As an integral member of the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography (HMCT) staff, Exhibition and Graphic Designer Lavinia Lascaris researched, curated and designed MIKE/SIERRA/TANGO, an exhibition exploring multi-script typefaces currently on display at the HMCT through 21 April 2019. With M/S/T open to the public, Lavinia is now focused on designing the exhibition catalog, while working on the next HMCT exhibition, posters by seminal British designer Abram Games OBE, RDI (1914–1996), opening in May.
In person, she moves with the grace of the professional dancer she once was. On screen, Lascaris’ rigid 3D rendering-of-self introduced her “IDIOT” project (a transmedia work created for her graduate thesis at ArtCenter College of Design) with a much different impression of how a body might work.
At the other end of “IDIOT’s” concealment spectrum, she offers the base rendering of her self for public use — reappearing in medieval garb, on a bathroom counter, and into tutorials about how to render the human form (a somewhat recursive irony). Here is another form of ubiquity that allows Lavinia to reclaim her own definition of self through selflessly distributing a decoy version.
Crossroads is, indeed, a key theme in Lascaris’ path to design. From Greece, Lascaris was off to London at the age of 18. There she earned her BFA in fine art and sculpture at Richmond, The American University in London. By 2008 she was in Paris interning at Xippas Gallery. She eventually traveled and worked in India while awaiting a reply to her MFA application to study sculpture at the Royal College of Art. When she didn’t receive the acceptance letter she was hoping for, Lascaris turned her attention toward an earlier love: dance. She eventually landed in Barcelona as a professional Salsa dancer: performing, teaching, and hosting Salsa events. Eventually, Salsa led to an interest in Afro-Cuban dance, and Lascaris became known for introducing that to the dance scene back in Athens with dance partner George Tsionis.
Like many of her young Greek compatriots, Lascaris studied abroad with an eye toward bringing her talents back home. Unfortunately, at the time of her return the Greek economy was facing a prolonged recession. With little support for the arts amidst upended political and social structures, Lascaris continued her creative journey abroad.
Looking back, Lascaris can recount how it was at the crossroads of dance and graphic design that her next steps were decided. As a dancer, she had been creating promotional materials for herself as well as other dancers and artists. Her design practice had expanded but at the same time was limited by a lack of formal training. Dancing, a practice that has a natural lifespan may have been coming to an end, but that endpoint was also an opportunity to transition into a new artistic arena. Lascaris followed her brother to Los Angeles with renewed interest in studying for her Masters Degree, this time in Graphic Design.
Above and middle: Lavinia Lascaris conferring with HMCT Creative Director Simon Johnston as she attends to the design and installation of MIKE/SIERRA/TANGO. Images courtesy of Gerardo Herrera and Clifford Pun.
The finished exhibition, image by Joshua White Pictures.
A bi-monthly newsletter published by the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography. Each article will focus on a historic or contemporary typographic issue or type designer.