WRITING SAMPLES:

From: Marshall McLuhan: Linguistic Magician Plays Media Theorist

Current societal trends in media usage reflect many of Marshall McLuhan’s theories and proclamations made in the 1960s. Explosions of YouTubes, MySpaces and handheld information accessing devices in every way link his projections to our flowing stream of downloads. Yet, HOW? is the question that keeps reoccurring when dissecting McLuhan’s supposed foresight. How was this educator able to intuit not only the development of technology, but also the human response to reformed and popularized information accessing? How did he know which terms and phrases to combine in order to seal his legendary status and stir public opinion?

...Though the philosopher at hand prides himself on exploiting his wit, his projections are suspiciously formulaic. By taking a magnifying glass to the English language and its modern entrails, he redefines, by restating, what will forever change. Undoubtedly clever and forward thinking, his ironic abstractions of the unknown are toys for the contributing citizen. The question now is how would the conceiver of these ideas react to their contemporary implications?

...Continually challenged by a changing environment, ethics are subject to alteration. Yet, it is these ethics that must support our intuition. With classical religious institutions declining, morality must be discovered in other places before it is forever lost. One of the most drastic suggestions of information access is that privacy is taken for granted and individuality is subject to sharing. Not only do we post our every move on blogs and online profiles, but we frequent the same sites as thousand of strangers. As we use the same tools and observe the same information, our productions are destined to mirror one another, and so the world becomes an even more intricate web of triplicates where disconnection becomes the challenge.

________________________________________________________________

From: ADDition (A play)

Cast of Characters

Attention: Attention is a woman of 33, but more so, a delicate creature. She is multi- talented and applies her knowledge with interdisciplinary grace and precision. She works at a University Library where she is a research assistant for graduate students. She also proofreads screenplays and novels for a major publishing firm. In her spare time she amasses and organizes collections which she then sells in full. Her actions do not reflect OCD, but simple focus. She looks upon the earth and its inhabitants with extreme care
as if a scientist with microscopes for eyeglasses. She is patient, diligent, and curious and thus, she is respected. She is dressed in white to reflect her meticulous nature and affinity for simplicity.

Deficit: Deficit is a parasite of a man at 22. He is the friend your parents never liked and subtly discouraged you from interacting with. He is incredibly needy and hungry. When he realizes what he wants, he devises a way to attain it devoid of consequences and repercussions. He is a manipulator, a mooch, and a minus sign in the equation of life. Deficit resides, or rather squats, with various “friends” around the city. He borrows money and does not repay his debts. The expressions he projects are sly and mischievous. He speaks in a monotone voice and tends to lose his listeners as they retreat to their own thoughts, bored by his exclamations. Deficit dresses in black because he is a hole, a vacuum.

Disorder: Disorder cannot be defined by age, but legally he is 21. He eats lettuce for breakfast and pancakes for dinner. When other children played doctor, Disorder played Devil’s advocate. He lives his life to challenge how others live their lives. He possesses a knack for pushing buttons and a great smile. His body projects notions of self-preservation and he exudes a system of health, though in reality his diet is absurd and his addiction to smoking is unwavering. Singing, stuttering, and making up words are all part of his discourse. He launches into conversation with strangers on a daily basis. Entertaining because he is unpredictable, he captures people. He is inconsistent and flawed. His dress is non-linear (to match his thought process) as he wears plaid trousers, a striped shirt, a polka-dotted vest, and a fur scarf.

Scene: An off-the-path art gallery in the Meat-Packing District of New York City.

Time: Last Night.

Setting: In an intimate space that harbors diverse traffic.

At Rise: The sun retreats below the horizon and the gallery will soon close to the oublic. There are large frames on the wall, but the artwork inside them is not visibly distinct to the audience.

_________________________________________________________________

From: Russian Avant-Garde: A Geometric Revolution that Shaped the Current State of Graphic Design & the Grid that Keeps Giving

Geometric abstraction of the early 1900s catalyzed design theory toward the fusion of mathematics and visual arts that currently dominate the world of graphic design. El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, and other Russian avant-garde artists worked with basic mathematical forms in their conception of fine art to convey new beginnings and the beauty of precisely calculated shapes. This division from representational work marked a rift in art progression and forged the way for expansion in the field of graphic arts. Much of current design trends are easily linked back to this style of crisp right angles, simulated grids, and dynamic three-dimensional forms. Understanding the roots of geometric abstraction and Suprematism is essential for any further development in similar fields.

Much of the non-objective art that was spotlighted as avant-garde in Russia stemmed from a reaction to the conclusion and aftermath of World War I. Citizens of Europe and artists alike called into question the direction of society and international relations. Though the horrors of war may turn some minds to the sanctity of peace within the natural world, many artists of post-war Europe moved instead toward the industrialist notions that defined futurism in art.

...The entity of the ever-present grid is of constant intrigue in our culture. Surely organization is an essential function in every society, but where does one draw the line between maintaining order and preserving self-expression. The fact that artists need no longer construct their own grids to work from and can simply refer to a computer for this structure is a prime example of the grid’s undying popularity. Ultimately, it seems the grid has become the skeleton of human production; the go to guide for laying out creation. In the room you sit in at this moment there is no doubt some kind of manufactured item of furniture or useful utensil that was mapped and constructed using that familiar latticework of ninety degree angles.

Our modern grid has progressed greatly from the grid of the Suprematists. Yet, perhaps Malevich and Lissitzky foresaw man’s incessant obsession with replicated right angles and choose to recognize this systematic trend long before it replaced dog as man’s best friend. However, it does seem apparent that a technological whirlwind based on none other than grid maps was inevitable. The question it leaves the art world is: where do we draw the
line, or with what type of straight edge?