December 10, 2012

End of the Semester

As the semester winds down and I start to regain some sanity, I've been thinking over the amount of information I've gathered in such a short time period. I'm exhausted and in need of a break. Over the winter holiday, I'll be putting together a presentation set to happen in February at Temple Contemporary (Tyler's art gallery.) The presentation will be a way for me to disseminate some of my findings and to localize this effort within Philadelphia. 

In about two weeks, I'll be going back to California to stay with a friend of mine and do a bit of relaxing. While over there I plan to speak with the artist Amy Franceschini from future farmers. My friend and I also plan to take a road trip up to Portland, where hopefully, I'll get to visit Portland State University and hear about their social practice program. 

A professor of mine recommended that I move away from these artists for a while. That I try and focus on my own work, and my process of making. She gave me a few fiction books to read over break. I've already been eager to jump into them, fantasizing about sitting in a leather chair, book on my lap, hot tea in my hand. 

This semester has been rough in dealing with whether to be more of an academic or more of an artist. Different classes pulled me different ways, and often I felt torn at the center. My mind trying to wrap around various disciplines and discourses. If I look back on some of my past projects from the semester, I am relatively happy with where I've gotten. Perhaps, it is not my best work... and maybe I shouldn't have taken six classes... but I've learned a lot. 


In November, I spoke with the artist Peggy Diggs and we had a really wonderful mentoring session/ conversation. Since I am in a state of catching up-- on sleep, on finals, on blog posts, the re-cap of that session will be left to a later date. 

Cool site: