Jeremy Drummond awarded the Mednick Memorial Fellowship
April 5, 2012
Jeremy Drummond, Associate Professor of Studio Art, has been awarded the Mednick Memorial Fellowship by the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges.
The award will be used in support of Drummond’s project, “Nothing, Still Nothing,” an audio/video project that critically examines sensory deprivation and solitary confinement in relationship to human creativity. The visual component of the project will depict architectural, natural, and other details of certain locations, specifically a now-closed penitentiary in Pennsylvania, along with the mountainous Banff National Park in Canada, and contrasting Florida wetlands and New Mexico desert locations. The audio portion will serve as a secondary narrative component, using site-relevant background noises, both real and imagined.
Drummond says, “As a whole, it is my intention to produce a work that places our natural human capacity and necessity for external information within an unnatural environment. Moving between seemingly real and imagined spaces and sounds, this piece may be perceived as somewhat poetic in nature. However, due to our ongoing utilization of solitary confinement, it is my hope that social and political interpretations will also formulate.”
Drummond has taught at the University of Richmond since 2005, and has received several awards and fellowships. His work, both video and printed, has been exhibited in group and solo shows around the U.S. and Canada, and is held in many public and private collections.
The Maurice L. Mednick Memorial Fellowship was created in 1967 to honor a young Norfolk industrialist who died from accidental causes and whose family and business associates wished to perpetuate his name by establishing a memorial, administered by the VFIC, that would emphasize his and the donors’ strong interest in higher education. Recipients may use funds for professional development through research and advanced study.
The award will be used in support of Drummond’s project, “Nothing, Still Nothing,” an audio/video project that critically examines sensory deprivation and solitary confinement in relationship to human creativity. The visual component of the project will depict architectural, natural, and other details of certain locations, specifically a now-closed penitentiary in Pennsylvania, along with the mountainous Banff National Park in Canada, and contrasting Florida wetlands and New Mexico desert locations. The audio portion will serve as a secondary narrative component, using site-relevant background noises, both real and imagined.
Drummond says, “As a whole, it is my intention to produce a work that places our natural human capacity and necessity for external information within an unnatural environment. Moving between seemingly real and imagined spaces and sounds, this piece may be perceived as somewhat poetic in nature. However, due to our ongoing utilization of solitary confinement, it is my hope that social and political interpretations will also formulate.”
Drummond has taught at the University of Richmond since 2005, and has received several awards and fellowships. His work, both video and printed, has been exhibited in group and solo shows around the U.S. and Canada, and is held in many public and private collections.
The Maurice L. Mednick Memorial Fellowship was created in 1967 to honor a young Norfolk industrialist who died from accidental causes and whose family and business associates wished to perpetuate his name by establishing a memorial, administered by the VFIC, that would emphasize his and the donors’ strong interest in higher education. Recipients may use funds for professional development through research and advanced study.