- Did you know that you wanted to do something in the area of Visual &Performing Arts when you came to Clark?
Zoe: I wasn't very confident about what I wanted to do, but I think I was in denial. I had taken photography classes in high school, and some other art classes here and there-batik and pottery and that kind of thing. I also had spent two summers at the North Carolina School of the Arts studying acting, just for fun. Then I went back for a third summer for the film program, a five-week intensive course where you take courses in directing, screenwriting, producing, editing and cinematography. I learned a lot. And I learned that that screenwriting and producing were things I didn't want to do. But cinematography, directing and editing I liked. So I decided that I wanted to go to a school that had a film program.
I met screen studies professor Marcia Butzel at Clark's Admitted Students Day. She was so friendly and I was impressed by the fact that when I came back she remembered meeting me and my dad. She's my advisor now. I kind of knew that I was interested in screen studies, but I've never been good at focusing on just one thing.
Initially at Clark I started taking screen studies courses and decided to get most of the required perspectives courses out of the way. I really liked the screen studies courses and I did need to decide on a major so I thought because the screen studies courses are so much fun, why not try to pursue the major? It took me until my junior year to realize that I wanted to do studio art in addition to screen studies.
- What courses have you particularly enjoyed?
Zoe: I liked a lot of the video production courses, some of which have been directed studies that I've created or that I've designed with other students. We can propose something and then have a semester-long directed study on that topic. For example, this semester I'm in a video production course about making commercials. There are about six of us in the class. We've created four commercials, and for each we've switched roles. So I've done camera work, sound, lighting, and editing. One of my favorite directed studies was Experimental Video Production, taught by Kevin Anderson. That was the first time I realized I could use video production as an art form. I also took a course on social and cultural issues in documentaries. That definitely influenced my move into studio art and made me realize I could incorporate video production into that as well
- Could you talk more about how you integrated video into your studio art major?
Zoe: I did my senior thesis in studio art. I created a video installation called Look and a sound installation called Listen. Look is about pet peeves. First I interviewed friends and asking them what their pet peeves are, and generated lots of lists. I realized that the pet peeves that involved people doing things were more interesting and provocative to film. Things like people eating chips with their mouths open or cracking their knuckles, blowing their nose and looking at the tissue. That kind of thing.
Then I filmed about seven different faces performing pet peeves. I set up a split screen that showed, for example, two mouths chewing chips at the same time, and then both sides would transition into the next pet peeve. I hope that when people view the installation they'll look at their pet peeves, or other people's pet peeves, and really see them. My pieces are a lot about judgment, perception and reflection, and I hope to challenge people to look at their pet peeves and ask 'why is this my pet peeve.' Just in an acknowledging way, not necessarily to change it.
The piece called Listen uses similar ideas. It consists of a full length mirror with some headphones on a hook in the center. The viewer stands in front of the mirror, puts on the headphones and listens to a laugh track while watching herself/himself in the mirror Every person will see and experience something different.
- You also received funding from a V&PA Bickman Summer Internship. How did you use that?
Zoe: I proposed to make a short documentary about Meals of Marin, a non-profit organization in Marin Cty, CA. It's kind of like Meals on Wheels. They make two meals a day every day for people with life threatening illnesses. My mom starting volunteering there to meet more people and be involved in the community. When I went home I would join her.
I decided to make a documentary to help them with publicity, because they're totally run on donations, both monetary and from different food companies-that's where they get all their food. I received a little over $800 from the Internship scholarship to use on the project. I did the documentary over the summer with the help of Glenn Teal, another senior screen studies major, who was my assistant director and cameraman. We shot it in a few days during the hottest week of the summer. I ended up with a 16 minute piece and it has actually been doing really well. It was accepted into the Northern Illinois Film Festival called Reality Bites. While it didn't win anything at the Film Festival, I got back written comments.
- I understand you also participated in Clark's London internship program.
Zoe: Yes. I worked for a company called New Moon, a television production company. They produce commercial and corporate broadcast spots for TV. It was a small office and I helped out wherever I could, whether that was covering reception or burning showreels. Those are DVDs that the company uses to show off their directors and past work to potential clients-a more creative version of a resume. I burned the DVDs, created the menus, made sure the different buttons worked, and packaged the DVDs. I also went on a few shoots, which was a lot of fun.
- Would you have any advice for prospective students interested in majoring in studio art or screen studies at Clark?
Zoe: What I have loved about Clark is not only the community, but the fact that if there's something you want to take, and it isn't offered, you can really create it. Especially in the visual and performing arts department, because it doesn't take long to get close with the professors. Once you're close with them you can say 'hey, I really want to learn about this but I don't see it offered.' They'll try to create an opportunity for you to study the subject. That's been great.
- Do you have any thoughts about staying in a liberal arts environment while you're majoring in art? How do you think they work together?
Zoe: I definitely think it's important to have both and to get that foundation in liberal arts first. As much as you might not want to take all the required perspectives courses, they are necessary. They remind you that there are other things that are just as important as art. I've had a hard time choosing what I want to do because I'm interested in so much.
I used to do a lot of acting in high school. My theater teachers taught me that to be an actor you have to know about everything else because you need to be able to draw on those experiences. I think that goes for most fields, but definitely the arts.
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