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About Recent Posts Ancient History Blogs I Read Sites I Frequent Also Along the Way Projects |
Saturday, 17 February 2007 I have finally posted the pictures (Chris's and mine). Still waiting on John's cell phone picture from his new place in Madison or anyone else's. Wednesday, 14 February 2007
A friend asked me to critique his piece, Tyrannosaurs, to begin a sort of dialogue. This critique is not, however in the spirit of criticism or even constructive criticism. Instead, this critique – or rather, review – is guided only by that which I have observed, the connections I have made, and the statements relating my observations and connections to what I find most representative of (true to?) life. The piece, as I read it, develops from two differing traditions. The first of these, Postmodernism, is familiar to us; and the elements of Tyrannosaurs that read as Postmodern will be obvious as they can be cited in numerous other contemporary pieces. The other however, is not yet completely recognizable and decidedly remains to be unnamed by the academy, though signs of this second pattern (paradigm?) seem to be hinted at in Tyrannosaurs. Though, the 'unfamiliar' elements that I read in Tyrannosaurs cannot be properly cited as representative of any patterns or attributed to any articulated theory that documents contemporary trends (read ‘new paradigm’)...Read the full review. Saturday, 10 February 2007 I am still trying to fully recover from my mild conjestion, runny nose, and soar throat that I am sure I contracted from my students at the elementary school; it's like a petri dish that grows viruses there. I had been warned by many, including my mother and the school of education about this, but what makes this all the more frustrating is that I had not been sick all winter until a week after I started teaching. This is quite a feat considering that I mostly am sick starting sometime in November and all through the winter. Well, at least I made it through half the season. Now I am taking Sudafed, Claritin, and drinking tea to get rid of the virus after which I'll be trying Airborne (developed no less by an elementary-school teacher.) to ward off any further diseases. Also, in school news: origami fortune tellers are still a favorite game among 2nd and 3rd graders who learn to fold them from their older cousins and aunts and then carry on the tradition by making them in art class thereby piquing the interests of fellow classmates to make their own. Of course the fortunes held within are almost always malevolent, even if they are made and shared in a pretend-joking manner. I am thus prompted to conclude that even though this tradition is shared among friends (an image of students running from desk to desk, friend to friend to get them to tell them a sequence numbers in order to read their unfortunate fortunes) there is nevertheless a culture of instinctual antagonism between children. Needless to say, both my cooperating teacher and I have banned fortune tellers in the spirit of stopping unkind exchanges and so that students will focus on genuine Art (with a capital ‘A’) content. Friday, 9 February 2007 If a culture’s beliefs no longer seem valid what impetus is there for the culture to continue down such a fruitless road? Perhaps a paradigm shift may be the cause for casting new insight and meaning onto a situation or, even more likely, a scope of events. The truth claims of the prior paradigm have rendered themselves wearisome; it is like the banal image, and is perhaps better shelved unless the conventional image may be repositioned with pictures, symbols, or texts with which it is not usually associated. This often generates meaning in an artwork. But what if even recontextualizing the image is a conventional method for the current (read clichéd) paradigm? Perhaps the only use for the banal image is to relegate it to the history books, to be referenced in the future to remind us of the past, even if only for reflective discourse. Indeed, in the end bittersweet because we naturally will make connections, find meaning, in our own pasts, but it is a past that is no longer convincing. Perhaps in this light, it is a bold (read brave?) step forward to cut ties and move forward. To completely give up our past seems undesirable; otherwise what tie to it do we have in order to illicit meaning in our lives today? The past, despite finding it unfavorable, is still suitable to trace the footsteps of where we have been and perhaps even, as a hesitant reminder of unwanted revisits. Travel Mug (or On Irresponsiblity) I want to thank Tabitha for my travel coffee mug she gave me after borrowing hers for a few days, because I lost mine. Though, this should come as no suprise considering losing (read misplacing) something - most notoriously my keys - is a daily occurance. Needless to say, I can be so irresponsible (I like to think more space cadet) and unappreciative with my possessions, or even worse, my art. I left my previous travel mug in the office of the guy who oversees the website at the university after I blindly (and most likely in a sort of senseless rush) walked off after conferencing with him. Or even before that incident I put my favorite ceramic coffee mug in my laundry basket only to have my mother do my laundry thereby dumping the clothes and my mug from the basket onto the cold concrete basement floor (break) in order to sort the clothes. Or time when I have left my binder of pinhole photographs on the top of my car while getting ready to take a couple of more pinhole photos. Only after I got into town I soon realized, albeit too late, that I had done so. I rushed home to find, imagine, my mother running about in an attempt to collect my photos that had already been ruined by someone running them over on the highway in front of my home and flailing about in the wind.
Monday, 5 February 2007 School was cancelled due to the brutally cold weather today. It is a frigid -26°C (-15°F), too cold for children to even go outside, which means that I too will stay indoors. This is both good and bad. I think I am more excited now, as a teacher, when there is a snowday than when I was a student (is this comical or bad?). It's comical in the ironic sense, and what is missed out on in missing a day of school (the amount of responsibilities the student versus the teacher must be sure to complete), it's might seem bad if it is thought the teacher doesn't have to (because they want to) see the students - which I can tell you is not true. At any rate this is decidedly good because I have a lot of work to finish up on: a couple of lesson plans to finish up (school, even when I am not there), art history reading/paper, catch up on emails, and other business at the university. Saturday, 3 February 2007 I have an idea, but I don't know how it's going to work out, so I'll just go ahead and try it. I am looking for everyone to send me a picture of the view from your window. I will post them on the blog so everyone else can see the view from your window. Here is my view this morning. |
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