Platt Portal - The Dean’s Corner

Dear students,

You may say that we are way behind if we think we are progressive with our recycle campaign. No! We are aware that environmental awareness has had a long standing in this country and we regret we could not join with success sooner. The reason was simple: Once you contaminate your recycle container you are fined. And so at our past recycle endeavour our employees and students were responsible but the “pass-byers” through our property would throw into our container what they wished and we kept being reprimanded. Innovation in the form of lockable container will help us be successful this time.

We cannot do it without you! Look for BLUE bin, look for RED bin. Recycle responsibly, and help us to succeed! Now it is only in our hands. Join me in my effort, please! Thank you, my students.

Some of you mentioned the appealing design of the recycling posters. Credit goes to Term 3 student Victor Silva. Bravo, Victor!

Almost one hundred and fifty students and teachers went to Comic Con 2007. What a success! We saw many interesting panels, lectures, presentations, screenings - out of which one of the most memorable was a documentary (and following panel) about the founders of Pixar.

On another note: the Comic Con costumes… Wow!! Being raised abroad I admire many things at Americans one of which is how Americans never miss opportunity to play. I love it!!

We did not stop talking about Comic Con and we are ready to go to the convention center again for the biggest event in computer graphics: Siggraph. How lucky we are that it is held in San Diego! It will be difficult to choose from many offers: Should you go to companies presentations of new technologies? To the new animation screening using the latest methods and software? To listen to recruiters what they are looking for? To a resume seminar? Demo reel seminar? Story boarding seminar? Lecture on web site ethics?

Enjoy, my students, and get the most out of it! Have your eyes opened and study program before you go in. Have a wonderful time!

And know a bit of “pondering upon our school”. Each school is unique in its own way. Naturally then, we at Platt believe in our own uniqueness. Just the fact that our school is educating young adults for over twenty six years and remains highly specialized - is quite unprecedented. It is unique in the world of large eclectic schools where usually small schools end up by being bought out. Not our Platt! Our wise leadership (Mrs. and Mr. Leiker) assessed a need for a consistency of highly specialized school and their vision proved them right. There is not many school where there are four closely related and closely collaborting departments and where each student is greeted by his name, where the teachers share every Wednesday their experience in a cozy teachers’ lounge over a served breakfast, (which they prepare for each other), and where none of the students or teachers or staff feels lost, helpless or invisible.

Our uniqueness is defined by a strong curriculum, capable faculty, unconventional model of studying one technical subject at a time (before the general education subjects), and our co-curricular program. As you read above - we simply like to take our students out or to bring them fun from outside to the classroom. Why? Why we arrange trips to opera, symphony, downtown galleries, public lectures, etc.? The reason is simple: We want our students to learn more, to have fun that opens new scopes, to gain a new perspective, and we like to promote students’ talent and simply to show them “what is out there”. My vision is not only to offer a strong training and strong academic education but to contribute as much as I can enriching or helping to start students’ “inner story”.

No matter what we do - we have to be sophicticated enough by acknowledging humans achievements. Every encounter with art or any other human achievements taps on our emotions, streches our intelect and leave us less alone in the world (to use Rita Gilbert paraphrased words.)

And from above mentioned reasons - Platt students are going in October 2007 abroad to Italy! We arranged for our students a college educational tour to enable them to appreciate the art of Antiquity and Renaissance, to taste life in Mediterranean and to discover the magic of graphic design in foreign country. How exciting!

The more we experience human success and demonstration of talent - the richer life we will lead and richer story we will be conveying. It is unique that a college would emphasize so much of the co-curriculum program. We know how indefinetely beneficial it is and how much we may stand out because we recognised its undisputable necessity.

Enjoy all you do, my students, and have your eyes always opened.

Your dean,

Marketa

No matter what you believe in or what do you celebrate, the last two or so weeks of our calendar year is the time when kindness, goodwill and love seems to be more present everywhere we go. And so I vigorously embrace this opportunity and enjoy all of the smiles and happy greetings and sense of belonging.

So, my students, whom I like so much around me since you give me plenty of inspiration,  I wish you the best that is out there for you. Never seize searching for adventure, never forget about the right set of manners, always demonstrate diligence, be resourceful, humble and know how to have fun!  Be creative (you have the wonderful gift to do so), be happy, healthy, be loved and love, smile a lot and forgive when it is time to forgive. Life is beautiful and there is so much to do! Seize the day!

Thank you for all you are bringing to our school. Your talent made me many times humble and proud.

The best to my students from yours (always) dean Marketa

Many thanks to all who participated in a great manner in the Annual Platt Costume Contest!We had about forty entries and all were very unique and thus creative. We would not expect anything else from our students.

On the picture you see a pirate(?) trio with one of the winners - Jamie Hendrickson - who won $100. Her partners are Fred Winton and Matt Barnes.

Congratulation to all winners and thanks for the participation!

Saturday, November 4, 2006 Platt students will go to see a wonderful concert in Copley Symphony Hall. The program we will see consists of Respighi The Birds (you will love this one!!!), Messiaen Exotic Birds (modern, excellent), Bach Piano Concerto No. 1 (nobody ever disliked Bach), and Richard Strauss Death and Transfiguration (a beautiful music ‘poem” about a dying artist and his memories of his life - excellent!!).

The students pay $3, guests $15.

When: November 4, 2006 at 8 P.M. (Arrive at 7.30 P.M., park on the street)

Where: Copley Symphony Hall, 750 “B” St., San Diego 92 101

Attire: No former attire required, just dress nice!

Tickets will be in Will Call in the envelope “Platt College”.

I am proud that our college does provide for Platt students opportunity to grow culturally, and thus have richer fuller life. Please come and leave inspired!

Platt College offers (as you read) its students in 3D department an experimental class that involves eleven artists from Sony who have roles as teachers, guest speakers or demonstrators. Craig Dowset - who successfully lead the 3D department in the past - is working as a modeler at Sony, and is responsible for facilitation of the “round table” class.

The students , who were fighing for their spots in the class, are creating a rhino that they model, rig, texture, and animate while they learn how all works at the real studio. Just to walk to the room, where the class takes place, is quite inspiring. The atmosphere is charged with enthusiasm, high level of energy and serious work. I mean serious work! You walk there at 10.30 and all eyes are glued to the screen and nobody even yawns!

Good luck to all of the rhinos!!!

Platt College San Diego is pleased and honored to be a part of the 7th San Diego Asian Film Festival. Saturday 10/14/06 at 3 P.M. and Wednesday 10/18/06 the series of short animated movies from around the world will be screened under the name Animation:Illusion of Life at the UltraStart Mission Valley theater. Platt College is co-presenting both of these performances. More than seventy students will come to see the Wednesday screening that we expect to be inspirational and stimulating!

I admire the San Diego Asian Film Foundation for its sophistication of the choice of the films they offer within the festival each year, and for its well thought-out community outreach program. (Our own graduates are part of the educational outreach.) Please make time and go to see movie or two and get inspiration for your own creation! You never know what may speak to you and change the course of your endevour!

More info at www.sdaff.org

“Platt At the Lyceum” is the name of a Platt students’ exhibit of fine and digital art located in the foyer of the Lyceum Theater, Horton Plaza. The exhibition (9/9 - 10/5/06) is opened daily till late at night (Monday and Tuesday till 6 P.M.) .The informal opening is taking place on Sunday, September 17, 2006 at 6.30 P.M. Come to hear some music, to have a bite (or two), meet the artists, their teachers, and then join us to see a musical Ella following at 7 P.M.

I am proud to share through our students’ work their originality, sense of humor, sophistication, and leaps of creativity. I am as much proud of our teachers who take the talent and know exactly how to stretch it so none goes wasted. Come to see for yourself and next time be a part of this Platt happening!

Congratulation to the exhibited students and their teachers !

Eccentric and brilliant, diligent and enigmatic, rich and funny, intelligent and decadent, celebrity and oddball…
Andy Warhol is all the above and more. In his white wig, large dark glasses, his outrageous or very clever comments, and his acts he made the world following him wherever he went. His embracement of pop art and his carefully built image gave him such a power that the auction at Sotheby’s, held after his death in 1986, succeeded to sell the largest single collection since its establishment in 1744. Over sixty thousand people came to see and buy Andy Warhol’s possessions and art within ten days of the auction and all was sold for unprecedented 25 millions dollars.
Warhol knows from early age what he wants and he achieves exactly that. All due to his determination, hard work and believe in himself.
Born to Slovak immigrants in 1928 he becomes graphic designer and before he is thirty he is earning as graphic designer a hundred thousand dollars a year. (In the fifties.) Unprecedented. All the money earned by creating ads (the most well-known were the shoe ads for I.Miller), dust jackets, record covers, posters, magazines covers – over the years developing his own “andy warhol” images giving impression as if his images were filtered by pastel colors. (Adobe Photoshop features “Andy Warhol filters”.)
Once well established he moves from the realm of commercial art to the pop art scene where he makes his fame. He is simply elevating consumers’ everyday objects on the pedestal of fine art. And all fell for it. Campbell Soup cans, Brillo, Ketchup - all presented in unique artsy way as art of our day. Very daring, very clever, philosophical and timely.
Warhol was phenomenon. And his art was supported by his life. He was all about consumerism and wild alternative lifestyle and dangerous choices. If many artists targeted consumerism in the Sixties who did fight against it – he popularized it and showed the Western world what we are about. But he was no preacher! His life style was exactly about what his art was: seemingly shallow, glitzy, dangerous, decadent, tantalizing, sensational, smart… What was he about? We will never know or it may be quite simple: Warhol had money and went crazy with them. Establishing his troubled Factory with very intriguing yet very troubled inhabitants, shooting great and bad films and photographs, seeking connections to happiness…
I admire most of his work for its philosophy, for its fresh artistic approach and his take on the society.
But the twist is that he, after all, was one of “them”. (Or us?) Them/us at whom he seemed to be laughing, cruising in his silver Royce-Roll in Manhattan and chasing what was left from the wilderness of life unexplored. It seems to me that not much.
Find for yourself your Andy Warhol. It will be a worthwhile enlightening journey.