Arts and Engineering Students Ready to Talk on April 23

April 20, 2009

They’ve collaborated all year to merge art and engineering. Now, they’re ready to talk.

Fourteen final-year students from the arts and engineering programs will discuss the process, challenges and successes in collaborating to create functional works of art for their honours projects. The talk is being held on Thursday, April 23 at 12:30 p.m. in the McMaster Museum of Art. Everyone is invited.

“This collaboration provides reciprocal learning opportunities for both art students and engineering students who benefit from cross-disciplinary approaches and knowledge that complements and extends the learning provided by either program individually,” explained Judy Major-Girardin, associate professor, School of the Arts.

The Engineers and Artists Talk is part of the annual honours art graduation exhibition hosted by the McMaster Museum of Art. It’s titled ‘Play Nice and features exhibits from 25 emerging artists in the School of the Arts’ Studio Art Program. The works are on display until April 25 and represent a wide variety of media, from painting to performance. An Artists’ Talk is also being held Tuesday, April 21 at 12:30 p.m.

“Through collaborative projects the Engineering students benefit from design skills, creative interpretations and opportunities to apply their knowledge in unique applications,” added Prof. Major-Girardin. “Art students gain insight into new materials, structural knowledge, mechanical aspects and practical considerations of creative works.”

The Collaborators:

• Dome Environment: Honours Art student, Karli Strohschein worked with Engineering students, Chris Vettorazzo and Peter Czerwinski to design a dome environment that will house her installation of moss, ceramic forms and living organisms;
• Robotic Arm Performance: Honours Art and Multimedia student, Riley Boyd worked with Engineering students Ahmed Shohayeb, Mina Khalil, Abdel Rahman and Abdel Fattah to build a robotic arm to assist in a performance work;
• Chronos Clock: Honours Art and Multimedia student, Jennifer Torosian and Honours Art student, Patrick Leroux worked with Engineering students: Daniel Borrelli (Mech. Eng. & Mgmt V), Michael Kish (Mech. Eng. & Mgmt V), Rajiv Sujan (Mech. Eng. & Mgmt V) and Richard Yoon (Mech. Eng. & Mgmt V) to design a sculptural clock installation for the new Engineering Technology Building.