I’m not the best public speaker, nor do I do well when I’m put on the spot. I don’t think that the ideas that I was trying to convey in this week’s learning circle came across articulately. What I was trying to say by comparing the following paragraphs and talking about my own experience was that I respond best to contemporary art when a narrative is presented, but not spelled out for the viewer. Whether the narrative is the context in which the piece was created or a personal narrative that is evoked in the viewer, the story should be subtle enough that people with different personal histories can obtain their own meaning from the art. Narrative doesn’t have to be linear or language-based because so much of communication can be presented non-verbally.
Some of my favorite (or at least most thought provoking) experiences at the museum were shows that, on paper, didn’t pique my interest. As I watched, different ideas and narratives came to mind that were outside my everyday realm of comfort. These experiences opened my mind to performance art, which is now a goal of mine to create.
The excerpts I noted follow:
Rather, the self is a constantly evolving conglomeration of our internal and external experiences.
And because so much of our experience is formed through listening to and telling stories, selfhood and narrative are inextricably interlinked.
(From “Making Sense of Making Stories: Law, Literature, Life”)
In art, narrative is understood as one, rather powerful, form of representation. Much of contemporary art practice involves self-consciously questioning representational modes, exploring the boundaries, breaking the representation, questioning whose power is being preserved by a representational mode, and hybridizing modes in order to create new ones. Thus, when engaging in narratively-based work, artists rarely tell straightforward narratives employing the standard narrative tropes available within their culture, but rather ironize, layer, and otherwise subvert the standard tropes from a position of extreme cultural self-consciousness.
(From “Narrative Intelligence”)
I’m not the best public speaker, nor do I do well when I’m put on the spot. I don’t think that the ideas that I was trying to convey in this week’s learning circle came across articulately. What I was trying to say by comparing the following paragraphs and talking about my own experience was that I respond best to contemporary art when a narrative is presented, but not spelled out for the viewer. Whether the narrative is the context in which the piece was created or a personal narrative that is evoked in the viewer, the story should be subtle enough that people with different personal histories can obtain their own meaning from the art. Narrative doesn’t have to be linear or language-based because so much of communication can be presented non-verbally.
Some of my favorite (or at least most thought provoking) experiences at the museum were shows that, on paper, didn’t pique my interest. As I watched, different ideas and narratives came to mind that were outside my everyday realm of comfort. These experiences opened my mind to performance art, which is now a goal of mine to create.
The excerpts I noted follow:
Rather, the self is a constantly evolving conglomeration of our internal and external experiences.
And because so much of our experience is formed through listening to and telling stories, selfhood and narrative are inextricably interlinked.
(From “Making Sense of Making Stories: Law, Literature, Life”)
In art, narrative is understood as one, rather powerful, form of representation. Much of contemporary art practice involves self-consciously questioning representational modes, exploring the boundaries, breaking the representation, questioning whose power is being preserved by a representational mode, and hybridizing modes in order to create new ones. Thus, when engaging in narratively-based work, artists rarely tell straightforward narratives employing the standard narrative tropes available within their culture, but rather ironize, layer, and otherwise subvert the standard tropes from a position of extreme cultural self-consciousness.
(From “Narrative Intelligence”)
P.S. Sorry is this gets posted twice. We'll see...
Writing my reaction to the piece in the Nash Gallery elicited a much more emotional response that I expected I would have. I could have kept on writing and writing. I’ve been very upset about many things in my personal life that aren’t working out as I had hoped and planned for and worked really hard to achieve- to no avail. In these hard times, I’m reminded of another time in my life when someone’s point of view changed mine. It’s something I’ve held on to since I first came across it, and, luckily, it’s a short story so I can revisit it whenever I need to be reminded.
The story is by Amy Hempel, a master of really devastating short stories. So many of her other stories broke my heart even though they were so simple and realistic. In the midst of this sadness I came across her story entitled “The Man in Bogota.” This story is short, but deep. Sometimes I think people just need a reminder that no matter what you’re going through, even if it’s not working out as you’d hoped, that you don’t know what the eventual outcome will be. It could all work out in the end.
I pulled this quote from a random blog and I’m pretty sure it’s the whole story, but I didn’t double check. And, yes, I’m sure it’s infringing upon copyright laws, but it’s worth it. And I hope it encourages you to read some of her other work because that’s definitely worth it too.
“The police and emergency service people fail to make a dent. The voice of the pleading spouse does not have the hoped-for effect. The woman remains on the ledge – though not, she threatens, for long.
“I imagine that I am the one who must talk the woman down. I see it, and it happens like this.
“I tell the woman about a man in Bogota. He was a wealthy man, an industrialist who was kidnapped and held for ransom. It was not a TV drama; his wife could not call the bank and, in twenty-four hours, have one million dollars. It took months. The man had a heart condition, and the kidnappers had to keep the man alive.
“Listen to this, I tell the woman on the ledge. His captors made him quit smoking. They changed his diet and made him exercise every day. They held him that way for three months.
“When the ransom was paid and the man was released, his doctor looked him over. He found the man to be in excellent health. I tell the woman what the doctor said then – that the kidnap was the best thing to happen to that man.
“Maybe this is not a come-down-from-the-ledge story. But I tell it with the thought that the woman on the ledge will ask herself a question, the question that occurred to that man in Bogota. He wondered how we know that what happens to us isn’t good.”
This week has been busy busy. I've been moving this weekend so sitting down to write this blog actually feels like a break. I am exhausted though. This is the 7th time I've moved in the last 2 years. That's way too much time spent doing something that is no fun at all. I think I'll probably move again in the next couple months though too. It's a bad cycle- I move into a place where I hope to be for awhile, it doesn't work out, so I have to find a temporary place and wait for something more permanent to open up.
That said, I am so relieved to be out of my house and into my friend's place temporarily. It's such a good feeling to be in a place where you feel welcome and comfortable and safe. I had a lot of good people step up and help me out this last week too, for which I'm really grateful. I hope to be able to bring in some of these themes to the project due this week.
I've been thinking about artists I'd like to do for the presentation and spending some time refreshing my memory of their work on youtube. In my video watching, I've gotten distracted and been reminded of some of my favorite old clips that are on there. I love old pop music that becomes so isolated in its era that it's just bizarre to watch now. I have selected two of my favorite videos to share. The first one is of a classic Leslie Gore song that she performs on tv. The background music is much heavier than in the studio track and there's so much dang vaseline on the lens that it takes on this eerie, dreamy style. And I can't help but think it should be in a David Lynch movie. Here it is:
The second video is much different. It's of Heather Parisi, an American who emigrated to Italy and became a pop star there in the 80's. Even though her music and performance were created for pop culture and consumption, I wonder if this can be classified as a kind outsider art 25 years later? Here's the second video:
I had a lot of fun creating my images for this last project. I was really nervous a) that my "conflict" wouldn't be explicit enough, and b) that my subject would cancel on me. To my delight, neither thing happened. One thing that surprised me though was that most of the images that I really loved weren't from my initial storyboard. The ones that were the most visually appealing were spontaneously taken. I think that's because I didn't scout out the location and props I was going to be working with that intensely. For a project like this last one, I think you should either be completely prepared in advance, or be completely willing to go with the flow. That being said, if I had been prepared in advance, I wouldn't have had to edit my project out of 700 images, ha! On the other hand, I now have a great body of images to pull from for other projects.
I am looking forward to our next project very much. I'm especially looking forward to experimenting with equipment available for checkout here. This last time I used a tripod, lighting kit, and the Vixia camera to shoot my images. One note on that: 7 blocks is not a far walk from the bus stop to home, but 7 blocks carrying all that stuff is a long-ass walk. If you check out a light kit, get a ride or drive. Lesson learned. My legs are covered in bruises and hands in blisters.
One more thing: this Thursday I'm going to see the art show No Assumption in NE Minneapolis. A friend of mine moved here from NYC to be with her terminally ill mother a couple years ago. As she assumed control of her mother's estate, she discovered that her house was in foreclosure. She has to vacate the property by Nov 1, but organized this exhibition and has turned the house into a temporary gallery space. I wanted to post this now to make sure you all have the opportunity to see the show. It runs through Oct. 22. http://noassumption.wordpress.com/
Sara! I just wanted to let you know I absolutely loved your photos in your slide show! I didn't really want to make a big scene in class, but they just really struck me in a way that I can't exactly articulate. A lot of them look my breath away (as cliche as that sounds). Thank you for shooting black and white! Without the color, the lighting created some fantastic contrast in your photos. I was super impressed :)
Thanks for the comment, Maria. That really made my day. Right now I'm a BA art major, but I might try to apply for a BFA or try to integrate science into it as long as I'm at the U and not art school. I have no idea what I'm doing with my major to be honest.
So much to do this weekend. Going nuts. I decided to take my subject for this next video assignment a little less seriously. All of my original ideas were heavy and kinda dark, but now I think I just wanna have fun with it. And I still get to shoot some beautiful images, which is something I'm always excited about. But since I've changed my idea yet again, I have to re-shoot everything.
On the subject of this project: if I wanna use found video from youtube or somewhere else online, what's the best way to get it downloaded for me to use? Keepvid is the only thing I've ever used but that was ages ago.
I wish I had another week for this video project so that I could spend more time on it, but with all the other projects and homework I have going this week it's not going to be as elaborate as I hoped. Also, plan A, B, and C all fell through, so I was left desperately trying to make something of nothing this last weekend while I had a camera.
I wish I was okay with filming random people on the street. With my luck, they'd wanna beat me up and I would be left stunned and not quick-witted enough to explain what I was doing. But I spend a lot of time walking around on the streets by my house and riding the bus and I see some pretty amazing characters on a daily basis. I really wanted to feature some of these people in my project, but couldn't muster my wits enough to do it this time around. Maybe next time. Also makes me wanna carry around a camera all the time for those random moments of unusual beauty. Some of my favorite characters are people that look normal and put-together and then have very obvious flaws- alcoholism, gambling, mental illness. But even without those flaws, it's a pretty amazing world out there and I'm happy to be a quiet observer.
One last note, thanks to this project and needing a specific music track, I finally went back to the Minneapolis Public Library after a long hiatus. I had to do a group project a couple years ago, and another member of the group kept a book that was checked out under my name for months. I finally got her to return it, but by that time there was about $100 of late fines on my account. Talked to a manager there who was able to reduce my fine and let me use the library again. I love that place.
Last week was hell week in terms of homework- it seemed like every major mid-semester assignment I had was all due within 2 days of each other. Seriously, by the time Thursday rolled around I was running on about 10 hours of sleep since Sunday and I almost snapped. This week, I have nothing due so I'm having some me time tonight. It's great. I have soup simmering on the stove- Cream of cauliflower with white wine and gruyere and aged cheddar. And an awesome salad- spinach with pomegranate seeds and sheep feta with a homemade dressing of white wine and balsamic reduction with honey, ground mustard, lemon zest, and olive oil. MMMM, good eats! Now I'm gonna do laundry and a crossword puzzle and then I'm gonna have a beer. It's only my first semester back in school after a long hiatus, so I have a lot left to do, but I am so looking forward to it being done. Maybe if I have time tomorrow, I'll bake.
I'm excited for this group project. I think we have a good premise that will allow for everyone to contribute ideas and do some crazy fun activities. Plus, GiGi affirmed that we shouldn't encounter too many technical hang-ups, which is another thing I am definitely happy about.
Well, I just wanted to get this blog entry out of the way so I don't forget about it, but I don't have a whole lot to say this time. Guess I'll make up for my long previous entries and end this one here. Later!
Oops, forgot to do my blog entry over the weekend because I was out of town having a gooooood time. I had my first friends-giving this year instead of the big family Thanksgiving. Some friends and I drove to Arkansas to visit my sister and celebrate there. The drive there was miserable weather: freezing rain here, glaze ice and wind in Iowa, hail and tornado warnings in Missouri, torrential rains driving through the Ozarks in Arkansas.... It was pretty taxing. But, the rain cleared about 10 miles from our destination and we rolled into town in clear skies and 70 degrees. Suckers! Despite the nasty weather, everything about the trip was perfect and it was the best remedy for school/work/life stress. Plus, my birthday was over the weekend too. We had a great time celebrating that even though no one in AR knows what a golden birthday is. Dang backwater country. Oh, and the most random thing ever, driving through a podunk town of maybe 100 people max in Arkansas, there was a little shack on the side of the road called "The Saint Paul Saints Snack Shack" with banners and posters in the window saying "Go Saints!" Haha. Big fans of the minor leagues there I guess.
Man, I've been so good all semester with writing my weekly blogs on time and all, but now I forget two weeks in a row..? I don't know what's going on. Well, I'm starting to get into stress/panic mode because the end of the semester is almost upon us all of a sudden. I usually manage to pull everything together at the last minute, but sometime I just freeze when I stress out. I don't do anything but stress out about how stressed out I am. Fingers crossed that I can get all my final projects done in time, plus ace my art history exam. Or at least find time to study for it in the middle of working on other projects. dang, i got a case of the scatter-brains today.
In looking back over my blog entries and projects for this semester, I think the most important thing I've learned about myself is that I do have my own personal style and aesthetic. The photo series was my favorite project and I wish I put as much of myself into other projects as I did that one. I really enjoyed watching the experimental short films at the Walker. I thought it was funny when I was eavesdropping GiGi's conversation with another teacher and discovered that we pretty much disagreed on all the ones we liked or disliked. That said, I think there's a lot to learn from working with people who appreciate different qualities about art. In my case, I think it's made my focus and determination to work out my own aesthetic stronger.
Another thing I have learned about myself (or at least been reminded of by re-reading my blog entries) is that this has been a semester filled with personal drama. It makes me proud of myself that I was able to maintain my sanity and grades through it all. Some of my personal struggles came through in my projects for this class at the beginning. I think it's interesting to note the shift in my blog entries (and projects): they all started out super serious and heavy and have gradually lightened up over the semester. This is a good representation of the shaking of emotional weights I was carrying around at the start.
This was my first semester back in school after a long break and my first time being at "real college." I am excited to keep going and to see how my future projects develop. Thanks for all your help and encouragement, GiGi.
I’m not the best public speaker, nor do I do well when I’m put on the spot. I don’t think that the ideas that I was trying to convey in this week’s learning circle came across articulately. What I was trying to say by comparing the following paragraphs and talking about my own experience was that I respond best to contemporary art when a narrative is presented, but not spelled out for the viewer. Whether the narrative is the context in which the piece was created or a personal narrative that is evoked in the viewer, the story should be subtle enough that people with different personal histories can obtain their own meaning from the art. Narrative doesn’t have to be linear or language-based because so much of communication can be presented non-verbally.
Some of my favorite (or at least most thought provoking) experiences at the museum were shows that, on paper, didn’t pique my interest. As I watched, different ideas and narratives came to mind that were outside my everyday realm of comfort. These experiences opened my mind to performance art, which is now a goal of mine to create.
The excerpts I noted follow:
Rather, the self is a constantly evolving conglomeration of our internal and external experiences.
And because so much of our experience is formed through listening to and telling stories, selfhood and narrative are inextricably interlinked.
(From “Making Sense of Making Stories: Law, Literature, Life”)
In art, narrative is understood as one, rather powerful, form of representation. Much of contemporary art practice involves self-consciously questioning representational modes, exploring the boundaries, breaking the representation, questioning whose power is being preserved by a representational mode, and hybridizing modes in order to create new ones. Thus, when engaging in narratively-based work, artists rarely tell straightforward narratives employing the standard narrative tropes available within their culture, but rather ironize, layer, and otherwise subvert the standard tropes from a position of extreme cultural self-consciousness.
(From “Narrative Intelligence”)
I’m not the best public speaker, nor do I do well when I’m put on the spot. I don’t think that the ideas that I was trying to convey in this week’s learning circle came across articulately. What I was trying to say by comparing the following paragraphs and talking about my own experience was that I respond best to contemporary art when a narrative is presented, but not spelled out for the viewer. Whether the narrative is the context in which the piece was created or a personal narrative that is evoked in the viewer, the story should be subtle enough that people with different personal histories can obtain their own meaning from the art. Narrative doesn’t have to be linear or language-based because so much of communication can be presented non-verbally.
Some of my favorite (or at least most thought provoking) experiences at the museum were shows that, on paper, didn’t pique my interest. As I watched, different ideas and narratives came to mind that were outside my everyday realm of comfort. These experiences opened my mind to performance art, which is now a goal of mine to create.
The excerpts I noted follow:
Rather, the self is a constantly evolving conglomeration of our internal and external experiences.
And because so much of our experience is formed through listening to and telling stories, selfhood and narrative are inextricably interlinked.
(From “Making Sense of Making Stories: Law, Literature, Life”)
In art, narrative is understood as one, rather powerful, form of representation. Much of contemporary art practice involves self-consciously questioning representational modes, exploring the boundaries, breaking the representation, questioning whose power is being preserved by a representational mode, and hybridizing modes in order to create new ones. Thus, when engaging in narratively-based work, artists rarely tell straightforward narratives employing the standard narrative tropes available within their culture, but rather ironize, layer, and otherwise subvert the standard tropes from a position of extreme cultural self-consciousness.
(From “Narrative Intelligence”)
P.S. Sorry is this gets posted twice. We'll see...
Writing my reaction to the piece in the Nash Gallery elicited a much more emotional response that I expected I would have. I could have kept on writing and writing. I’ve been very upset about many things in my personal life that aren’t working out as I had hoped and planned for and worked really hard to achieve- to no avail. In these hard times, I’m reminded of another time in my life when someone’s point of view changed mine. It’s something I’ve held on to since I first came across it, and, luckily, it’s a short story so I can revisit it whenever I need to be reminded.
The story is by Amy Hempel, a master of really devastating short stories. So many of her other stories broke my heart even though they were so simple and realistic. In the midst of this sadness I came across her story entitled “The Man in Bogota.” This story is short, but deep. Sometimes I think people just need a reminder that no matter what you’re going through, even if it’s not working out as you’d hoped, that you don’t know what the eventual outcome will be. It could all work out in the end.
I pulled this quote from a random blog and I’m pretty sure it’s the whole story, but I didn’t double check. And, yes, I’m sure it’s infringing upon copyright laws, but it’s worth it. And I hope it encourages you to read some of her other work because that’s definitely worth it too.
“The police and emergency service people fail to make a dent. The voice of the pleading spouse does not have the hoped-for effect. The woman remains on the ledge – though not, she threatens, for long.
“I imagine that I am the one who must talk the woman down. I see it, and it happens like this.
“I tell the woman about a man in Bogota. He was a wealthy man, an industrialist who was kidnapped and held for ransom. It was not a TV drama; his wife could not call the bank and, in twenty-four hours, have one million dollars. It took months. The man had a heart condition, and the kidnappers had to keep the man alive.
“Listen to this, I tell the woman on the ledge. His captors made him quit smoking. They changed his diet and made him exercise every day. They held him that way for three months.
“When the ransom was paid and the man was released, his doctor looked him over. He found the man to be in excellent health. I tell the woman what the doctor said then – that the kidnap was the best thing to happen to that man.
“Maybe this is not a come-down-from-the-ledge story. But I tell it with the thought that the woman on the ledge will ask herself a question, the question that occurred to that man in Bogota. He wondered how we know that what happens to us isn’t good.”
This week has been busy busy. I've been moving this weekend so sitting down to write this blog actually feels like a break. I am exhausted though. This is the 7th time I've moved in the last 2 years. That's way too much time spent doing something that is no fun at all. I think I'll probably move again in the next couple months though too. It's a bad cycle- I move into a place where I hope to be for awhile, it doesn't work out, so I have to find a temporary place and wait for something more permanent to open up.
That said, I am so relieved to be out of my house and into my friend's place temporarily. It's such a good feeling to be in a place where you feel welcome and comfortable and safe. I had a lot of good people step up and help me out this last week too, for which I'm really grateful. I hope to be able to bring in some of these themes to the project due this week.
Sara
I've been thinking about artists I'd like to do for the presentation and spending some time refreshing my memory of their work on youtube. In my video watching, I've gotten distracted and been reminded of some of my favorite old clips that are on there. I love old pop music that becomes so isolated in its era that it's just bizarre to watch now. I have selected two of my favorite videos to share. The first one is of a classic Leslie Gore song that she performs on tv. The background music is much heavier than in the studio track and there's so much dang vaseline on the lens that it takes on this eerie, dreamy style. And I can't help but think it should be in a David Lynch movie. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmOrWG2FTbg
The second video is much different. It's of Heather Parisi, an American who emigrated to Italy and became a pop star there in the 80's. Even though her music and performance were created for pop culture and consumption, I wonder if this can be classified as a kind outsider art 25 years later? Here's the second video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFvgjXPtEDs
Happy video-ing.
Sara
Last minute blog entry go!
I had a lot of fun creating my images for this last project. I was really nervous a) that my "conflict" wouldn't be explicit enough, and b) that my subject would cancel on me. To my delight, neither thing happened. One thing that surprised me though was that most of the images that I really loved weren't from my initial storyboard. The ones that were the most visually appealing were spontaneously taken. I think that's because I didn't scout out the location and props I was going to be working with that intensely. For a project like this last one, I think you should either be completely prepared in advance, or be completely willing to go with the flow. That being said, if I had been prepared in advance, I wouldn't have had to edit my project out of 700 images, ha! On the other hand, I now have a great body of images to pull from for other projects.
I am looking forward to our next project very much. I'm especially looking forward to experimenting with equipment available for checkout here. This last time I used a tripod, lighting kit, and the Vixia camera to shoot my images. One note on that: 7 blocks is not a far walk from the bus stop to home, but 7 blocks carrying all that stuff is a long-ass walk. If you check out a light kit, get a ride or drive. Lesson learned. My legs are covered in bruises and hands in blisters.
One more thing: this Thursday I'm going to see the art show No Assumption in NE Minneapolis. A friend of mine moved here from NYC to be with her terminally ill mother a couple years ago. As she assumed control of her mother's estate, she discovered that her house was in foreclosure. She has to vacate the property by Nov 1, but organized this exhibition and has turned the house into a temporary gallery space. I wanted to post this now to make sure you all have the opportunity to see the show. It runs through Oct. 22. http://noassumption.wordpress.com/
Sara! I just wanted to let you know I absolutely loved your photos in your slide show! I didn't really want to make a big scene in class, but they just really struck me in a way that I can't exactly articulate. A lot of them look my breath away (as cliche as that sounds). Thank you for shooting black and white! Without the color, the lighting created some fantastic contrast in your photos. I was super impressed :)
side note: What's your major?
Thanks for the comment, Maria. That really made my day. Right now I'm a BA art major, but I might try to apply for a BFA or try to integrate science into it as long as I'm at the U and not art school. I have no idea what I'm doing with my major to be honest.
Blog-time.
So much to do this weekend. Going nuts. I decided to take my subject for this next video assignment a little less seriously. All of my original ideas were heavy and kinda dark, but now I think I just wanna have fun with it. And I still get to shoot some beautiful images, which is something I'm always excited about. But since I've changed my idea yet again, I have to re-shoot everything.
On the subject of this project: if I wanna use found video from youtube or somewhere else online, what's the best way to get it downloaded for me to use? Keepvid is the only thing I've ever used but that was ages ago.
Hey Sara -- to download videos from youtube I use RealPlayer Downloader, free here:
http://www.real.com/
Yes, have fun with your project!!
I wish I had another week for this video project so that I could spend more time on it, but with all the other projects and homework I have going this week it's not going to be as elaborate as I hoped. Also, plan A, B, and C all fell through, so I was left desperately trying to make something of nothing this last weekend while I had a camera.
I wish I was okay with filming random people on the street. With my luck, they'd wanna beat me up and I would be left stunned and not quick-witted enough to explain what I was doing. But I spend a lot of time walking around on the streets by my house and riding the bus and I see some pretty amazing characters on a daily basis. I really wanted to feature some of these people in my project, but couldn't muster my wits enough to do it this time around. Maybe next time. Also makes me wanna carry around a camera all the time for those random moments of unusual beauty. Some of my favorite characters are people that look normal and put-together and then have very obvious flaws- alcoholism, gambling, mental illness. But even without those flaws, it's a pretty amazing world out there and I'm happy to be a quiet observer.
One last note, thanks to this project and needing a specific music track, I finally went back to the Minneapolis Public Library after a long hiatus. I had to do a group project a couple years ago, and another member of the group kept a book that was checked out under my name for months. I finally got her to return it, but by that time there was about $100 of late fines on my account. Talked to a manager there who was able to reduce my fine and let me use the library again. I love that place.
Last week was hell week in terms of homework- it seemed like every major mid-semester assignment I had was all due within 2 days of each other. Seriously, by the time Thursday rolled around I was running on about 10 hours of sleep since Sunday and I almost snapped. This week, I have nothing due so I'm having some me time tonight. It's great. I have soup simmering on the stove- Cream of cauliflower with white wine and gruyere and aged cheddar. And an awesome salad- spinach with pomegranate seeds and sheep feta with a homemade dressing of white wine and balsamic reduction with honey, ground mustard, lemon zest, and olive oil. MMMM, good eats! Now I'm gonna do laundry and a crossword puzzle and then I'm gonna have a beer. It's only my first semester back in school after a long hiatus, so I have a lot left to do, but I am so looking forward to it being done. Maybe if I have time tomorrow, I'll bake.
I'm excited for this group project. I think we have a good premise that will allow for everyone to contribute ideas and do some crazy fun activities. Plus, GiGi affirmed that we shouldn't encounter too many technical hang-ups, which is another thing I am definitely happy about.
Well, I just wanted to get this blog entry out of the way so I don't forget about it, but I don't have a whole lot to say this time. Guess I'll make up for my long previous entries and end this one here. Later!
Oops, forgot to do my blog entry over the weekend because I was out of town having a gooooood time. I had my first friends-giving this year instead of the big family Thanksgiving. Some friends and I drove to Arkansas to visit my sister and celebrate there. The drive there was miserable weather: freezing rain here, glaze ice and wind in Iowa, hail and tornado warnings in Missouri, torrential rains driving through the Ozarks in Arkansas.... It was pretty taxing. But, the rain cleared about 10 miles from our destination and we rolled into town in clear skies and 70 degrees. Suckers! Despite the nasty weather, everything about the trip was perfect and it was the best remedy for school/work/life stress. Plus, my birthday was over the weekend too. We had a great time celebrating that even though no one in AR knows what a golden birthday is. Dang backwater country. Oh, and the most random thing ever, driving through a podunk town of maybe 100 people max in Arkansas, there was a little shack on the side of the road called "The Saint Paul Saints Snack Shack" with banners and posters in the window saying "Go Saints!" Haha. Big fans of the minor leagues there I guess.
Happy belated golden b-day, Sara!!
Man, I've been so good all semester with writing my weekly blogs on time and all, but now I forget two weeks in a row..? I don't know what's going on. Well, I'm starting to get into stress/panic mode because the end of the semester is almost upon us all of a sudden. I usually manage to pull everything together at the last minute, but sometime I just freeze when I stress out. I don't do anything but stress out about how stressed out I am. Fingers crossed that I can get all my final projects done in time, plus ace my art history exam. Or at least find time to study for it in the middle of working on other projects. dang, i got a case of the scatter-brains today.
In looking back over my blog entries and projects for this semester, I think the most important thing I've learned about myself is that I do have my own personal style and aesthetic. The photo series was my favorite project and I wish I put as much of myself into other projects as I did that one. I really enjoyed watching the experimental short films at the Walker. I thought it was funny when I was eavesdropping GiGi's conversation with another teacher and discovered that we pretty much disagreed on all the ones we liked or disliked. That said, I think there's a lot to learn from working with people who appreciate different qualities about art. In my case, I think it's made my focus and determination to work out my own aesthetic stronger.
Another thing I have learned about myself (or at least been reminded of by re-reading my blog entries) is that this has been a semester filled with personal drama. It makes me proud of myself that I was able to maintain my sanity and grades through it all. Some of my personal struggles came through in my projects for this class at the beginning. I think it's interesting to note the shift in my blog entries (and projects): they all started out super serious and heavy and have gradually lightened up over the semester. This is a good representation of the shaking of emotional weights I was carrying around at the start.
This was my first semester back in school after a long break and my first time being at "real college." I am excited to keep going and to see how my future projects develop. Thanks for all your help and encouragement, GiGi.