American Arts and CAC

American Arts- i'll be talking tonight, so i'll keep it short and sweet here. or at least short. i found one blog post that stood out to me for a couple of reasons. mostly, "how important is what we do". for the full report, attend cyberped, tonight at 6 pm in McLean.

CAC- i need someone else's opinion on this. my personal experiences with buy-in artist clubs has been a little less than satisfying. we'll chat.

Hmmm

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/us/06formspring.html?hp

Mess Hall, Walker AC, Three-Walls

Mess Hall- I loved the map of peoples' function in the organization. I'm not sure how helpful it is, but as an artwork, it's awesome. I'm also really interested in hierarchies in work environments, so this was funny and refreshing in its format--aka not a pyramid.
Also, I'm taking a class with one of these people next semester. Anybody understand the Jam website? I am a little confused. Interested, but I need to think about it a lot more. I might make y'all talk about it on Tuesday.
Walker AC- The weekly drawing club, as part of the Open Field project, is so amazing. I was part of a class that incorporated this kind of practice during my undergrad. It was a great stress reliever and totally changed the way I look at ownership of work/being social while working.
Three Walls- I talked a little with one of the people who works here (and is an SAIC professor, I think in the art history/criticism/fiber? department) I love the CPS Thinktank idea. To think, I can teach and still *gasp* be in contact with practicing artists? I wonder how teachers actually get involved though.

SFMOMAIMAEYELEVEL

SF MoMA blog- I fell in love with the first post I saw. It was a five question interview with Allison Smith. I clicked on the link and it took me to Wikipedia. Awesome!! And the first link was Trench Art. Reading this was really really interesting. This morning, V asked me how the boys respond when I ask them to sew for a lesson. This link provides evidence that wounded soldiers, at least during WWI, were encouraged to embroider as part of the recovery process. Interesting and anti-stereotypical context for sewing. I like!!
Also, there's something addictive about the 5 questions format. It's so beautifully organized. It appeals to that little piece of me that enjoys taking multiple choice tests and organizing binders (sorry guys) but I think it's also the same drive that makes me enjoy repetitive process art making. Obsessive sewing?

IMA- clever name. IMAMuseum. Honestly, sorry but my next thought was "There's a museum in Indie?" My apologies to anyone from Indiana. Next immediate thought was that the first page was not as seductive as SF MoMa's, but I guess that's an unfair comparison. I clicked on the education tab, and stumbled across a post on making the museum accessible. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Why is there a Miss Wheelchair Indiana? Why can't we think that a person using a wheelchair is beautiful or capable or whatever beauty queens are of being just Miss Indiana? Counter examples welcome. Please. http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2010/03/29/the-as-of-ima/#more-11602

Eye Level-interesting idea. A printed wiki. I wonder how had it is for her to let go of authorship like that. and how much she'll make final edits. I'm struggling with ideas of ownership over words and information. hmmm... food for thought.

Artless Wednesdays

http://myitf.org/news/regional-and-state/1878-qartless-wednesdaysq-will-show-life-without-art-in-pa
I still can't make a link work. I copied and pasted the whole thing in the insert link pop up. what am i doing wroooooooong? I can text to my blog now though!!

This is a link to an article on artless Wednesdays...I just don't know how effective it is. Most places I've been don't have particularly active art communities. Oh well. There ya go!

Tired

Does anybody else get kind of tired after a day of observations? I feel better after teaching, but for some reason, observations leave me really exhausted. I sometimes wonder if I'll make it through a full day of teaching, let alone a week. Agree? Disagree? Words of encouragement?

Is this working yet?

I texted this... I think?

Carrot Revolution, Prosarts, Youthlearn

Carrot Revolution is pretty fun. I like the categories or tags on the left side to sculpture, painting, etc. I can look at what's interesting. I looked at sculpture first. I was a little annoyed with the use of a fish eye lens to document the sculpture garden. Frustrating! But other than that, I like that the entries are short and sweet. If i want more info, I can look it up. also, love the toilet paper roll faces and the green ribbon girl teapot! Maybe I just like the layout because it's run from google so I'm used to the setup...

Pros Arts is a little wordy, but other than that it seems so cool! I love that at the bottom of every tab there is contact information to schedule a show or get more information. And there's still a calendar and contacts tab. It's fairly easy to read and understand what they do. Well done. I would be interested in knowing more about the specific programs or lessons to integrate art and science.

Youth Learn seems like a pretty interesting database of resources. The activities tab might be particularly helpful. We're always looking for lesson plans.

BUGGY!!!!

to use Jean's word, this is cyberdundant, and I'm not so sure on the video quality, but here ya go
klk64.com/buggy
Fringe swept with first place in men's and women's races! Woot!

ugh! just copy and paste. everytime i go to insert a link, it becomes invisible in the actual post. any thoughts?

EVC and Street Level

EVC seems like a lot of fun, and they’re doing something good. I loved the YO-TV program idea. I have a couple of issues with the “who you know is more important than what you know” thing and with the whole college to work system, to water it down a lot, but this program creates opportunities for really talented kids who can’t go to college for whatever reason to get their foot in the door for what they want to do. At least that’s how the site makes it sound. I hope it’s really that effective and that these students get called back after their internships!

Street Level- Hooray for bringing the after-school (fun) education into the classroom! Classes don’t have to be boring!

The coolest typographic self-portrait I ever made

Also, the only one!

Art 21, ChicagoArtMag, ArtLetter

I love Art 21! except for the intro to every episode with the stupid buzzing cell phone. But the actual shows are great. If you get them via Hulu or the library, you can bypass the buzz. It's interesting to try to interpret what some artists mean when they talk.

ChicagoArtMagazine was fun too. It was remarkably similar to looking at a magazine's table of contents and the scrolling links across the top were like a cover. Clever. Check out the article "life after art school part 3". Reassuring.

ArtLetter seems like a time based publication to keep people up on gallery openings and shows. Seems pretty cool. I guess if the same people subscribe to this and go to the openings it creates a kind of community. It is always helpful to have all of your events organized on one piece of paper, instead of having to stay on top of every gallery's schedule. He's doing it for us... or at least that's what it seemed like.

Sewing

I'm starting to wonder if I'm using my favorite media as a crutch...uh oh!

Community Arts and CAPE

The first article on Community Arts caught my eye. Jean had told us recently about her work with prisoners, so I was drawn to the book "By Heart". When I read the excerpt, I was first floored by the vivid language and wanted my lit review to sound like that. Thinking about my lit review, I began to wonder why the use of words makes me so nervous. Sometimes writing almost seems like a punishment, but really, words are a kind of power. They let us better recognize nuances in how we see the world and communicate those to other people. Maybe I should resent writing assignments a little less. I hope I can acquire a love for writing and words like this. I mean sometimes when I write it works out, but it's usually a happy accident that I'm not sure how to replicate.

How is SAIC affiliated with CAPE? it sounds like we totally stole their philosophy on teaching...

OH DEER!

please use this space to let me know how you think the two Bambi's got to the 7th floor?

Collaborative Project Seeks Participation

somewhere in the 7th floor lounge.

AREA Chicago, Chicago Art Dept, and Stockyard

AREA Chicago is awesome! All free, all published online. I do wish there were PDF's. I'm not sure how to cite these things in APA format and I wanna use some of it! If you have any ideas, let me know. I can do periodicals, and websites, and web articles, but what exactly is this?

Chicago Art Dept. The videos bother me a bit. Mostly because my computer isn't really capable of playing videos anymore. If there were a nursing home for computers, she might hafta go, but it still functions for the basics, so I can't see buying a new one...Kinda like I can't figure out WHY a functional refrigerator would be headed to the dump in the first place, but way to go project Re-Fridge for being logical about the situation.

Stockyard reminded me of a super upscale and professional version of a project I worked on in PGH. Ours was through a class, but it was called Tent Show at the time. I think it morphed into Waffle Shop. They aren't one and the same, but the same artist/prof was involved with both. I don't know if he's still involved or if it's pretty much student run now, but it was an initiative to make our "art in context" classes actually happen in context. The semester I was involved, we opened an at-cost coffee shop and had an open call talent show (its harder to get performers than you would expect!) Now it seems like waffle shop is hosting talk shows and has a blog and wow. But anyway, Stockyard is great. Walks the border between art and life. It's art because it proposes a different way of life?? Not that it matters what we label it or anything...


okay, I tried to put them in as links, but it just disappeared altogether. Any suggestions?
http://www.tentshow.org/
http://www.waffleshop.org/

Doris Salcedo

is an amazing artist. Her lecture was beautiful. Wonderful thoughts on the impotence of art. Check out the pod-cast. It should be somewhere on the SAIC website. Though that's clearly helpful.

NWA

I love NWA (Neighborhood Writing Alliance) These writers are brilliant!!

Love

I might be in love with badatsports.com i don't know what makes this so different from the other blogs we've looked at, it seems less professional or institutional somehow. It seems like its coming from the perspective of a real person who took it upon themselves to become an art critic outside of the elite art loop. There are shock stories, and weird art, and all around weird stuff (I need to see this talking piano for real! Does that fall into the category of robotics/programming/art? the person who made that happen is a GENIUS) I think that must be what it is. This doesn't sound like a museum. It sounds like a person. And yay for videos and the setup just bouncing you back to the main page. I can navigate this.
I might also be in love with storycorps. i'm a sucker for sentimentality. I know I should probably be more critical, but these stories are beautiful. I think I have a new e-addiction. Okay but not more than three in a row, I think I'm crying.
for a museum site, i can't complain about the mca. it leaves me whlemed, not overwhelmed. i'm not afraid of it.

Art of the Steal and other news

Why do we have class on Wednesday???? I want to see this really badly. Until I read this blog, I had no idea this was going on. I never liked Philly or Ed Rendell, but this has taken it to a whooooole new level. At the same time though, I wonder about the price per ticket if it were to move to Philly, at the Barnes foundation now, it's $15. Why does art have to be big business? It makes me really sad. I showed in a gallery one time, and they told me I had to increase the price so as not to undercut the market. I'm sorry, I didn't know there was an elite art market in Harrisburg. Also, why should there be? If anyone can explain the logic of the art market, please chime in.

Sasafrass Tea

If you ever decide to make it, use the roots of the tree, not the leaves. The leaves are toxic to humans.

Deleted

LionShare (we are so CLEVER!)

Blythe Lancaster & Brittanie Wine
CyberPed-Museum Interactive Proposal

“Don’t stay in the gallery longer than your child’s interest can be sustained,” warns the video on how to make the most of your museum visit with a small child. But have you ever been to the museum with a teen or even an early twenty-something who was not an art student? We are not entirely sure that their interest can be sustained much longer. This proposal is probably a little out there for the Art Institute of Chicago, and for issues of both legality and reputation, they would likely have some trouble implementing it, but we propose it as an alternative and possibly less intimidating way to interact with art and other museum goers.
We give you (drumroll please) LionShare, the Facebook or Myspace for the works in the Art Institute of Chicago. This is a website, accessible through the already established website for the Art Institute, and it would be available to computers outside of the museum as well as on the kiosks within the museum. Users have the option to create a profile and log in as a member, or to post anonymously, signed in as a guest. For those who wish to set up a member profile while in the museum, the kiosks will incorporate a photo-booth feature, allowing visitors to take a quick picture of themselves and superimpose it on a selection of “backgrounds” (artworks from the museum’s collection). Members or guests will view a live-feed homepage of comments and will be able to sign in to post their own.
Each work in the museum’s collection will have a profile page, much like a person would have on Facebook or Myspace. These would be created by highly paid interns from the Art Education Department at SAIC. They will include the information that would typically be found in the wall text that accompanies the work, but this is as “museum” as it gets.
From the live-feed page, members or guests can post a comment directly to the page without referencing a specific work. If a person chooses to reference a specific work, a thumbnail image of the work will be posted to the left of the comment. When others view the page, they will be able to enlarge the thumbnail and click on it to go to that particular artwork’s profile.
Comments that reference a specific work will also be posted directly to the artwork’s profile. Once members or guests are on the artwork’s profile page, they can engage directly in dialogue about that specific work with other site visitors at home or in the museum.
Best of all, there is no overseeing museum censor. Of course, there will be a terms of use agreement, but comments can be quick, personal, humorous or angry. Conversation is sometimes discouraged in a museum, with the notion that it should be a place for study or silent introspection. Perhaps, there is a certain embarrassment to make a “wrong” interpretation out loud in public. We propose a site for silent collaborative and organic meaning-making—it will not disturb quiet visitors and provides a low-risk space for conversation. Perhaps, if people are less intimidated and enter the work though a site that could be entertaining, as well as informative, more people, specifically teens and young adults will be willing to engage with the art. Hopefully this format will be more inviting to people who would do not feel comfortable conversing in the physical museum space with its rules of appropriate conduct and commentary.

Side note

Fiesta Ware butter knives are insanely sharp. Any suggestions for fun band-aids? I'm partial to neon if anybody knows where I can get them, since it's not 1993.

I think I have a problem

I enjoyed exploring Craig's blog. Lots of resources. He's like the 411 for art ed online. The portal and CPS...hmmm historically my two absolute FAVORITE sites. (note the dripping sarcasm)I'm getting used to the portal, as long as I only have to use it to download readings or post for class discussions, but if we're using the Ning for that, and it works better, I'd rather just phase out the portal so I only need to remember to look in one place. And I hate SAIC e-mail. I mean, sometimes my e-mails are received and sometimes not. It was a problem as I was applying for a TA position this summer and three weeks went by before I realized they never got my resume. Nice. And on CPS, I remember trying to find schools in which to observe as a person new to the city. The school search by location feature was pretty helpful, but I kept imagining what it would be like to be a parent who just moved to the area and was trying to find a school for a child. It's probably reflective of the whole setup, but talk about information overload!

Now, back to my problem. I think I need to just start visiting all of the blogs on the syllabus a couple times a week, starting now. I'm really overwhelmed when I try to explore a site in one sitting. Facebook took me three years! I tend to just read today's posts, or down to where I stopped reading last on any of the blogs I follow. I do find myself addicted after that but I think I need to build a relationship with the sites that way, instead of trying to cram before class.

On b.a. profs and high expectations

I heart teachers with attitude. High expectations yield high performance. Seeing it happen reminds me why I want to teach. I gotta be "meaner"

Brooklyn Museum blog/ NAEA

check out these 2 posts! Wonder if the album cover could be adapted for the classroom? The coolest part though, I think is the total lack of direction and people's willingness to engage anyway. People like to make stuff!

oh, and play I spy.

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/community/blogosphere/bloggers/category/education/

the NAEA site is so well-designed. It's organized, I know what I'm looking at, and it's easy to find the tabs I want to look at. The colors are great. My favorite is the e-portfolios. So nice of practicing teachers to post their mission statements, especially since we hafta write one soon... I'll be bookmarking this.

On the subject of table saws and time limits

20 minutes is not sufficient for changing a Dado blade, and cutting a rabbit if you've never done it before.

aic and museum two resources

I wish Blythe and I had done our homework in the opposite order! We came up with ideas similar to these sites, but it would've been a lot easier to let them do the work for us! I particularly like the interactive aspect of the blog where visitors can ask questions, and i love that whenever a museum is mentioned, it's a link to the museum site.

Valentine's Pancakes

You'll hafta check FB. The images take too long to upload to here. Any suggestions?

Root Canals

There is bleach involved. Yes, Clorox bleach. Hey, it's a disinfectant. And actually, you're not supposed to know that.

What's the BIG IDEA?

No really, help me out here. Does anyone know what the "big idea" is?

Seriously?!

The nauseating side of art.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/giacometti-bronze-breaks-world-record-auction-price/?hp

This is a Secret

Once, I made an art project where I published my scandalous secrets on tee shirts and gave them to the class as gifts. There is at least one person in Chicago who has (and wears) one.