Wexner Center exhibiting Illya Mousavijad

Go see the latest animation by Art & Technology faculty Illya Mousavijad, playing in the Box at the Wexner Center for the Arts. Aug 24, 2023–Oct 31, 2023

Between a Lost Home and a Losing Destination, courtesy of the artist.

OSU Animation Highly Ranked in Ohio and Among Public Institutions in the US

Exciting news! Ohio State University is ranked #1 in animation in Ohio, and ranked #3 among Public Animation Schools in the US in 2023.

Animation at The Ohio State University has been consistently ranked highly by the Animation Career Review, an online resource for people aspiring for careers in animation, game design, graphic design, digital art, and related fields.  In 2022, OSU was ranked 4th on the list of top public animation schools nationally, and 1st in the state of Ohio.  

The Department of Art offers introductory animation and moving image courses, within the Art and Technology area, that explore animation as an art form.  Many students gain an introduction to animation through these courses.  Additional courses in the Department of Art provide students with other fundamental skills that benefit an animation portfolio, such as life drawing and sculpture, and color theory. 

Students can also take animations courses through the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD).  ACCAD is a pioneering institute of collaborative interdisciplinary research in time-based digital media production, including animation and interactive media through integration of emerging arts technologies.  While ACCAD does not offer a degree program, courses that ACCAD offers provide a broad range of animation techniques and practices, ranging from fundamental principles to advanced explorations of the latest technologies including interactive animation, virtual reality and motion capture. 

Additionally, The Department of Theater, Film, and Media Arts features a Moving Image Production Major providing a pathway for students interested expanding their knowledge of filmmaking.

See animation works from the Art and Tech area of the Department of Art on our Vimeo page.

VR Space & Animation

Visiting Assistant Professor Illya Mousavijad is offering a new class for Autumn 22: VR Space & Animation. This is a special topics course Art 5001 titled, Aspects of Art and Technology, which changes each semester – as culture and technology do.

Exhibition: A Textured Transmission

wavy lines behind text "A Textured Transmission"

An exhibition of student work throughout Hopkins Hall & Online

Dec 8, 5 – 7pm; First floor work on view through Dec 10

Set in a hybrid of online and physical space, A Textured Transmission is an exhibition of student artwork showcasing the range and depth of work coming from art & technology area courses in the department of art. After a semester of exploration with tools, technology, and time, students are ready to broadcast their ideas and accomplishments. This exhibition signals an exchange of ideas and carries an energy that emerges as we make our way back to physical spaces.  It also melds with the new techniques and online spaces we have built over the past year. This is a textured transmission.

  • First Floor Hallway: Digital Imaging | 3D Modeling | Moving Image Art | Computer Animation
  • Collaboratory 167 & New Projects Lab 146: Studio Practice | New Media Robotics
  • Hopkins 340: Art & Science of Roots
  • Emerging Technology Studios 346: Virtual Reality and Video Game Artwork during the opening.
  • Meet the Art & Tech Student Club! They will be tabling on the first floor during the opening.
The Ohio State University, Hopkins Hall, 128 N Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210
Marker View on map

Aspects of Art & Tech: Across Form, Time, and Space – Spring 22

Art 5001: Aspects of Art & Technology Spring 2022

Across Form, Time, and Space
Instructor: Illya Mousavijad, Visiting Assistant Professor
Meets Mondays and Wednesdays, 3:55 to 6:40 pm in Hopkins Hall
Contact mousavijad.1@osu.edu

This course investigates the generation of visual content as impacted by its transitions between and across form, time, and space. Students will learn and employ various traditional and technological means of production to create and experience immersive spaces consisting of both physically tangible and virtual arrangements. A wide range of multi-disciplinary projects will encourage students to (A) conceptualize and visualize material and explore software possibilities (B) integrate cross-pollinations between physical and virtual forms of presentation (C) consider the social, cultural, political, and art historical influences that define contemporary art practices. The pedagogic methodology of this class employs studio sessions, lectures, critiques, and workshops. We will also study a field of precedents including artworks, practices, readings, and films which work with intersections between the physical and virtual to create dynamic new ways of seeing, thinking, and creating.

Multidisciplinary production means explored in this class include computer animation, virtual reality, photography, videography, 3D modeling, 3D scanning, 2D production, projection mapping, and physical fabrication. Anticipated software and practices employed in this class include Autodesk Maya, Adobe Suite, Substance Painter, Gravity Sketch, Tilt Brush, Z-Brush Mini, Madmapper, Lightform Creator, as well as traditional painting, drawing, clay/foam modeling, woodshop/metal shop fabrication.

This course is ideal for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in studio-based, lab-based, and performance-based disciplines such as Art, Dance, Performance, Music, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture. Humanities majors motivated to explore the visual representation of their critical ideas are welcomed as well. While not necessary, prior experience with visual (physical or computer) production is encouraged. Students will be responsible for the potential expenses (estimate $50-$100/semester) of their project fabrication.

Poster image credit: Meriem Bannani: Fly Photo by Derek Schultz

Download Flyer

Visiting Artist – Stephanie Rothenberg

Stephanie Rothenberg’s interdisciplinary art draws from digital culture, science and economics to explore relationships between human designed systems and biological ecosystems. Moving between real and virtual spaces her work investigates the power dynamics of techno utopias, global economics and outsourced labor. She has exhibited throughout the US and internationally in venues including Eyebeam (US), Sundance Film Festival (US), Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art / MASS MoCA (US), House of Electronic Arts / HeK (CH), LABoral (ES), Transmediale (DE), and ZKM Center for Art & Media (DE). She is a recipient of numerous awards, most recently from the Harpo Foundation and Creative Capital.

Artist Website: http://stephanierothenberg.com/

When: Monday, March 8, 12pm EST.

Contact Amy Youngs youngs.6@osu.edu for zoom link.

With thanks to the Department of Art Fund to support visiting artist presentations.

Alumni Snapshot – Sarah Hockman

Sarah Hockman, (BFA 2016) visited the Studio Practice course this semester to share her career path with us. After graduating, she researched jobs online while traveling to California in her van. Her first job was at Unity Labs in San Francisco, as a Virtual Reality Lab Assistant. Her creativity and working knowledge of emerging technologies were very helpful skills for this position.

Eventually, she sought new challenges. She had quite a bit of experience working in animation and video as an Art & Technology major, and she knew she really enjoyed it. She aimed her job search at smaller companies, which would allow her to have more creative control of projects and she found a great match as a Motion Graphics Designer at Avalanch Media in Salt Lake City, Utah. After a few years of working there, she decided to leave so she could go on a long bike trek in Spain.


With her work portfolio and a solid network, she is able to find clients as a freelancer now. Check out her website here.

 

Some of her advice to students included:

  • reinvent your brand regularly
  • maintain an up-to-date website
  • don’t get too fancy with your resume
  • make time for your own creative projects
  • make sure to enjoy your life, too!

Dalena Tran and Hirad Sab join Art & Tech

We welcome this dynamic duo into the Art & Technology area in the Department of Art this year. As a team, they will fill the position as Visiting Assistant Professor, teaching courses, working on their research and participating our creative community.

Both earned their MFAs from the Media Arts program at the University of California Los Angeles in 2020. Their creative practices span widely across the field of new media art –  from interactive web comics to algorithmically-generated 3D animations, to music videos. They occasionally create artwork together and their live, audiovisual performances have been exhibited at MoMA PS1 and ICA London.

Dalena Tran hails from Salt Lake City, Utah, where she received her BA in Film & Media Arts with Honors from the University of Utah. She creates stories and situations that entangle subjectivity and temporality in response to notions of voyeurism, hegemony, memory, and the phenomenon of media. Her work has been featured in O FLUXO, Assembly Point, Flat Journal, Adult Swim, and Nowness.

Hirad Sab is from Tehran, Iran. He received his BS in Computer Science from the University of Utah. In conversation with emerging technologies, his work reflects on current political, social, and cultural realities intertwined with a critique of technoculturalism and technopositivism. He has exhibited at The Wrong Biennale, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, CHAO Art Center, and The LOW Museum of Contemporary Culture; and it has been featured in Der Spiegel, W Magazine, NPR, Vice, Dazed, and The Guardian.