Digital Humanities and Media

by Nathan Halverson | Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of English and Newcomb Department of Art
I work in digital media to study the personal and cultural associations that shape our perceptions of media and technology, and the assumptions about referentiality, artificiality, and authenticity we impose on them. Much of my recent work relates to political and physical environments, the digital representation of places, and their convergence in contemporary life.

Students in Digital Art I and II use a variety of software to create digital projects while also researching and discussing issues and concepts in contemporary art. Students in the 3000-level English Special Topics course in Digital Humanities are introduced to concepts in digital media history and production. They research and produce multimedia works beginning with combining sound and images with text.

In 2016 some of these students participated in the Confluences Expanded Media Symposium at Southern Illinois University where their work was exhibited alongside student work from other schools including The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, The College of New Jersey, and SIU-Carbondale. The semester’s work included taking part in a multi-campus conversation to develop a thematic focus for the symposium and contributing research and content about New Orleans in the form of writing, images, sound recordings, and digital maps. The work was exhibited as part of a multi-media digital art exhibit on the Southern Illinois University campus. Some of this work can be see on the Confluences Expanded Media website which students also helped to create.

Christopher Gray honored in International Student Exhibition

Christopher Gray, MFA candidate 2017, was recognized by the Glass Art Society with an Honorable Mention for his work, "Meander White," a kilnformed glass sculpture shown in the 2016 International Student Online Exhibition.

In his artist statement Gray describes the sculpture's intellectual and formal inspiration.

Labyrinths can be perplexing and enlightening at the same time. One can be constructed as if to disorient, and another to be used as a meditation device. Both have a common design yet carry an extreme polarity and duality within their uses.

The Carroll Gallery will host Gray's MFA Thesis Exhibition next month.

At left: Christopher Gray, Meander White, 2016, kilnformed glass, 12.5 x 5.5 x 2.5 in.

Anthony Baab: Cover the Earth IV

Cover the Earth IV, an exhibit by Anthony Baab, Professor of Practice in Painting and Drawing, opens on Friday, February 10th at Antenna, 3718 St Claude Avenue, with a reception from 6-10pm. The exhibit will be on view through March 5th.

Anthony Baab experiments with objects and materials associated with consumerism – packaging, advertisements, and logos. Baab views an explicit sense of command and function conveyed through these containers, perhaps more so than the commodities they hold or represent. Attempting to regenerate these objects into something otherwise and redirect their pre-fixed purposes towards aesthetic ends, Baab confronts the challenge of making these objects his own. The work is compelled by a sense of misbehavior, evoking the spirit and ethos of adolescence, inspired by doodling on a shoe, covering a room with posters, and building a fort.

Tulane faculty exhibit at Louisiana Biennial

The 4th Louisiana Biennial National Juried Exhibition featured works by three members of the Newcomb Art Department faculty, Aaron Collier (Painting), William DePauw (Ceramics), and AnnieLaurie Erickson (Photography).

The exhibition, on view at the Louisiana Tech University School of Art Galleries until February 16th, was juried by Rachel Cook, Curator DiverseWorks in Houston, Texas.

William DePauw received an Honorable Mention for his piece, Tip of the Tongue, shown at left.  Depauw has been teaching all levels of ceramics since 2006. His creative practice, broadly speaking, is based on a close observation of familiar objects. He is mostly interested in how objects visually reference their place in specific contexts, histories, and cultures despite profound portability. His work plays with fragmentary references to material culture such as packaging, consumer items, and historic works.

Koss honored at CAC's 40th Anniversary Party

On Saturday February 4th the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans will celebrate its 40th Anniversary at the annual SweetArts Ball. This "Black Tie Birthday Party" will honor Tina Girouard, Gene Koss, Martin Payton, and Mario Villa, all artists associated with the founding of the CAC.

After obtaining his Master of Fine Arts degree at Tyler School of Art at Temple University in 1976, Gene Koss started the Tulane University glass program and brought the movement of glass art to New Orleans.  He uses steel and glass to create monumental works.  Working with serial cast glass parts to enlarge scale and combining these elements with iron and neon, he has raised glass sculpture to the realm of public art.  Koss’s work has had a profound impact on American artists working in both steel and glass media.