and today is a new day
That’s what I thought to myself, sitting on the bench in the corner of the Aughinbaugh gallery and looking at our newly completed and open senior show. It’s a new day because I’m done with my project.
Watching it sway and reflect in the lobby is amazing — there it is, a whole, completed object, not just a vague picture in my brain. Everyone else can see it! My critique group, my professors, who have for so long endeavored to visualize this project, who have taken all my reassurances about how this project really would work on faith, they can all see it!
And I feel a sense of rest and a willingness to let go of the project and let it be finished and let everyone else’s reactions wash over me, because I did my absolute best to make it a stunning installation.
During the last few marathon days, skipping almost every class, standing on top of a bucket lift 19 feet in the air (before this project I would’ve confessed to queasiness when confronted with heights) and wrestling with hardware I barely understand, I realized that if art is about problem solving (and believe me, it is!), then it is also about dogged optimism. Because you can’t solve problems if you don’t have a persistent belief that the problems can be solved somehow, with the resources you have at hand, by you.
Luckily I’m surrounded by people who understand and accept my dogged personality that sometimes just does not know how to give quarter.
And I’m so excited for tomorrow night, the reception and official gallery opening. My family arrives this afternoon, my grandmother and aunt arrive sometime tonight, along with my best-friend-since-we-were-12 and her mom. And all of my campus friends will see the exhibit tomorrow, too. And then we will celebrate like we have suddenly been relieved of a gigantic burden.
Filed under general | Comment (0)who drives out the cold?
Spring break starts in two days. I’m returning to the sunny (mostly) land of Alabama to see my family, so I won’t be posting again until approximately March 28.
I’ve got to say. I’m glad to be nearing break. I’m exhausted. Between trying my best to finish senior show and trying my best to finish the rough draft of my writing seminar capstone paper that’s due tomorrow, on top of all those little assignments in all my other classes and working, I’ve used up all my energy.
Messiah’s a great college, and that means your professors will not make your time here easy. Although I should also qualify that by saying a few rare professors have a great sense of grace and will help you find ways to fit your work load into your life better (Professor Perrin).
If I have learned one thing from the past four years of demanding scholarship, it is that the single greatest skill for college survival is getting enough sleep. I mean, who wants to function on only 75% brain capacity?
Let’s cross our fingers for great weather, relaxation, and yes, catching up on our homework over spring break.
My dad recently acquired 26 trees to plant in our three-acre yard, so I’m anxious to see the changed landscape of home.
Filed under general | Comment (1)was it george washington who had fake teeth made of hippo?
Wednesday was the Department of Visual Arts spring field trip. Luckily for us, it fell right in the middle of a warm spell, so we enjoyed sunny, blue skies and 60 degree walks through the city. A few of the cherry trees were budding out, too.
Maybe you can tell me: why doesn’t the mall (that’s what everyone else called it. . . I call it “the general vicinity around the National Gallery and the Hirshorn Museum and the Smithsonian and things like that”) have more awesome little cafes and places to eat? Oh, well. I’d brought a sandwich, so picnicking outside in the wonderful weather posed no hardship.
Normally I don’t like field trips. I don’t like to be thrown out of my element, required to navigate a strange city (my sense of navigation is terrible at the best of times), robbed of my volition regarding when I arrive in the city and when I leave the city, and required to hang out with large groups of people whom I may or may not know or like and see exhibits I may or may not be interested in simply because I’m afraid to go wandering off on my own (seriously, I got lost in Mechanicsburg once before, which is literally two miles away from campus and has one main street. My fear of navigating a city is understandable).
But this field trip was a lot of fun. I hung out with Megan, whom I love but don’t see all the time because we’re both art majors preparing for our senior shows. Also, my boyfriend decided to drive down and see museums, too (his flexibility really makes me want to work freelance when I grow up!). So the three of us enjoyed beautiful weather, making fun of the art history canon, and genuinely enjoying a lot of gorgeous art.
And then we came back in time for dinner. So it wasn’t even a ridiculously long day!
I actually wished today that we had been able to spend more time in the city looking at art. Now that I’m above board with my combativeness and the way I don’t really like a lot of the accepted-as-great art historical pieces even though I appreciate their importance — now that all of that has happened, I find myself able to deal more constructively with the work that I see and think about the ways it has affected or could affect my work in positive ways. There were a lot of good exhibits, including some video art (one, called “The way things go,” was my favorite), a non-typical Jackson Pollock that I loved. . . and a lot of other things we didn’t get to see.
Maybe next semester I’ll skip the New York City trip (which is always way too long and exhausting) and take a day trip to DC or Baltimore instead.
Countdown to spring break: 7 days
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