About "Academics"

I just wanted to comment on my "academic reading & writing" portion of this program.

The last time I did any serious reading about art and/or art history was in undergrad school in the early 80's. Back then, art history stopped somewhere around the late 1800's/early 1900's and certainly never covered modern or abstract art. Of course back then abstract art was still pretty new, and given the history of time I guess it's still in its infancy. At least now, 27 years later, there is a lot more written about the subject and I'm finding my approach and reaction to studying contemporary art history is entirely different than it was in 1980. Back then art history was a chore to get through. Now it provides information and a perspective on what I'm doing. How I relate to it as a human being AND as an artist. Perhaps because studying contemporary art is relevant to my life, (as opposed to that of, say, the Italian Renaissance, of which I have no connection to), is why I find it so fascinating, exciting and incredibly important.

The beauty of this program is having the experience and expertise of the faculty to recommend some of the best reading that is out there. I will miss that part when this program is over. But I understand now that this - reading about art - is of the utmost importance moving forward. I've since subscribed to a series of magazines (ArtForum, ArtNews, Art in America) and to the New York Times so that I can be connected to what is happening now, how I can learn from it, how I relate to it, and how I can contribute to it.

Although, I have to admit, I'm struggling with writing the "Thought Pieces." In part it is due to the depth of my ignorance about contemporary art and even though I'm learning more about it now, I am bouncing all over the place without any clear direction or understanding yet on how it all fits together for me, so trying to write about a moving target is a moving target in itself. Kind of like my work of the moment - it's all over the place! :-)