The "Why" to Grad School Options

)This post is in response to Megane's question. There is no use in my writing all of this in a comment back to her.) This was just a rough list to get me thinking about graduate school, after reading some of the programs I'm not so sure if I would apply to them.

1) U.NO.--They have a Fine Arts in Photography and also have this amazing fellowship. New Orleans is such a rich city with so much culture. It's nothing like being in New York, I think I would find a lot of inspiration in the atmosphere. I would love to get away and make work in New Orleans. I first visited the city after Hurricane Katrina as a relief volunteer, I've always wanted to go back.

2) M.I.C.A -- M.I.C.A has a graduate program to Photographic and Electronic Media, its more driven towards digital photographic techniques rather than traditional. I still love film and wouldn't want to not have the freedom to work in that medium, so this is I don't know.

3)PRATT-- Honestly I doubt I'd apply to PRATT, the application fee is $100.

4) C.I.A-- I chose a school in California because my mother is a military veteran and I can go to any public school for free before the age of 26. I don't know if this accepts it, but I will find out soon enough!

5) U.O.A -- They have a really big diversity recruiting which would work in my favor be it my gender and race. I would be interested in the School of Art, they have a Photography program.

Seven Days in the Art World: The Studio Visit

• "Dealers are editors and conspirators. "

• "...but you could see the Murakami handbags through the window of the Louis Vuitton store, and African immigrants were selling copies on the street. Collectors were carrying real ones;tourists carried fake. Murakami had taken over."

• "...making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art, that is a fantasy!"

• ".... the names of the twenty-five people who worked on the piece are written on the back of the canvas. Other paintings credit up to thirty-five names."

• "A studio isn't just a place where artists make art but a platform for negotiation and a stage for performances."

Seven Days in the Art World: The Crit

• "MFA stands for yet another Mother-Fucking Artist"

• "I believe in education for its own sake, because it is deeply humanizing. It is being a fulfilled human being" "

• "Talent is a double-edged sword."

• "Crits can also be painful rituals that resemble cross-examinations in which artists are forced to rationalize their work and defend themselves from a flurry of half-baked opinions that leave them feeling torn apart."

• The work you do as an artist is... like when a two-year-old discovers how to make a tower out of blocks."

MFA Opening Show Review

I really enjoyed the MFA show, each time I turned a corner to enter a room I was greeted with something different. I thought the fashion photographs that were on showing were extremely interesting and well shot.It seems that the photographer spent a great deal of time doing the make-up and creating makeshift clothing out of old cigarettes, pulled cassette tape film, and other throw away items. I do with that they were arranged in a different way and at least framed. I don't think a photograph should be placed on a wall without some sort of framing or encasing (e.g. behind plexi-glass or within a picture frame).

The FEEL THE WALL piece by Erik Schoonebeck really tickled my fancy as well. He broke down the limitations of painting only on the canvas by expanding his painting onto the surface of the gallery wall. I think the colors worked well with one another. They weren't overpowering or creating a tension of any sort. I wasn't sure if the small installation on the corner of the floor was a part of his work, but I would assume it was.

Guerra's work seemed like it needed a much larger space. It might have been intentional it might not, but one of his hanging sculptures intersected with the walk way. Also, the EXIT sign that hung above the double doors became a part of his piece along with the windows; whether or not it was wanted, I can't say. It might have been smarter to move his work into the main room and put paintings and/or photographs in the space where he was. I felt like the work was suffocated, and started spilling into spaces not designated to hold art.

The large scale canvas pieces in the front right room were amazing. All I could think about was where else could these colossal be shown. The New Museum would be perfect. The pieces belittles and humbles the viewer looking at them. I liked how in order to really understand the pieces, I needed to come up really close to see the small details, and back up really far to see the grand picture.

All in all it was a good show. There could have been small changes with the arrangement as Meghan pointed out in class. I felt it was a stronger show than the last one the gallery had up.

I've been spending my days thinking about thesis and the project I want to create for it. I've created a few photographic collages in the past, I am heavily considering doing a few for the show. Photoshop is an amazing program. No title to the image YET, or title to the project YET, or artist statement YET. Considering adding some text over the top....possibly. If I do decide to this, I'd want to make at least 15, 30 the maximum.

Seven Days in the Art World: The Fair

• -“… the desire to support artists is not about being rich, privileged, and powerful. “

• -“Occasionally meeting an artist destroys the art. You almost don't trust it You think what you're seeing in the work is an accident."

• -Galleries vs. “dealerships”--- “The former discover and develop artists; the latter trade in art objects.”

• -The future of contemporary artworks---“They won’t be definitive or influential. They will not have changed the way we look at art.”

• - "I'm an atheist, but I believe in art.”

Rupert Ravens Contemporary

Rupert Ravens, a massive contemporary art gallery nestled on Market St. in Newark showcased VESSEL, an exhibition consisting of 24 working artists. A few pieces in the show really caught my eye. The first was a Black Militant Golf Club installation by artist Charles McGill. After picking up golf, McGill began to view his golf bag as a canvas with which to express his thoughts about race relations and racism, and the place of the Black man in America. The work was very politically driven and placed in the front end of the gallery visible through the large window. People would walk by then stop to look at his installation of golf bags, Black Militant Golf Club t-shirts, plaques and automatic guns on display, and photographs.

Charles McGill

There was another installation by Ibrahim Ahmed. I actually had the opportunity to work with him (i.e painting the walls which were assigned to him and occasionally giving him my opinion on changes he considered making). His installation consisted on all found objects that he in turn painted and beautified it to the "gallery showing" standards. The objects weren't the only parts of his work, but the shadows cast from the frames to the walls also were. He used empty large frames then positioned them in a way where they framed the shadows. Every time I moved it was a new shadow being framed by the same frame.

Ibrahim Ahmed

I was also astonished by the large illustrations of Wayne Roth. From a distance his over-scaled illustrations looked like paintings. But upon closer examination, it was evident that they were digitally created. Layers upon layers of colors, designs, and brushes were used to together to create his intricate pieces. The image appeared to change as you walked up closer. It's amazing to see how something digitally made can resemble can be "painterly".

Wayne Roth

All in all I really enjoyed the show. My only critique would be to add some more photographic work. I think that photography especially digital is a contemporary medium that is pushed in all different directions. Combining 24 painters, sculptors, and digital wizards into one show would of course put on an intriguing show with something for everyone. Two thumbs up.