TIME PAPER SOUND Exhibition Opening Reception

TIME PAPER SOUND — an exhibition of work by 25 students from four departments and two colleges who have participated in three experimental College of Design courses that focus on inquiry through making and iteration — will be be on display May 6–11 at Mainframe Studios in Des Moines. An opening reception will be from 5–8 p.m. Friday, May 6, in conjunction with Mainframe’s First Friday Open Studios and City Sounds’ 2022 Public Piano unveiling.

The courses highlighted are architecture assistant professor Firat Erdim‘s “Vibrant Assemblies” seminar, art and visual culture assistant professor Raluca Iancu‘s “Letterpress Book Arts” course and art and visual culture assistant professor Olivia Valentine‘s “Time as Material” class.

“Vibrant Assemblies”explores vibration and sound as spatio-temporal phenomena. Students make sound-machines engaged in three scales — the body, the room, the environment — where the instrument is intentionally attuned as an assembly of agencies rather than as a means of autonomous expression.

“Letterpress Book Arts” introduces students to letterpress printing and book binding as tools for creating artist books and other printed objects. Students explore letterpress printing by using historical lead and wood type, while also using contemporary matrix making techniques such as laser cutting and polymer plates. Projects in this course range from simple bindings (pamphlets) to complex sculptural forms (carousel books and pop-up structures).

“Time as Material” uses an expanded definition of time-based media to explore different ways of engaging with time as an art material.  The course begins with a series of experiments looking at different approaches to time, including durational performance and recording, accumulation/disintegration and Practice/Praxis, and concludes with independent projects exploring different areas of time as a material.

Student Transportation

A van is available for students without other transportation options who want to attend the reception. Email Firat Erdim by noon on Friday, May 6, if you would like to reserve a seat. The van will leave the College of Design at 5:30 p.m. to go to Des Moines and from Mainframe Studios at 8:30 p.m. to return to Ames.