Damn! I knew this would happen. Somewhat diligent tracking
of the class till time runs short and its DAYS to account for. The Happening
material actually propelled us into the next section of the course dedicated to
body and narrative material. This section was designed to provide students with
examples and inspiration for the third project. Since Chris Burden and Vito
Acconci were first up we started that day with an Exercise in which the
students split into groups to come up with a game, movement, process, etc
designed to make others uncomfortable. Wow! This one worked out well. Totally
different from what I had expected. Lots of touching and whispering, closeness
and some invasions of privacy. A nice balance. The point being that we can
discuss how an uncomfortable experience can also be a memorable and interesting
one. After that we chatted a bit about the work of the two artists. The next
class it was Carolee Schneemann and Karen Finley – both shocking in their own
right – but also gave us an opportunity to discuss gender expectations. Tim
Miller and Marina Abramovic rounded out
the pack. Great discussion of Tim’s work, some of which we watched on video,
and a nice interview with Abramovic.
These three days lead
to fall break and then, upon return, we dove into project number three. I have
really tried to structure these project courses so they build toward something
and setting aside three days in class to shape and develop the projects seemed
to work as a bridge form the earlier material. This project really scared me,
especially after the examples of Burden, Acconci and Finley. I had nightmares
of students getting shot, masturbating, or parading around naked. So, yea, I
deliberately placed the development of these projects within eyesight. We
started with the ideogram idea that the SITI folks assigned in the summer
workshop – take a specific idea, distill it to its simplest essence, and find a
way to have it embodied by members of your group. The presentation of these
were interesting, but really just a sketch to move to the next step – which was
writing down ideas that cycled around the images. The next class was devoted to
fusing images and text with the following class set aside for presentation.
Many of the pieces
were richer and more fleshed out than I had thought would happen. Some great
overlaps in ideas and techniques – particularly in how much the body was used
as an object to be manipulated. This was the first time I have ever given that
kind of space in class to developing projects – well – with me checking in on
them and prompting to the next steps anyway. Because of the subject matter – I
encouraged them to pick something they were passionate about or genuinely
interested in exploring – many of the pieces were quite personal. Which as set
up kind of a quandary for me. The project-based courses were designed to
explore ideas within the context of an art school, but not to produce works of
art. The performance art stuff is really starting to lean that way,
particularly for certain students. I explained today that if this were an arts
class we would break each piece down and discuss what ideas were clear and what
we thought worked and what could use some shaping. But, this isn’t an arts class.
Students execute these projects to understand more about the artists and ideas
we have been discussing. I’m not sure how to find my way out of this at this
point, but we will see what the next project holds. Social Action – the first
shot across the bow was the Situationists and Joseph Beuys.
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