What Art Students Are Up To

September 27, 2008 8:25 PM

Student artwork from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL. Departments include computer animation, photography and digital imaging, interior design, and others.

The flash interface is a bit kludgy at first, but you eventually get the hang of it. Some of the animations are quite endearing.

posted by netbros (19 comments total)

Some very nice stuff, but the navigation is tricky.
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 8:35 PM on September 27, 2008

Dang that page is tricky to navigate. Maybe this link better? But worth the effort. YouTube is easier.

My favorite student at Ringling College of Art and Design is Nick Pitera. Just gaga about him and his incredible voice (yes, that's him singing both the male and female parts, it's called countertenor). Here's his entry, Fame.

The winner, The Visionary.

Cute Twinkle Twinkle, Shooting Stars, sung by Nick *sigh

I like these quirky ones, Emily in the Clouds and Out to Play.
posted by nickyskye at 9:30 PM on September 27, 2008

Man, this school is a class act.

Sooooo good.
posted by chronkite at 9:40 PM on September 27, 2008

A college in Sarasota having to do with John Ringling... you'll forgive me for thinking that you were talking about Clown College.

I bet students at Ringling get that all the time. Must be tough trying to live up to the reputation of Clown College; some pretty big shoes to fill.
posted by twoleftfeet at 11:00 PM on September 27, 2008 [2 favorites]

Ringling College of Art and Design: Founded on March 31, 1931, the school was originally a joint venture between John Ringling, of the famed Ringling Brothers Circus and Dr. Budd Spivey, then President of Southern College which is now called the Florida Southern College of Lakeland.
posted by nickyskye at 12:21 AM on September 28, 2008

Sarasota is also the winter home of the Ringling circus. Training and preparation for the next season is accomplished there. The circus established its winter home in Sarasota during 1919 following the death of Alf T. Ringling. Sarasota is also home to the Ringling Museum of Art, located on the 66 acre Ringling estate along the bay shore.
posted by netbros at 1:24 AM on September 28, 2008

Great stuff, and boy howdy could you really focus and get a lot done at a school in Sarasota... 'cause there is fuck all to do anywhere else in the town! ;)
posted by cavalier at 3:21 AM on September 28, 2008

i don't mean to add to the circus college fray

but one of the animations is by jospeh/nick piterra, the dude who sings like a girl, he is amazing though.
posted by doobiedoo at 4:33 AM on September 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

ooops repeat
posted by doobiedoo at 4:34 AM on September 28, 2008

" there is fuck all to do anywhere else in the town! ;)"

Huh, Sarasota is a small town but there is a Film Festival, an opera, a world renown liberal arts college, an incredible botanical gardens, and one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Siesta Key. There are half a dozen bars with live music every night, some fantastic restaurants and you aren't to far from Tampa and Ybor City. I don't know of to many places with a population of 50,000 that offer as much. Stephen King, Brian Johnson, Greg Allman, Tom Cruise, Martina Navratilova, Jerry Springer and a bunch of other celebrities have homes here.
posted by thenextword at 4:54 AM on September 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

That interface makes me want to beat the hell outta someone.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:32 AM on September 28, 2008

> the school was originally a joint venture between John Ringling, of the famed Ringling Brothers Circus and Dr. Budd Spivey,
> then President of Southern College which is now called the Florida Southern College of Lakeland.

There's an art museum in Sarasota, also founded by Ringling, and it has quite a lot of stuff that Ringling himself liked and (being rich) bought. I'm particularly thinking of a series of physically huge cartoons ( = oil sketches for later finished paintings) by Reubens. Of, uh, "Reubenesque" naked ladies, in bright, saturated, primary colors. (Except for the ladies, of course; the ladies were PPIIIIIIIIINNNNKKK.) While gazing at these I enjoyed a moment like the one the rats have in The Secret of NIMH.

[Scene: bank of animal cages in lab]
[Voiceover: a rat, Nicodemus]
In the beginning, we were ordinary street rats, stealing our daily bread and living off the efforts of man's work. We were captured, put in cages, and sent to a place called NIMH. There were many animals there...in cages. They were put through the most unspeakable tortures to satisfy some scientific curiosity. Often at night I would hear them, crying out in anguish. Twenty rats and eleven mice were given injections...our world began changing...

[Scene: nightmarish images of rats writhing in pain as their DNA twists and explodes.]

[Scene: closeup of cage. Sign bearing incomprehensible characters]
[Nicodemus]
Then one night I looked upon the words under the cage door...and

[incomprehensible characters on sign morph into "TO OPEN DOOR LIFT LATCH"]
[Nicodemus]
...I understood them.


While passing the third cartoon I stopped seeing 12-foot-tall well-fed curvy naked ladies by Reubens and started seeing Circus Wagon Art.

Heh, you go, John Ringling. Since then I see circus wagon art whenever I look at Reubens. (And vice versa too, of course.)
posted by jfuller at 9:24 AM on September 28, 2008

Whoo! My sister is a Ringling grad.
posted by Foosnark at 10:03 AM on September 28, 2008

Christ, there goes my self confidence.
posted by billypilgrim at 11:33 AM on September 28, 2008

Ack! My almost-nextdoor neighbor is on there!
posted by jinjo at 3:22 PM on September 28, 2008

nextword, sorry, that was a bit tongue in cheek but I must clarify I was speaking to the more student aged mindset. Y'all have experienced a great deal of growth in the past X amount of years, but my memories of the town orbit around its -- well -- retired majority, and the thousand yard stare teenagers who I saw there gave as they worked their after school jobs.

Beautiful beaches, and Ringling did a lot to help the community to be sure.
posted by cavalier at 5:42 PM on September 28, 2008

Boy, my english is as awesome as my attitude. How about "I saw the thousand yard stares teenagers gave as they worked.."

And again, to be clear, much love to RCAD and all A&D schools out there!
posted by cavalier at 5:47 PM on September 28, 2008

Good stuff, okay stuff, and terrible stuff. How is this different from the undergrad work at any halfway decent arts college?
posted by cmoj at 6:07 PM on September 28, 2008

Oh cool, a buddy that I work with was part of the team that did this website when he was there.
posted by Sreiny at 1:41 PM on September 29, 2008