The Plan

In about a week I have my assessments and this is my plan for when that ominous moment arrives: I have created six audio tracks and loaded them onto 6 separate MP3 players that will play them on repeat. The audio tracks are from the conversations i recorded on a dictaphone while the participators made paper beads. The six tracks have general, loose themes: politics, art, music/personal, relationships, culture/location and me. They will have headphones so that people can either sit down and listen to the past workshops, or converse me with, while either playing with the beads, or making their own. I have purchased 6 individual chairs that i felt like represented the feel of the conversations that were made.

What I feel that this project actively does is help people stop and concentrate on their own thoughts. In this fast-pased world where everything is information obsessed and interested in social networking instead of physical, social contact, The conversations that developed usually was from a direct influence of the "meaningful" thoughts that they wrote down in the beads, or visa versa.

 I have realized that this project is mainly a social one, where I tried to interact with the "audience" or "participators" in a more intimate and interested way than creating a piece of work myself in hopes that the public will find it important. Art is relevant to society and the art world has perverted it by making it elite and inaccessible for those who haven't had the same training or understanding in "art speak" which then makes the general public feel that either art is unattainable or not for them. I feel, from the general excitement from this project, is that it has proven that art is still accessible and relatable for everyone, and not just the illite.

Workshops in Beirut

For spring break I had the amazing opportunity to travel down to Beirut, Lebanon. While there I did a workshop with four college or post college-aged women. I brought snacks like crisps and biscuits to help the social feel, and we made around 100 beads altogether.

Newcastle

This weekend I was able to journey down to Newcastle and have a bead making workshop with a few MFA1 and 2 students at the art school there. I bought hummus and bread along with chocolate chip cookies while the 6 of them, british and americans, made beads and chit chatted about whatever came to their minds.

Something Meaningful Sites Continued

 After a few months of leaving the Something Meaningful social networking sites, I decided to get myself back into it even though they are no longer officially apart of my future MFA show. Many people have been interested in the progress and process of the work I have been doing and so therefor I feel I owe it to them to continue them. I have been taking photos of the workshops and posting them, also I have been listening to the conversations from the workshops and posting some of the things that had been spoken.

On top of that people from the United States have begun to send me their meaningful beads with explanations as to why they enjoyed making them. "I found the process of writing and rolling the paper to be very meditative." The addition of these beads I find adds a wonderful new layer to this project. 

Workshop Chats Compilations

Here are brief snippets of three of the workshops I've had so far. This is just merely an example of some of the things that were discussed.

A Death of an Idea

Last week I had a tutorial which unfortunately killed an idea I was excited about. I had decided that out of every bead workshop i did, that an image would come out of it. I would create the image from the beads that the people who joined my workshop made. However, I was told that regardless on how I might have felt about these images, I might just not get a good grade if i submit these. So rest in peace idea. Maybe I'll resurrect you someday.

The new idea is to use a dining room table, set it up like one of my workshops, and have six audio recordings from the conversations that were made from previous workshops. I then would lay out the beads that have already been made previously and a glass bowl in the center. I would hope and encourage people to touch/play/keep the beads and/or make new ones to place in the bowl. After every night I would weigh the beads and see how much was taken and given. I also plan on having people from previous workshops come back on the first opening days and join in on bead making.

I still have up to four possible workshops planned with one coming up this weekend in Newcastle. At the end of the month I plan to fly to Lebanon and will do a few workshops there. Hopefully I will be able to complete everything on time, which I'm sure is a very common worry amongst MFA2 students in the middle of March.

Workshops

The past week consisted of three workshops. The first workshop was held in my studio. I expected maybe three people to join me, but unfortunately only one person was able to make it. However, we decided to continue anyway and make beads together. I brought crisps and biscuits while i recorded our conversation while we made beads together. She stud around for about three hours and then we decided to perhaps try another workshop with more people in the future together. The gist of our conversation was mainly about art and the meaning of it. Specifically we spoke of about placing meaning into into otherwise meaningless things. I haven't figured out what image would match that conversation, but I am leaning towards something that has to do with a shrine. 

The second workshop I had was in my flat. I had three twenty something females come and i served tea and chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream. I recorded the conversation that we had with two dictaphones at each end of the table. The conversation that evolved ended up being a great deal about relationships and their general fears about being in one. They also stuck around for about thee hours. I have decided that the image that I would like to represent their conversation is the incubus in Fuseli's "The Nightmare" added with wings and horns to also represent the creature in Judaic mythology called  who represented the seven deadly sins. 

The final workshop that I've had so far had three twenty something males and one female. I offered them coffee, crisps and biscuits. Unlike the other two workshops the conversation was sporadic and lighthearted. It ended up being more about fun than debating or theorizing. It was good fun, and I was pleased that I received a vastly different reaction to this workshop than the others. They also lasted around three hours. I haven't fully re-listed to the conversation to make an assessment on the image that I wish to use. 

In todays society where young people hang out with each other in front of a tv with phone and laptops, or that the main mode of conversations is through chat rooms or messages, it is exciting to see people sit down and do monotonous work while connecting with each other. I have about four more possible workshops planned in the near future. I am excited to see how this project progresses further, and hopefully I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. 

Regarding the Group Critique Last Week

Last week we had a group critique which left me a little dumb struck, I'll admit. How this critique was supposed to be done was that we visit a student's studio, and while he or she remains silent, we observe their work for ten minutes, attempting to understand what exactly are they trying to do, and if they were perhaps successful. After that, the student responds to the comments, answering any questions made, and describing their work and process and little deeper for another ten minutes. Then I suppose the last ten minutes was supposed to be more of a helpful tip in steering them in the supposedly right direction. 

I have say that when I found out that this type of critique was going to happen this early in the game, I was a little confused. From what I can see with my work and the work of that majority of the MFA 1 and 2 students, they have not progressed far enough to help anyone to understand what is going on without any explanation at all. Once it came to be my turn I marveled at how the tutor and students seemed fixated on my process of drying the beads and transferring images as if that was the art, without feeling like I was able to tell them that it had nothing to do with the final product at all. 

On top of that, I found our tutor's "advice" to be derailing, unnecessarily aggressive and demotivating. I remember beginning to be surprised by her words when she told one of the students "It can't be as straightforward as that". Perhaps I am the only one who feels this way anymore, or perhaps its my cultural background or maybe I am a little old fashioned, but I have always felt that regardless of the extreme position that an artist might take: shocking, preachy, opinionated, it is far better than being passive. I had the feeling that this tutor was trying to confuse and derail the students rather than help develop their practice, which is what I had expected any art school was supposed to do. 

When it came to be my turn, my work was immediately attacked as not developed, confrontational, using bad materials, and was, essentially, "not art". By this time I was so surprised that by the 21st century post graduate tutors were even aloud to say something isn't art. I was asked, point blank, if I thought that my work was art, and I couldn't help but reply that yes I did. Afterwards I felt that I was being challenged or rebuked, and I knew that anything that I said about my work and process would be only defensive, and therefore decided to say the minimum of what was required of me. 

Right after the critique was finished, I couldn't help but feel boggled. I was so confused about what was said that I started to think about everything that was said to me in other critiques and tutorials in the past. I began to feel that I had been pushed and pulled in so many directions on how my work should be that I no longer felt I had a say in it anymore. I wanted to know, should I change everything or just ignore everyone for once and go with my gut instinct, regardless on how others may hate it. I decided to speak to another teacher at ECA, one that I hadn't spoken to since the beginning of my time there. I wanted fresh eyes, and fresh opinions. 

I am so glad that I did so. This teacher was able to understand what I was trying to accomplish and reassured me that my work was actually art. He told me that he knew that I didn't want to be regarded as the "bead girl" but an artist who had an interest in more social and anthropological concepts, the beads being a by-product. He told me that my instincts were correct in that I should do what I wanted to do. He then gave me some readings to perhaps help me with describing my work a little better to those who might not understand it as well, or who might not thing it is "art". I began to read Marcel Meuss' "The Gift" and will later read Michel DeCerteau's "Practice of Everyday Life". 

I can't express how relieved I was after such a tumultuous day. I finally received the help and encouragement that every student should receive at an institution. We attend school, regardless on what level we are at for professional help and guidance. I am sure we will receive our harsh criticism from the world once we finally embark into it. 

Medusa

The first piece created out of paper beads from my first workshop. It is an abstracted image of Medusa who was used as a symbol in early feminist literature. I chose her to symbolize the discussion that came out of the first workshop. They ended up talking about the condition of women these days in contemporary, developed nations like the UK, and if they have or haven’t fully gained equal rights.

Something Meaningful Greeting

Over the Christmas holiday I recorded myself greeting those who follow me on my facebook, twitter and tumblr accounts. Even though I have been talked out of working on these sights for my MFA, I am still going to nurture it and hopefully it will grow into something after the school year is completed.

Beginning of Work Shopping

I've begun to start work shopping. The first work shop was in my apartment in Edinburgh with several female doctorate students came, chit chatted and made beads. The second work shop was in Seattle with several mixed gender thirty somethings to early 60s.

The first group ended up talking mainly about women'd rights and feminism. They ended up enjoying themselves greatly and lingered for quite a while. Later several of the girls asked if I was going to make another workshop so they could do it again. The second group ended up talking about family, how to take care of children, issues, and ideals. Several people have asked if they can continue making beads and send them to me here in Edinburgh.