Day Two

Futurism. I wrestled with where to start this class. Jarry would have made a fine beginning, but with only 13 ½ weeks and 6 projects something needed to go. So – the next best thing was to start with the Futurists. Great conversation today – students really seemed to get the point beyond just offending or annoying its audience. The engagement factor seemed to play a big part in our conversation today. We discussed the idea of dynamism and simultaneity and also unpacked the idea of destroying museums and libraries and what was intended with this gesture. All of this was captured in the notion of a manifesto defining itself against something. Not purely anti-art, but anti-entrenchment, anti-ossification, anti-stuck-in-the-past. The Russolo material continued this conversation into a discussion of sound. It’s amazing how much our contemporary sound pallet has changed since I started teaching this material. The noise factor seemed to be isolated to industrial and fringe material, but has been pulled into the center. This is qualified, however, by the aetheticization of these sounds – weaving them into a recognizable musical structure. These should be interesting bits to carry through the rest of the term. This seemed to work as good introductory material.

Day One

OK – well day one seemed to go well, although I may have terrified more than inspired. Increasingly I want students to know up front what a  project-based course means. This has gone beyond the rap about participating and no place to hide in the classroom to include a bit about how the course will be graded. I find the whole “no child left” thing instilled a desire, no, a need, to be graded and testes seemingly all the time. Not for all students, but some really need to periodic kick of a grade. Far too carrot and stick for me, so I explain a bit about the type of feedback they will receive. I simply can’t place a letter or numerical grade on the projects – you either execute the project or you don’t. So – after the long, long chat about the syllabus and grading and the content of the course and so on we got up on our feet and, well – the standard – name, what you study and something interesting about yourself. I must say – some interesting things to remember people by. After we played a brief word game in which students draw an unusual word out of a glass and then come up with a definition for it. This was somewhat successful – but the failing was not to have a separate word for each student. Only about ½ -2/3rds volunteered to join the game. The next class we will do something that will involve everyone. Looking forward to chatting about the Futurists on Thursday.

Syllabus is done

Well it has been ten long years since I last offered the Performance Art class. I have been thinking about ripping the class apart and rebuilding it on the project-based framework for some time. Tim Miller’s return to campus last year was just the kick I needed to pull the trigger. Given the nature of the material, approaching it the way Bob and I approached the Generative Art class makes a great deal of sense. My only concern is that this material can get, well can get a bit weird. In the past my goal with the class was to discover the student’s boundaries – at what point will they no longer accept something as a work of art. For some that is a fairly accessible line, for others, a bit more complex. Ultimately a discussion of Chris Burden or Orlan was usually enough to send most students round the bend. But with the project approach, as opposed to the seminar approach, I am a but squeamish about pushing on this line. Not that finding it is a bad thing, but if I am holding up these artists and their works as inspiration for the projects I am concerned with how far some students will take these ideas. The typical instructions of: No open flames, no endangering students, no destruction of UNCSA property my not be enough to ward off – well – damn near anything. So, I have constructed the class in the typical project way – readings lead to projects lead to discussion lead to more readings and projects, but taken what I foresee as the most complex section on body and narrative and created an in-class project – mainly so I can keep an eye on everything. The students will still have the same level of flexibility and individual input, but at least with this project, they will also be surrounded by other students. Can’t wait to see how it plays out.