Evan Roth is an innovative artist, who currently lives in Hong Kong. He has had a long history in the art world, creating new and interesting projects that push the limits of the law and find new ways of thinking. Through his work, it is apparent that he is a unique designer who really enjoys what he does. He first got his start when he graduated high school. He attended the University of Maryland, graduating with a degree in architecture. He then worked for a few years in LA for the company called AutoCAD. AutoCAD is a company that creates a specific type of software that allows architects to create 3-D models of their designs. After three years, Roth enrolled at the Parsons School of Design back in New York. While attending Parsons, he created many projects that are known throughout the design realm. After studying there, he graduated as valedictorian of his class. Once he had obtained his degrees, Evan Roth spent some time working at the Eyebeam Openlab. The Eyebeam Openlab basically has a bunch of state of the art tools that can be used for creativity. They promote research of digital media and experimental projects. At the lab, he began many different projects, one of them being the well-known "Graffiti Research Lab". As he continued to create and develop new projects, he also began to teach courses at Parsons himself. He has taught many unique courses such as Internet fame, in which students are graded, based upon their fame on the Internet ad their promotion of themselves. He taught another course called Geek Graffiti. In addition, to creating side projects, he is one of the founders of F.A.T. This stands for Free Art and Technology. It is a research and development lab that is completely open to the public. Roth has had his hands in numerous projects over the years and continues to experiment with technology, design, and different forms of media. He continues to create work that is unexpected and clever.
Roth has been involved in and created many works of art throughout his career thus far. Many of his projects have become well known. He has shown projects at the Sundance Film Festival, on the BET network television channel, at the Museum of Modern Art, and many others. He has also been published in many acclaimed magazines such as the New York Times. One project that he developed in 2003, during his time at Parsons, which has been viewed many times, is titled "Typographic Illustration". It is an exploration of different typefaces. He used specific typefaces to create images and illustrations of people. He then animated the process and put corresponding music to accompany the animation. For example, he used the typeface Baskerville Old Face to form a picture of the famous rapper Notorious B.I.G. He then made a video of the process, putting a song by Notorious B.I.G. as the background music. Another project of his, again created while he was a student at Parsons, is titled "Graffiti Taxonomy". In this project he basically created an analysis of different styles of graffiti letters. He took photographs in a specific area of different styles of the letter S, for example. He then recreated these various styles and put them into a layout, displaying each one. Besides these few, he has created numerous other design projects that have displayed his skills as a designer and an individual. He has also dipped into many projects throughout the years. One of the better-known projects that he co-founded and has been involved in is called the "Graffiti Research Lab". The GRL has morphed into a group that has created numerous art projects, each of which has roots to graffiti as an art form. Their tagline says that they are a group "dedicated to outfitting graffiti artists with open source technologies for urban communication". One known projects that they have created is a way of making "outdoor digital projection in urban environments". It allows them to project what looks like graffiti on any sort of surface. The twist is that it is just a projection. For example, they had a showing at the Museum of Modern Art in which they would write on the wall, then erase it and rewrite something else. The projection however, looks so much like real spray paint, giving the illusion that the paint is dripping. Roth has clearly stepped outside of the box in his way of thinking. His many projects have proved this throughout the years.
Roth's work is one of a kind. It is clear that he enjoys what he does and that he invents new ways to approach things. In all of his work, his creative perspective shines through. His voice is clear in all that he does. Firstly, it's apparent that he enjoys the urban scene. He includes hip-hop music and rappers in a great deal of his work (such as the Typographic Illustration project). The F.A.T. website has pictures of many rappers on its homepage. Secondly, he likes to expose social and governmental problems, or use them to create. One topic that is seen throughout much of his art is graffiti. Graffiti in general has obviously had a strong influence on much of Roth's work. This is apparent in his Graffiti Taxonomoy project, his Graffiti Analysis project, his founding of the Graffiti Research Lab, and the classes that he has taught at Parsons. Part of his allure to graffiti is also fueled by his enjoyment in pushing the limits on vandalism. Much of his work is based around violating specific laws, such as copyright laws. The Graffiti Research Lab has therefore created a way to vandalize, while being a legal process. It took the art of graffiti and the ideas behind "tagging" walls and free speech and created a way for this to be completely legal. When the Graffiti Research Lab had a show at the Museum of Modern Art, they drew on the walls of the Museum (with light that looks like spray paint). They went as far as writing, "this museum sucks" on the wall. While they were being playful and making art, their vision is clearly seen in this act. Throughout his work, Roth has shown that he is capable of using many different types of mediums. He is capable of creating unique work that is extremely creative.
