“Etchings ’03” is the fourth edition of the annual compendium of art, photography, paintings and writings. The book is a collaborative effort between the City College art, graphic design and English departments.
Throughout the year, students are invited to submit writings and pictorial art. English teacher Michael Walker and graphic design teacher Liz Russotti act as advisors.
But it was students Austin McManus, Yulia Kharitonova and Tim Houston who selected the entries, designed and produced the book. “Etchings ’03” is an opportunity to get the students’ work published in a book produced professionally.
It is therefore a fully organic effort. The table of contents lays out the format. Pages 1 though 50 are dedicated to artwork, and pages 1 through 50 are dedicated to writings. Why indeed separate art from itself?
And so it is that “Knapps Portal,” a black-and-white photograph by Erik Caceras, kicks off the collection, a passage to a world of prose, poetry, paintings, silkscreens, illustrations, and even a Michael Schnalzer short story, “Golf anyone?”
The most visually stimulating reproductions ar the collaborations between pen and brush, or pen and lens. The page design and drawing by Kharitonova enhances Aiprll Patino’s “Secrets” poem. (Patino is also a Features editor at The Channels.)
Similarly, Veronica Avila’s “Of Love Misconstrued” benefits from its layout opposite a very intricate photograph of a leafless tree by McManus.
A sense of loneliness and forlorn resolve permeates this assemblage. The existentialist mood seeps into several other works. Shannon Taikanian’s drooping (and bleeding) “Untitled” rose, Katrina Mchugh’s dual tearful and “Untitled” characters, Dave Johnson’s sad “Chasing the Dragon” and the Patino-Richard Razo piece “Hope” do not let us believe all is well.
“Etchings ’03” is an insight into what fellow students think and how they have chosen to express that introspection. The book is free and available at the help desk of the Digital Arts Center in the MacDougall Administration Building.