A poet who studies immigrants, a filmmaker-activist and a digital technologist are among a group of 11 creative thinkers coming to Duke University during the 2011-12 academic year as part of its inaugural visiting artist series.
The Visiting Artist Lecture Series, "Immersed in Every Sense," begins in late September with Clement Valla from the Rhode Island School of Design, who works with computers and digital technologies.
Some artists will visit campus for two or three days; others will stay longer or return for multiple visits. The series is organized by the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies.
The artists will give public lectures, demonstrate their work in classes and critique student work. Artists coming to Duke for a longer duration will develop a work on campus and conduct a more detailed, longer workshop with specific classes during their residency. Members of the community can attend various programs and activities to engage with the artists.
"The new Visiting Artist Lecture Series is a strategic expansion of our Visiting Artist in Residence Program," said Scott Lindroth, Duke's vice provost for the arts. "By adapting or preparing new courses over the entire academic year with these particular artists in mind, the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies offers our students exciting and mind-expanding opportunities to grow as artists."
The series will augment the curricular offerings of a range of departments and programs through class visits, workshops, critiques, demonstrations and screenings. In addition to the arts- and media-related disciplines at Duke, other programs in the humanities, social sciences and sciences will benefit from discussions and engagement with the visiting artists.
"This series also reaches out to the entire community both on and off campus. It is meant to create more and frequent contacts between artists and the university-wide student community and profoundly change their Duke experience," said Hans van Miegroet, chair of the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies.
Artists participating during the fall semester are: Clement Valla, adjunct professor of digital & media, Rhode Island School of Design (experimental art, socio-technical systems, human/computer relationships), Sept. 27-28; Eduardo Kac, professor of art and technology studies, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (bio art, media art, performance), Oct. 19-20; Benj Gerdes, instructor, Cooper Union School of Art (film and video, writing, social activism) and Jennifer Hayashida, director of Asian American Studies, Hunter College (art and poetry), Oct. 25-26; Marc Handelman (painting), Nov. 16-17; and Meridith Pingree, adjunct faculty of design and technology, Parsons The New School for Design (robotics, installation, interactive art, conceptual art), Nov. 29-Dec. 1.
Additional artists will take part in the series in Spring 2012.
Specific dates, times, and programming for each artist's visit will be posted to the Duke University Events calendar (www.duke.edu), the Duke Arts website (www.arts.duke.edu), and the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies website (aahvs.duke.edu).
"Immersed in Every Sense" is supported by the Duke University Council for the Arts Visiting Artist Fund and the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies Visiting Artist Fund.