Hello world.
Today I registered for my fall MFA courses.Because of the pandemic, they will be offered online but sometimes offline, if we are near and we desire. Online learning is not my strong suit, but I’m going to make the best of it. My partner says it will be good for me, it will ease me into things.
In the past few years, whenever I start a new venture that involves going outside, it is difficult. I feel pins and needles and get hot and sweaty and am very tired and always late. Okay that has been on the go for more than a few years, more like my whole adult life, but I think of the Junction writing group and the comics group the most. In the past few years it has gotten more difficult, I say it is because I have been both always around another person but also never around other people, and always at home. That is why I felt an MFA was right for me; I was missing community but without institutional boundaries the opportunities I had me feel very exposed and in danger.
Not only am I anxious in public and around other people, but I’ve learned my physical sensations are not psychosomatic but a result of physical chronic pain. It is no wonder I am always in fight flight or freeze mode.
While online learning has its own challenges, at least some of my physical difficulties will be manageable. I have faith that in developing my studio practice I have learned the necessity of structure, routine and discipline. I also have my own apartment now, with privacy, and a small dedicated workspace.
What are my goals for this year? In the fall semester I am taking Contempoary Research Methods with Barbara Rauch (GGRA-6002) and Critical Theory Seminar with M. Ordonez. (GGRA-6003), both 0.5 credits each. Students in the full time program are also taking a 1 credit studio course that I will do in my second year. I am concerned about how being part time will make me disconnected from my cohort, but I am trying to be optimistic, maybe being exposed to and working with more students will be good for me. However, looking at the course codes for my classes this year it looks like I will be studying with people outside my program (GGRA course codes vs IAMD codes).
Barbara Rauch is the program director of IAMD, with studies in digital arts including 3d printing, sculpting, analysis, and emotion and consciousness studies. The following is from her bio: “[…]In the lab we aim to designate an alternative format of acknowledging research by instigating discourse around the topic of emotion in artistic practice.” Contemporary Research Methods will look at studio practices and scholarly analysis of those practices, I expected it will involve practice-based research. Related: e-Motion, Emergent Surfaces: Tacit Creativity.
Maria Belén Ordóñez has a background in social anthropology and research interests in feminist theory, experimental ethnography and body politics. From her bio: “Her research broadly explores unofficial channels of public pleasure, desire, affect and corporeal politics in explorations of alternative sexual citizenships, the destabilization of heteronormativity and the formation of media publics.” Critical Theory Seminar will involve analysing texts, issues and discourses, I expect it will be primarily writing/reading. Related: femtechnet.org.
In my own time I would like to focus on establishing a means of documenting process by taking video of my practice and uploading it to youtube on a weekly basis. This kind of documentation helps me because it demands reflection on my work (voice over), creates a means of referencing past work in time, and generates visual material. It also helps with creating an audience and making my work a matter of public record without making that the primary goal, which would feel like strapping cement boots to my legs.
I would also like to develop my anatomy knowledge and drawing skills. This is a good practice for warmups. However, I want my process of making during this time to be a therapeutic support, so whatever makes me feel good and keeps me making really.
In addition to creating videos, I am going to start have a blog that will support my research. It’s good for me to have a dedicated thought dump, I know I’m going to read and write a whole lot any way and it’s better to have it organized and searchable that not.
In the winter semester I will take 1-2 elective courses. Right now I am thinking Indigenous & Decolonial Practices with Peter Morin (IAMD-6021) and an intaglio/relief course. However, I have added the following five courses are of interest to me: Senses in Artistic Practice (VISA-4007), Doubt & Paradox (SOSC-4002), Print: Beyond the Wall (PRNT-4006), Advanced Digital Bronze Casting (FABR-4001), Contemporary Alchemy Matter (DRPT-4005).
In the summer semester I would like to do a residency, having the support of an educational institution will be helpful in ripping this bandaid off. It would be helpful if I could drive a car by then.
First year expectations summary: first year will be primarily reading/writing. Self directed practice in therapeutic making and documentation/public record. Study: anatomy, deprioritizing visual knowing, 3D modeling, relief and intaglio printing. Learn to drive a car.
This August I am getting to know my studio, sitting in the park and beach doing watercolour/drawing, reading Depression: A Public Feeling and tackling my fall reading list.
Useful links:
Open Research Repository OCADU – OCAD University Open Research Repository is an open access platform to collect, preserve, distribute and promote scholarly output from the OCAD University community.
IAMD Program Guide [PDF] – Includes part time requirements.
VISA-4007: Senses in Artistic Practice While many of the senses are involved in the experience and production of art, little attention has been devoted by art historians and critics to the senses beyond vision. Savoury, tactile, aromatic and sonic sensations have been employed by artists since the birth of the avant-garde to not only enliven antiseptic gallery and museum spaces, but to address the subtle but powerful links between everyday life, aesthetic experience, and cultural meaning. This class will explore the senses – especially taste, touch, smell and hearing – and their use by contemporary artists. Artworks in a diverse range of media will be addressed, including interactive performances, immersive installations, audio art and synaesthetic technologies. Critical analysis of the hierarchy of the senses and ocularcentrism will be addressed, along with how engaging the senses invariably brings forward complex (and conflicting) attitudes toward the body, personal identity and social affiliation. Students with credit in VISA-4B20, VISC-4B20 may not take this course for credit.
SCIN-4002: Doubt & Paradox If belief has been responsible for transcendental wonder, doubt has fueled alternatives to the oppression of conventional habit. Doubt’s most effective tool has been paradox, with its playful challenge to the assumptions in common sense, and its veiled relationship to the problem of truth. Students are invited to research and discuss these themes in order to experiment with their application in the production of work. Students with credit in SCIN-4B06 may not take this course for credit.
PRNT-4006: Print: Beyond the Wall Explore non-traditional printmaking materials and challenge conventional processes by producing unique works using a variety of approaches, two and three dimensional, installation format, book and/or performance works. Methods of retrieving, appropriating and serializing are also explored through diverse cultural perspectives. Hands-on studio work is supplemented by group critiques, lectures and readings. Students with credit in PRNT-3002, PRNT-2B14, PRNT-3B16 may not take this course for credit.
FABR-4001: Adv. Dig. Bronze Casting This advanced studio course presents an in-depth approach to processes related to bronze casting and digital technology. Students are encouraged to link 3D technology (3D scanning and Rapid Prototyping; 3D printing and CNC) with their hands-on analogue expertise in the making of 3D works cast in bronze or aluminum. Students are exposed to creative approaches to fabricating through combining a new digital medium with a traditional lost wax process for metal casting. Students explore the relevance of both analogue and digital spatialenvironments, as they further develop their art and design practice. Students with credit in FABR-4B01 may not take this course for credit.
DRPT-4005: Contemporary Alchemy: Matter S Recognizing the animate nature of material, as well as it’s histories, impacts and limitations, this course explores the transformative nature of the painting process. Focussing on the importance of sustainable practices and material research through re-purposed, recycled and transfigured materials, spirit based teachings will be underscored as foundations for metamorphosis. Special emphasis is placed on the alteration and adaptation of manufactured and found materials, and in the value of writing as a tool to impel and inform the work. In consultation with faculty, students propose their subject matter and field of research through investigations utilizing a wide range of media to produce a single (or small body of) fully realized, titled and analyzed artwork. This course may be of particular interest as a support for Thesis project work. Students with credit in DRPT-4005, DRPT-4B06 may not take this course for credit.