Week 1 Readings

Making Art, Making Artists By Wade Saunders

"Work moved faster when an assistant is involved. Change is often easier, because you will more readily destroy something the assistant has done than something you have made." -Wade Saunders, p. 75

I had heard of artists having assistants help them with some of their larger and more time-intensive pieces of work, but I had no idea that so many artists actually had assistants who would be responsible for a majority of the labor done on most of their pieces. I enjoyed the interviews with different artists and assistants and how they talked about going about their work. Some artists seemed to have more of a closer relationship with their assistants, personally helping or advising their assistants with their own art outside of work, while other artists seemed to want nothing to do with the assistants outside of the studio. As a sculptor, I see an opportunity to learn a lot about technical detail and working on large collaborative projects in an assistant position and wouldn't mind working as one or hiring one.

Procrastination By James Surowiecki

"Academics, who work for long periods in a self-directed fashion, may be especially prone to putting things off: surveys suggest that the vast majority of college students procrastinate" -James Surowiecki, page 110

I found it interesting how the number of people admitting to have difficulties dealing with procrastination has quadrupled between 1978 and 2002. I know certainly well that many college students, myself included, have issues dealing with procrastination and getting things done on time, even when we know very well that "Procrastination doesn't pay"(Alex Taylor).

Whether procrastination stems from ignorance, failure to plan appropriately, excessive planning, failure of will, or inability to plan long-term goals, I believe a majority of people are conflicted with some form of procrastination at some point in their lives.

I should probably start looking into that software program that shuts down internet access for up to eight hours, Freedom(how appropriately named)...

UNH Museum Opening

This past Friday I attended the UNH Museum opening and observed the two exhibits, Legacy: Works by Distinguished Former Faculty, and ReView: Recent Work by UNH Alumni. As a UNH art student myself, viewing the work of many former UNH students and faculty members became so much more personal than any of the previous exhibits I have attended at the UNH Museum of Art. So many great works of art were displayed and wonderfully represented University of New Hampshire.

I particularly enjoyed work done by Melvin Zabarsky, Adam Pearson, Christopher Gowell, Roger Goldenberg, and Janvier Rollande. Pictured below are the works of Melvin Zabarsky and Christopher Gowell.

I was also delighted to run into a few old friends of mine who were also attending the opening, one of whom was my previous academic advisor from way back when I was an Equine Science major, Sarah Hamilton!

Mother Earth
By Melvin Zabarsky
Displayed in the Legacy: Works by Distinguished Former Faculty exhibit

Iguana Birdbath
By Christopher Gowell
Displayed in the ReView: Recent Work by UNH Alumni exhibit

Criticizing Art: Chapter 1, pages 1-14 (attempt one)

I'll stop the train right now and start by admitting how boring the Criticizing Art text book readings are compared to the much more fascinating assigned articles. I couldn't get through reading the first five pages without getting an odd feeling of being rubbed wrong by what the book describes as "Professional Critiques", who are described as not liking the term "critique" either, due to the misconception that all criticism is negative. I do not have these ill feeling because I believe what they have to say is completely negative, I personally enjoy having my work critiqued and I like to receive both negative and positive feed back, sometimes giving me a new perspective on my work.

However, the criticism I usually receive is done by the instructors and students who have also gone through the same timely process I did to finish a project. They can understand what efforts were needed to complete a piece, and they can recognize and appreciate the efforts a classmate went through when working to their fullest potential... and when slacking off.

Perhaps it is this classroom atmosphere I am used to working in, but I can't help but wonder how the labeling of a writer as a "professional critique" came about. Many people will say that art is a process, inspired by an idea and worked into a visual creation. So, the end product doesn't always visually summarize the events that went into it's making. Is it still appropriate for someone who does not fully understand the processes, ideas, and technical details that went into the making of a piece to review that art and publish it?


Pretend you have an assignment to review a piece of art work. What would you have to say about the painting pictured below, without any information about it?

This is a painting done by an elephant named Ramona :)

Lists

By Lightwerk

I'm a list making kind of person who enjoys the company of the many colorful post-it note reminders that decorate my room and notebooks.
Lists:
-To Do lists for today, yesterday, and tomorrow
-Food Store
-Bucket lists
-Books To Read
-Things I Would Buy If I Had A Million Dollars
-Places To Someday Travel
-Awesome Quotes

and so on.

So my habits when working in the studio, usually start with a list.

1. Make List
I like to doodle and list the ideas I get, as well as the places and things that inspired them so I can reflect on that moment the epiphany came to me and milk it later for more ideas when I might be feeling less inspired to do work. I like putting my lists on post-it notes so I can make military alignments on the wall next to my bed and revisit them before sleeping. However, this summer I acquired a spiral notebook with Wonder Woman on the cover and have been filling its pages with my lists of random things.

2. Find Inspirational Images
After receiving a new project for the studio and listing my own ideas, I like to look-up art images other artists with a similar project may have previously done. I love seeing what other artists have done, and using their work to inspire a new image of my own. But usually when I am out-and-about campus, I search for angles or moments of tension between objects when layered next to each other (like the triangular negative shapes between the computer wires on my desk right now). It's like a game of "I Spy", looking for moments in everyday spaces to inspire the lines in a new sculpture.

3. Procrastinate
So I tend to be a lazy person sometimes. I like the planning, the build up of excitement over a new task, and finding new things. But I'm a reluctant starter, I will avoid starting something until the time I feel greatly motivated to DO it, or lack of time left to complete the project launches me into the studio.

4. Git-R-Done
After rearranging the post-it notes on my wall for the millionth time, there does come a time when something (hopefully) clicks in my head that I should MAYBE get this project finished(like finally sitting down at my laptop and writing this post after putting it off for two days). As lazy and reluctant as I am about starting things(you would think it was some kind of painful task I was being forced to do), once I get through the starting process, I immerse myself completely in the task and actually enjoy the experience. I will then revisit the studio as much as I have to, usually at the end of the day when I have a large block of time, and devote a few hours of work to the project until finished.