Howe’s Brooklyn: ‘The Church’ Featured at DUMBO Arts Center

JOSEPH BENNETT DREW HIS FIRST short animated film, “The Church,” for a class at the School of Visual Arts last year. Inspiration for the film originated in the soundtrack, a recording he found on the Internet of a Southern Baptist preacher with an “intriguing” voice. The clip reminded him of attending church in Georgia as a youngster.

The project started casually, but soon hooked the fine art student’s time and attention. Bennett planned to draw the film from the perspective of a kid — the boy he once was — who is distracted by everything in church from the sermon. However, as he says, it evolved to be a piece about “the different stereotypes I’ve grown up with that existed in the Baptist Church, to show the absurdity of it all.” The red shirt on the character above reads “Jesus Christ: Eternally Refreshing,” and is real. Although the recent grad modestly claims that animation may be better left to others, he hopes to find his way into art directing. He may have a boost in coming weeks. “The Church” was chosen for inclusion in Dumbo Arts Center’s upcoming multimedia exhibition, “Holy Holes: Absolute Stalls,” curated by art critic Denise Carvalho. The show will explore different viewpoints on the relationship between religion, power and economics. Says the curator, “Absolute messages are equated with anarchic demonstrations, self-conscious humor and a bit of deep reflection, bringing the viewer to a contradictory duality of cathartic interaction and religious critique.”

An opening reception will be held June 14. See http://www.dumboartscenter.org/ for details.

* * *

MIDWOOD RESIDENTS ZEV ZELMAN and ELLIOT LUTZ have something to drink to: The students of Touro’s Lander College of Arts and Sciences have been invited to present their beverage-related research at the 108th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) at the Boston Convention Center on June 4. The students studied the antibacterial and antiviral effects of 34 natural beverages on harmful bacteria that cause cavities and other health problems. After 10 months of research, they concluded that some beverages, most notably pomegranate juice, efficiently inactivate the bacteria that cause cavities, bacterium that commonly occur in hospitals and locker rooms, and also a bacterial virus that affects E. coli B.

Dr. Milton Schiffenbauer, a professor of microbiology at both Pace University and Touro, worked with the pair. Both young men will graduate in June with honors from LCAS-Flatbush and plan to enter dental school.