G:Class

Peggy Ahwesh will discuss the technology and aesthetics of PixelVision, a black-and-white video camera that recorded and played images and sound on audiocassette tape.

G:Class will be working in partnership with Groundswell, Chinatown YMCA and University Settlement to create a mural for the IDEAS CITY StreetFest.

On Friday February 22, come to the New Museum for an evening with Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Garcia, hosts of what is widely regarded as the best hip hop radio program of all time.

Come to the New Museum for a special screening of three animated films by William Kentridge, one of the most compelling interdisciplinary artists of our time, followed by a performance of Alexis Gideon’s Video Musics III: Floating Oceans.

On a whim RIGO 23 visited Beacon to have a conversation with my students about well, anything and everything.  It was at his request that I did not show my students any of his work.  RIGO wanted the meeting to be a discussion, “maybe about art and maybe not”. 

In keeping with a goal of G:Class to provide students with an opportunity to work with professional artists, the mural team participated in a sonic workshop with DJ Reborn exploring the connection between Douglas’s artwork, social and political movements, and music. While making connections, students also learned critical thinking, art-making, and collaboration skills.

In conjunction with the exhibition "Emory Douglas: What We Want, What We Believe" and part of G:Class' mission of allowing students to interact with contemporary artists, the G:Class mural team participated in an art-making workshop with Emory Douglas, brainstorming in design sessions, and attending an artist talk by Douglas. The students made connections to the social and political issues that lead up to the work, while also learning critical thinking, art-making, and collaboration skills.

Artist Kori Newkirk worked with students from New Design High School as part of their design class. Exploring the idea of target marketing, students worked with the artist to consider how they become walking targets of messages. Following this session, the entire 11th grade went to see his exhibition, “Kori Newkirk: 1997-2007” at the Studio Museum Harlem.

To introduce the New Museum's inaugural exhibition, "Unmonumental: The Object in the 21 Century," Curatorial Associate Benjamin Godsill presented a photographic essay titled Yesterday's News from the exhibition catalogue Unmonumental: The Object in the 21st Century. Collating images from pivotal events from 2000 through 2006, his presentation helped provide the cultural context to explore the exhibition and the moment in which we live. 

Artist Shinique Smith, featured in the exhibition, “Unmonumental: The Object in the 21 Century,” spoke to students about her artistic process and inspiration. She shared her artwork with students from City-As-School and spoke about her career as an artist.

Students at Pace High School met with Marc Andr Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 e Robinson to discuss his path to become an artist, including high school, college, graduate school, and artist residencies. Speaking about his influences he showed students images of his artwork as well as everyday images that inspired him to make art. At the end of the session he assigned students a final art project to reflect on the themes of the Unmonumental exhibition that will also be gifted to their high school from the first graduating class.

Pedro Reyes worked with students to explore the relationship between power and play through a series of interactive games. One game Pedro presented called "The great game of power" had students place chairs, and then themselves, in the most powerful position they could imagine, resulting in a dynamic final tableau.

Students from the Beacon School met with artist Wangechi Mutu. Toting bags full of materials they found and collected for this workshop, students worked with Wangechi to create sculptural self-portraits of objects rather than a representational artwork. Throughout the workshop the artist discussed her own practice and artistic influences.

Paulina Lasa presented a class on relational art that considers human relationships and social context to expand students' definition of what art can be. Paulina worked with students on ideas and messages that they wanted to present in public. After creating these messages on posters, Paulina and the students taped them up on buildings, the sidewalk and bus stops on the Bowery.

Brent Baker is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of New York City based Tri-State Biodiesel LLC. Prior to Tri-State Biodiesel, Baker founded and directed the non-profit environmental organization "BioTour":http://www.biotour.org/, Biofuel Information and Outreach Tour, specializing in biofuels and sustainability education. He spoke at New Design High School about improving our environment through the use of biodiesel fuel in his presentation.

Dan Sturges, General Motors car designer and inventor of the Global Electric Motorcar (GEM), kicked off the Transportation and Design Unit at New Design High School with a presentation on multi-mobility vehicles and transportation reform for a fast-paced city where residents are always in transit. The concepts introduced in Sturges’ seminar helped to prepare students for the Future Boxcar Design Contest at New Design High School.

Martin Perna, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and conceptual utopian artist, introduced New Design High School juniors to the Architecture and Design Unit of G:Class through a presentation on adobe structures and sustainable living. Perna and his team constructed an adobe home and he shot an artful and instructive video and created an original soundtrack. From this short film, students were exposed to an affordable and energy-saving alternative for housing that used an abundant natural material.

Florian Idenburg, Associate Architect at SANAA, the Japanese firm that designed the New Museum’s new home on the Bowery, spoke to New Design High School students about the design and construction processes and the major concerns surrounding new building projects. Since the New Museum will be reopening near New Design, Florian facilitated a discussion as to how such a move could possibly change the students’ neighborhood on the Lower East Side.

Swoon, a New York based street artist, spoke to the Senior Honors Art Class at the Beacon School in a special session arranged at her studio. She introduced the students to the history of street art and discussed woodblock printing, portraiture and shadow puppetry as the major influences on her art-making process. Swoon demonstrated her process by creating a new print and installing the artwork on a nearby wall for the students benefit.

Allison Smith, an artist interested in history and historical re-enactments, spoke to students at City-As-School studying the Enlightenment and the American, French, Haitian, and Mexican Revolutions. The artist spoke about her public art project,The Muster to illustrate the use of historical events to provide a platform for other artists and the public to address current cultural and social issues. Smith also discussed the relationship between history and the present.

The Guerilla Girls spoke to students from New Design High School and The Beacon School about their mission to inspire social change by exposing sexism, racism, and corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture through the use of facts, humor, and strong graphic visuals.

Ricky Sears, an artist, spoke to Beacon students about his interest in public art projects, activating space, and our bodies’ relationship to the built environment. Sears' work documents the rapidly changing character of the American landscape as a result of residential development through photography, painting, and installation.

Greg Tate,Village Voicereporter, cultural critic, and musician, opened a discussion with high school juniors about the impact of popular culture on the community. As an introduction to journalism, Tate focused on interview strategies in reporting local and global news and tips on how to develop a unique writing style. He also helped to prepare New Design High School students for a reporting project of their own.

Ayana Jackson and Marco Villalobos introduced the first G:Class unit, Global Communication and the Media, through a visual journey called "African by Legacy, Mexican by Birth," a collaborative exhibition that documents the pair’s exploration of Vera Cruz, a rural community in Mexico. Jackson and Villalobos, a photographer and a journalist, respectively, illustrated their process of helping residents trace their ancestries and tell their stories, paying close attention to the manner in which we interpret language and the meaning of words through a particular cultural lens.