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- Fostering Creativity in an Educational EnvironmentDee, Meaghan A. (2016-05-31)Many believe creativity is something you’re born with, rather than a skill you can learn. But, being a professor of graphic design, I believe teachers can and should foster creative thinking, regardless of the subject matter. Every child is naturally imaginative, but as they grow up they’re taught to conform. One way to encourage students to uncover their originality is to build an environment that is free of judgment. To be creative is to be abnormal, in that it requires thinking in unique ways. In order to be comfortable with artistic expression, students must feel free to make “mistakes” — they must even be encouraged to do so. We’ve all heard the mantra “fail faster.” There’s no way to know if an idea will be successful until you try it out, so the more you can explore, the better. But this might be easier said than done, as fear of failure can be paralyzing. Twyla Tharp, in The Creative Habit, combats her fears by writing them down and physically destroying them. For any creative person trying to get “unstuck,” this sort of ritual can be a first step in getting moving on a project. Under this line of thinking, helping creativity flourish should be integrated into every graphic design course. I focus on creativity in my curriculum by implementing mini exercises, discussions, and by approaching each project with a unique methodology – so students have a chance to learn and make in diverse ways.
- re[visualizing] soundDee, Meaghan A. (2016-08-27)In the words of Robert Bringhurst: “writing is the solid form of language.” In addition to capturing the human language, designers and typographers also face the challenge of documenting other sounds, such as music and the language of animals. How do designers visually capture these other heard experiences in a meaningful way? In this presentation, I would explore various examples of codified systems that visually display sound with the use of typographic forms and symbols. One example is a design that I created for Oceans Initiative, where the visuals were created by playing a whale song into a cymatic visualizer – and while at first glance the poster appears to be abstract, in reality each form corresponds to a different musical note. Throughout history humans have found many ways of visually documenting sound. While this is primarily done through the use of letterforms, many other visualizations are common. One example is the musical score, which is a very accurate portrayal of sound, as it takes into consideration the loudness, length, and tone of sound. And yet in the realm of design there is often there is a disconnect between the sounds we hear and the designs we see. Warren Lehrer was among a handful of artists and designers to break ground in this area. Lehrer, in his piece “French Fries,” experimented with how to convey multiple voices in a book design by assigning each character their own typeface. More recently, many artists and designers use data collection systems to record accurate data and produce beautiful works of data visualization.
- Protective Body Panels for the ESCHER Humanoid Emergency Response RobotDee, Meaghan A.; Blanchard, Samuel Paul (2016-09-23)ICAT (Institute for Creativity, Arts & Technology) Playdate, Blacksburg, VA. Co-presented the research on the “Protective Body Panels for the ESCHER Humanoid Emergency Response Robot,” in the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. September 23.
- Critical Inclusion: Valuing Student Perspectives, Queering Practice, and Hybridizing Pedagogy for 4D Media CritiqueWeaver, Rachel L. (Www.Macaart.Org, 2016-10-28)Over the past decade, time-based visual media has attained the same ubiquity that the still image has enjoyed for the past 150 years. In this deliriously-mediated present, guiding students to use 4D media’s evolving languages of critique requires teaching strategies that address the strengths and blind spots of digital natives. Most undergraduate, internet-savvy students are natural critics of 4D media, and thoughtful educators will facilitate critique by valuing and harnessing these existing interests and useful perspectives. Vernacular media forms become an important and playful entryway to close looking and parsing. Colloquial and familiar viewing habits are eventually transformed by adoption of new terminology and critical angles. Situating contemporary 4D media works within greater art and design history is an extremely important way to effectively broaden perspectives and generate new critical conversations. Reading, continuous discussion, and exposure to artists, media works, history, and theory in the context of the studio classroom is just as important as 4D studio practice itself. Unless we are lucky enough to teach at an institution with a media+art history course, the 4D media educator is often saddled with the hybrid role of both studio practitioner and pioneering contemporary art/media/technology historian. This challenge, however great, is also an opportunity unique to our discipline. The 4D media educator must remain chameleon-like in negotiation of critical viewpoints, looking across disciplines, and responding swiftly to the unending torrent of hybridized art forms, expanding design needs, and emerging media technologies.
- Video Art and Indigenous CollaborationsWeaver, Rachel L. (Department Of Visual Design, Universidad De Caldas, And Isea International, 2017-06-13)A presentation of collaborations with indigenous groups harnessing moving image media in non-commercial capacities and for creative revelation of struggle. Weaver has worked as a facilitator of creative decolonizing workshops within indigenous communitites. She has co-created experimental oral history and ecological documentary projects with Alaska Native groups, and is currently partnering with Maya communities on media art projects addressing struggles for tribal land rights in Belize.
- Green: 12th Conference of the European Society for Literature, Science and the Arts (SLSAeu)Drum, Meredith (2018-06-14)
- Current Seen: Best Foot ForwardDrum, Meredith; Rachel, Stevens (2019)
- The Mainstream Media and the “Shocking Bad Art” from Cyprus: 1870s New York Reacts to the Cesnola CollectionsKnoblauch, Ann-Marie (2019)When the Metropolitan Museum of Art first opened the doors of its Fifth Avenue building on March 30, 1880, the majority of the exhibition space was occupied by Cypriot art purchased by the Met’s trustees from Luigi Palma di Cesnola in two lots, one in 1872 and another in 1876. The two collections amounted to around twenty thousand objects, all finds Cesnola had acquired while serving as US Consul on the island from 1865–1876. After the acquisition of the second collection, Cesnola left Cyprus to become the first director of the Metropolitan Museum, a position he held until his death in 1904. New Yorkers in the 1870s were most intrigued by the works of limestone sculptures from the sanctuary at Golgoi. In the 1880s these objects would become embroiled in a scandal because of the claim that Cesnola had performed intentionally misleading restorations, but before that disgrace and through much of the 1870s, New Yorkers were processing the arrival of an enormous volume of ancient Cypriot objects in a relatively short amount of time.
- Conditions of ExchangeDrum, Meredith (2019)Group exhibition curated by Abigail Simon and Esther Boesche
- Light Year 47: Tales of Diverted RealityDrum, Meredith (2019-03-07)LIGHT YEAR 47: TALES OF DIVERTED REALITY {MARCH 7, 2019} Curated by: Peter Fulop & Brigitta Veradi Participating Artists (all artists are former artists in residence of ChaNorth): Chen Wang, James Hopkins & Tori Carr, Meredith Drum, Jonathan Sims, and Marisa Adesman & Christian Berman Tales of Diverted Reality is a collection of short stories exploring perceptions of reality from ancient to contemporary, from the individual point of view. Tales can estrange the reader, in this case the viewer from the real world & allows him or her to deal with deep-rooted psychological problems and anxiety provoking incidents to achieve anatomy. Tales of Diverted Reality jumps between circling endlessly around a candy colored amusement park, the vastness of Las Vegas and the authenticity within its deception, consumer driven visual culture that dominates many commercial worlds created with 3D computer software, visual invocation of a spell formula from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and a feminist re-adaptation of the Bluebeard fairytale.
- The Works on Water Residency and Project Space Summer 2019Drum, Meredith (2019-07-05)A meditation on the past and future of this city: here the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People constructed the largest Pre-Columbia irrigation system in North America, history obliterated by the colonial construction that became contemporary Phoenix. Now over 150 people die each summer from heat-related trauma, and with a record high of 122° F what happens at 129° - adaptation or abandonment?
- FL3TCH3R ExhibitDee, Meaghan A. (2020)
- Search for Delicious, Solo Screening at Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn, NYDrum, Meredith (2020)Microscope Gallery is highly respected in the art and cinema world. Their exhibitions are often reviewed and selected as "critic's picks" in Art Forum and the New York Times. The gallery has collaborated with the Whitney Museum. For an example review, see this "critic's pick" in Art Forum of a show that was in the gallery concurrent to my screening: https://www.artforum.com/picks/ina-archer-83884 From the gallery's event description: Microscope is very pleased to welcome Meredith Drum back to our event series for a solo online screening of her work. The program includes nine short videos made from 2005 to today by the artist addressing issues such as the environment and global warming, feminism, anthropology, and the history of cinema, with particular attention towards endangered species and cultures.
- Development of a Responsible Policy Index to Improve Statutory and Self-Regulatory Policies that Protect Children’s Diet and Health in the America’s RegionRincón-Gallardo Patiño, Sofía; Rajamohan, Srijith; Meaney, Kathleen; Coupey, Eloise; Serrano, Elena L.; Hedrick, Valisa E.; da Silva Gomes, Fabio; Polys, Nicholas F.; Kraak, Vivica (MDPI, 2020-01-13)In 2010, 193 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed World Health Assembly Resolution WHA63.14 to restrict the marketing of food and beverage products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) to children to prevent obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). No study has examined HFSS marketing policies across the WHO regional office countries in the Americas. Between 2018 and 2019, a transdisciplinary team examined policies to restrict HFSS food and beverage product marketing to children to develop a responsible policy index (RESPI) that provides a quality score based on policy characteristics and marketing techniques. After designing the RESPI, we conducted a comprehensive literature review through October 2019 to examine policies in 14 countries in the WHO Americans Region. We categorized policies (n = 38) as either self-regulatory or statutory and calculated the RESPI scores, ranked from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest). Results showed Brazil, Canada, Chile, and Uruguay had the highest RESPI scores associated with statutory policies that restricted point of sale, cartoon, licensed media characters and celebrities; and HFSS products in schools and child care settings, and broadcast and print media. Policymakers can use the RESPI tool to evaluate marketing policies within and across geopolitical boundaries to protect children’s diet and health.
- Intersections, International Symposium of Electronic Arts 2018, Durban, ZADrum, Meredith (2020-06-26)My paper, Mediated Natures - Speculative Futures and Justice Panel, was accepted, through a peer-review process, as part of the academic conference of Intersections, International Symposium of Electronic Arts 2018, Durban, South Africa.
- A Message of HopeDee, Meaghan A.; Pederson, Martin (2021)
- Ongoing Matter: Design, Democracy, and the Mueller ReportBerry, Anne; Edmands Martin, Sarah; Dee, Meaghan A. (2021)
- Processing the PandemicDee, Meaghan A. (2021)
- World Playback Theatre's "New Beginnings"Vogel, Heidi Winters; Paranthaman, Para (Virginia Tech, 2021-01-17)On January 17, 2021, World Playback Theatre (facebook.com/worldplaybacktheatre), an international online troupe emerging from the 2019 Leadership certification program of the Playback Centre, gave a public performance on the theme of “New Beginnings.” Production Credits: Conductors｜Heidi Winters Vogel & Para Paranthaman Actors｜Pia Loriega, Roni Alperin, Radhika Jain, Pek Kuan Tai Musician | Linda Steuernagel Duration: 1 hr, 41 min Forms Used: Fluid Sculpture｜Transformational Fluid｜Pairs｜Perspectives｜Monologues｜4 Rooms｜Episodes | Talking Windows This performance in featured in "Storytelling on Screen: An Online Playback Theatre Archive and Guidebook" by Jordan Rosin and Heidi Winters Vogel, which is available at http://hdl.handle.net/10919/104420.