Bailey, in his few moments of cuteness

Procrastinator's Delight

I can't seem to concentrate on what I really need to be focusing on. So instead of studying BCS or finishing that incredibly overdue essay for anthro, I have read a 400 page book about butchery just for kicks. 

Julie Powell, most well known for the Julie&Julia Project, released her second book Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession in November and I have been meaning to steal it from Charles to read ever since. I couldn't help but skip ahead to see if her marriage survived the book. It was a painful read. The recipes and interludes about Fleisher's butcher shop in Kingston, NY helped ease some of the tension, giving an emotional break from the heart wrenching flashbacks of fights with her boyfriend and husband. But, it really wasn't enough. In the end I think the saddest fact was how lost she felt - everything outwardly going so well, but emotionally on the inside feeling so alone. I also understood her addictive personality - crawling into herself with the help of alcohol, overworking, traveling. It's so much easier to run away then turn around and face what's bothering you, especially if the root of the problem are your own actions. 

T-minus Two weeks

Check out this sweet! t-shirt by Inkfinger. Unfortunately its been sold out for awhile :-(
(Please do another run inkfinger!)

It's only two weeks from the big show and I am starting to freak out. I have a ton and a half to accomplish in the next couple weeks on top of other classes and work. It's going to be rough!!!

Last night I went to see Typeface, a movie about the Hamilton Wood Type factory in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Not a bad movie but not all that great of one either. The movie stopped abruptly right when the plot was starting to get interesting, right when the future of letterpress seems doomed. They didn't show how vibrant the artform is today - how many businesses are thriving because of it. However, a couple hours and beers later, I did send an email to the Hamilton Museum to see if they have any artist residencies...a couple months in rural Wisconsin wouldn't be too bad if I was spending my days printing!

Goodbye Art&Fear

Untitled (Halo) by Rachael Hetzel. Image borrowed from her website.

I have finished Art&Fear! Yay! Here are my last notes and thoughts about the book:

The Academic World

• I loved the story about the little girl who didn't understand what art teachers do. "You mean they forgot how to draw?
• I agree with them that teaching and learning is naturally part of being an artist.
• From my experience I can attest to the fact that good teachers who HOW they got to be where they are today.
• And last - the most depressing of my notes - art really isn't considered a real job by most people. Who cares though? The reality is that it IS a real profession and talent that requires training, practice, and experience.

Conceptual Worlds

• I like the idea of asking yourself - "was it worth doing?" when looking at art. I think in most cases I would probably say yes. To gauge the effectiveness of art I think it is important to ask if you have grown both conceptually in the artwork and in the craft of making the artwork.
• "We do not long remember those artists who follwed the rules more diligently than anyone else. We remember those who made art from which the rules inevitably follow."
• "Compared to other challenges, the ultimate shortcoming of technical problems is not that they are hard.
• I like the idea of balancing habit with exploration and growth. It is hard to know what habits are working and when to reevaluate methodology.
• Will re-doing a work of art produce the same work? "In making a piece of art, both the artist and the artists world are changed, and re-asking the question will always yield a different answer.

Self-Reference

• "Art is nothing if not incestuous."
• "It's apparent that at some level all art is autobiographical.
• "As your art develops, conceptual relationships increasingly define the shape and structure of the world you see. In time, they are the world. Distinctions between you, your work and the world lessen, grow transparent, and finally disappear."

The Human's Voice

• "Sometimes the really important questions roll around in our minds for a long time before we act upon them."
  

Art and Fear: The Outside world

Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson in Spaced

Check out this video from Spaced, an awesome British comedy series. One of the main characters, Brian, is an artist and is trying to find inspiration.

The chapter, The Outside World in Art and Fear was short and sweet. Here's what I got out of it:

• The process of making art is really the process of creating your own world. I like the idea that by making art you are inviting people to explore an alternate reality.
  
• In a healthy art making environment artists are not in competition with each other but with themselves. However, a healthy art making environment can be hard to find.
  
• I liked that they outlined the difference between artwork that works and artwork that you like. They make a good point - all that you make becomes your baby, something you cherish and want to protect. Having a healthy distance from what you make can help you be objective when deciding what of your artwork is working and what isn't.
  
• "Ideally the arts network is there to handle all those details not central to the artmaking process." Concentrate on making great work!
  

Art and Fear - Second Reading Response

Bailey eating a mini 'cat flying through the air' figurine

I got a little behind with my reading responses to Art and Fear. I know this follows the same rhetoric as "my dog ate my homework" but my book was temporarily floating in the sea of stuff that is the senior studio space in the back corner of Sage. Anyway, I have since found the book and read on.

I appreciated the section that talked about the difference between acceptance and approval. I liked this quote - " Acceptance means having your work counted as the real thing; approval means having people like it." I agree with the authors that often times they can be indistinguishable. Approval can often over shadow more in depth critiques, reducing judgment to either "I like it", or "I hate it" when art is a lot more complex. Acceptance without approval may allow the audience to be more unbiased in interacting with the artwork. I think I would prefer my artwork to be accepted but not necessarily immediately approved of....this may evoke more interaction and questioning on the part of the viewer than work that is immediately liked.

I also found what they said about concept development interesting - that some concepts are so rich that they can provide for whole bodies of work. And that often continuing from one project to the next the artist can rely on what she did before to fuel her future endeavors. I always felt like I was starting over from scratch when I started a new project. Lately though, I've been noticing continuity between all of my past projects and a concept progression that I am pleased with.

Day Dream Retail Therapy

I need a little pick me up. This will help...dresses from Jason Wu's spring collection. :-)

and shoes by Jimmy Choo