3D design at Washtenaw Community College puts it to bed

My students blew me away this past semester at at WCC. These are images from their final installation at the college. I am going to miss this class. I can't believe I get paid to do this.

new animation

stereographic animation for A / Aleph

welcome to summer

that's whats happening

new work / kite flying

I gave a talk last week at Fort Wayne Indiana and after talking about paper folding and printmaking for an hour they asked me what I'm currently working on.
I'm making beats for the Olympics.
...more news on that as it unfolds-

But I do still fold paper and make drawings and prints,
some evidence:

this was made yesterday:




paper engineering 101 update:

As a final assignment in Paper Engineering I had asked students to design a kite from paper. I gave them some resources and had them research different kite designs. We defined a kite in out own way- it needed to get off the ground (fly) and not be a unicorn.

Our final class at u of m


Erin showing us how it's done


my overly-designed kite made from tyvek


the rain did not stop us


my kite in action



My other class is working with balloons. Hundreds of twist balloons. Our installation goes up this week and I'll be sure to upload some images very soon.
m

Number one!

My ego just got a little bit bigger.

I was told yesterday that when you type "paper engineer" or "paper engineering" into google image search my work comes up number one. In fact I'm number one and two...then Robert Sabuda! Take that, Sabuda!!!

Heres a screen capture as proof:




Also a few new pictures of work can be found here.

website update- new work

lily and I have been hard at work in the studio





see the rest of the set here

MICA and opening pictures

Just got back from a lecture / workshop at MICA. I had a blast seeing the school and meeting the folks in Baltimore. The student wok is amazing! What a great community for art making. They invited me back to work on an artist book with the students.


Poster


Print studio


the new building at MICA


A gallery in the sculpture studios- a reclaimed train station.

As promised, images from the 2 person show with Graem Whyte at the Ann Arbor Art center:


Mr handsome


gallery view


set of new work


front of gallery


graem in the window


front of the gallery


graems work


more of grames killer work

matt shlian update

I'm super busy setting up 2 shows opening this Friday! - First, A two person show at the Ann Arbor Art center and a group show at the Gallery project right around the corner.

Some pictures:

My work was included in a group show at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston. The show dealt with architecture and structure in contemporary craft.

click to enlarge a panoramic photo of the work:



Its time to get familiar with my favorite artist, MFA candidate and sole member of the University of Michigan's polar research team Thea Eck. Her big big show "It is Never Tomorrow" is coming up in March and it is going to blow minds. Show details are on the final image in the series.

theaeck.com

show images will be posted soon

i promise

matt

Peter Callesen

dear everyone I know,

Please stop forwarding me Peter Callesen's paper cuts.

Yes, they are great. No, I won't make my work more like them.

the book is officially in limbo

we are so sorry. Now we will just have to wait for phaidon to come to us.

on the plus side the album is almost mastered.

new artist statement

New artist statement / teaching philosophy (if you like reading those sorts of things) now posted at http://www.mattshlian.com/statement.html

or just keep reading below...

matt

Statement

As a paper engineer my work is rooted in print media, book arts and commercial design. Beginning with an initial fold, a single action causes a transfer of energy to subsequent folds, which ultimately manifest in drawings and three dimensional forms. I use my engineering skills to create kinetic sculpture which have lead to collaborations with scientists at the University of Michigan. We work on the nanoscale, translating paper structures to micro origami. Our investigations extend to visualizing cellular division and solar cell development. Researchers see paper engineering as a metaphor for scientific principals; I see their inquiry as basis for artistic inspiration. In my studio I am a collaborator, explorer and inventor. I begin with a system of folding and at a particular moment the material takes over. Guided by wonder, my work is made because I cannot visualize its final realization; in this way I come to understanding through curiosity.


The root cause of Alzheimer’s disease is protein mis-folding. The modular arrangements in which protein strands are formed, break down and incorrectly fold. This causes a chain reaction of erroneous folding. My approach to understanding this is hands on; the microscopic folds can be mapped on a human scale out of paper and used as a basis for sculpture. Expanding and contracting in response to the viewer’s physical participation, new questions are raised; how can this form generate movement? How can size relate to the body? What happens when molecular forms become life-size and inhale the surrounding space?


My drawings begin by asking indirect questions which yield no concrete answers. As with my three dimensional work, my focus is on the process rather than final product. I am fascinated with computer technology and its ability to mistranslate information. Like a game of “telephone”, multiple software programs fracture and compound text and image as they travel through different formats on the computer. Bearing little resemblance to their origin, the new information is rendered on a pen plotter creating a chaotic world rooted in happenstance. No longer legible, I see the drawings as blueprints for invisible cities, answers to questions that may unfold over time.


Teaching Philosophy

MIT professor, Victor Weisskopf, wrote in an essay entitled Teaching Science that, "In science we must always begin by asking questions, not giving answers. In this way we contribute to the joy of insight. For science is the opposite of knowledge. Science is curiosity."


I teach my students that curiosity is the root of art making practice, and the investigations they undertake in their formative studies while learning basic principals of art and design can be pursued across media and disciplines. The key to making their ideas accessible and successful is through rigorous research, design, execution and critique. I show students how limitations are necessary in producing artwork and force them to work within boundaries. In three-dimensional design we begin our year exploring common materials and discovering inherent properties therein. How can they transform the material, creating a dialogue with it rather than imposing a form upon it? They reflect and respond in written form and through critique become active participants in their learning. Establishing an atmosphere where questions are encouraged and collaboration is paramount, I find remarkable results occur when different approaches are allowed to collide. My students become problem solvers as they work through projects, realizing that the process is just as important as the final product.

book on hold

We had some issues with the publisher and the book is being pushed back until January / February of next year...here are some sample pages:

New Book

6 x 9 in.
54 page full color perfect bound
Limited Edition of 100

GHOST TOWN
the art of Matthew Shlian


Will be available end of December.

Matt

more S + L images

click photos to enlarge


Front page Michigan Daily


First page of the art section


Benjamin Teague - Plate Work


Thea Eck - Mining the Field Series


Tom DeLooza - Geo/Ethnocentrism


Michelle Word - Diaphanous, Confluence, Inchoate


Nicole Marroquin - Meiosis Squash Demonstrate the Imaginary World Inside My Breasts When I was Pregnant With a Female Child: The Future Is Now.


Patricia Olynyk - Touch


Teresa Petersen - Fission and Fusion


Jada Schumacher, Design Orange - haze chandelier


Jen Stark - Papermation


Kristin Kurzawa - Specimen


Heather Lowe - Demurable, Cumulus , Ameliorant


Anne Mondro - Sarcinae de Corpus 02.48


Richard Nelipovich - Emergent Tableware


Richard Nelipovich - Emergent Tableware (detail)


Dennis Hayes IV - Log-o installation #1 (detail)


Dennis Hayes IV - Log-o installation #1 (detail)


HEIDI KUMAO - “Time to Make a Decision” from the series, “Saving Time” & Personalized “egg timers”: My Minute, Your Minute, time to Change My Mind, Time between Panic Attacks, Untitled. All from the series, “Saving Time”


George Hrycun - Evanescence


Vojtěch Kubašta - The Tournament


Michael Flynn, FunExhibits.com - Title: Magnetoscope


George W. Hart - Eights


John Chwekun - Untitled


John Chwekun - Untitled (view 2)


C.J. Minard - Napoleon's March to Moscow

S + L opening pictures!

Last night the Studio and the Lab show opened at the WORK gallery.
The turn out was unbelievable- check out some photos below.


click on photos to enlarge


Dennis Hayes scales a wall to take an overhead picture of the opening


Onlookers swarm Michael Flynn's "Magnetoscope". C.J. Minard's Map - "Napoleon's March to Moscow", "Geo/Ethnocentrism" photo by Tom DeLooza, and Nicole Marroquin's - "Meiosis Squash Demonstrate the Imaginary World Inside My Breasts When I was Pregnant With a Female Child: The Future Is Now" pictured behind.


Designer/Craftsman Richard Nelipovich (pretends to) listen as Matthew Shlian explains his theory that the moon is getting closer to the earth. Michael Paradise is lulled to sleep in foreground.


George Hart shows his polyhedral mastery in the gallery window.


Viewers are drawn to Dennis Hayes IV's "Log-o" installation at the front of the gallery.


A close up of IV's piece.


Jason Keenan inspects a Kubasta Pop-up book.


Jason Keenan works the "magnetoscope".


Matthew Shlian and Thea Eck

Thank you to all the artists participating in the show! If you have more pictures from the opening send them to me!! More photos will be posted soon.

Matthew Shlian

s + l opening

Friends,

The Studio and the Lab show is gearing up for its opening this Friday
September 7th at the WORK gallery from 6-9pm. If you are in the Ann
Arbor area stop by and check out the work from various Artists,
Scientists and Engineers.

Looking at the intersection of Art and Science, we have ferro-fluid,
algorithmic based flatware, electron microscopy, remnants from the
northwest passage, maps from the 1800's, an original Kubasta pop up
book, systematic drawing, polyhedral models, synthetic hair and super
glue construction and more!

Hope to see you Friday night.

Matthew Shlian

The show will remain open Sept 7 - Oct 5th
WORK gallery 306 S. State street
Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan School of Art and Design

studio and the lab show preview

Opening september 7th at the WORK gallery on state street in Ann Arbor.


chwekun


flynn


nelipovich


kubasta.

a day in the life

So many people want to know what it takes to be Matt Shlian and I've decided to break it down. I present:

A day in the life of Matt Shlian




Out of bed at crack of 10:30. I had surgery on Monday and the vicodan is affecting my sleep pattern. Basically I'm sleepy all the time and completely out of it. This is not the ideal condition to be in for blog updates, but I don't care. I'm curating a show in September at the WORK gallery called "The Studio and the Lab" and trying to get a group of artists to submit to deadlines is a bit like wrangling cats. Everyday I spend a few hours emailing and hustling online.

Thea tells me I need to pick up some cucumbers at the farmers market and I have a bunch of errands to run so I add cucumbers to my list which now looks like this:

get cucumbers
buy paper
make print
deposit check from france
mail drawing to france
avoid art fair
eat lunch
work in studio
eat diner




As I leave the apartment, I briefly consider stealing my neighbors copy of the new Harry Potter book. I put a hold on a library copy (I'm hold number 181) and I might get to read it around December.


This is the outside view of our apartment. The flags are boating flags Thea picked up in coppenhagen last month. They translate roughly to "we are carrying dangerous cargo", "we are on fire" and "man overboard." So far no one has stopped to help.



We live in kerrytown in Ann Arbor, about a block from the farmers market and I love buying food there. It feels good to support local farmers and prices are great.



The farmers market is right next door to Hollanders, which is a bit of an Art supply mecca. I teach there on an occasion and sometimes buy supplies there. I try not to go there too much since I generally spend too much money on things I don't need. Today I only need a sheet of arches to make a drawing/print on. Somehow the price for 140lb watercolor paper is 7$ per sheet. How did this happen?



Downtown Ann Arbor.
I head back home to make a quick print to mail out this afternoon. My work had been featured on a couple design websites recently and as result I've been commissioned to make some work.



The studio I work in is small but has everything I need in it.



Including Flat Files!

This is my recent addition to my studio. I helped a colleague move her studio earlier this month and as a trade I got two sets of 5 drawer flat files. Finally I've become a real artist. Forget an MFA or supporting myself off my art habit for the past 10 years. This is the true sign that I'm legit.



On its way to France. Keep an eye peeled, Nicholas!



I'm currently working on some flower designs for up with paper. I sometimes take on freelance paper engineering gigs, I just finished a gift card for barnes and noble soon to be produced this holiday season. These flowers will ship flat and pop up to become dimensional when turned. This is top secret stuff here.



I head to the bank and as I approach I realize that today is Saturday and its closed. crap.



Screw it, I mail the art anyways. That check better not bounce, Nicholas!
I manage to avoid it thus far, but can avoid it no longer. Today is the final day of the Ann Arbor Art fair. Or as I like to call it the Ann Arbor Fanny Pack / White People Convention.



It's not art. and it's not fair.



The throngs of craftspeople invade main street.



In Michigan it is always 1986.



I pick up some lunch at No Thai, which recently opened on the corner of 4th and Catherine. Its not too bad and I head home to eat.





I am showing work this Septembers at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston and I prepare some work to be shipped out.



I'll be damned if this isn't the nicest box I've ever made. Fabio, this needs to be in the show, just leave the folded pieces inside and show the box.



I start generating some ideas for the actual size biennial at the CAID. This year the size is 8 1/2 x 11 work and I'm cooking up some mylar layered something something. I love CAD. I might be the only artist in my generation that will take CAD over illustrator, but I'm so much quicker with CAD. Plus it interfaces flawlessly with the plotters I use to actually materialize the work. By flawless I mean running though a fake router system and setting up an lpt9 plot file everytime I turn on the plotter. I am happy with my system.



Prototype design. click to enlarge.


We eat diner and abandon our plans of going out. Instead we make popcorn and watch our new obsession, grey's anatomy. Thea and I don't have a TV, and we catch crazes a few years later than the rest of the world. ie the LOST epidemic of 06....



The irresistible Addie Langford gave me two seasons on DVD for my birthday last week and we have slowly been working our way through the first season. I keep picturing my surgeons having these sort of interactions and it doesn't seem plausible, but it is enjoyable. Tonights episode features a train wreck and two people impaled by a pole. The situation is uneasy as the pole is simultaneously saving and killing the couple. The unstoppable Dr. McDreamy and the Cool-under-pressure Dr. Burke mange to save the man in a gripping final scene. The woman impaled along with him was not as fortunate. I feel like I should write about sacrifices and retribution and the choices we make, but the show isn't that deep and I'm tired and want to sleep.

Thanks for spending the day with me. See you soon,

multiple views of everything series & house drawings

click to enlarge















made this past week. I have no explaination at the present time.

new jams

3 new songs added

who do you think it is?
altered beast
god himself

about the book

just got the images back from the show at the anton art center. big thanks to alison wong for putting things together.

new artwork added

see more work here

My 3d design students this past semester have blown me away. I finally got around to documenting their projects and wanted to share this pop up book of recipes we made.


Popcorn by Amanda Ensign


Toasted Marshmallow by Amber Harrison


Taco by Soraia D'angelo


Lobster by David Quinn


Onion by Kari Thurman

old news page

link to old news page here