Tuesday, November 1, 2011

I don't even know...

I probably should have made this switch a month ago, but I was not ready for it. Now I am.

No more Byzantine art, I am interested in:

Farming

and Contemporary art


Yep. Joe made the suggestion that I do this instead a while ago. I guess he could see it and I couldn't so I didn't listen to him. But I finally see it now, so I made the change.


Why farming: I am bothered that most of my food is processed and individually wrapped in plastic that is going to be around for a very long time. I feel weird that the produce I eat is grown thousands of miles away, picked unripe, and sits on a truck as it travels across the country before it gets to me. This is a topic for another time, but I am very interested in growing my own food, learning how to live sustainably, and fiscally supporting my local community. What started out as a logistical decision of participating in a work exchange system of working on farms in exchange for knowledge, room & board, became a primary focus in what I will be doing in Europe. It is a complete life-style decision and I want to learn specific knowledge from the families we will be staying with as well as what the life-style is like. I will be working on paintings while working on these farms.

And the "Grand Tour"? The Grand Tour was a educational and social rite of passage for emerging artists from the 17th to 19th centuries. It involved traveling around Europe to see "the masters". Even now, art students go to Europe to make a similar trek to see not only the masters of the past, but also the present. I will be going to the "must-see" museums, focusing on the top contemporary art museums. Contemporary art means art that is above all, concerned with creating dialogue about current issues. It can also be called Modern art. Generally, it is more conceptually-driven than aesthetic or design-based. I believe concept is power and aesthetics alone can be rather empty.

I will definitely have to elaborate on these topics later, but that is the update on my shift in focus.

 

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