...

oh, i don't why i feel the need to say this. but radiohead's "fake plastic trees" thom yorke's best vocal performance bar none. if you don't have in rainbows yet, get it because you're a tool.

Art History II

Art History II essentially covers everything in art from Gothic architecture to present day art. our class had roughly 100 students give or take ten. so my professor really didn't address anyone one on one but rather spoke to the class as a whole. considering the number of students in the class, i understand but i like a more intimate classroom setting. overall, he was a pretty solid teacher, he was articulate and funny and obviously liked teaching.

the best thing about it was we only had to take 4 non-cumulative, multiple choice tests and he let us know what important points to study. so overall i can't complain. shit, he even let us leave classes early when it was "too nice to stay inside" or "because i want to go out in the snow." so that was sweet. he also hates art critics.

Time Studio

Time Studio incorporates the element of time in 2D art. Essentially it's finding out how to tell a story in our art through photos, drawings, or videos. I was excited about this class because I always wanted to take a video-based class. It wasn't actually video, which was a bummer, but we did get to work on videos which was sweet.

I have to saw, our class was interesting. We had a mix of students with varying interests and influences which always makes for a solid collaboration of work. So in that aspect, I would saw I was ethused about this class this semester. I got to work with students who were pretty open minded about what they made and how they viewed others' work. We even had one girl who wanted to get naked in all of her/our projects.

I think the thing that made this class more enjoyable than my drawing class is the age of the professor. Since Rosemary is a much younger professor she more on her students' level regarding what's going on in art and what kids want to do with it. I think that makes a world of difference as opposed to clinging on to an unwavering traditionalist view.

Drawing

Drawing I. Essentially in this class we focus on classic elements of design and various other techniques within drawing. We worked on perspective, figure drawing, still life, and other various things that i great difficulty drawing.

I went into this class not knowing how to draw so i wasn't all that stoked because i knew it was going to be very difficult for me. regardless, i did give it a good shot but it's truly not my deal. and my professor made it a point today, to let me know that it's really is not my thing. ha. oh well, we really didn't see eye to eye but he liked my photography which was kind of rad i guess. i'm not used to sucking so much at something but hey, welcome to art school, right? but it's all good, when i get down in the dumps i gotta head the words of the late great tupac, "i see these changes... that's just the way it is..."

all in all though, it wasn't a total loss. my hangovers were usually over with by time i arrive to class so that always put me in a more chipper mood and i draw my first tattoo idea in that class. also i did a pretty cool photographic study of hands motivated by that an assignment he gave us. so not a total loss.

Focussed Inquiry I (English for dummies)

This is the entry level english course required for all students at VCU. The topics covered all relate to society/community and the students' role within the community. We sit in class for 50 minutes and chat about social issues and why they affect us. We write only 4 real papers throughout the semester and have 4 group presentations.

The idea of this class isn't all that bad, you help kids find their identity and motivate them to "make a difference." But most of the students could give two shits about it. The essays we read from our textbook are so cheesy and unrelated to us that no one can truly connect with the curriculum. I do like the class discussions and debates (they're really more of a book reading contest, who ever cites the book the most seems the most aware of the topic), but few participants are truly passionate about the topics.

One topic for debate that made me cringe was "Is the world a victim of American social imperialism?" The class was divided roughly 80% saying no, and 20% saying yes. I was on latter. The thing that gets me, is that so many of my peers are ignorant to that fact that our nation's relationships with the world are all marketing schemes. The cool cigarettes to smoke in Europe are Marlboro and Camel, McDonald's is in almost every country worldwide, and MTV influences every major music scene globally. Our opposition said that the world just "likes American things and culture." But the reason they like it, is because we make small changes to increase the mass appeal. While this isn't an overwhelmingly destructive thing in concept, my thought is, if we keep pushing our products and styles on other countries, they will eventually adopt them. This offsets the natural progression of culture locally. While all countries influence each in someway, i don't think that we should have such control over music and social image. Anyway. rant over.

I don't know really. This class, or at least my professor, seems to cater to very simplistic ideas. After reading what essays got the same A as mine, i find the standards appalling. Most of my essays took no longer than an hours time to write, while my peers claim to have spent many hours. But their essays all read like that of something a high school 3rd year would write. Isn't the point of college to raise the bar? Then why give A's for less than college level work? It makes no sense. Sure, i have fun yelling at kids during debates but i want to get my $8,000 worth. So maybe they could teach me, if only a little.

Project: Photo/Film Class

The class consists of 2 hour sessions one day a week for 5 weeks. The idea is that we'll look at and discuss graduate students' work so that we experience many different aspect of the photo/film world. As soon we got into the class, we'd sit down and fill out a paper on a photographic topic. After the grad student presented his/her work, we'd discuss it.

What I don't understand about this class, is why in God's name did we have to watch "performance art?!" Watching a middle aged man strut about on a television screen, ass-naked, trying to tell us that his work is "extremely relevant" and "important" to today's society is not my idea of a learning experience. He tried to make some sort of connection between his naked stomach and genitalia falling off a table onto concrete, and the war in Iraq. Maybe we should show the video to Bush, i'm sure he will then bring out boys home.

Not all of the students were quite so horrifying. Well. Actually, most were. One young lady, a self-proclaimed feminist who stripped on the weekends because there was "no other way to make a decent living and go to school," was using her portfolio to speak to young women. She said she was "appalled" at the way teenage girls reveal themselves on the internet via myspace, webcams, etc. So, to speak to young women, she filmed herself with a webcam having phone sex. Now, let me help you understand what she's trying to say. She wants reveal how immoral and empty a young woman feels when she objectifies herself like a prime rib at the butcher's. Remember now, she's a feminist AND a stripper. Now, her moral dilemma's aside, i like her "message." But let's do some problem solving right quick... You're trying to tell girls not to look like common whores on the internet, so you make a masturbation movie for display on the internet, except, it looks like any random homemade porno you'd find on the net. Now, do you think a random person is going to look at it and say "This must be art, that tells me not to turn into an internet slut?" I thought not.

This is why i have no idea why i even showed up to that class. But on a brighter note, it means, if i get into the department, i can do ANYTHING I WANT.

random rant

oh what a fuckin day to begin... i haven't slept in 28 hours and i don't do so good without my 12 hours (yes, 12). my mind has been racing since i found my pants this morning. all i can think about is how badly i want a cigarette. and a guinness. all too often i've found myself hurling ideas and dreams through the farest reaches of my mind, keeping those that return. but many times, these ideas are the ones that i stay up for days at a time thinking about, and planning, and thinking, and planning... but damn i need a smoke.

i hate that. i hate feeling that my cigarettes are the thread that hold my oh so precocious self together during the day. that's a load. the reality is, i couldn't figure out any other ways to cope with the stress of communication at home so i used smokes as my nerve calmer. so juvenile, it's hard to believe that was a whole three years ago. seventeen years old. that's a trip, not even a high school grad yet, but pompous and completely unwilling to listen to the authority of the school. i was an ass. i loved it.

ahh so why am i here? i'm still not sure, just like i'm not sure i got in the car with phil this morning. just like i don't remember why i had to park his car. or why i have two jackets on right now. i've done a lot of things not really knowing the reason or consequence for those actions. hm. i hate it when that little voice is right. the one that kept whispering in my head saying i was contradicting what i preached. con-form-i-ty. i don't any more really, but it's usually youth that scares us into following despite wanting to lead. growth is about learning not to rely on the need to follow, it's about taking that dive. this... this i am learning.

still. it does not mean the process is easy, or understandable. the things i sit and pontificate sometimes scare me with their complexity. one of those moments where you say to yourself "woah... where the fuck did that come from? where's a fuckin pen?!?!" it's cool though, i like picking my brain apart and putting it back together. constantly cleaning house i guess. but i wish i had a group of peers that did that process for me sometimes. the way someone of the same age dissects you based on what they know, is so interesting. it tends reveal more about them really. by the beard of zeus, i must be insane.

damn. there's a lot of self reflection going on here. i wonder if that's good or bad. interesting none the less. i hate these things. speaking to a nonexistent audience who, if they do exist, wouldn't give two shits about my rants. oh the humanity. ha, that's such a two-sided word.