RISD XYZ Fall/Winter 2013/14: Out of Bounds | Full Issue

ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS TEND TO QUESTION, PUSH, CHALLENGE, take risks—as part of the pure pleasure of making. These are things you’re expected to do, just as you’re expected to think outside the box, color outside the lines, question the rules, defy expectations. The freedom of thought art and design offer may be what has inspired people to make objects of beauty and wonder since well before we began writing and recording our own history. Yet, as liberating as it sounds, that freedom is also a challenge. As alums you know how to probe and ponder, and deliberately work with materials and processes to make your thoughts tangible in ways that others can see, feel and connect with. That urge to push your own expressive powers often leads. . . . From the editor\u27s message by Liisa Silanderhttps://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdxyz_fall2013/1005/thumbnail.jp

Exposed

In photographing his own body over the course of decades, Arno Minkkinen MFA 74 PH surfaces timeless truths about the nature of being.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdxyz_fallwinter20142015/1003/thumbnail.jp

RISDxyz Fall/Winter 2014/15 | Full Issue

LOVE THEM, HATE THEM, feed and obsess about them as we do, our bodies are our interface with each other and the physical world. They’re the often astonishing and perpetually intriguing vessels that hold who we are. When you think about the body in the context of art, it’s almost impossible to separate one from the other— just as it’s impossible to separate the body from considerations of health and health care. They’re all inextricably intertwined. ... From the editor\u27s message by Liisa Silanderhttps://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdxyz_fallwinter20142015/1005/thumbnail.jp

Wandergesellen Waltz On

[Wandergesellen] is a way of life that points to the distant past – to medieval artisans travelling from village to village to practice and perfect their craft, bringing their skills where they were needed most. But for Eugene (Yevgent) Gladun 00 GD, the world of wandergesellen – or German journeymen – is more relevant than ever.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdxyz_springsummer2013/1002/thumbnail.jp

RISD XYZ Spring/Summer 2014: Natural Instincts | Full Issue

As ANIMALS, WE\u27RE ALL PART OF NATURE, sharing DNA with fish, trees, rocks—everything that came to be with the big bang. We’re also dependent on nature for everything: water, oxygen, food, life. And as the animals currently at the top of the food chain, we’re responsible for respecting and caring for it, too... So what do we do when faced with both the fury and fragility of nature? Do we shrug it off, thinking: “the planet is ruined and we’re screwed,” as Associate Professor Damian White asks (page 52)? Or do we take science seriously and recognize that whatever we do to the earth we do to ourselves? This is just the tip of the iceberg fueling a resurgence of interest among RISD artists and designers who are grappling with matters of human folly, sustainability, global warming and more... . From the editor\u27s message by Liisa Silanderhttps://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdxyz_springsummer2014/1004/thumbnail.jp

RISD XYZ Spring/Summer 2013: Crisscrossing Cultures | Full Issue

EVERY YEAR MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE TRAVELING TO MORE places throughout the world. And even those who can\u27t afford to travel - some of whom live in the most remote regions imaginable-are getting a better sense of global culture through mobile technology. The world is, in many ways, shrinking. Yet, true as that may be, it also remains as complex, chaotic, confounding and culturally diverse as ever. If you\u27ve traveled to-or better yet, lived in -a part of the world that\u27s very different from where you grew up, you\u27ve seen, felt and tasted those differences. Small as the planet may be in an age of viral videos and global Twitter streams, it\u27s clear that people still live very different lives based on the circumstances of their birth and the political realities of the country they call home. . . . From the editor\u27s message by Liisa Silanderhttps://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdxyz_springsummer2013/1004/thumbnail.jp

Seductively Solar

Under the direction of project lead Jonathan Knowles BArch 84M, RISD is entering a prototype for a net-zero home in this summer’s Solar Decathlon Europe.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdxyz_springsummer2014/1002/thumbnail.jp

Graphic and Gutsy

Some people just can\u27t help themselves. They\u27ve got an indefinable restlessness—a drive to do things most people don’t. By the time she was 26, Jessica Walsh GD 08 had pushed the proverbial envelope enough that esteemed designer Stefan Sagmeister (who had been in the business since before she was born) invited her to become a partner in his NYC-based firm.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdxyz_fall2013/1003/thumbnail.jp

Humanimalia

No one paints wild animals quite like Walton Ford 82 FAV, whose unsettling twists on traditional natural history are now on view in a NYC solo show.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdxyz_springsummer2014/1003/thumbnail.jp

Facing Facts

Andrew Freiband 95 FAV and a team of alumni work with USAID to humanize the impact of extreme poverty.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdxyz_fallwinter20142015/1002/thumbnail.jp