While most college students are cramming for final exams, graduating students in the 17 majors in the School of Art and Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) take both traditional exams and a very different kind of final: they have created jewelry, toys, photographs, packaging designs, computer animations, illustrations, textile/surface designs, fashion designs, and more – all of which will be on view to the public May 7–22, 2014, at FIT.
Highlights of the FIT Annual Art and Design Graduating Student Exhibition include Mythological Mask Projection, in which Computer Animation and Interactive Media students combined ceremonial and performance masks from different cultures with 3D-projection mapping to create a new way to experience mythological images interactively. Other highlights include the Tricera Tank, a hard toy by Troy Reutebuch, and an installation by students in the Visual Presentation and Exhibition Design (VPED) department titled The Movement: 150 Years of Design Innovation.
The Movement: 150 Years of Design Innovation showcases ten time periods by incorporating architecture, fashion, and iconic objects for each:
• Life Reinvented, Late 1800s
• Art Nouveau, 1890–1910
• The Bauhaus and Modernism, 1919–1933
• Art Deco, 1930s
• The Golden Age of Capitalism, 1940s
• Atomic Age, 1957–1969
• The Journey, Mid 1960s–Late 1970s
• Mashup, 1980–1989
• Sustainable Design, Late 1990s–2010+
• Fabricating the Future, 2010+
The 17 majors featured in the FIT Annual Art and Design Graduating Student Exhibition are Accessories Design, Advertising Design, Communication Design, Computer Animation and Interactive Media, Fabric Styling, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Jewelry Design, Menswear, Packaging Design, Photography, Textile/Surface Design, Toy Design, and Visual Presentation and Exhibition Design.
The pieces in the exhibition represent the culmination of each student’s unique experience in FIT’s diverse, challenging, and demanding undergraduate Art and Design programs. Featuring juried, award-winning, and thesis projects, this presentation is the manifestation of several years of research, experimentation, critical thinking, and artistic proficiency.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. Visitors enter at The Museum at FIT or at the Marvin Feldman Center, 27 Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues. Exhibitions are displayed on the main floors of the Marvin Feldman, Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design, and Shirley Goodman Resource centers, and in the John E. Reeves Great Hall and The Museum at FIT.
The Fashion Institute of Technology, a college of the State University of New York, has been a leader in career education in art, design, business, and technology for nearly 70 years. Providing students with a singular blend of hands-on, practical experience, classroom study, and a firm grounding in the liberal arts, FIT offers a wide range of outstanding programs that are affordable and relevant to today’s rapidly changing industries. FIT draws on its New York City location to provide a vibrant, creative community in which to learn. The college offers more than 45 majors and grants AAS, BFA, BS, MA, MFA, and MPS degrees, preparing students for professional success and leadership in the global marketplace.
Photo: Tricera Tank, hard toy, Troy Reutebuch, Toy Design