The Savannah College of Art and Design Presents SCAD at Miami
MIAMI, FLORIDA — The Savannah College of Art and Design presents SCAD AT MIAMI, a celebration of design innovation, contemporary art, and creative education, Dec. 1–5, at Design Miami/. SCAD’s immersive installation at booth X/10 showcases work by student and alumni artists, highlighting the preeminent university’s mission to provide opportunities for SCAD creatives to present their work to international art and design luminaries. This year’s installation features work by Scott Carter (SCAD B.F.A., painting, 2008), Jose Gallo (SCAD B.F.A., sculpture, 2015; SCAD B.F.A., pho-tography, 2015), and Archana Menon (SCAD M.F.A. furniture design), whose distinct practices engage overlapping disciplines including art, architecture, design, and music.
“Award-winning designers and powerful partnerships connect to create and share the best of contemporary design at SCAD AT MIAMI,” said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. “Thank you, Design Miami/ for welcoming SCAD as university partner again this year! Now, immerse yourself in new works by three SCAD artists: future-focused furnishings, six-strings with sound-activated lights, a guitar-cable chandelier that makes the functional fantastical, and more.”
Visitors to SCAD’s booth will experience Carter’s hybrid sculpture Relayer, a chandelier composed of guitar cables and lit from within. As its name suggests, the work serves as a conduit: the guitar cables are fully functional and can be activated by myriad instruments and amplifiers. Relayer demonstrates the artist’s interest in music and utilitarian design while rethinking function, and will be engaged in a performance by Nicolas Ramirez, Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 5 p.m. Carter will also premiere a new installation commissioned by SCAD for Design Miami/. Ingeniously made of acoustic foam paneling, the installation is based on previous works that use the same unique material in tandem with precise geometric painted designs. Viewers can activate the installation through an AR experience designed by SCAD student Patrick Kuhnmuench (M.F.A. motion media design).
Menon is a current M.F.A. student in the university’s furniture design program whose work is informed by her architectural background. The artist engages new technologies and modes of production to explore cutting-edge fabrication while honoring traditional craft work. She will present Seating I from her experiential Primal Forms collection. The sculptural piece is made of ebonized ash and takes inspiration from anthropomorphic elements and sinuous forms, driven by the concept of weight and permanence.
SCAD also commissioned new work by Gallo, who will present one of his hand-crafted guitars that will be used to activate Carter’s installation. Gallo’s guitars have been used by professional instrumentalists for iconic performances by Beyoncé, Madame Gandhi, and Coldplay, among others. Light and translucence are primary elements of the artist’s designs. The clear bodies of the guitars are illuminated with responsive LED lights in a wide variety of colors and tones that correspond to the notes being played.
In addition to the student and alumni showcase, President Wallace will lead a thought-provoking conversation with designer, curator, and visionary Cliff Fong in the Design Miami/ Design Talks theater, Thursday, Dec. 2, at 6:30 p.m. Fong, the founder of Matte Black and Galerie Half, and President Wallace, an inductee in the Interior Design Hall of Fame, will discuss creativity, connection, and the fine art of design, and share observations and insights on the profession’s past, present, and future.
Additional SCAD AT MIAMI events scheduled throughout the week include a VIP and press preview, workshops, and admission info sessions for prospective students and families.
SCAD AT MIAMI
SCAD AT MIAMI is a celebration of design innovation, contemporary art, and creative education. This year marks the eighth iteration of SCAD AT MIAMI and SCAD’s third presentation at Design Miami/ as the fair’s official university partner.
For SCAD AT MIAMI 2019, the university installed the Design Miami/ Design Forum, an immersive environment for conversation and collaboration heightened by dynamic textile works by SCAD alum Trish Andersen (B.F.A., fibers, 2005). In addition to the Design Talks theater, SCAD created and curated a state-of-the-art media suite, broadcasting live-streamed interviews, workshops, and podcasts throughout the fair, with guests including Raúl de Nieves, Hannah and Hilary Fagadau, Marilyn Minter, Harry Nuriev, Marcin Rusak, Robert Stilin, and many SCAD alumni. The university also presented a showcase featuring work by Andersen, as well as Andrew Greenbaum (B.F.A., industrial design, 2015), Maximilian Rauber (B.F.A., illustration, 2007), and Justin Armstrong (M.F.A. painting; B.F.A., painting, 2016).
In 2018, the university presented its first alumni showcase at Design Miami/ and co-presented the Visionary Award to SCAD AT MIAMI collaborators Carla Fernández and Pedro Reyes. In 2017, the university presented Chroma, an exhibition of experiential installations by renowned artist and SCAD deFINE ART 2017 honoree Carlos Cruz-Diez, as well as an exhibition of work by alumni Cory Imig (B.F.A., fibers, 2008), Christopher Paul Dean (M.F.A., sculpture, 2016), and Britt Spencer (M.F.A., painting, 2011; B.F.A., illustration, 2005). In other years, the university presented CURVA, a solo exhibition of work by SCAD alum Wendy White (B.F.A., fibers, 1993); i feel ya: SCAD + André 3000 Benjamin, an exploration of fashion, film, and painting through the eyes of three dynamic artists: multihyphenate performer André 3000 Benjamin and SCAD alumni Greg Brunkalla (B.F.A., video/film, 2001) and Jimmy O’Neal (M.F.A., painting, 2016; B.F.A., illustration, 1989); and Theater of Self, a joint presentation of fashion and photography by London-based artist Daniel Lismore and SCAD alumni Bin Feng (M.F.A., photography, 2017) and Colin Douglas Gray (B.F.A., photography, 2004).
SCAD: The University for Creative Careers
The Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited university, offering more than 100 academic degree programs across its locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Lacoste, France; and online via SCADnow.
SCAD enrolls 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 100 countries. The innovative SCAD curriculum engages professional-level technology and other advanced learning resources, and affords students opportunities for internships, professional certifications, and real-world assignments with corporate partners through SCADpro, the university’s renowned research lab and prototype generator. In 2020, the prestigious Red Dot Design Rankings placed SCAD as the No. 1 university in the U.S. and in the top two universities in the Americas and Europe for the fourth consecutive year. Career preparation is woven into every fiber of the university, resulting in a superior alumni employment rate. In a recent study, 99% of SCAD graduates were employed, pursuing further education, or both within 10 months of graduation. SCAD provides students and alumni with ongoing career support through personal coaching, alumni programs, a professional presentation studio, and more.
About DESIGN MIAMI/
Design Miami/ connects the world through extraordinary collectible design, with live fairs and experiences on four continents that bring together galleries, designers’ studios, brands, experts, collectors, and enthusiasts, and designmiami.com, a content-rich digital marketplace. Each edition of Design Miami/ features museum-quality 20th- and 21st-century furniture, lighting, and objets d’art from the world’s top, expertly vetted galleries with flagship fairs taking place alongside Art Basel in Miami, Florida, each December and Basel, Switzerland, each June. Design Miami/ is also accessible 365 days a year through designmiami.com, which features shoppable works from the fair’s expert galleries, as well as DM/BX, a curation of more accessible one-of-a-kind, limited-edition, and small batch design objects, in addition to virtual programming and engaging storytelling at the Forum Magazine.