Open Enrollment | Desecrated Priorities
It’s the last two weeks of the semester and I should be focusing all my time and energy on finishing final projects and worrying about what to submit to the upcoming school show, but instead I packed my bags and headed upstate to perform at a gamelan concert in Oneonta, NY.
ITP Spring Show 2011: A two-day exhibition of recent works by the students of ITP
Considering how behind I am on my work, I shouldn’t have left. I barely made a deadline last week and presented a half-finished video collage based on La Tentation de St. Antoine by Georges Méliès, a seasonably appropriate homework for Easter. The original film, made in 1898, was a brilliant piece of cinematic wizardry in which actors performing before a painted set would appear and disappear through clever choreography and editing. In my version, I worked with Geetha Pedapati to play every character and animated the scenes through digital means.
Open Enrollment | I Do Art, Here’s My Card: A Trip to SXSW
I have a pretty set routine that very delicately balances work and school, sandwiching meals and sleep somewhere in the nooks and crannies of my schedule. So my friends and colleagues were pretty caught off guard when I told them I was hitting up South by Southwest (SXSW) for spring break this year.
The lure of a festival that combines my three great passions — interactive media, film and music — was just too great to ignore, but I wasn’t sure if I could afford either the time or the cost. Though I started planning months in advance, I was ready at any moment to cancel the flight and refused to pack until the night before. It didn’t really sink in until I got off the plane, touched down in Austin, Texas, and shed my winter coat.
From "The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger" (2010) by Bill Plympton
In order to waive the registration fees for a badge that lets me attend interactive and film events, I had to volunteer over 60 hours during the festival. Basically, I worked the equivalent of a full-time and a part-time job during my supposed vacation. But shaking hands with Bill Plympton after his panel on the plight of the indie animator made it all worth it. Not even awkwardly handing him a twenty for his autograph on a sketch of a cow could ruin that magical moment.
Open Enrollment: The Considerable Goodness of Being Led Astray
I found my way into graduate school because I believed it would be something I would enjoy. On nights like this, when I look at my calendar and realize that I’m booked until August with assignments due, books to read, and people to impress, I begin to have doubts. But I can’t complain. This is what I asked for.
It has been a long process to get here. In my first attempt, I applied to seven writing programs and promptly received seven rejections. I moped around for weeks, further insulted at work because my duties included sending out acceptance letters to prospective law school students.
"Wisdom of the East," fresco mural in Jefferson Hall, East-West Center, Honolulu, by Affandi (Javanese, 1907-1990), 1967
I was determined to try again. But while revising my essays for the next attempt, I realized I gushed a lot about how visual artists, not writers, influenced me. I fully quoted the late Javanese artist Affandi in an attempt to explain why I do what I do.
We call it “Panggilan Jiwa – the calling of the soul.”[sic] Whether I get a name or not, whether my painting is sold or not, really does not matter. To do the painting is the thing. I have to do it. — Affandi
Open Enrollment: Master of the Healing Arts
For many years, I was set on becoming a doctor of sorts. I had done an undergraduate thesis in experimental psychology, was doing research at a hospital, and on my way to getting a clinical degree. But at some point, I realized my favorite part of working in science was not theorizing which part of the brain did what or analyzing data and making sense of chaos. No. I really enjoyed manipulating brain scans to make them look pretty. I liked how cool and futuristic EMG caps look. I loved designing posters and presentation slides so much that I submitted half-assed research papers to conferences just so I could fire up Photoshop and InDesign. So when it came time to apply to graduate school, I decided to pursue a degree in the arts.
The writer as a guinea pig for a cognitive neuroscience experiment.
At times I felt guilty about leaving the scientific world and wondered if I made the right decision. Art school could be considered a selfish venture. What good is making works of splendor when there’s so much damage in the world? There’s pain to be subdued. There are afflictions to look into. Why shouldn’t I devote my life to crunching numbers and connecting statistical dots with illnesses?
