CFA School of Visual Arts 2019 MFA Thesis Catalogue

Painting, Sculpture, and Graphic Design

Message from the Director On behalf of Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts, I would like to congratulate the 2019 Masters of Fine Arts candidates in Graphic Design, Painting, and Sculpture on the occasion of their MFA Thesis Exhibitions. The MFA Thesis Exhibitions are the material and conceptual culmination of SVA’s three rigorous MFA programs. These group exhibitions offer evidence of each student’s advanced artistic and academic work in the studios at BU, and demonstrate the strong community created in each program.

The MFA Thesis Exhibitions are an important launching point in our graduate students’ development, as they provide the opportunity to invite the public to engage with their perspectives. Two different professional galleries host the exhibitions this year: at Laconia Gallery in Boston’s South End, the MFA Painting and Sculpture programs stage two group exhibitions, while Graphic Design students show their work on campus simultaneously at the Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery and adjacent Commonwealth Gallery.

I am pleased to introduce the work in this beautiful Thesis Catalogue designed by MFA Graphic Design student Mariana Ramirez. The work in this catalogue and on the walls of the galleries reflects the high level of dedication of our graduate students.

It has been a powerful experience to see these students create and hone their own professional practice. Much credit is due to their faculty, who are generous mentors to students at BU and leaders in their fields beyond the classroom. The MFA cohort has evolved their thinking and their work in close conversation with faculty, with important guest artists and designers, and with one another in seminars and critiques.

In SVA’s first ever staging of a thesis show off-campus, the students in the MFA Painting and Sculpture programs worked collaboratively to design plans for their exhibitions in Boston’s SoWA Arts District, for which I commend their professionalism and advocacy. We are all grateful to the Dean of the College of Fine Arts, Dr. Harvey Young, who has supported the importance of professional-level exhibitions for our students. It has been inspiring to envision the form of these exhibitions and this catalogue with committed SVA faculty and staff, who bring attention to detail and a larger vision to all that they do. For their leadership, particular recognition goes to the three Chairs of the MFA programs: Kristen Coogan, Graphic Design; Josephine Halvorson, Painting; and Won Ju Lim, Sculpture. For their important work on this beautiful catalogue, special thanks goes out to Kristen Coogan; Evan Smith, Media Coordinator; Jessica Caccamo, Assistant Director for Admissions; and most of all to our student designer, Mariana Ramirez.

Dana Clancy Director, School of Visual Arts

“‘Why do you make things?’ is such a big question to answer. Maybe a better question is, ‘How do you make things?’”

Graphic design student Brittany Latham responded to my admittedly broad question.

Latham did not mean that she thought the question was unimportant—just the opposite. Rather, she was suggesting that the “how” reveals the “why” far better. The why is imprecise, impersonal, infinite. The how grounds us, the viewer, in medium, in form, in process, in aesthetic. In short, it grounds us in something real. Without a sense of that how, an artwork stops short once it exists outside the maker’s mind. It is through the how that an artwork speaks to a viewer, to all sorts of viewers. It is the way that an artist communicates.

All too often, graduate school can be an isolated period of study. Communication about that study can become one-sided, shaped in a vacuum instead of through conversation. But what makes the work of this cohort of artists exciting is its engagement: engagement with the history of art and graphic design, with contemporary art discourse, with Boston (as a place, a landscape, a source of ideas and materials), with pressing political issues, with changing technologies, and, most importantly, with other people. It has resulted in work that feels firmly rooted in the real world. It has also resulted in accessible, impactful visual art that speaks for itself instead of resorting to external descriptions.

Of course, quite a bit of text follows this introduction, and I am certainly not suggesting that you skip it; it’s a good read. In this catalogue, the graduating students of the Boston University MFA programs answer the question “How do you make things?” in a myriad of ways that deepen the viewer’s understanding of their work in endlessly compelling ways. Their diverse answers mirror their diverse practices.

The practices within the MFA Painting and Sculpture programs are rooted in close observation. They pay attention to and notice things that otherwise go unremarked, everything from bottle tops to the character of light in a living room to turkey wattles.

Many of the resulting works present these observed things realistically, but in a way that highlights their overlooked characteristics and pushes the viewer to similarly look more carefully. Boston itself seems to be a consistent inspiration. Its landscapes, large and small, grand and intimate, are refracted back to the viewer in ways that highlight their specificity. Through this observational focus, students also explore the possibilities of uncommon materials incorporated in unexpected ways, often layered to enliven oil on canvas. Found objects, too, make frequent appearances, either literally or in reproduction. The transformation of the commonly ignored detritus of our everyday life, of trash, into art encourages a reexamination of everyday life, a reengagement with the things and landscapes we see every day. Close observation of what surrounds us translates into artworks that communicate clearly, that reflect these observations back through subject matter or material in a way that startles the viewer into seeing things more precisely.

The graphic design graduates, in contrast, begin their work from an attitude of problem solving. This is partially due to the distinct goal of their field—to communicate an abstract idea or sense into the public visual realm—but it is also undeniably due to the theoretical bent of the program. Students are challenged to think deeply about every choice they make, and to articulate the reasons they have made those choices.

In response, students have presented works that do not shy away from grappling with of-the-moment issues. Many of the projects pose difficult questions that interact directly with this field, one that is uniquely affected by technological improvements and public perception. This theoretical basis has given students the tools to confidently engage with the problems of our increasingly digital, interconnected, global, and image-driven world. It also has given these designers the impetus to push their own work further and create objects, digital and physical, that challenge the viewer’s preconceived notion of what graphic design is and just how much impact it can have.

Regardless of the problem that these students have chosen to tackle, their responses are informed by consideration of audience reception and interaction. They are committed to the idea that the work should not end with the designer, but push the viewer to similarly engage with the problem and how to solve it.

The graduate students whose theses are presented in this catalogue have spent the past two years intently focused on making things, making art. That timeline can feel shockingly short, a fleeting moment with a predetermined conclusion. Rather than react by limiting their explorations, however, the students in the School of the Fine Arts have chosen to instead see this juncture as more about open-ended questions than final answers, more about conversations than conclusions. The program has reinforced this sense through a steady diet of critiques from professors and outside professionals, routine studio visits, and weekly talks from working artists. Collaboration and discussion among students is also encouraged. As a result, students consistently discuss their work with intelligence, poise, and candor. They can all respond confidently to the question “How do you make things?” despite the answers not being easy or final. By learning to articulate these answers, these artists have engaged with their environment, their instructors, their peers, and their audience. They have created artworks that similarly speak to, between, and among. And they have begun conversations that they are prepared to continue as they embark on promising future careers.

Colleen Foran is a first-year graduate student in the department of the History of Art and Architecture at Boston University.

Previously, she worked at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.

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Painting

10 12 14 17 18 20 22 24

Max Bard Elizabeth Flood Katherine Gardener Samuel Guy Matt Hufford Marsal Nazary Zak Shiff Gus Wheeler

Max Bard The New England landscape is littered with evidence of ownership.

Bluetooth Bass, 29" x 12" x 9," red pine, resin, squirrel head, bird breast plate, glass, lobster, crab, shells, toys

Everything is owned, marked by lines on paper and faded signs that only serve the marsh birds for perches, and a foundation of steel for homes of wasps and hornets. Like a lame tempest these white, industrial forms protect their fictitious coasts, which are not defined by where rock meets salt and air, but by the absolute most monetary value of an individual. For years I have seen the influx of people on the coast. Massive stacks of red pine landmark new domestic cul de sacs.

All of this has impacted my creative practice greatly. My work and practice mimic that of an invasive species. My work is a lot like a huckleberry, tall sharp bows, splattered by bunches of bright red berries, reaching and expanding up towards the sun and over surrounding vegetation. They are objects that would not normally be provided by nature, yet made entirely from the landscape. As time progresses found material succumbs to an artistic patina. Organic and artificial matter collapses into one another like shipwrecked men become sea water.

Herbaceous, 13" x 7 x 4," red pine, birch, steel, cord, paint, found material

Thank You For Not Breeding, 29" x 12" x 9," red pine, resin, shells, rocks, glass, coyote skull, marbles, watch, brownies

P A I N T I N G

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Elizabeth Flood

Strata, Quincy Quarries, oil on canvas, 74.5" x 66"

As an artist, I investigate the many layers of the landscape—private, public, geographic, historic—and make them visible through multi-panel paintings.

I work outdoors, hiking up and across the terrain, surveying and charting the complex traces of past lives which shape the current evironment.

My brushwork becomes notations of my observations and a record of my experience in real time. The archaeology of the everyday is my subject.

My practice has recently led me just south of Boston, to the Quincy Quarries, to a disused mine in the California Desert, and public park behind my studio in Brookline. Tracks from drills, dynamite, and glacial shifts sculpt topographies. Locals and tourists shroud rocks in graffiti, like a forum for private expression. Leaves and tree roots become fossils and bones. Through the action and object of painting, I participate in a collective place, connecting with the people, labor, and experience that precedes my own presence.

Survey, Columbia Mine, oil on canvas, 30" x 73"

From multiple vantage points, I trace my own movement and the evidence of human and environmental impact, creating a visual logic that can only exist in painting. Thinking of painting as many fragments—temporal, material, and visual—I want to build up a whole image that looks everywhere at once.

P A I N T I N G

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Exploration, mixed media on paper, 120" x 312"

Katherine Gardener My work is an exploration of my everyday life that I encounter on a daily basis.

I take ideas from the underbelly of nature, the city, and my body as source materials to form my specific abstract language. The intensity of each experience I encounter is brought back into the studio and transformed into shapes that reference my life and the movement I encounter with horses, running, people, and science. Color is an important aspect in my work; its density and weight grounds me and provides dynamic exhilaration to my life as I view and experience the world.

I think about the aspects of mapping out and tracking my body throughout these daily experiences. Parts of my work are made up of rubbings of the spaces that incorporate my runs and daily treks to places I inhabit with others, as well as the farm I grew up on. I am responding to my surroundings when I do rubbings and paintings to then sew and collage them together. I cut out shapes of the loops I have run earlier that day or what my body was doing as a repetitive action. The process is translated to a lived experience of activating a surface, emphasizing speed, scale, mapping, giving ratification to each object. I am investigating the value we place on objects that surround us and how meaning resides in the places we inhabit. My energy and thoughts are brought into the studio as a place to unload, depositing all of my experience into my paintings.

808, oil paint rubbed on fabric stitched together, 84" x 66"

P A I N T I N G

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Samuel Guy My practice centers on the affecting power of the portrait.

Through paintings of friends made exclusively from life, I am able to explore contemporary issues around intimacy, homosociality, and the domestic.

I feel the metaphoric space of painting allows for vast exploration of these aspects through anecdote and the emotional power of light and color.

The paintings are made over a number of sittings in a relational process where both the sitter and I are active participants. I hope to find, through the act of painting, images and narratives that engage in the complexity of the lived experience.

Zach on the Couch in January, oil on panel, 21" x 13.5" x (1.5")

Self Portrait with Brushes, oil on panel, 45" x 28.5" x (1.5")

P A I N T I N G

My painting engages with and utilizes the history of painting and specifically the history of portrait painting. I believe deeply in the image of an individual as a complicated subject with the power to take on potent concepts. The paintings of these men examine the vulnerabilities, contradictions, and uncertainties surrounding social interaction, while allowing me to further examine my own experience.

Self Portrait with J Crew Vest, oil on panel 10.25� x 6.5� x (1.5�)

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Matt Hufford Working outside from direct observation, I paint fragments of natural environments that are impacted by humans, shifts in daylight, changing seasons, and inclement weather.

Fern, oil and rain on coconut fiber, 15" diameter

I create oil and gouache paintings on found materials and complexly shaped surfaces constructed from plant debris and clay. The fragility of the surfaces I use echoes the impermanence of the ecosystems I paint.

Lured out of my studio by changing elements, I find myself racing against receding tides, shadows creeping across the horizon, and flurries of snow, to record what I perceive. The cold bites at my hands, rain prevents oil from sticking to the surface, and wind leaves traces of the day in the paint itself. Each location imbues my paintings with the sensory and emotional experience of standing in snow storms, melting on muggy summer days, and clambering along the coast to work.

P A I N T I N G

The interactions that I have with the landscape are intermixed with the interactions I have in the landscape. And it is through this practice of painting in inclement weather and placing myself in locations where the environment is most at risk, I find myself grappling with the vulnerability of nature, of my paintings, and of myself.

Night Amoeba, oil and starlight on coconut fiber, 11" diameter 19

Ultramarine Scarf, casein on paper 11.4" x 11.8"

Mnemosyne Series, Studio, ink on paper 11.8" x 11"

I choose a subject with a mind of openness and receptivity that allows me recognition of a combination of abstract, visual relationships that resonates.

Often, with a play of objects in my studio, I find certain visual qualities that convene such as an interplay of shapes with an opposition of flatness and volume, which inspires me towards a visual response. I am interested in the process of perception and the way in which we construct meaning from the act of seeing. Sometimes, what we may think we see is in fact different from what lies before us, which causes us to reconsider our sense of certainty and to invite a sense of unknowing into our experience.

P A I N T I N G

D E S I G N

My art practice engages understanding the world through the mediums of drawing and painting.

G R A P H I C

Mnemosyne Series, Scarf, ink on paper, 11.4" x 11.6"

Marsal Nazary

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Lonely Dancer, mix media on a wood panel, 62" x 40"

Zak Shiff Making art starts when I locate memories, found objects, colors, sounds, and words.

The most intriguing moments for me in my practice are deconstructing and reconstructing things as if they were fragments of reality or body organs, then, giving them a nonsensical meaning.

Over the last two years, I broadened my practice by creating pieces from different mediums. That development forced me to think extensively about what it means to make art. What are the values of the process and the final piece? How do I feel about the materials I am buying versus the ones I can pick up from the street?

AnaciremA, mix media on a wood panel, 42.5" x 32"

P A I N T I N G

G R A P H I C

Icons and logos such as Target, W.B.MASON, Santa, cowboys, or soldiers are some of my inspirations when I start doodling and proceed to more advanced sketching, painting or sculptures. I deconstruct and distort them by revealing their weakness or funny side, the same way I am exposing myself through the process.

D E S I G N

I developed a drawing technique in which I carve with a jigsaw through wood as if I am drawing with a pencil on plain paper. The action of cutting pieces from a more traditional surface as a wood panel feels like I am committing a violent act. Instead of considering my steps carefully I am injuring the work from the start as a way of saying, “It is dead matter, a found-object that comes and goes in the same way we get rid of our body waste or throw away the trash in the evening.�

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Gus Wheeler The subjects of my paintings are fragments of our commercial and urban spaces — images which I encounter in my everyday life— things like warning labels, logos, decals, signs, and advertisements.

These types of images address us directly in varying tones and tenors, largely warnings or enticements. Not only do they communicate a straightforward message, but they also imply a motivation. I am often drawn to ones which are poorly designed, misprinted, or abraded. In these flaws the clear intention breaks down and the meaning can bend.

I create handmade replicas of mass-produced objects. Going from the machined to the crafted, I accept a degree of mutation: I paint fonts which were once printed, I imagine details in the bokeh of a glossy add. Through my process of photographic documentation and then transcription through painting, the final image has undergone many minor transfigurations. The painted image is imbued with the results of my attempt to understand it not only as something to be re-created formally, but also as form of communication.

Static Guard, oil and acrylic on canvas, 14" x 11" (x 1")

P A I N T I N G

Fresh Flower Inside (Garden of Eden Marketplace, NYC), oil on canvas, 11" x 13.75" (x 1")

These paintings are about images. Images which are known: exhausted of any real knowledge, they are simply signposts pointing towards mirage-like concepts. These are images which seems to exist neatly within the confines of a generic type, like “California surfer sunset,” but are nonetheless custom graphics, commissioned for specific reasons. My painted images are members of these categories, yet also supersede them. In their formal qualities the images I choose grab your attention and yank it sideways, express an extra meaning, invoke an unexpected image. I take this up in painting: I paint a bright new sign, and tack it up on the signpost pointing in a new direction.

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Sculpture 28 30

Kayla Arias Erin Jesson

Kayla Arias Within my serial drawing practice, I employ a rule-based process that borrows formal structures from photography as a means of reconsidering some of the elemental tenets of photographic image construction.

Of primary concern within the work is the significance of light, not simply as a prerequisite condition for making a photograph but as the image’s exclusive subject matter. Beginning with seemingly off-hand snapshots of artificial light sources photographed at night, I digitally amplify the pictures’ contrast, effectively creating incidental abstract compositions within which street lights, car headlights, and the glow from illuminated interiors are rendered into patterned groupings of brilliant white forms within solid black fields.

Composition Using Urban Geography, homemade ink on paper, 16" x 77"

Using these digitally altered images as “negatives,” I painstakingly reconstruct their compositions on paper, yielding bold, irregular arrangements of blank white paper within a highly textured field of black ink. The ink used in my work is handmade from common hardware store items, and has variegated saturation and color-fastness. These qualities accentuate the distinctive trace of my own hand within the process, playing on the pervasive question of indexicality within the history of photography. Whereas a photograph coalesces into an image as an index of light as it interacts with form, I create compositions that yield the index of my own efforts to record the form of light itself.

I expand this system by photographing the completed drawings and subsequently producing new drawings based on these images, creating a sequence of images wherein information is slowly lost or distorted. I then order and re-structure these sequences into playful, formal puzzles wherein the singularity of each image is both assertive and interdependent as part of an immersive whole.

Dunkin Donuts, archival inkjet print, 8.5" x 11"

S C U L P T U R E

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Erin Jesson Erin Jesson’s work explores the physical and spatial aspects of our perception of time.

Using a variety of ubiquitous materials and products, Jesson configures sculptural elements in conjunction with audio tracks and video projections. These immersive experiences function as a series of open-ended questions that ask the viewer to reconsider the world around them and how they relate to it.

Family Portrait, installation with six mixed media sculptures, dimensions variable, 2018

Time tends to reveal itself through overlaps or cycles, both as a function of tangible space and material, as well as a function of our own thoughts and perception.

For example, mass-produced objects conjure the notion of “time” in several ways.

They exist as a result of the labor and energy it took to produce them, as well as being both material records of specific mechanical processes and equally subject to forces of decomposition. They are also fragments of their own specific time and place of manufacture and consumption, and within Jesson’s installations, a physical recording of the artist’s thought and decision. Jesson’s work privileges these layers of embedded material timekeeping, relying on the object to be what it is and nothing more.

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

These recognizable objects are rendered unfamiliar as they accumulate into larger, irregular forms. The oscillation between un-nameable biomorphic mass and the modular manufactured familiar from which it is constructed is in itself a disorienting reflection on the relativity of perception. The whole is more than the sum of its parts, and yet that sum is fully available to be tallied by the viewer.

S C U L P T U R E

Whaling, two channel video installation with mixed media sculptures, dimensions variable, 2018

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Graphic Design 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58

Bedour Al-Gosaibi Sharifa Ahmed Aljoghaiman Casey Bowser Ziqi Cai Sarah Cooper Casey Devaney Sarah Friedman Jason Golbitz Kate Harmsworth Nadine Kabbani Brittany Latham Ge Liu Vincent Ng’Aru

60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 80 82 84

Bliss Parsons Anvi Sarin Aditi Sharma Thomas Suglia Zimeng Wang Yufei Weng Samantha Wonderlich Qiong Wu Tong Xu & Zhuo Lun Li Chen Yan Yunjia Yang Xirui Zhang

Bedour Al-Gosaibi T H E C U LT U R E O F S O C I A L R E S T R I C T I O N

All throughout history, especially in the Middle Ages, famous artists have placed hidden meanings within their works of art. Nowadays people can speak loud with their opinions, but unfortunately this option is not applicable in all life situations.

After I joined Boston University, I started to work on several projects that changed my way of thinking. Of course, a big part was the critique, the diversity, and the variety of ideas. The main struggle for me was the idea of finding a concept rather than the execution; finding the right subject to create the perfect art work that has meaning, not just making abstract visual artwork that does not mean anything. The program taught me how to visualize my artwork in a systematic way and to always keep the audience's experience in mind. How do you translate the reality into artwork that describes the situation with a different perspective? Who is your target audience? What message do you want to deliver to them? How do you deliver it and document the process for future reference?

These design practices that I worked on in the MFA have expanded my perception and made me think of new ways to execute my artwork; to get out of my comfort zone and to “start making.” I think this is the best word to describe the process of developing my skills; to start making and creating things with new materials and new thinking. One of my favorite projects was “the unknown.” It was about designing an entire project from the unknown. The challenge was finding a subject from nothing and start searching and making something out of the content.

My thesis project has been through different stages of thinking. I did my study and research based on the place I came from and the work I experienced. First I was thinking of why we are not creative enough when it comes to creative thinking. We have the tools and the money but the creativity is missing. Then I was thinking maybe the lack of communication between other designers is the reason and maybe because of the feedback we are expecting from society, that they might not like the work we are doing. I am not sure if I can consider this as community censorship or the societal regulations, that made this creativity block or the limitation in design thinking.

All the research I worked on has lead me to the culture of social restriction that people are suffering from, not just in design or the creative field, but also in relationships and communication. I decided to write about true stories from the people around me and what they suffer from in their lives; things they can’t do anymore because they don’t want to lose the people they love. Each story has a different subject and each subject has its own art work. I visualized these stories into a fashion line where people can wear their true voice and it will reflect their inner personality. In this clothing line I am focusing on hiding the real messages inside and showing the public the fake one.

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

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With a world full of so many complementary options, it is so hard to make a decision. I am critical of all these unnecessary choices. My hypothesis is to build design concerns and start designing within limitations that drive the design process.

From my point of view, graphic design is visual communication and the aesthetic expression of concepts and ideas using various graphic elements. I am obsessed with works that have a new technique or use an old technique in a different and fresh way, and am always fascinated with the craft and the materials used in designs. I found that the idea of familiarizing the unfamiliar and the opposite is very interesting, and these have driven my choices in nearly every project I’ve done. All of this reflects my process, which involves a lot of experimentation with materials and medium to create interesting forms that serve the content and speak for themselves.

I am working with various media and trying to learn a new technique each time.

But in general, I’ve always struggled with deciding what I should do; a poster or a book? Should I choose black or blue? I have many options that can communicate my ideas perfectly. And we all know that “All Roads Lead to Rome,” but which one is better to choose? This situation is scientifically called Fear of Better Options, or FOBO. As a person, I found that I am surrounded by a lot of options and everything around me is a choice. I am interested in the psychology behind making choices with all the options around us. In my opinion, it is interesting to underpin this research of psychology or the social implication of the culture of so many complementary options.

We live in a culture with a lot of choices and we don’t really want all of that.

So I decided to turn my fear of making a decision into my thesis, trying to figure out how a culture full of a million choices affects our decisions. Through my thesis, I propose a solution for FOBO, which is design with limitations and voice concerns during the design process to work with and limit our choices. I believe this method doesn’t work for everybody, but a lot of people can’t function because of the many options they have, even in simple decisions.

How to affect design decisions and the relationship between FOBO, limited choices, and the creative process.

G R A P H I C

FEAR OF BETTER OPTIONS

D E S I G N

Sharifa Ahmed Aljoghaiman

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Casey Bowser D I G I TA L W I T N E S S

Over the past decade, it has been revealed that what we do on the Internet is constantly being monitored, analyzed, and collected. With the leaking of NSA files by Edward Snowden and the discovery of Facebook users’ data being used for political purposes without consent, the Internet’s facade of privacy and freedom has crumbled, leaving users vulnerable and uneasy. However, what has changed since these revelations have been made public?

Transparency, or lack thereof, is a theme that I have explored in past projects. I expand on this theme of transparency through my thesis, but in a digital space. Specifically, I create a digital environment in which surveillance becomes obvious to the user. I also examine if and/or how this feeling of being watched alters the user’s behavior. I create a visual methodology that explores the meaning of transparency in design, examines the effect that being watched has on a user’s behavior, and produce work that encourages the viewer to question the implications and justifiability of mass surveillance.

D E S I G N

It is hard to imagine life before the Internet. The advantages are extensive and frankly, irrefutable. It has become a place to communicate, to shop, to learn, to find jobs, to book trips, etc. without having to leave your house. As a graphic designer with plans to work in the UX / web design world, I see the Internet as an exciting and evolving space with numerous possibilities. But despite its impressive capabilities and potential, the Internet has been tainted by the discovery of the mass surveillance and data collection that has been occurring without our knowledge or consent.

Even with the uncovering of these startling facts, there remains a lack of clarity about the specifics of this monitoring and collecting—who, what, how and why data is collected and used. The murkiness surrounding mass surveillance on the Internet is disconcerting.

Most users accept or ignore this concept of surveillance on the Internet because it is not immediately apparent or obvious. And because the Internet is too valuable to give up.

We accept this as the “price” for Internet use, but did we ever really have a choice?

G R A P H I C

The lack of clarity regarding Internet surveillance and data collection has allowed these actions to become normalized or ignored. However, I intend to challenge this normalization by exploring the concept of a transparent digital space—a space that reveals, educates, and encourages the user to question this invasion of privacy and examine the true cost of the internet.

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Repetition and Difference, screen printed and bound by hand

Ziqi Cai SCREEN PRINTING ARMORY

Screen printing is not just a tool. It is, in fact, a playground that can generate more possibilities than you would ever expect, with just some extra exploration and creativity.

Fresh, screen printed, seventh edition

I do not want to define myself strictly as a maker, but making is truly my biggest passion.

Since being introduced to screen printing in my third semester at Boston University, I became obsessed with it and cannot seem to turn my head away from this exciting and freeing form of printing. To me, the rigid yet flexible techniques of screen printing allow for organic, yet controlled outcomes that I am fascinated with. Using this as inspiration, I have created prints, posters, and books, as well as explored my own technique of this process. This technique includes the layering of multiple inks to create embossed-like textures, similar to 3D printing. Using screen printing as a mode of making, I hope to bring this process to everyday objects to showcase its versatility.

Looking back to the history of screen-printing, it dates back to China, where I am from, 1,000 years ago. It was not until the 1910s that printers started experimenting with the photo-reactive chemicals that gave screen printing the more creative possibilities that are still used today. With the contribution of three printers, Roy Beck, Charles Peter, and Edward Owens, and with the help of many legendary artists, including Andy Warhol, screen printing became more of an art form and less of an industrial product.

Though it might be risky to take screen printing as a thesis subject, I am determined to explore this process and to prove that it is not just a tool for mass production, but that it can give a sense of human touch. I am very enthusiastic about the endless possibilities screen printing has and my thesis show is my opportunity to bring these options to life. I am focusing on the technique and exploring the unexpected moments that can arise from bringing screen printing out of its traditional setting and into the everyday experience.

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

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Sarah Cooper M AT E R I A L C E R E M O N I E S

I am exploring the concepts of disposability and permanence by analyzing the footprints left by our personal relationships and material property. Through collecting, cataloging, archiving, and creating new forms from existing objects, I aim to challenge viewers to consider what the unknowns are in their lives, and recontextualize their relationships both to people and possessions.

Society tells us that certain things in our lives are permanent and others are disposable.

This is true for both items we purchase and collect, but also for our personal relationships. How long will it take our possessions to decompose if we throw them away?

How long do we think a friendship should last? What constitutes an heirloom? Can the digital be precious, and the material be meaningless? By analyzing the footprint left by our relationships and material property, we can illuminate essential truths about how we live our lives, our vulnerabilities, blind spots, and our capacity for empathy.

I recently realized an Ikea TV stand, purchased nearly 10 years ago as placeholder furniture, would outlast my marriage. I began looking at all the objects in my home I have accumulated over time and realized many of the things I thought I would cherish suddenly seemed as disposable as my relationship. Possessions are signifiers of status, stability, emotion and self. When we are forced to reevaluate everything we own, from the most mundane to the most precious, we must also reevaluate ourselves and our place in the world. My work aims to explore this further through collecting, cataloging, archiving, and creating new forms from existing objects. It is my hope viewers will empathize and consider what the unknowns are in their own lives by reflecting on and recontextualizing their relationships to both people and property.

I am exploring the rituals and ceremonies of marriage and divorce, both within the material objects that signify those rites of passage, and also the emotional narratives that are told in the creation and dissolution of a relationship.

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

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PSA video, 2018

Today our society is fully immersed in the digital era, where we have become immune to the constraining, yet efficient, formats we use everyday. Without realizing it, we have designed a world that has so much to say, but only 280 characters to say it. By bringing these virtual behaviors into an analogue setting, I hope to expose the absurdity and limitations we are controlled by in the digital realm.

In this day and age we are bombarded with digital platforms and screens that have become completely intertwined into our everyday lives. And while the digital era has brought us many great and exciting things, there are behaviors and constraints being put on us that we have inadvertently and unsuspectingly overlooked. We are forced to chose between liking or not liking something, fitting an image inside a perfect square, and even changing the way we speak depending on what platform we are using.

All of these exceptions make sense in their context, but I am looking to explore how these constraints in the physical world are actually quite drastic and limiting.

D E S I G N

When I started to explore what digital behaviors existed, I was surprised to see just how many actions I did that occurred in no other setting than through my phone or computer. I was changing the way I wrote depending on if I was sending an email or texting a friend, the action of scrolling for hours seemed totally acceptable, and I was liking posts for when a friend had shared that their parent had passed away. All of these actions I never thought twice about, until I decided to remove myself from this ongoing reality and really think about how controlled we are by these digital norms.

In my exploration, I hope to discover just how many gestures, actions, and ways of communication are dictated by these binding digital formats.

G R A P H I C

We are forced to express ourselves through such a narrow window, that if we just took a step back and realized all of the freedom we have lost, we might acknowledge that the digital world has a greater hold on us than we ever noticed.

PSA video, 2018

Casey Devaney

RE: I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU WELL .

Split Image - A Catalog of Influences, 2018 45

Sarah Friedman

B U Y/ S E L L

I am exploring how commodification acts as a corrupting force of social power, creating new ways for people living in late capitalism to measure their self-worth through outside systems.

Historically, commodification has been defined as the often subjugative process whereby goods, services, ideas, and people are considered a means to economic gain. My thesis project explores the state of dehumanization created by commodification, and how it affects self-worth and leads to self-objectification processes.

In my work, I investigate how self-worth plays into the commodification of communication and our willingness to distribute pieces of ourselves (in the form of personal data) in exchange for free or discounted services. The digital “self” exists online not as part of a public social realm, but as the property of private corporations. The rise of digital marketplaces, like Amazon Turk and Fiverr, has pushed division of labor to new extremes. I believe that these same mechanisms have lead to a similar compartmentalization process with regards to the “self” as commodity.

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

When society compartmentalizes human worth into various mutually exclusive categories, it creates a system that leads to an individual’s inevitable failure in at least one category. For example, the Madonna–whore complex, coined by Freud in 1925, divides women’s humanity into two distinct categories that cannot overlap. While Freud states that a man with this complex will seek out two different women to fulfill his differing needs for both nurturing love and degrading sex, I argue that society rather expects women to exemplify the roles of both Madonna and whore, along with multiple others, as needed. This dichotomy, that has always been present for women, has become exacerbated by the new ways technology is able to advertise increased labor and net worth as a solution when it is also the cause, preserving the same trap that women have long sought to escape. Working under the premise that commodification is a corrupting force of social power and knowing that social power in America is dictated by class, race, and gender, this is a phenomena that disproportionately affects women and minorities.

Self-portrait, 2019 47

Jason Golbitz

Disarm: Thesis Experiments

The comic and the designer are very similar. A comic is constantly practicing, performing and repeating to become a master of their craft. Designers are no different. We are constantly self-reflecting, seeing what we can do better. We announce our projects with a performance-like pace and repeat these steps over and over until it is as perfect as can be. We can become more confident, more committed, and in control of our design process when humor can spark the creative fire. Through the steps of practice, perform and repeat, humor allows us to reflect on the past and prepare ourselves for the future.

Graphic design is the perfect vehicle for puns. Puns are the happy accident of senses colliding, where sound and type meet in a conflicting visual metaphor. Graphic design and puns are smilingly one and the same. With both, you must conceive two aspects at once: the macro impact, and the micro side note. By using puns as a foundation of my practice, I explore the hidden relationship between humor and material. Using puns will allow for a better understanding of the design process, through moments of “aha” to “ah” to “haha!”

D E S I G N

Typically looked down upon as an ineffective tool and utility, puns are seen as unsophisticated and low brow. Pushed aside to make room for meaningless titles and phrases, I’ve seen them ignored and disregarded; described as unproductive and an afterthought. A distraction from the connection of content to form. Still, puns, and in turn wit, are some of the most complex, thoughtful and creative vehicles for communication.

Humor is a key component of life. It is the salt of the meal. Humor allows us to communicate with each other and understand diversity in more meaningful ways.

Humor allows us to share points of view and create a critical opinion. We become more productive, less stressed, and shed status differentials. Puns can help explain what things are, what they might be and where they’re going. Where we’re going. Humor, and in fact, puns are simply communicated information.

Deadhead: Catalog of Influences

Why can’t design be both funny and sophisticated?

G R A P H I C

The graphic design community dismisses humor as a viable tool. I seek to challenge this and prove that puns, as a foundation of humor, can enhance graphic design by enforcing connections between people, fostering artistic creativity, and bridging the gap of utility and art.

Headaches: Digital Printmaking

HIT AND PUN

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Kate Harmsworth

E L E VAT I N G C O N V E R S AT I O N THROUGH DESIGN:

PERSONAL FINANCE FOR YOUNG WOMEN

How can design serve to elevate a conversation we are or should be having as a society?

In examining this question as it applies to a specific conversation, what role can design play in making personal finance more accessible for young women?

I find that I am particularly interested in the voice behind a design. Who is the individual (or group) that brought this design into the world? What influenced the decisions this individual made? What in his or her personal past, culture, politics, and society shaped their thinking? What ultimately makes a design unique in my mind is the story behind it.

Furthermore, design should have function. In reviewing my own body of work to date, the projects that I’ve found the most compelling often involved serving others in some way. I experience the most satisfaction from work that serves a purpose—not just design for design’s sake.

I’d like to explore how personal voice and function can work in tandem to elevate a conversation that I believe we are or should be having as a society. I think that we can impact and shape the way we talk about meaningful subjects with the power of personal voice.

Personal voice doesn’t need to (and maybe shouldn’t) be overt, necessarily. I think, however, that the people behind a design matter when you are speaking to a specific audience.

When you are able to personally identify and connect with an intended audience, your design will be that much more powerful.

The specific conversation that I’m investigating is whether design can aid in making personal finance more exciting and approachable for young women. Applying design and design thinking to a field that is traditionally occupied by and tailored for men is intriguing to me. I include myself among this group who finds the topic of finance intimidating for a multitude of reasons. I want to figure out if my personal experience of finance, however, can actually help me introduce finance to young women in a way that might resonate with them. I’d like to change the conversation for young women with the power of design. Is there a way to make the field of numbers more appealing and less dense through visual communication? This is what I’m setting out to discover through my thesis. Ultimately, my hope is that I can play a role in helping women achieve financial security, freedom, and independence through my investigation.

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

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Nadine Kabbani The In-Between: Inhabiting a hyphen, catalogue of Influences

THE IN-BETWEEN

Through my thesis, my aim is to look at graphic design as a spatial practice and how it touches nearly every transaction in the life of a city.

I look at new ways to frame discussions of how cities function, and are designed, conceived and experienced. What does the city’s form actually mean to people who live there?

In the broadest sense, graphic design represents a language of visual communication, adding layers of complexity to the comprehension of whatever information is at hand.

When introduced to an environment, the added spatial dimension coupled with these graphic elements takes this communication one step further, making it an experience.

The challenges of this In-between exposes how we experience, understand and read cities, architecture and places. I use graphic design to highlight certain aspects of urbanism, culture, language, and mobility to translate them back and forth in several dimensions.

While critical thinking is key, my own methods and personal background influence my work to decompose, re-create, and restructure what already exists, giving it another layer of meaning.

The infrastructure of my work will be presented with content that is personal to me, with the opportunity to create visual references and representations for others. Viewers are thus more invested in the experience within the space that is designed, making opportunity for community, culture, and experience to be re-structured and re-created around others.

D E S I G N

This In-Between highlights the importance of sound. While we are used to looking around us, we are less used to listening to what happens around us. And yet, the noise we produce reveals our way of life. Sound is a spatial event, a material phenomenon and an auditory experience rolled into one. By exploring this spatial practice, I am interested in looking at how it defines our everyday life in a city. Is it possible to visually translate this In-Between? Can such a space benefit others to reconcile a gap?

Can such a space create a sense of belonging?

G R A P H I C

Marcel Duchamp, ordinary objects of everyday use, slightly altered

Culturally coming from Beirut and currently living in Boston, I have lived in 7 different cities, and every time I lived in a place where I don’t belong, I hold onto memories of my hometown from which I am currently absent. I am neither fully in Boston nor in Beirut, but I am also in both. My process seeks to find that bridge or blurry boundary between two-dimensional and three-dimensional space. By doing so, an unexcited dimension emerges, merging them both. I call it the In-Between.

53

OF VULNERABILITY

Inspired by the intentional disclosive nature of one’s environment and self, I explore how our environment aids in unveiling our personal vulnerabilities through facilitating self-disclosure.

In addition, our environment discloses information about who we are and how we live. It heightens how we might choose to unveil ourselves. As we strive for deeper, more meaningful relationships, our vulnerability intensifies and we become more aware of risking who we are and who we might become. The more we input, the more vulnerable the output will be. As a designer I am motivated by this. It is evident to me that the contrast between one’s environment and one’s self dissipates during the act of self-disclosure. Inspired by this, I explore how the environmental setting aids in unveiling our personal state, and how our vulnerabilities dictate how we engage both in the input and output of our communication. As an acting methodology, participants intentionally and voluntarily reveal themselves when prompted, unsuspecting of the outcome. As a result, the curation of reciprocity will encourage the audience to see another individual’s vulnerability as they feel their own. This allows the audience to become an active participant in the curation of self-disclosure across mediums.

Consequently, one should question their need for connection, their openness to vulnerability, their perception of others, and their own judgement and empathy towards another individual and themselves.

D E S I G N

As humans, I believe we hold a desire for connection. The yearning to further understand, engage in, and reciprocate our shared experiences motivates and impacts our concept of self and our relationships. Through self-disclosure we communicate, both verbally and nonverbally, the depth and breadth of our experiences by intentionally revealing information about ourselves to another being.

This spontaneously manifests the threshold between strangers and intimate friends or partners. It is through our disclosure that we deepen our relationships over time, and, in rare occurrences, cut through the noise of time to connect to unsuspecting strangers permitting us to observe the resiliency and necessity of our vulnerability.

G R A P H I C

Brittany Latham

T H E C U R AT E D T H R E S H O L D S

55

Ge Liu DESIGN & ART

Whether you are a fine artist drawing inspiration from advertising and graphic design, or a graphic designer drawing inspiration from the fine arts, the lines between the two areas, which were once hard and fast, are now becoming blurred.

The line that separates fine art and graphic design is something that’s been debated for a very long time. While both artists and designers compose visuals and have a shared knowledge base, there’s a distinct difference between the two.

However, graphic designers make art that is commercial, whereas fine artists often make art for personal expression. As one of my drawing professors used to tell me, the best definition of a fine artist versus a graphic designer is that a fine artist is trying to solve his or her own problems while a graphic design is trying to solve the problems of others.

As for me, I am a practicing graphic designer now, but I was influenced by abstract art, and some contents of my design works are about fine art. I want to try to find the connection between graphic design and fine art, and make a combination of the two.

G R A P H I C

When I took design and art courses, studying illustration in both classes, there was not a clear division between designers and fine artists. Designers sometimes viewed painters and sculptors as lazy and undisciplined, while fine artists looked at designers as panderers who sold products. Therefore, I love it when someone comes along and blurs the lines between design and fine art. In my drawing concept class last semester, some professional painters tried to use drawing to make animations, some designers applied design concepts into their paintings. This is really an amazing collision. Also, I tried to use brush to paint types, and make them into booklet, and I think this is an interesting experiment.

D E S I G N

An artist is usually aiming to inspire a feeling, viewers get inspired to ponder all the endless possibilities that have not been introduced to them by the artist. There are no rules of artworks, art can be anything, artists can create whatever they want, they don’t need to ask the viewers what they like nor listen to the audience's comments. Viewers don’t need to understand why an artwork exists or how it was made. All viewers need to do is to appreciate it, but it doesn’t matter if some people don’t enjoy it.

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Photo Note Side A

I’ve been following conversations about online trading which a number of people consider the fastest way to make much money with minimal effort. For instance, many people bought Bitcoins in 2017 as a result of being influenced by the hype. Prices went up reinforcing the belief of the initial investors to hold onto their bought Bitcoins and more people to buy as well. After enough people bought these, the prices dropped significantly. Some felt like this was a minor correction in prices until they had lost so much as to sell the coins bought earlier at a loss. You can imagine how they felt. I, therefore, intend to come up with forms that represent the emotions of a trader before, during and after executing a trade.

Vincent Ng’Aru FEELINGS

Trading is an intensely emotional process, hence I intend to explore the various feelings that a trader faces at each stage of this cycle.

I am analytical of situations, be they political, economic, or social. I am concerned with understanding the thinking behind decisions people make, as well as how they feel about the outcome of such decisions. Having been a retail trader, I explore the emotions that emanate from trading and juxtapose them with price movements, then come up with design forms that represent this scenario. Through this process, I investigate different ways of representing a complex, technical or unfamiliar concept/topic in ways that are easy to understand for my audience.

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

I explore the different emotions a trader experiences, from when they get convinced to invest in a stock/commodity/currency through watching it go up and down to when they decide to sell it. Such emotions include fear of missing out, greed, anxiety during drawdowns, anger after incurring losses, revenge trading among others. I focus on the cycle through which such emotions surface.

Photo Book 59

Environmental graphics for Museum of Science rebranding

Humanity 2.0, flag and identity exploration for thesis

Vintage Love: A Catalogue of Influences, spread

Bliss Parsons H U M A N I T Y 2 .0 : P O S T-A P O C A LY P T I C H O P E

By playing the role of design futurist, I explore future states of societal structures as a sociopolitical critique of humanity’s current trajectory.

Graphic design is a powerful vehicle, and can be used to perpetuate the status quo, propell society forward, or drag us backward in regression. As a concerned citizen, I’m often preoccupied with these questions: With the power to shape visual culture and information dissemination, why should designers be asleep at the wheel? With the advent of today’s corruption in government, looming climate disaster, and vast array of institutionalized social injustices, what role is there for graphic design? How can this discipline engage with this subject matter critically? How can it imagine and propose viable solutions?

It is my firm belief that design should contribute to solving today’s social, environmental, and political instabilities by engaging in critical analysis of the present and posing tough questions for the future. Sitting comfortably in positions of privilege, designers should use their power for good, and engage with multidisciplinary changemakers and causes.

The world needs to heal from the evils of ignorance, and to do so, we must face systemic issues head on with empathy and positivity.

I’m interested in moments where design critically engages viewers by challenging them to question their experiences and realities, and helps viewers access their humanity through the vehicle of empathy. My ultimate goal is to generate positivity and empowerment in light of human struggle.

My work has often bridged the personal and the political. To extend this further, I want to envision a new future based on this agenda. For my thesis, I play the role of design futurist. Instead of envisioning future products or technologies, I focus on the future of social structures. Through the use of speculative design, I situate myself in a post-apocalyptic future 300 years from now where a survivalist colony is thriving in this future state. This new society takes the opportunity to reinvent humanity through a code of conduct based on empathy and scientific reason.

Through this exercise, I hope to provoke viewers to contemplate their own role and impact in society, and how we might begin to shift paradigms and structures in order to build a more just and sustainable future.

To those critical of speculative design I say this: By only focusing on the here-and-now of the practical, our scope for change will be limited.As we face the consequences of anthropogenic climate change in the coming decades, changemakers across all disciplines will need to engage with constructing imaginative solutions in order to adapt and survive.

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

61

Anvi Sarin debate and discussion. Taking this approach also means I am having fun, allowing me to bring a unique perspective to the themes I choose to work with. I am equally attached to the idea of being modular and iterative—both in my life as well as my creative process. I am constantly exploring different ways of experiencing and designing an idea to develop a unique creative system.

Overall, my design methodology is based on the foundation that I want to not only better businesses and products but also make them more accessible using a deep human connection. My goal is to work toward taking a human-centered design approach and dedicate my time to delivering experiences that break through the noise.

Brand system for Grid City Beer Works, Utah

Gamefied design solutions

REDEFINING SYSTEMS

My work ethic is deeply influenced by the principles I live by, the people I admire and the tools I choose to experiment with. The first step in my process is to critically identify the various aspects of my everyday life that inspire and impact my design decisions, because this helps me have more control over how these influences find their way into my work. I find myself constantly driven by the idea of play, challenging myself to create gamified solutions for serious topics of

G R A P H I C

Any design problem can have multiple solutions and approaches, yielding satisfactory results—there is no single, best design solution to any problem because there exists no objective way to determine what is best. Design doesn’t limit itself to a set of right or wrong tools and I choose not to limit myself by it either.

D E S I G N

Exploring the potential of my creative process, I want to build new systems for people to have engaging, emotive conversations that transcend cultural barriers.

63

Aditi Sharma BIG DREAMS,SPICY MEMES

Repair

The design industry is one of the newest and supposedly most collaborative places ever.

But what does it mean for someone who just wants to learn? What does it take to be a good designer? An eye for details? Some good taste?

No. It takes minimalizing gatekeeping and encouragement.

A designer’s current work flow includes a Macbook ($$$), a note taking app/notebook, a yearly membership for sketch/XD (~$90), a prototyping app like Principle (~$120), a collaborative app like InVision (~$15), Zeplin (~$20) for design specifications. And a twitter with a witty bio, a LinkedIn and a website (~$100) with yearly subscription.

Plus, you have to read: the medium blogs, the books specifically made for UX designers (~$20) and your design twitter feed.

How do you deal with all of these, plus investing in books, being able to go for meetups, finding the right kind of mentors or a network, along with school work?

A senior UX designer dm’ed me: “You are meant to be in this industry and you can do much good here!” This was after insisted that they take a look at my work. I followed up for over 3 weeks to get some feedback. It does usually take some amount of learning how to write cold emails, learning how to make a keynote deck that looks great but is legible for remote teams. And learning how the information is out there and how to use it for yourself. My thesis revolves around minimalizing gatekeeping for folks that are curious to learn and grow. My goal is not just providing the answers and the information, but the confidence that we’re here and we deserve to take space.

Prepare G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

65

Thomas Suglia DO YOU TRUST THIS COMPUTER?

Personal content from the Web, stripped of its playful and social aesthetic, and presented as print design, makes people more uncomfortable with their own information being displayed in a “public” space, than it does being shown to millions on the Internet.

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G R A P H I C

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The reason I share this story is that afterward I really began to think about what information about me was readily available on the Web, and how much someone could do with that information. I began by googling myself, and checking every link connected to my name, then moving to images and seeing what pictures of me existed via Google, then I began to fine-comb this data collection process by excavating all the available public content from my social media accounts. I was left with over 160 pages of 5 point type, including every place I ever lived, where I currently live, my phone number, email, past jobs, closest friends, and my public conversations with everyone on my Facebook since 2007; everything except my bank account number, which Amazon clearly has, but that’s beside the point. Luckily I’m going on one year strong of Amazon Prime, and you can’t beat those deals. Yet what I found most interesting about this search process is that as I began to place the information in a document it suddenly became something that felt a bit jarring to look at, as I wasn’t used to seeing it out of the original context. It felt like much more of an exposure than had it not been taken away from its social form. Even though far fewer people would see my information in a gallery space or even any other website on the Internet, the change in context felt like a breach of security. I became hyper-aware of the aesthetic of these platforms and how they were ever-changing and tweaking to counterbalance the growing criticism. Facebook got a lot more bubbly after that security scare, didn’t it? My project is to make a book that displays all the available information about myself as well as my classmates in a context stripped of its social and internet aesthetic.

D E S I G N

One day I walked Into a WholeFoods market to do some quick shopping. When I got to the register with my groceries, I was told by the cashier that if I had been a Prime Member that my pork chops would be less than half the price of what I was about to pay. I told him I wasn’t a member but he insisted I check it out, and that he would give me the discount anyway. “Ya sure thing I’ll check it out,” I replied and continued about my day. Later when I was checking my bank statement, I saw a charge for Amazon Prime membership, something I never signed up for. When I told the story to a friend he was shocked and added that the same exact encounter had happened to him and that there is even a section on the Amazon page dedicated to being “accidentally signed up for Prime membership.”

67

cs o ecif

Zimeng Wang A BANNED EXHIBITION

To what extent can humor ease critique of my government without repercussion?

Can humor soften criticality? The Chinese government is very powerful, it maintains censorship over all media capable of reaching a wide audience. This includes radio, film, theater, television, publication, text messaging, instant messaging, video games, apps, literature and the Internet. As a student studying and living outside of China, with the influence of the United States’ democratic and open culture, and with access to censored websites, I have started to understand more facts about our government and Chinese censorship. I was really surprised to discover the different types of content that was being censored, and that the government spends a vast amount of money to develop the firewall technology to control the content on the Internet, despite civilians’ ongoing effort to dismantle (break) the firewall to access information freely. But many people in China still do not know that this is happening.

Banned Theater, tickets

D E S I G N

I’m starting my thesis by working with thousands of words banned by the Chinese media. I have sourced them from China Digital Times (an independent, bilingual media organization that brings uncensored news and online voices from China to the world).

I will present various banned information in a subtly critical and funny way to Chinese and American audiences to discover the influence of humor.

G R A P H I C

Banned Theater, poster

Banned Theater, posters

69

With the development of technology and design, our daily objects are gradually being replaced by artificial intelligence. Telephones are disappearing. Notebooks are disappearing. Photobooks are disappearing. Calculators are disappearing. Letters are disappearing.

Newspapers are disappearing. Banks are disappearing‌ Along with the disappearance of these things, our memories and our abilities related to using these tangible objects are gone. For example, we are losing the ability of writing by hand with a pen. We tend to avoid interpersonal communication. The connection between loved ones is loosened.

At the end of the development of this trend, we could all end up being alone together, facing an empty world.

I believe that there is warmth in all objects. It is the “meaningless� things that prove our existence. Because the essence of design is for people, the designer's role is not only to produce more works following the development, but also to lead people to believe that even though everything decays, it comes into our lives for a reason. After an object has been used, it is endowed meaning. While technology tends to take the place of human elements, the usage of the object, the occurring of conversation and arousal of emotion all record the fact that we have been alive. We must not forget about this very basic thing.

Yufei Weng MUSEUM OF DISAPPEARING

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

Tangible objects are disappearing.

The evidence of our lives is disappearing.

Even though the future will be an empty world, please do not forget your instinct to feel and to sense as a human being.

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

71

IN DESIGN SYMPOSIUM

Open communication needs to be accessible in design.

Series of Accessible Methods (SAM) in Design is much more than just creating a forum for open dialog with successful designers. Existing events can be overwhelming in size and cost prohibitive. My research suggests a need to serve young designers on the eve of their transition into practice. I will show how an intimate symposium fosters more meaningful connections and professional insights.

The SAM in Design symposium has two objectives. First, established designers will share professional experiences. Illuminating pivotal projects, events, successes and failures will help students understand that the path is never linear or fail-proof. By sharing insights they wish they had known early on their career, new designers can gain confidence taking the first few steps on their own journey.

Secondly, professional designer-led workshops provide an opportunity for deeper connection and conversation. The small group setting enables hands-on work, dialogue and real-world experience designed to break down barriers between academia and practice, student and professional.

D E S I G N

Series of Accessible Methods in Design will establish an opportunity for young designers to go forth into their careers better prepared for success.

G R A P H I C

Samantha Wonderlich

SERIES OF ACCESSIBLE METHODS

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

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Qiong Wu TOUCHABLE STORY

Nowadays, it seems that most graphic designers tend to make their work on computers because computer-based works are much more convenient and quicker to produce than handmade works.

However, is there something that handmade works can do that digital works cannot do? And what are the differences between these two media?

I have been studying graphic design for many years, and the computer played a very big role in my process up until this point. During the last several years, I found inspiration on the Internet, used Photoshop or Illustrator to create my work, and then printed. And, to be honest, I was a little bit tired with that. I thought my mind was limited by software, but I did not know how to break it. Things changed when I came to Boston University.

I was enlightened by the brilliant and interesting work made by my counterparts. And I was encouraged to make something new.

G R A P H I C

In typical digital design work, people usually only use their eyes or ears to process the information. However, if people could rely on more of their senses, like touch, smell, hearing, and taste, that would be a different story. Plus, the visually subtle differences could be heightened by smell or touch. Audiences could understand the work more deeply and connect to it in a more meaningful way. All of this can be achieved by handmade work, something that digital work cannot. For my thesis, I investigate the possibilities of elevating design through the use of handmade materials.

D E S I G N

During the last semester, one project significantly changed me. In this project, we were required to learn a new skill and use this skill to make a design. I chose to use embroidery to make a poster about ocean pollution. I experimented and tried to use various kinds of materials to make this poster. After three weeks of non-stop testing, I finally completed it. Even though the process was so hard, I really enjoyed it. I also realized that touchable and textured work can sometimes convey more emotion, telling stronger stories than flat, digital work. With my handmade work, the audience no longer just stood in front of a poster looking at it, they began to stretch out their hands to touch the dirty trash I wove into the poster. This kind of interaction cannot be replaced by a printed digital poster.

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Tong Xu & Zhuo Lun Li “GRAPHIC DESIGN+� IS THE NEW NEW

The edges of the graphic design practice are blurred as design acts as a connective tissue across multiple disciplines. In that spirit, our collaboration represents our collective outlook on the future of the graphic design practice as we join two distinct yet complementary design philosophies and visual languages across multiple disciplines.

Graphic design + engraving Engraving is an art and a science, balancing technique and strategy with intuition and beauty.

Graphic design + programming Lighting is programmable and abides by the same compositional rules applicable to graphic design.

Graphic design + architecture Use visual language to describe social issue of architecture.

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Graphic design + cookbook With the development of science and technology, people have begun to obtain balanced nutrition through delicate substitute meals. Could health products replace food itself one day? Could recipes be eaten directly?

Graphic design + music Music visualization offers a new interactive experience.

Graphic design + recycled fashion design Recycled materials will be popular in the fashion design industry.

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

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Impression and Inspiration, illustration, 2018

Chen Yan THE NETHERWORLD

Library of Babel, publication, 2018

My thesis explores how graphic design plays a role in the construction of a virtual world.

I developed a contemporary graphic language to reimagine an ancient Chinese mythology, The Netherworld.

I started researching about graphic props in films and animation scenes, and realized the importance and power of them. Even though most of the time they were in the background, and are hardly noticed by the viewer, with all the design decisions being made— the color palette, the typeface, the material, the graphic—the pieces were brought to life, and built a bridge between reality and the virtual world.

Due to my great interest in mythology, I decided to borrow the Netherworld as my creative theme. I was able to collect extensive historical references, materials, and stories about the afterlife in China, that further helped with content creation and experimentation. Instead of giving it a traditional look, I challenged the consistent impression of ancient mythology, and redefined it with a more contemporary form. By thinking critically, I want to challenge the boundaries between old and new, traditional and contemporary, as well as Eastern and Western.

I am also aware of individual cultural background as a premise of understanding metaphor, humor, historical reference, and puns in design works. While facing an audience from a different cultural background, it is challenging for me to to think about how to translate metaphors across cultures, how to arouse sympathy, and how to create storytelling experience that encourages them to interact, and makes them feel connected.

P A I N T I N G

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Yunjia Yang THE CLINIC

Forcing everything and everyone to be the same, or in other words, to be perfect, might be dystopian. My thesis takes a cynical view on the quest for perfection.

I’m a rebellious one, and for such a long time, I did not follow the road excepted of me, and I don’t want to be determined by the things that I’m not inclined to do in the future.

I completed a project in the third semester of my Master's program, which focused on presenting the relationship between many Chinese parents and their kids. In this project I interpreted the subjective purpose of Chinese parents as control; they want their kids to follow the path they’ve decided for them, and get full control of their kids’ lives as they always believe that their plans for their kids are the most PERFECT. After that, I wanted to go further and wider, and I found out that the deeper reason for those parents’ behaviors was actually fear of BEING DIFFERENT. They believe that a human being must obtain something or become someone at a certain point. For instance, one should get a job which is stable, no matter if one likes it or not, one should get married before 25, one should have a baby before 30, and one shouldn’t ever be a person with a different sexual orientation or religious belief.

What I want to convey through my thesis project is that forcing everything and everyone to be the same, or in other words, to be perfect, might be worse and more horrible than one could imagine. The world will be more organic and beautiful if we could learn to live with different things and people.

G R A P H I C

There is still a large number of people who are afraid of different things and being different. Some of them believe that to follow the same roads will be easier, some believe that different things or persons are always unstable, some believe that ‘being the same’ is the safest method for living. However, just imagine that things around the world truly become the same and remain ‘perfect.’ Imagine all the divergences and differences that are eliminated, imagine our lives turn into a relentless repetition. It must be a creepy and ironic scene.

D E S I G N

This solid inner belief came from some kind of ‘tradition,’ and is certainly restricting the life space of the young generation. One might follow the path that he or she should follow, and might spend his or her whole life blindly without knowing what he or she really likes and truly wants. This problem is not only happening in China but worldwide.

It sounds like an inter-generational conflict but isn't exclusively concentrated within that. The topic of my thesis comes from parents’ unreasonable control of their kids to the tolerance of differences eventually.

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Xirui Zhang TIME CAPSULE

People usually don’t realize how many things have been left behind until a certain moment triggers their memory. I lead audiences to find their own memory fragments and relive past moments deep within their minds.

We are all creating memories every second, therefore due to the development of technology and the fast pace of life, we don’t get spare time to wander back the long way we have come. The next second might not be the same as this second.

Many of us spend most of our time focusing on handling the bills, but not spending time collecting our memory fragments. People usually don’t realize how many memories have slipped away. To relive a certain memory could create a recognizable atmosphere to comfort the anxiety from fast-paced living. You might not find true peace in it, but at least it offers a temporary comfort zone to take a break. You may realize that the moment you remember the memory fragment is exactly the moment you realize it has been buried in deep of your mind.

These fragments will never be recalled until something triggers them.

As a designer, I have started to pay more attention to human subjects. Design is inspired by life but also serves life. It’s helping our lives to be more convenient while resonating with people. By designing this thesis installation, I am the one who creates the catalyst to trigger the chain reaction of searching your own memory fragments. The installation can be the starting point of new journey while carrying the precious pieces of memory.

G R A P H I C

D E S I G N

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About Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts prepares students to think seriously, to see critically, to make intensely, and to act with creative agency in the contemporary world. The School of Visual Arts merges the intensive studio education of an art school with the opportunities of a large urban university, and is committed to educating the eye, hand, and mind of the artist.

With rigorous graduate and undergraduate fine arts programs that are rooted in studio practice, CFA School of Visual Arts provides highly motivated students with programs in the bedrock disciplines of the fine arts coupled with a vast array of electives and liberal arts opportunities.

Established in 1954, Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) is a community of artist-scholars and scholar-artists who are passionate about the fine and performing arts, committed to diversity and inclusion, and determined to improve the lives of others through art. With programs in Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts, CFA prepares students for a meaningful creative life by developing their intellectual capacity to create art, shift perspective, think broadly, and master relevant 21st century skills. CFA offers a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs, as well as a range of online degrees and certificates. Learn more at bu.edu/cfa Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized institution of higher education and research. With more than 33,000 students, it is the fourth–largest independent university in the United States. BU consists of 16 schools and colleges, along with a number of multi- disciplinary centers and institutes integral to the University’s research and teaching mission. In 2012, BU joined the Association of American Universities (AAU), a consortium of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. Established in 1954, Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) is a top-tier fine arts institution. Comprising of the School of Music, School of Theatre, and School of Visual Arts, CFA offers professional training in the arts in conservatory-style environments for undergraduate and graduate students, complemented by a liberal arts curriculum for undergraduate students.

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MFA Thesis Exhibition: Sculpture, Painting Show I April 2–April 15 Laconia Gallery, 433 Harrison Ave.

MFA Thesis Exhibition: Sculpture, Painting Show II April 20–May 3 Laconia Gallery, 433 Harrison Ave.

MFA Thesis Exhibition: Graphic Design April 19–May 3 Stone Gallery, 855 Commonwealth Ave.