have been seduced by the aesthetics of tumblr.
please continue to keep up with the MFAness at:
http://mfyay.tumblr.com
much love
07 September 2009
04 September 2009
Urbanite
I have just experienced what one would call, an unexpectedly delightful experience a la city living.
Purchasing a record player has been on my "When-I-Arrive-in-Boston-This-is-the-First-Thing-I-Need-to-Do List" for months, if not a year. Looney Tunes is a hole'ish in the wall'ish record store I noticed the first time I walked down Boylston St. Today, I thought I would stop by to see if they had any advice for what model player/receiver/speakers they would recommend. The place reeked of audiophile. A 50'ish man with stringy, gray hair that had not been washed in at least a week came to my aide. Luck would have it that a woman that had bought a player from them two years ago had just returned it because she was moving. Further, this man had just picked up a set of speakers that he wanted to give in the name of "community service" with hopes of enticing a young hopeful (who turned out to be myself) to begin the adventure of analog audio. The speakers belong in a late 90s LL Cool J music video and as horrible as they look, the deal (and deal maker) was just too good to refuse. It was an omen of omens. I thought it over and returned around 6:30 in the evening to pick up the goods and walk them home.
After a quick lesson in setting up analog audio, what I thought was going to be an easy 15 minute walk to the store from my apartment and back turned into a power-walk marathon. There was no way I could carry all four components at the same time (record player, receiver, two speakers)! After three trips over the course of two hours and some words of encouragement from a jovial customer wearing all purple with a rainbow headband, playing air guitar to whatever he was listening to on his worn in black headphones, I am sitting in my sparse apartment with a beautiful set up on wooden floor. Pedro the Lion's "It's Hard to Find a Friend" gloriously plays as I drink a beer and remind myself how badly I need to shower after that trek.
Sitting here, I realize two things. One how incredibly worth it that was to now be exposed to analog audio, which is so incredibly more pristine then digital and second how happenstance today's events were. Only by living in a city and not having a car would these events have unfolded the way they did and I can type to you with tired fingers that it very much so was, it very much so was.
Purchasing a record player has been on my "When-I-Arrive-in-Boston-This-is-the-First-Thing-I-Need-to-Do List" for months, if not a year. Looney Tunes is a hole'ish in the wall'ish record store I noticed the first time I walked down Boylston St. Today, I thought I would stop by to see if they had any advice for what model player/receiver/speakers they would recommend. The place reeked of audiophile. A 50'ish man with stringy, gray hair that had not been washed in at least a week came to my aide. Luck would have it that a woman that had bought a player from them two years ago had just returned it because she was moving. Further, this man had just picked up a set of speakers that he wanted to give in the name of "community service" with hopes of enticing a young hopeful (who turned out to be myself) to begin the adventure of analog audio. The speakers belong in a late 90s LL Cool J music video and as horrible as they look, the deal (and deal maker) was just too good to refuse. It was an omen of omens. I thought it over and returned around 6:30 in the evening to pick up the goods and walk them home.
After a quick lesson in setting up analog audio, what I thought was going to be an easy 15 minute walk to the store from my apartment and back turned into a power-walk marathon. There was no way I could carry all four components at the same time (record player, receiver, two speakers)! After three trips over the course of two hours and some words of encouragement from a jovial customer wearing all purple with a rainbow headband, playing air guitar to whatever he was listening to on his worn in black headphones, I am sitting in my sparse apartment with a beautiful set up on wooden floor. Pedro the Lion's "It's Hard to Find a Friend" gloriously plays as I drink a beer and remind myself how badly I need to shower after that trek.
Sitting here, I realize two things. One how incredibly worth it that was to now be exposed to analog audio, which is so incredibly more pristine then digital and second how happenstance today's events were. Only by living in a city and not having a car would these events have unfolded the way they did and I can type to you with tired fingers that it very much so was, it very much so was.
03 September 2009
Student Artists in Residence
Today was the breakfast orientation for first year MFA students at the Museum School. A little after 9 am (I am beginning to realize that art faculty, staff, and students have a very flexible understanding of time) the second floor crit space was filled with some 2nd year MFA students, the graduate faculty, and 40 first years.
Classes, community activities, studios, work logistics, safety, and many other topics were explained. One of the required courses that first years have to take, the CAP Seminar, which I talked about in an earlier post, is looking to be pretty demanding... in a good way though. There are three professors that teach it and you take each one for four classes then move on to the next. Its reading and discussion driven, covering a variety of topics including art history, contemporary artists, and conceptual and formal ideas present in working artists today.
I think that most all first years were quite excited, but all very freaked out. I for one have no idea what work I am going to start producing, which I better figure out soon as my first grad critique course is in a week and a half.
After the meeting we were all given our studio assignments which are mostly all on the second floor of the grad building. Think of it as a Hooverville'ish town of white walls and curtains. It's a pretty amazing space, which I plan to photograph to show you guys later. There is a shoot space that is right down the corridor from my studio which is great! I got to meet a number of first years; coming from a variety of ages, backgrounds, and locales its a pretty amazing mix of individuals. I am very excited to see the work to come and I think we are all interested to see what kind of works are peers have made. I am really beginning to appreciate how the Museum School's MFA program is strictly interdisciplinary, meaning that the photographers and painters are not segregated, but rather everyone taking all classes together. Think of it as a really tasty fruit salad.
I walked out of the grad building in the afternoon with a chair in hand. It was the first piece of furniture in my apartment! Luckily my mattress finally came later, but it's still a sparse and lonely place. Gotta work on that.
Classes, community activities, studios, work logistics, safety, and many other topics were explained. One of the required courses that first years have to take, the CAP Seminar, which I talked about in an earlier post, is looking to be pretty demanding... in a good way though. There are three professors that teach it and you take each one for four classes then move on to the next. Its reading and discussion driven, covering a variety of topics including art history, contemporary artists, and conceptual and formal ideas present in working artists today.
I think that most all first years were quite excited, but all very freaked out. I for one have no idea what work I am going to start producing, which I better figure out soon as my first grad critique course is in a week and a half.
After the meeting we were all given our studio assignments which are mostly all on the second floor of the grad building. Think of it as a Hooverville'ish town of white walls and curtains. It's a pretty amazing space, which I plan to photograph to show you guys later. There is a shoot space that is right down the corridor from my studio which is great! I got to meet a number of first years; coming from a variety of ages, backgrounds, and locales its a pretty amazing mix of individuals. I am very excited to see the work to come and I think we are all interested to see what kind of works are peers have made. I am really beginning to appreciate how the Museum School's MFA program is strictly interdisciplinary, meaning that the photographers and painters are not segregated, but rather everyone taking all classes together. Think of it as a really tasty fruit salad.
I walked out of the grad building in the afternoon with a chair in hand. It was the first piece of furniture in my apartment! Luckily my mattress finally came later, but it's still a sparse and lonely place. Gotta work on that.
01 September 2009
So This is Tufts
On September 1st, there was an all graduate student orientation at Tufts University. Just to clarify for those that do not know, the Museum School is academically affiliated with Tufts. This means that I take my required non-art courses there and also receive my degree from Tufts.
Located in Medford, I need to take two T lines an approximate 45 minutes to get to the Davis Square stop. From there I walk north for another 15 minutes or so to get to the main campus. Its an amazing campus that is on a slope filled with a variety of differently styled buildings, most colonial. There are big trees, long and winding walkways, and freshmen scattering to and fro carrying mattress pads and ugly target lamps.
Several hundred students filled an auditorium somewhere in the middle of campus. It was the "Graduate Matriculation Ceremony" that we were about to partake in, which mostly consisted of academic "be all you can be" speeches by faculty and students that in my opinion could have been cut in half if not more. I probably should have skipped it all together, but I wanted to pick up my student ID and T (public transportation) pass. To my disappointment the T pass was a flimsy card that operated monthly, not the super sophisticated and cool hard plastic card that Bostonians keep in their wallets as they wave over the sensor at the entrance stalls. Moving on to receive my ID, I was told that it would not be ready for another week or so... more on the ID picture story later...
On the way home I stopped at Diesel Cafe, a cafe recommended to me by some baristas at Intelligentsia. It was pretty great, but I am still in search of the boutique espresso shops that I long for in LA, Intelli, Cafe Luxxe, Surfas, French Market to name a few. Time will tell I suppose.
All in all, while I am excited to take four classes at Tufts, one this semester, my early interactions with the institution were not the most favorable. It seems that east coast Universities lack a sense of humor... more which I will get to later.
Located in Medford, I need to take two T lines an approximate 45 minutes to get to the Davis Square stop. From there I walk north for another 15 minutes or so to get to the main campus. Its an amazing campus that is on a slope filled with a variety of differently styled buildings, most colonial. There are big trees, long and winding walkways, and freshmen scattering to and fro carrying mattress pads and ugly target lamps.
Several hundred students filled an auditorium somewhere in the middle of campus. It was the "Graduate Matriculation Ceremony" that we were about to partake in, which mostly consisted of academic "be all you can be" speeches by faculty and students that in my opinion could have been cut in half if not more. I probably should have skipped it all together, but I wanted to pick up my student ID and T (public transportation) pass. To my disappointment the T pass was a flimsy card that operated monthly, not the super sophisticated and cool hard plastic card that Bostonians keep in their wallets as they wave over the sensor at the entrance stalls. Moving on to receive my ID, I was told that it would not be ready for another week or so... more on the ID picture story later...
On the way home I stopped at Diesel Cafe, a cafe recommended to me by some baristas at Intelligentsia. It was pretty great, but I am still in search of the boutique espresso shops that I long for in LA, Intelli, Cafe Luxxe, Surfas, French Market to name a few. Time will tell I suppose.
All in all, while I am excited to take four classes at Tufts, one this semester, my early interactions with the institution were not the most favorable. It seems that east coast Universities lack a sense of humor... more which I will get to later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
