Hey everyone! Sorry for the delayed blog post. I try to post
once every week or so, but recently school has been very busy. I have just
completed mid-term week and had a crap ton of hand-ins to do. Art and
Industrial Design School is very challenging, especially around mid-term week
because the level at which your professors want you to work and present in
class is really high. However, most students have been slacking off on things
because of the high bar. It has been interesting to see the difference between
the type of students that attend an Art School and me, who comes from a Liberal
Arts School. For example, I had a 15 min. group presentation this past week on
the chemical, mechanical, and design properties of Nylon fabric. I, however,
got the short end of the stick and got stuck with some pretty lazy students.
Two of the members are legitimately, the Crab and Goyle (Harry Potter
reference) of NZ. They bumble around making jokes and doing 0 work. This one
particular student had a test after our presentation in which he had not gone
to one lecture or tutorial for, for the entire semester. We had two weeks to
present and when the day came to compile all our work on a PowerPoint they had
10 lines each, copy-pasted information from Wikipedia. It was frustrating to
work with. Not only that, but when we had to present they “forgot” their
written notes and, during the presentation fumbled around in their backpacks
for several minutes and then proceeded to read the PowerPoint word for word…..
Sorry, just thinking about it irritates me.
But
this got me thinking about the differences between our different styles of
education. While it is true that not every student is like that here at Massey,
the philosophy behind learning is vastly different. Here at art school the
techniques and craftsmanship of each individual student, when they work, is far
better than I can do. But it is only surface level. When you get behind that,
the depth of the research and inspiration is lacking. There is nothing, it
seems, that is supporting their work other than raw passion. While the world
finds this inspiring, I find it somewhat shallow. I believe that work, whether
art or not should have the same level of intensity and passion to it. So when I
study astronomy, health, Bible, or philosophy, I believe that the engrained
disciplines within these fields should feed my passion for art theory and
making. So, I have found that Liberal Arts education vastly more valuable than
an education solely in the fine arts. Technical strength will come in due time
after much practice, the philosophy behind it is, as I have experienced, much
more valuable and rare to find. The lecturers as well, seem different. Here
they seem to be artists who teach just to make ends meet, whereas at Wheaton
the Art professors seem to find a passion and enjoyment for teaching us. So
while, they might be artists to they are equally good at teaching us and
communicating critical things for us in life and in art.
Yet, the things I have been exposed to here have been invaluable.
The expectation to dream big and work hard is supported by many state of the
art facilities (lazer cutters, wood burners, Styrofoam cutters, welding
machines, etc.). I can say now that I have experienced an art school format of
education. If you enter into an art school with the right mindset, you will go
places.
But now, I am all done and ready to
start my 2-week mid-semester break. Tonight is the big clash of the rugby
titans All Blacks vs. Australia and I am super excited to be a part of it. Then
in the following weeks I will be traveling up and down the South Island. I’ll
keep you posted with many pictures to come!
Here is a painting I have done for my Maori Art and Design class. It is a representation on the Maori creation story. It depicts the sorrow that was described from the overturning and separation of Papa-tu-a-Nuku (mother earth) and Rangi (Father Sky). The x's represent Albatross Tears in Maori, and the Koru swirls represent the sinews that were cut that once bound them together.....parallels to the Fall of Man...I think so.
