@umail.ucsb.edu
https://www.ryanbulis.com/
Sterling Crispin
Fine Arts
I am interested in the turbulent event horizon between consciousness and objective reality, and the ways in which subjectivities can be manipulated through ritual, mindfulness and magic systems. My current area of interest lies in the relationship between these issues and our exponentially accelerating networked global culture that will result in a technological singularity; a theoretical event in the future when machine intelligence surpasses humanity and births the post-human era.
https://www.sterlingcrispin.com
https://twitter.com/#!/sterlingcrispin
sterlingcrispin@gmail.com
Alison Ho
Fine Arts
I work with narrative, language, and identity, crafting pieces based on personal experience. I believe the construction of cultural identities is an ongoing process, which cannot be merely picked and chosen. As an artist, my cultural identity—being Chinese American, multilingual, female, from the Bay Area—is wholly integrated within and cannot separate from my practice. My work is confessional, using my own life details to examine broader themes of Asian American identity and the flexing boundaries of public vs. private. It also examines the negotiations, experiences, and expectations of different (sometimes contradicting) cultural values and directions. Within my work, I act as first person narrator and my thoughts provide insights into my choices as both artist and editor.
Websites:
https://toastandtea.org/
https://alisonho.net
Email:
toastandtea@gmail.com
Tristan Newcomb
Fine Arts
Ahhh, surrealist puppet films – is there no end to their disquieting ammunition, or to their meta-commentary on the human condition? If only they weren’t so agonizing to produce – how many tile floors or stubby carpets must one sprawl across, holding a puppet above them, trying to stay in frame? Alas, the quest for the “perfect” feature-length surrealist puppet movie continues unabated…but first up on the docket: a mockumentary about art & artificial intelligence. As of 2011, the individual-practice artist has full access to cinema language as their ontology of choice; there is no longer an economic boundary or a logistics barrier, only the vast expanse of nearly-endless labor that a feature-length movie brings…but that’s why the gods made caffeine. Yes, I am making that specific claim: the gods invented caffeine solely so we can produce and enjoy surrealist puppet films. The fact of it being used for so many other purposes is a massive, long-standing societal mistake.
Chris Silva
Fine Arts
I am interested in the way we cultivate and harvest ideas that relate to the creation of the zeitgeist. I follow trending ideas within popular culture religiously to collect or monitor various streams of information to use with or to exploit my concepts. These rich sources act as catalysts for the dialog of larger issues that I don’t think get enough attention. In my research, I have found that society is constantly trying to censor individuals within it for the gain of the majority. From the Falun Gong movement in China to the recent Wikileaks events around the world, I see censorship and as an important issue that I am constantly addressing, whether in the abstract or figurative most of the time it is not immediately recognizable. This issue can have a profound effect on how societal issues are perceived or reacted to. My work uses different methods of creation to find the end result, informing the work itself. I use programming code, digitally found and created image and object, various technologies, video and photography to inspire my thoughts and to create my work. These new and dynamic modes of visualization provide me with a post medium dialog to express my ideas in.
Website: https://www.chrissilva.net
Blog: https://www.articulat.es
https://facebook.com/chrissilva
https://twitter.com/_chrissilva
Erik Sultzer
Fine Arts
I am currently focused on the artist’s role in the promotion of political resistance and dissent. How do we determine the efficacy of these artistic gestures, and to what end do they point? I admit to feeling ambivalent about the artist’s ability to affect Change, while at the same time experiencing guilt for (possibly) losing Hope. What Is To Be Done?