CalArts is a small school. With a population that averages around 1332 students in 6 different departments that include: Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film-Video, Music, and Theater, each department is its own intimate microcosm. Its faceted nature is eerily similar to the Walker’s own interdisciplinary model, both sharing many of the same departments. The campus is basically a one building compound composed of bits and pieces that form their own semblance of a whole that evokes Lawrence Weiner’s work on the face of the Barnes Building. This unity makes walking around CalArts a frenetic fission of dancers, designers, artists, filmmakers, composers, choreographers, vocalists, dogs (CalArts is a dog friendly campus), and of course posters. They are made by all stripes of students, from those announcing their own shows and performances to figuring out a summer sublet.
But the smart ones get a graphic designer to design and silk-screen their posters. There is a long tradition of the second year Masters students in Design producing all the posters for the Visiting Artists and Designers that frequent CalArts so often. The MFA candidate class of 2008 is currently selling groups of posters on Ebay for those of you who lust for tactility and Day-Glo or metallic inks.If you are interested in taking in more of the history of the posters at CalArts then go take a look at the web version of the exhibition and catalogue for Earthquakes and Aftershocks: Posters from the CalArts Graphic Design Program 1986–2004 edited by Jérme Saint-Loubert Bié with Texts by Michel Bouvet, Jeff Rian, Louise Sandhaus, Somi and Sojin Kim, Jérme Saint-Loubert Bié and a delightful book design by Yasmin Khan and Jon Sueda.
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