Freytag's Pyramid

Such an understatement when I say "...a lot has happened in the past two weeks." An incredible amount of processing with school, family, freelance work, school, family, freelance work (wait, I'm feel redundant here). I'm trying to let everything soak and percolate in my mind while purge everything toxic out of the body, mind, and heart. It's tough. But I'm finding that practice and failure are two things I've grown accustomed to. Now, when I use the word failure, I mean it in a way that is productive. There are many instances where I feel as though I have failed miserably but choose to learn as much as I can. 

In any case, it's all about (what one of my professors would say) 'productive failure'. I wanted to share one of the gems this week - Freytag's Pyramid. Surprisingly, my professor is having us map and chart the tension, complexity, and/or rising action to our works. While it's proving to be a pretty awesome exercise, for my obsessive compulsive brain, it's going to be an exercise in teasing (and failing productively) out what is most important. Wish me luck. Above, you'll find a handy illustration. Enjoy! Feel free to drop a note if you've studied Freytag's Pyramid or want to share any thoughts about your writing process. :)

Creative Time Summit ~ Blog Posting on Arts Research Center UC Berkeley Muses Blog

It's been about a month since my last posting but I thought I would share something I wrote for the ARC Muses blog. The posting served as my registration and participation in the Creative Time Summit this Friday. I wrote, specifically, about 'making'. Please read the intro text to learn a bit more about the summit and feel free to share your thoughts.

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On October 12, the Arts Research Center at UC Berkeley and the Curatorial Practice at the California College of the Arts are partnering to host a live-streaming of the Creative Time Summit, an annual conference in New York that brings together cultural producers -- including artists, critics, writers, and curators -- to discuss how their work engages pressing issues affecting our world. To jump-start the conversation in advance of the event, attendees have been asked to submit a paragraph on a keyword associated with one of the summit themes: Inequities, Occupations, Making, or Tactics. This posting is by Dorothy Santos, New Media and PR Strategist for Art Practical.

Keyword: Making

Artists, writers, and technologists are expected to create with certain parameters before bending and breaking the rules. With new media art, programming, creative coding, and open source culture seem to be exploring new ways that are redefining contemporary art. The interactive and immersive works prevalent in new media works offer an entirely different experience of art. Yet, what happens when the body performs and serves as the catalyst for the production and creation of an artwork? How is the mind expected to reflect on the work when the body becomes a part of the work itself?

Since the idea of art making and creating is so vastly different with advancements in technology being made each day, it’s imperative to discuss how the body of both the artist and the the viewer are implicated in the works. Although an ambitious and arduous task, it’s extremely important to find ways to incorporate discussions in new media and digital arts and traditional art practices. Comparing and contrasting the art practices may lessen the gap between traditional artists and the artist-technologists. Having recently read philosophical text and theory on the body and disembodiment, I’m struck by how much the body plays a role in new media works that seems to cross over into actual functional use of everyday objects. Collectively, much of the public is so accustomed to the design and convenience of interactive products and commodities, it would be interesting to discuss how this revolutionizes or hinders the artist - any artist (not only new media artists but any artist). Is overuse of the body a hindrance or progressive when it comes to new media arts, specifically, or is it too reliant? What is new media addressing or not addressing in practice and in theory? Or, how it is working against traditional models?

Despite the availability of interdisciplinary studies, the way in which things are made is extremely important to the overall discourse of how the arts have changed alongside the emergence and popularity of other new media modes of art making (including crowd sourcing and interaction design). In particular, being situated in the Bay Area, how is it that there are not very many galleries exhibiting new media works? Although there are valiant efforts being made to showcase and foster the discussion and exhibition of new media and digital arts, it is important to learn the history and methods of how these works have been deemed art, by whom, and the models that may hinder or enhance progression in the arts. 

The Write Way to Exercise the (Writer's Block) Demons

Fortunately, we did not have to re-construct and instruct our "reader" to re-create the above structure!

After the first official day of school, I learned a lot about my writing style, practice, and overall process. When I write, I have a tendency to be madly in love with the free writing. No editing. No re-reading and re-writing. Just sheer, don't give a fack and throw all the words to the wind and let them land wherever and however they get onto the page. Typically, I type my free-writes and initial drafts, which may come as a surprise to some of my classmates because I write profusely in my notebook during class. But that's in large part due to me being a kinesthetic learner. I need to do something with my hands while listening to a lecture or sitting through a meeting. If I'm forbidden to write during class or work meetings, I would go mad. My attention span would be shorter than a gnat.

My writing seminar is titled, Voices (for obvious reasons I don't think I need to explain but let me know if you need me to elaborate, more than happy to do so). Our professor, writer Eric Olson, led writer-reader exercises. One individual was the writer while the other participant was the reader. The writer had to construct building blocks and instruct the reader to re-construct the writer's design. Both writer and reader were facing opposite directions and the writer was the only one that could speak and provide instruction. It was fun watching the writer describe how they organized the building blocks to the reader. Seeing the reader re-build, in most if not all cases, something very similar was exciting.

What did it teach me?

To be mindful of what I am trying to communicate to my reader since the reader may interpret what is being communicated differently. Want to learn a variation of this exercise? Check out Casey Reas artist talk earlier this year at The Creators Project here. Lots of fun AND I had the opportunity to meet Reas (nice guy!).

Advanced Degrees Do Not = Prosperity

Please view at GOOD.IS here 

In most professions, salaries below the poverty line would be cause for alarm. In academia, they are treated as a source of gratitude. Volunteerism is par for the course - literally. Teaching is touted as a "calling", with compensation an afterthought. One American research university offers its PhD students a salary of $1000 per semester for the "opportunity" to design and teach a course for undergraduates, who are each paying about $50,000 in tuition. The university calls this position "Senior Teaching Assistant" because paying an instructor so far below minimum wage is probably illegal". ~ Sarah Kendzior

After finishing up a two day graduate orientation, I'm still not wavering on my decision to return to school. Although Sarah Kendzior's article, The Closing of American Academia: The Plight of Adjunct Professors highlights the end of higher education as a means to prosperity was published over a week ago, it's certainly not garnering the same kind of attention as the beast Jesus restoration. Too bad. I find it extremely relevant and timely considering my career transition into writing, criticism, and education. Reading Kendzior's piece reminded me of how models and modes of education must evolve with society and culture. But with technology and globalization, it's difficult to keep up. I provided the graphic above, which is in no way related to the article, to provide a visual schematic for those who enjoy that type of thing. So yeah...

Returning to school for an advanced arts degree seems foolish to many people. In thinking of existing and future debt, the political climate (with the 2012 elections fast approaching), and the trajectory of my research, it was not an easy choice to make. But I knew it was something I needed to do (even if I have to work and pay for it out of my pocket). Sustaining a passion is difficult but you keep at it and it is imperative to know your passion going into such a commitment (especially since grad school is so dependent on pecuniary matters). Longevity of the topic is another aspect to consider. Now, I'm not pontificating but merely stating a few things I'm learning along the way. Kendzior points out something crucial in the end of her article regarding culture and generational differences when it comes to how we perceive and value higher education. Please read the piece and share your thoughts.

Also, I'm curious to hear answers and thoughts regarding a few questions. Do you have an advanced degree? What has been your experience with finding work in your designated field? How have you defined success (for yourself)?

An Art Help Desk? Yes! ~ Art Advice from Bean Gilsdorf

One of my latest discoveries is Bean Gilsdorf. She is an artist, writer, and California College of the Arts (CCA) alumna. With school just around the corner, it's great seeing CCA graduates doing some really phenomenal things in the art world. Gilsdorf runs a column titled Help Desk, which is co-sponsored by KQED and Daily Serving.

From writing an artist statement to art vernacular, Gilsdorf is equipped with possible solutions. If you're the type that loves advice columns and you're an artist, art critic, art student, etc., this column makes for some great reading. Whether you agree with her or not, you definitely walk away with a fresh perspective.

Quora: The Virtual Place for Questions (and Answers)

One of my dear friends and extremely talented artist, Matt Ganucheau, suggested I hop onto Quora (Side Note: Matt ALWAYS has something awesome to share so you may be seeing his name mentioned here quite a bit). Quora is a unique way to socially network with like minded folks (or people that think it's funny to be offer up a lame answer but I have yet to see this happen). It is a virtual spot where you can ask questions and get answers. You're also able to "Thank" (think of the "Like" function on Facebook) other Quora users and vote up answers to questions. So, imagine if Reddit and Pinterest had a brilliant prodigy lovechild, that's pretty much how I view Quora. Now, it doesn't replace writing your papers or answer the difficult abstract questions you need to address for your thesis BUT it is a great stepping stone to see what others think of your questions, research, and most importantly, its a place to learn something new (constantly)! Are you on Quora? It would be great to connect and check out your questions and maybe, just maybe, answer your questions. I know I would appreciate your answers to my questions. See you there.

Purpose of this Space

Although I have blog, dorothysantos.wordpress.com, I decided to create a space strictly for research and writing purposes. I wanted a spot devoted to posting interesting finds and resources after seeing and having been inspired by a friend's (Valerie Leavy) blog titled Air Guitar Riffs. She uses the blog to collect references from the book Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy by Dave Hickey. She recommended the book, which is proving to be great read. In any case, I figured this virtual place would serve as my online collection of research materials. I'm hoping other Visual and Critical Studies scholars or folks interested in the Arts join me in the ongoing dialogue. Overall, it is for anyone interested in research, reading, and writing! I welcome research applications, resources, book, music, film, and artwork recommendations. I'm not sure how this space will evolve over time but we shall see. As always, I welcome feedback and comments.