Othmar Tobisch Artist Talk

Thursday, June 2, 7-9pm

Kala Art Institute Gallery

Join us for an artist talk with Kala artist-in-residence Othmar Tobisch and his collaborator, composer Robert Strizich. They will discuss the present state of their collaboration to produce a hybrid video based on the poem "Argonauts" by Greek poet (and 1963 Nobel Laureate) George Seferis.  Their work explores the various mythological and psychological/spiritual implications of the poem, which references the ancient Greek mythof Jason and the Argonauts and their search for the Golden Fleece.  Tobisch and Strizich will present their work on the first four (of eleven) stanzas of the poem as a preview to the completed piece, which they hope to finish by the end of this year.  Tobisch used multiple mediums to create the work, which have been digitized and modified in Photoshop. The final images have been assembled in Final Cut Express and integrated with the music, which Strizich for the most part composed in Digital Performer, and which includes real-world "concrete" sounds as part of the score.

Othmar Tobisch

Othmar Tobisch was a professor of Earth Sciences at UC Santa Cruz for most of his professional life. In between the research, teaching and publishing, he was active in painting, photography, and digital imaging (see his website at www.otobisch-art.com), recharged by a couple of sabbatical leaves at the San Francisco Art Institute during the late 1970’s. Upon refiring from UC Santa Cruz, he returned to graduate school to pursue art full time and in 2002, received an MFA in studio arts from John F. Kennedy University in Berkeley. He has been an AIR at Kala since 1999.

Robert Strizich

Robert Strizich has composed works for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, solo instruments and electroacoustic media, and his music has been performed throughout the United States, as well as in Europe and South America.  His work has been recognized by a number of grants, awards and fellowships, including those from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation.  Strizich's works can be heard on CDs and DVDs issued by hEar Zenith MusiC, Musical Heritage Society, Transatlantic Records, Turquoise Guitar Editions and Wildboar.  His compositions and editions are published by Bèrben Editore, Drake Mabry Publishing, Éditions Doberman-Yppan, Fallen Leaf Press, Heugel and Turquoise Guitar Editions.