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Rock, Paper, Scissors
On NJN's State
of the Arts
Friday,
May 20, at 8:30 pm ; rebroadcast at 11:30 pm
STATEWIDE – While
the origins of the children's game “Rock, Paper, Scissors” are lost in time, the fascination
with the game continues — from kids deciding who goes first
to computer programmers working on chance theory. This episode
of State of the Arts takes a look at artists
working with one or more of the game's three elements. Along
the way, we'll also visit the RPS Championships in Toronto
and learn about the cultural life and dubious history of
this time-honored game. Rock, Paper, Scissors airs
on Friday, May 20, at 8:30 pm with
a rebroadcast at 11:30 pm .
• The Digital
Stone Project (DSP)
Currently
housed at the former Stone Division of the Johnson Atelier
in Mercerville , New Jersey , the Digital Stone Project was
founded by a group of sculptors to explore the full potential
of advanced stoneworking technology and to make available
the most revolutionary computer-aided stone-carving facilities. State
of the Arts producer Christopher Benincasa takes
viewers on a high-tech tour with DSP director Christoph Spath
and artist Barry Ball into this experimental intersection
of science and sculpture.
• African-American
Printmakers
Aljira,
the Center for Contemporary Art in Newark , surveys
80 years of printmaking by black artists with "African-American
Printmakers: The Legacy Continues.” The exhibition, which
runs through June 11, 2005, features works by pioneers such
as Aaron Douglas, the "artist of record" for the
Harlem Renaissance; Hale Woodruff and Wilmer Jennings, who
created public murals for the WPA during the Great Depression;
and influential artist-educators like Robert Blackburn and
Vivian E. Brown.
• Paper Makers
From
pulp to paper: master paper-maker Ann McKeown shows us
how it's done at the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print
and Paper in New Brunswick, New Jersey. But there's more
to the story than you think. Some artists, like German
Pitre, are taking the art of making paper in some very
unexpected directions.
• Paper
Cutter
When
he arrived in the United States from Taiwan in 1972,
Houtien Cheng worked as a bus boy in one of South Jersey
's Chinese restaurants. Today,
Master Cheng is a professional artist of traditional Chinese
paper cutting. This art form has been used to adorn walls,
windows, and clothing in China for more than 2,000 years,
and skills of the predominantly female paper cutters were
often used to indicate a woman's value as future bride. State
of the Arts producer
Peter Shea follows Master Cheng as he visits a Chinese restaurant
in Hamilton , New Jersey and introduces customers to the
art of paper cutting.
• Movable Books
(Pop-ups)
In
1992, Rutgers librarian Ann Montanaro founded The
Movable Book Society – 450 members strong worldwide – to
provide a forum for artists, collectors and other pop-up
book enthusiasts. The segment includes a discussion by
Ann on the history of the pop-up book as well as the fresh
ideas coming out of the innovative studios of paper engineers
like Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda. The undisputed
champions of the world of pop-up books, Matthew and Robert
recently captured the imaginations of both children and
adults with their phenomenal three-dimensional editions
of Alice in Wonderland, The Movable Mother Goose and The
Wizard of Oz . Matthew gives us a behind-the-scenes
look at their Manhattan studio and a sneak preview of his
upcoming book series of prehistoric creatures.
State of the Arts is streamed on the web site at
www.njn.net . The program is closed captioned.
State of the Arts is the recipient of 23 regional
Emmy Awards including a 2005 New York Emmy and a 2004 Mid-Atlantic
Emmy. Funding is provided by the New Jersey State Council
on the Arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. The series
producer is Susan Wallner and the executive producer is Nila
Aronow.
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