Annual event to showcase design students' work
Three Department of Design and Computation Arts students have created a trio of trophies that will be given out at the Concordia Institute for Co-operative Education’s annual Co-op Awards and Recognition Event (CARE) on May 30.
Ida Kovaleva, Daniel La Rotta, and Rachel Tardif each designed a trophy using skills they honed in a digital sculpture course, taught by part-time faculty member Erwin Regler in the winter 2013 term.
The trophies – sculptural works approximately 6 inches in height – were produced on the ZCorp three-dimensional printer at the Hexagram-Concordia Centre for Research-Creation in Media Arts and Technologies. Ten trophies will be given out in total – three each of La Rotta’s and Tardif’s pieces and four of Kovaleva’s.
Kovaleva, La Rotta and Tardif answered a department-wide call for submissions and worked with associate professor Christopher Moore to come up with the concepts of the trophies for the award ceremony, which celebrates the co-op program’s students and employers.
Kovaleva’s Handshake represents a short ritual in which two people grasp each other's hands. The sculpture features two hands coming close, but not yet grasping each other.
Kovaleva explains that “Handshake is a symbol of cooperation between two people who, together, are able to achieve something different, something greater than one person can achieve.”
La Rotta’s Dynamic Transformation symbolizes an evolution from a square to a sphere. Moreover, he says, the statue represents the gradual transformation of one shape to the other. La Rotta says that “the balanced turn of the pieces signifies the modernism of the figures” and demonstrates how in the co-op program, both student and employer learn from one another.
Tardif’s Quartz is a solid pyramid representing the process of creating a dynamic and unique form starting from the repetition of the same element. Much like how the co-op program unites students and employers, Quartz “represents the evolution of a single element into a complete and harmonious ensemble.”
Gerry Hughes, director of the Institute for Co-operative Education, said that he and the co-op team wanted to do something different, modern and creative for the program’s students and employers.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to partner with the Faculty of Fine Arts and especially these three highly imaginative students. We also wanted to leverage the creative abilities of our students in this program and we have to say that Christopher Moore was extremely supportive of our cause.”
The CARE event isn’t the first time that design and computation arts students have partnered with other university units: last year, students in assistant professor Nathalie Dumont’s design class participated in a competition to create a series of posters for the Department of Theatre.
Related links:
• Institute for Co-operative Education
• Department of Design and Computation Arts
• Hexagram-Concordia Centre for Research-Creation in Media Arts and Technologies
• Season of self-discovery: Unifying theme of voyages helped create a backdrop for artistic direction of the theatre department's 2012-13 season (Faculty of Fine Arts page)
• “CARE event recognizes students and employers” — NOW, May 15, 2013