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Nobumichi Tosa, a co-founder of the Japanese art and music collective Maywa Denki, will perform during the Jill Watson Distinguished Lecture Series this weekend at Carnegie Mellon University. Click photo for larger image. |
Formerly known as the Jill Watson Festival Across the Arts, the event was initiated in memory of Jill Watson, who died in the crash of TWA Flight 800 in July of 1996. Watson was a CMU alumna and adjunct faculty member in the School of Architecture, as well as a Pittsburgh architect.
The name change reflects a shift in direction for the event, which recently was held in the fall.
"Wats:ON is going through a transitional stage at the moment to evaluate how best we can honor Jill Watson's legacy, as well as provide students and the Pittsburgh community with exciting programming year after year," CMU spokesperson Eric Sloss said.
In recognition of Watson's diverse and multidisciplinary interests, the series will continue to feature emerging and acclaimed artists, designers, musicians, architects and performers.
Hodgetts is principal and co-founder of Hodgetts + Fung Design and Architecture. The Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design chose to honor Hodgetts and partner Hsin-Ming Fung last fall at their 2004 Forumfest in recognition of "two individuals who have dedicated their lives to producing innovative architecture and encouraging others to do the same."
It's one of many awards they've been chosen for, including the prestigious Architecture Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1994, and the 1996 Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design.
Their new design for the Hollywood Bowl was praised by The American Institute of Architects, in its September AIArchitect: "[The firm], devoted to preserving the rich history of a Los Angeles icon, has reinterpreted the Hollywood Bowl's trademark creamy-white curvilinear shell while infusing advanced technologies to provide the world-class acoustics envisioned by the founders."
As an undergraduate, Hodgetts attended General Motors Institute to learn automotive design and studied theater arts at Oberlin College. He received his master's in architecture from Yale University. A founding dean at California Institute of the Arts, he's a full professor at UCLA's School of Architecture and Urban Planning. He frequently lectures on topics ranging from urban design to film.
Maywa Denki -- described as an "art unit" begun in 1993 by Nobumichi Tosa and his brother Masamichi -- will give its first American performance Saturday.
The arts collective was named after a failed vacuum tube company their father had begun in 1969, according to an article, "The Nonsense Machines of Maywa Denki," at www.bigempire.com.
In 2001 Masamichi left the collective, but not before purchasing a synthesizer that fascinated his younger brother who'd played percussion in middle school and was later a member of a pop band influenced by Duran Duran and Kraftwerk.
The collective creates cryptic, somewhat humorous, objects that sometimes make commentary upon contemporary social issues. The "NAKI Series," for example, are the "nonsense machines" referenced in the Web site article, including a xylophone in the shape of a fish skeleton or a harp arranged in the form of a carp body.
Maywa Denki performances expose its artworks to a large audience, blending artistry and sales. A hit in Japan, they've expanded to Europe -- and now they're here.
Hodgetts will lecture at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the Kresge Recital Hall, College of Fine Arts. A reception will precede the lecture at 5 p.m. in the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery.
The Maywa Denki performance will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday in McConomy Auditorium, University Center. A reception will follow at 4:15 p.m. in Miller Gallery.
For information: 412-268-3877.
