FASU - Free Art School University: Recent Episodes
FASU
Free Art School University (FASU) is a art university… but also a podcast… a podversity perhaps? It’s basically an an artistic/comedic interview show for artists
Join our goofy-artsy-fartsy classroom lead by Gabriel Chez an Interactive Arts major studying at MICA and Alex Rosales a Film & Television major studying at NYU. We bring our personal art practices, technical savvy, and awkward-but-working-on-it speaking skills to the table when interviewing artists from all sorts of disciplines
Enrollment is free! What are you waiting for ya dingus? Grab a pen and some copy paper and pick a lesson.
Yup, we interview Team Rolfes, a digital performance and image studio led by Sam and Andy Rolfes.
I reached out to them with a manic email about my post-graduation crisis, and they were kind enough to hop on to help out. Why is the art world so yuck? How does a terminally online artist find community IRL? What the heck does Sam mean when he talks about "strategies for experimentalists"? How shredded IS Danny Elfman? In Season 2 of FASU we tackle these important questions while continuing to play around with live-streaming.
They have collaborated with Lady Gaga, Danny Elfman, Danny L Harle, Nike, Netflix, Adult Swim and performed at music festivals across the world. The studio specializes in figurative animation, VR puppetry, and mixed reality collage. They create works across multiple formats, including livestream improvisational comedy, live motion capture animation on large festival stages and in underground rave bunkers, print design for fashion collections, album covers and music videos.
Team Rolfes IG - https://www.instagram.com/team.rolfes/?hl=en
Youtube FASU VOD - https://youtu.be/gyc7p-6-VCg
For this lesson, Gabriel and Alex talk to yet another artist couple Jenny and Lázaro. They are illustration and education majors studying to become art teachers, but also doing some sikk drawingz and graphix. We discuss thesis projects, art products, children's books, and retell several stories that leave our heads throbbing from laughing. Audio clipped a little so it'll sound like we're talking in the halls of a really nice, expensive school.
Guest Info: Jenny De La Cruz & Lázaro García
https://www.instagram.com/jennydelacruz305
https://www.instagram.com/lazmgarcia
Lesson Plan:
00:00 - Intro talking about random students
03:00 - A proper? introduction
05:20 - Folk-art class, and other studies
18:25 - Bring Your Own Horse (BYOH) and talking about thesis
35:30 - Laz's Rudy and Biden illustration story
42:18 - "Ay, you got some big nuts." story
54:55 - Children's books, pitching, how publishers pay
73:10 - Inspiring artists / writers, AR points, and outro
For this lesson, Gabriel and Alex talk to visual / multitalented artists Matt and Chloe and inadvertently dox a whole lotta stuff. Is it still an art conversation if you discuss GTA, THC cooking shows, Jackass, funky roommates, and online antics as a 7 year old? We think so.
Guest Info: Matthew Grand + Chloe Azcuy
https://www.instagram.com/ovum.regia
https://www.instagram.com/soggysphaghetti
Lesson Plan:
00:00 - Intro where we plan on switching chairs by throwing each-other off the futon GTA style
02:40 - Cooking shows
04:52 - Guests describe themselves through Jackass
14:02 - Gossiping about Gabriel and greasy roommates
25:38 - Crazy Christian girl roommate at SVA
39:45 - Gossiping about Gabriel part 2
44:02 - Tupac
47:51 - YA novels, the Hunger Games, and B movies like The Platform
57:40 - Unironic concept art for Nostalgia Critic + DeviantArt
1:02:40 - Being fearless in art and life
1:08:00 - Spot-a-friend and other social media
1:16:49 - Conclusion, singing outro
For this lesson, Gabriel and Alex talk to Fabi Villa (They/them pronouns at the time of recording). Fabi viciously got stung by a bee at the start and we discuss how Van Gogh is OVER-RATED, though, our new hit broadway show Rataways is the best ever. Also we talk about artistic process, or whatever.
Guest Info: Fabi Villa
https://soundcloud.com/fabivillaa
https://www.instagram.com/_fabivilla
Lesson Plan:
00:00 - Intro introducing show-notes
01:00 - Fabi got stung by a bee
09:34 - Cat falls to death
14:48 - Salad is the most dangerous food
17:27 - The famous painting Starry Sky
28:46 - Rataways is born
48:46 - Rataways the game
55:15 - New York altercations
1:07:07 - Art discussion: natural progress
1:22:24 - Contexts to view art for Fabi
1:36:57 - Standup art critique
1:42:55 - Alan Resnik
1:55:57 - Singing outro
For this lesson, Gabriel and Alex go back to basics and give a lil' life update. We discuss taking gap semesters, going part time, and how it's affected our ~sanity~ but also our craft. Going crazy? Try meditating. Is your life an absolute mess? Try a google calendar. It'll definitely (maybe) work. Near the end, Gabriel talks about pitching animation to Adult Swim and the nerves but mostly utter identity-crisis that follows being approached by them.
If you wanna see the LIVESTREAM version of this lesson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRe6ktKfVaE
If you wanna see PART 2 where we react to experimental animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PelveTxSm3Q
Shownotes:
00:00 - Intro
01:12 - Recap (Alex & gap semesters)
07:21 - The Alex Cult
08:35 - Recap (Gabriel & part-time)
13:55 - Surviving off of Discords (Dinosaur Planet)
18:40 - The exciting world of google calendars, time capsules, and meditation
27:21 - Why would I ruin this day by writing???
36:59 - Game designing your art life
51:44 - How to get the most out of a pitch?
54:22 - Gabriel's Adult Swim pitch
1:02:51 - Outro and the future of FASU
For this lesson GABRIEL digs up an old recording of Alan Licht, a sound artist, guitarist, composer and critic. Since Alex got his hand stuck in a pringles can, Gabriel interviews Alan and gets to the bottom of “what the heck is sound art”? and his book Sound Art: Revisited. How does one talk about it? How do you display it in a gallery or public space? What is the art historical backing to this relatively new auditory medium? Is Lady Gaga sound art???
- Guest Info: Alan Licht
http://www.alanlicht.com * Guest outro musician: Alan Licht
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1Baf5XU0f8BZTtCWB4fqGc
For this lesson we facetime Violeta Encarnación, an illustration student studying at School of Visual Arts (SVA). We interview her to see if she’s got the right stuff to design our school cafeteria mural, asking questions about her semester, authoritarian critiques from Steve Brodner + Thomas Woodruff, and what grinds her gears in art (Britto, among many things).
- Guest Info: Violeta Encarnación
https://www.instagram.com/_violeta.encarnacion_ * Guest outro musician: Jose Churruca
https://www.churrucaguitar.com
For this lesson we listen intently to Tzipi Trope, an Israeli NYU Documentary professor and practicing filmmaker. We discuss the art of C I N E M A, getting into film festivals such as Berlin, Montreal, London, Kadis, Munich, amongst others, and how the heck she got success as an Israeli female writer, director, and producer. Tzipi’s feature films include: "Tell Me That You Love Me", HBO; "Tel- Aviv Berlin", Best Israeli film Award, Best Script Award best supporting actress award: "Chronicle of Love" (which she also produced): "Six Million Pieces": Movie of the Week; "Adela".
- Guest Info: Tzipi Trope
https://www.mayafilms.in (her film company) * Guest outro musician: Kyle Petras
https://soundcloud.com/kyle-petras-877538434
For this lesson we chat with Fetcher (Louey and Jason), a Maryland band, discussing their most recent LP Growing Pains. We also talk about performance as art, making music videos, and how to get a record deal from Mr. Sony himself.
- Guest Info: Fetcher (Louey & Jason)
https://www.instagram.com/fetcherband * Guest outro band: Fetcher
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1XidANWpU9Hcs47DwDIGKU?fo=1&utm=
For this lesson we focus on Josh Leong, a NYU student Filmmaker and Director, discussing his upcoming short film The Other Side starring Ethan Herisse from other works such as Ava DuVernay’s Emmy-winning Netflix series, When They See Us. Awarded by President Barack Obama and the House of Representatives for his United Nations film campaign on human rights, Josh was named Best Young Filmmaker at the Worldview Film Festival in San Antonio— and we definitely make some comments on this. We also talk about the power of the camera lens and silly videos we’ve made as kids leading up to now.
- Guest Info: Josh Leong
https://www.instagram.com/josh_leong
https://www.joshleongstudios.com
- Guest outro Musicians: Paulina Sanchez and Alex Rosales (GASP)
https://alexmrosales.bandcamp.com/album/familiar-feelings
For this lesson we perk up our ears for Jason Sloan, an electronic producer and Sound/Interactive Arts educator, discussing sound as ART, hippie soundscapes, and the future of live performance (Aphex Twin, Dan Deacon, and Kanye West). Grab a pair of nice big boy headphones and listen to this 1 hour, 17 minute, and 28 second sound art piece.
- Guest Info: Jason Sloan
https://www.instagram.com/minimal.space
https://www.jasonsloan.com * Guest outro band: L’avenir
https://lavenir.bandcamp.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1PMG9UgpKUT84I4iIPqWED
For this lesson we get bullied by Lilly Sparks, a film student and standup comic, discussing bombing on stage, disgusting middle-school tales, and making it in the comedy world… business? Yeah. World. We’ll go with world.
Guest Info: Lilly Sparks
https://www.instagram.com/lilly_um_arts
https://www.lillysparks.com
Guest outro musician: Andie Verbus
https://soundcloud.com/user-552203834
https://open.spotify.com/album/7fqj0UkGvcRjLggDEDpB8S
Grab that goofy half-finished canvas you've been working on FASU is now in session! For this lesson we fetishize Cornel Rubino, a college Fine Arts professor, discussing monumental drawings, his various works for the New Yorker, and nudity in art.
- Guest Info: Cornel Rubino
http://www.cornel-rubino.com
https://www.instagram.com/cornelrubino * Guest outro musician: Fabián Villa
https://soundcloud.com/fabivillaa