Liek Uni And Stuff
Livejournal, i have neglected you for a long time. I now only visit you when i am procrastinating. And so it goes: i am at uni trying to write a tutorial presentation, which i have the feeling is not actually very difficult, but i hate the process. Read article, isolate key issues, isolate references, research references, explain article structure, argue key points, locate in wider socio-cultural framework, etc. My problem is that i get caught up in the "wider socio-cultural framework" bit, and end up talking for way too long about critics and things that are only marginally relevant. All the stuff is really interesting but my thinking is so tangential...and it's only supposed to go for 20 minutes, that's like, nothing. Especially because the writer (Adam Geczy, great artist*, great critic**) has a zingy style and i just want to quote heaps of the article, which takes time.
UNRELATED: The Google Sidebar ad right now is a galactic, blue burst of light with the phrase SCIENTOLOGY.ORG. Nothing else. It's freaking me out.
OK BACK TO THE ISSUE AT HAND. Uni is going well. Which is to say, i have a direction and i am pursuing it, the classes at the moment are interesting and appropriate, and the troublesome emphasis on "research methods" has been cast aside in favour of omg, actually making work, talking about work, engaging in class-directed group discussions. All of a sudden it feels way more communal and exciting. (Note: the word exciting can be read both as "lively and enjoyable", or "provoking extreme anxiety.") In theory/criticism, the class (about 15 students) oscillates from half-asleep silence to witticism showdowns.
The other unit "Art Practice Seminar" is much the same. I suspect that this increase in verbal input has a lot to do with the fact that "PARTICIPATION" is now 20% of our marks. Sad, innit? The competitive students suddenly stand out. And yep, i'm one of them.
Speaking of, i'm going to smash this assignment now or i'll go bloody insane.
P.S. I went to the opera last night!! Took me a while to get into it because i was gnawing my lips over this impending bloody tutorial, but it was good. It was a double bill, Pagliacci stood out because the leading chick was a fantastic singer and comic actress, also the story line is fucked up, the character Tonio was revolting and animalistic (he's a perverted hunchback dude) and Pagliaccio was terrifying and OMG the singer had the most powerful voice, and his face was covered in bloood and he was beating up his wife and stuff, and (i didn't know the storyline beforehand) the only uncertainty was which of the characters was going to get killed off first. (It was Nedda, then her lover Silvio, then Pagliaccio stabbed himself. 3 dead characters out of 6 isn't bad odds.)
(* he's a patriotic bloke.
** Go to the website of the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, click on BROADSHEET, click on Vol 38 no.3, the article "Art Is Not Research" by Adam Geczy is the one i'm doing. But Broadsheet is a great magazine in general and I spent TOO many hours (see, tangential.) reading other articles from other issues. It is an arts mag that has been described as a "publication of complaint", so you're sure to find some interesting opinions on art and stuff. Generally it's going "this gallery is shit, the art is sometimes okay, Australia is pathetic.")
UNRELATED: The Google Sidebar ad right now is a galactic, blue burst of light with the phrase SCIENTOLOGY.ORG. Nothing else. It's freaking me out.
OK BACK TO THE ISSUE AT HAND. Uni is going well. Which is to say, i have a direction and i am pursuing it, the classes at the moment are interesting and appropriate, and the troublesome emphasis on "research methods" has been cast aside in favour of omg, actually making work, talking about work, engaging in class-directed group discussions. All of a sudden it feels way more communal and exciting. (Note: the word exciting can be read both as "lively and enjoyable", or "provoking extreme anxiety.") In theory/criticism, the class (about 15 students) oscillates from half-asleep silence to witticism showdowns.
The other unit "Art Practice Seminar" is much the same. I suspect that this increase in verbal input has a lot to do with the fact that "PARTICIPATION" is now 20% of our marks. Sad, innit? The competitive students suddenly stand out. And yep, i'm one of them.
Speaking of, i'm going to smash this assignment now or i'll go bloody insane.
P.S. I went to the opera last night!! Took me a while to get into it because i was gnawing my lips over this impending bloody tutorial, but it was good. It was a double bill, Pagliacci stood out because the leading chick was a fantastic singer and comic actress, also the story line is fucked up, the character Tonio was revolting and animalistic (he's a perverted hunchback dude) and Pagliaccio was terrifying and OMG the singer had the most powerful voice, and his face was covered in bloood and he was beating up his wife and stuff, and (i didn't know the storyline beforehand) the only uncertainty was which of the characters was going to get killed off first. (It was Nedda, then her lover Silvio, then Pagliaccio stabbed himself. 3 dead characters out of 6 isn't bad odds.)
(* he's a patriotic bloke.
** Go to the website of the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, click on BROADSHEET, click on Vol 38 no.3, the article "Art Is Not Research" by Adam Geczy is the one i'm doing. But Broadsheet is a great magazine in general and I spent TOO many hours (see, tangential.) reading other articles from other issues. It is an arts mag that has been described as a "publication of complaint", so you're sure to find some interesting opinions on art and stuff. Generally it's going "this gallery is shit, the art is sometimes okay, Australia is pathetic.")