Approaching graduation, I find myself thinking about my years at art school and the things I’ve learned there.
We had this assignment in my first ever class at SAIC. It was a reading that basically said (at least, this is my memory of it 4 years later) just because it’s art that doesn’t mean it’s good. Looking back it was the perfect article for a first year class—welcome to art school you young punks. It’s a perspective I now take for granted. At the time, however, I remember it coming as a bit of a blow. It certainly went against a lot of what I thought of artmaking at the time.
The reading was “frivolity and unction” from Dave Hickey’s book Air Guitar.
The art of self promotion is a funny one. It has been fun to watch personal icons develop. Myspace is littered with alluring women and attention getting animated jerkiness.
I came across the greatest personal icon I have ever seen. It is the entire movie Terminator 2, beginning and end credits included. And it loops for eternity.
A friend showed me this video a while back. It illustrates and provides a good example for something happening on a larger scale, something referred to as The Loudness War. And now a quote from the glorious wikipedia:
The phrase loudness war (or loudness race) refers to the music industry’s tendency to record, produce and broadcast music at progressively increasing levels of loudness each year to create a sound that stands out from others and the previous year.
I designed my own written language for the final for a Graphic Design class. It was a lot of fun, making up words with no meaning and establishing rules for grammar that don’t need to be enforced. I got a lot out of the project so I thought I would share it with you. Here are some designery words from the syllabus outlining the assignment:
Project 3: Modular System of Forms
Use a grid as a design and production tool
Generate varied forms from the same grid
Design forms that are distinct yet visually related
Resolve formal and aesthetic issues through experimentation
Practice hand and/or computer skills
My language is comprised of nine characters and the style reminds me of those cool symbols that the predator has on his arm computer. A student in my class pointed out today that they look like constellations.
