Joseph Scheer — Xi’an 4th international printmaking workshop

Joseph Scheer

–>Short Bio
Born Heidelberg Germany, 1958
Joseph Scheer is a Fulbright Scholar, Professor of Print Media, and Co-Director/Founder of the Institute for Electronic Arts at the School of Art and Design, Alfred University, New York. His current works, which span print media, video, and web-based projects, use technology to re-examine nature through interpretive collecting and visual recording. His work is in numerous international collections. This past summer a large selection of his work was featured in China’s First Printmaking Festival and Exhibition, Guanlan Museum of Printmaking, Guanlan, China, and the POP Gallery, Queensland College of Art, Grifth University, Brisbane, Australia. Other recent exhibitions have taken place at The Yantai Museum of Art, Yantai, China the National Museum of China, Beijing, and T+H Gallery Boston, MA. A recent show that traveled to four major museums in Sweden was comprised of 100 large format prints.

阿尔弗雷德大学电子艺术学院副主任

1958年出生于德国海德堡
约瑟夫•舍尔是一名富布莱特学者,平面媒体教授,纽约阿尔弗雷德大学电子艺术学院副主任、创始人。他目前的作品横跨平面媒体、视频及基于网页的作品。这些作品运用一定技术通过解释性的收集和视觉性的记录来重新审视自然。他的作品被许多国际机构所收藏。去年夏天,他的作品被大量选入中国首届版画艺术节展览、中国观澜版画博物馆、流行艺术画廊、澳大利亚布里斯班格里菲斯大学昆士兰艺术学院。其他的一些近期作品也在中国烟台艺术博物馆、中国国家博物馆、波士顿画廊。另一个远赴瑞典四大博物馆参展的近期作品是由100张大幅面的照片组成。

–> The body of work consisting of prints and video produced over the past decade is collectively called “Imaging Biodiversity”. It is about seeing the things that live on our planet in a particularly intense way. This happens by using extreme resolution, extended focus, and enlargements through scanning and HD Video that are the critical technical elements of my working process. Coming from a printmaking/print media background, handmade papers are the preferred carriers of the images produced. The technology of the time has always been the main driver of printing techniques from the past to the present and today there are more available to the artist than ever before. The images have generated great interest in the scientific community and so it was inevitable that my work would involve the science of the creatures themselves: taxonomy, biogeography, ecology, and even such knowledge as botany. More and more, I have been inspired to see larger meanings for what I do: explorations of places where science and art intersect and how the social aspects of awareness and appreciation affect what we choose to preserve or protect in this world. My work bridges the gap between aesthetics and technology—between the public spectacle of art and the more esoteric world of scientific research. Joseph Scheer

在过去十年中,印刷品和录像作品的主体被统称为”成像生物多样性”。它是关于目睹的事物,这些事物以一种特别强烈的方式生活在我们星球上。这是通过使用极端的分辨率,扩展的焦点和通过扫描和高清视频放大物,是我的工作过程中的关键技术因素。由于版画或平面媒体的背景,手工制作的纸制品是首选的图像生成载体。从过去到现在,当时的技术一直是印刷技术的主要驱动力。相对于过去现如今有更多技术可供艺术家使用。这些图像对科学界产生了极大的兴趣,因此我的工作不可避免地会涉及生物本身的科学:分类学、地理、地理学、生态学甚至是植物学等知识。我得到越来越多的启发,看到我所做的事情的更大意义:探索科学和艺术相交的地方,以及社会方面的认识和品味将如何影响我们在这个世界上选择保护或保护的东西。我的作品弥合了美学与技术之间的鸿沟—艺术的公共奇观和更深奥的科学研究世界的鸿沟

Prof. Joseph Scheer on residency: The fourth China • Xi’an International Printmaking Workshop

The fourth China • Xi’an International Printmaking Workshop

At 10am October 19th, 2017, The fourth China • Xi’an International Print-making Workshop was launched at Xi’an Academy of Fine Art. Artists from all around the world participated in the workshop, especially Prof. Joseph Scheer from Alfred University and Prof. Michael Kempson from the University of New South Wales. 

A Letter to Professor Xiaowen Chen 给陈小文老师的一封信

Professor Xiaowen Chen
Professor Xiaowen Chen 陈小文教授

一位帅气、为人谦和的先生。身为艺术家、策展人的小文老师现任阿尔弗雷德大学终身教授,中央美术学院,鲁迅美术学院,天津美术学院的客座教授,曾任康乃尔大学、美国罗德岛设计学院的客座教授、清华美院荣誉教授。并且是中国“千人计划”唯一一位以艺术家身份被引进回国的人才。
As an artist and a curator, Xiaowen Chen is a full-time professor in NYSCC at Alfred University. He also teaches in Central Academy of Fine Arts, Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts as a visiting professor. He is the only person that introduced by “1000 Talents Plan” into China as an artist. 
曾协助国内许多美术学院建立数码艺术学科和教学大纲,毫不夸张的说,小文老师是中国新媒体艺术的带头人,从数字版画艺术到如今的当代新媒体艺术,小文老师都一直在探讨媒体这种材料语言对当代艺术的影响。
Professor Xiaowen Chen leads the development of New Media Arts in China, from digital printmaking to contemporary new media art, he has been studying the influence on Contemporary Arts by New Media materials.

Xu Bing, Xiaowen Chen, Ann Hamilton at lectures in CAFA, Beijing 2016.03.25

身为央美客座教授的陈老师,抽出一切时间来教书教人,身兼数职的他对待每一结课,对待每一个学生从没有半点马虎,解答学生关于艺术的疑虑,聆听每一个学生的想法给予指导。每次看到他早上七点不到就在工作室备案,中午时间简单吃口自己带的饭,同时还要想着怎么给学生解决设备问题。一周五天的时间不仅上下午的课程全满,有时晚上还有留下来上课、开会。作为学生,很多时候小文老师的敬业为人让我深深折服。

Fei Jun, Qiu Zhijie, Xu Bing, Xiaowen Chen, Gary Hill at a panel discussion, Beijing 2016/09/29
Xiaowen Chen and Gary Hill

因为美院课程改革,小文老师也是其中的发起人和落实者,两个月的时间里,共肩负着五门课程,除了研究生的《跨媒体艺术》选修课,还有《研究生导师公开课》。以及大院的《动态影像与空间》,还有新开创的跨学科领域的课程《可穿戴智能科技艺术创作》和《动态机械雕塑基础》。两门跨学科课程更是和跨领域的导师合作,来自北交大的机器人专家博导姚燕安博士还有央美服装专业谢梦荻老师以及中央美术学院数码媒体系主任费俊教授一同开创。

Course ” Moving Images and Space” by Xiaowen Chen

动态影响与空间 Moving Images and Space
因为小文老师回国之后,我做为他的助教参与到本科的《动态影像与空间》课程中,他在课堂中给我们播放很多影像艺术作品的同时,还给播放了从youtube 上传载下来的网络大众媒体艺术,这个也是值得当代艺术家和评论家关注的。美术学院能为学生提供的不是一份软件技能用来求职谋生,更多的是给学生提供尽可能完整和多视角的史论背景以及开拓的视野。学院应该提供当今各类艺术和科学相互交叉和平行的立体图形,让学生可以在其中找到自己所在之处,这样,新媒体艺术专业的学生就不会浮躁和急功近利。


在小文老师的课堂上,学生学到的从来不单是技能,而是对待艺术的一份态度,以及如何看待艺术如何理解艺术、到如何做艺术。

Students no only learn the technique of making arts, but also to understand that art is an attitude, as well as how to comprehend arts and then make arts.

关于科技与艺术 About Technology and Arts

和小文老师经常讨论关于作品中技术引导,很多时候作品缩短艺术与受众的距离也好、交互也好,数字技术既丰富了“交互”方式,又将“交互”简单化、庸俗化了。利用科学技术手段做出的交互性新媒体艺术特别泛滥。近年来,国内外很多交互式媒体艺术盛行,但许多作品交互的目的和意义不明确。仅仅是好玩,这种艺术我们都认为很快就会被技术的革新而取缔,真正能留下来的曾是带有思想“内在精神”的艺术。

在数字化时代,大家都用同样的工具和软件做东西,个性会体现在明确“要做什么”。更确切地说“你要提出或者解决什么样的问题”。不同于旧媒体艺术(油画、雕塑、版画等)注重的是怎么画,新媒体艺术家利用新媒体的工具提出什么样的问题比”怎么做“更加重要。In the era of digitalization, everyone makes things with the same tools or software, “to make what” will be the main personality. More specifically, “what questions to be raised” or “what problems to be solved”.

新媒体艺术的内在价值 The Intrinsic Value of New Media Arts
无论是新媒体艺术也好,“旧”媒体艺术也好,在一件好的艺术品中,我们都会找到“人类内在精神和文化观念”. No matter what kinds of art media we use, modern or traditional, we will find “human’s inner spirits and cultural perspectives” in a good piece of art.
 在如今媒体新兴的大时代中,新媒体艺术是否和“旧”媒体艺术(绘画、雕塑)一样给人持之以恒的感官体验。这就回到了一个“价值”的问题。既然我们将新媒体艺术视为新科技与艺术的结合,让我们换一个角度,从新科技的价值和意义上看新媒体艺术的价值。对人类有重要价值新发明的科技,或者产品,必须具备三个特点。首先要新,前所未有。其次,要有使用价值,最后,他能改变人类对世界的认识。新媒体艺术的价值和意义同样具备这三个特点。远观,新媒体艺术家和“传统艺术”家关注的问题大同小异,但是由于工具不同,关注点不同,自然最终给予观众的体验,会存在本质的不同。

陈老师的大连话也是我的最爱,最后一天他跟我说他的口音都是被我带的,……真幽默(微笑)。辛苦了,我的导师,谢谢你这么多年的付出,让新媒体在中国教学体制中有了如此大的改观,愿你永远健康、年轻、开心。能多一点时间陪伴家人,陪伴女儿。Thank you for everything Prof. Xiaowen Chen, you keep New Media Art growing stronger in China. Wish you all the best.
/ Words and Images from CAFA media lab, Chen Yu /

Jessica Earle – In The End We All Will Be Trees 2017 MFA Thesis Exhibition Electronic Integrated Arts

In The End We All Will Be Trees

MFA Thesis Exhibition Electronic Integrated Arts
April 29th – May 2nd, 2017

Cuddle Face, Multichannel immersive video on loop, projectors, 40 inch LCD monitor, iPhone 4, LED Bluetooth speaker, Green rug and green "poofs"
Cuddle Face, Multichannel immersive video on loop, projectors, 40 inch LCD monitor, iPhone 4, LED Bluetooth speaker, Green rug and green “poofs”

The western landscape has sparked the imagination of writers, musicians, and artists since the first Europeans left their footprints in the bush. Explorers, cowboys, and prospectors have left their mark on the land and in the imaginations of those of that have followed them. The vastness, danger, and resources are even today something to be tamed, tested, and used. Young men cut their teeth on the wilderness, and grizzled, leathery, graybeards continue to prove their worth through domination over peaks, and beasts alike. These adventurers lust after the sublime: that fear and awesomeness that makes you quake in your boots, and knocks the breath out of your lungs with force of an avalanche.

Human Condition WF, Multichannel video on loop, Projector, 2015 MacBook Pro, iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone SE in selfie stick, 1st Generation iPad, iPhone 4 USB fan, Silkscreen on digital print and cellphone

What if we were seduced into something more intimate than such needs for dominance over the land? John Muir recognized rocks, sequoias, and streams as kin; and Henry David Thoreau lost himself in the woods in order to find himself. Instead of lusting for an enormous sublime what if we fell into the minutia by sinking into the dirt, sending roots into the darkness, and absorbing the past buried beneath it while watching the patterns of light change on the ferns or moss.

2 Girls in Hiking Boots
23 Channel video and sculpture collaboration between myself and Morgan Rose Free.
2 Girls in Hiking Boots
23 Channel video and sculpture collaboration between myself and Morgan Rose Free.