Lee's Artlog

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2008- Inventive Drawing by Week 3 of Term 4 became a watershed of idea and playful discovery about myself. I felt tangible and sizeable growth in my knowledge and ability through different techniques and styles that I was being encouraged to study and explore. In the 5 minutes or so I was given to lay out this piece, I first lightly drew in a ‘bean’ to indicate the shoulders and then the bottom of the gluteal muscles. I then broke up the shape dividing the center line where the spine was, defining the side and then placing in markers on the surface for the seventh vertebra, and the tailbone. Finally I worked my way out building the ribcage, external oblique, and the muscles of the body, working last on the outside contour. I was elated by the progress I had made. A definite ‘pilot light’ had come on in my brain and a glimpse of my style had been made burn much brighter and quicker than before.

The war for the students’ minds at Art Center was over and frankly I had felt manipulated. The general message which I had supported had gone too far, and like a grease fire, putting water on it would not work to stop it- It would only assist in spreading the wrong message. Many people refused to acknowledge that it was done. Burned in the past, they refused to believe that something siezmic had changed and continued their tirade, finding a new target for their disdain. Others had their own agendas, which became perverted by their own ideals and beliefs- good for themselves, more than the people. A staunch few strove on in their desire to promote dialogue, but muted out by the bickering, they could only be heard less and less.  

I advocated a change of direction for the movement. As an extremist at one point, I had supported radical agendas in the past. Now I was asking for a cease fire to heal what had been wraught. Everybody now was damaged by the overall conversation that didn’t take place, and now that something decisive had been done, we needed to give of all of ourselves to work towards healing the school. Many people were aware that I did not see eye to eye with the president of the school on many issues, but this was not the point. I am an adult. I can work with him or like him as a person, regardless of my disagreements.  Without degredading or reading into my statements, we needed to forgive, unify and rebuild.

I sat down and had lunch with him, where we had a frank and sincere dialogue. We discussed issues such as the South Ossetian conflict and the financial crisis to student issues and what could be repaired. It was illuminating for both of us. He learned that I was not a grunting savage but a highly informed, articulate person and I learned that he had been tragically mislabeled.

In the end I really saw him as a master delegator - and one who was not wholly responsible or to blame for what had occurred. He is a good man, with extremely good intentions but like the daimyo Hojo, I felt he made fatal character decisions about individuals to assist him that he was bulldoggedly loyal to, and that only served to discredit him further. It was tragic really and I felt horribly not only for him, but his family as well who had read many of the blogs and flames that had been posted on the websites and were devestated by what was being said. 

I gave the president a long list of suggestions to fix what had been done, and how we all could work together to get things back on track.  We discussed other issues. -The master plan was dead under no uncertain terms- because he was not behind it anymore, Gehry was not either. After all was said at this point he dropped the bombshell to me that he would not be at Art Center for very much longer at all.  He was done. I felt in all privacy it was important that I protect him from future rumor, -eventhough it was the truth, -and not disclose this at all until this was public knowledge.   

When all things were done and said, Richard rode in on a carpet of gold and did wonderful things for Art Center when he got here. I wish people would understand this. I wish people would acknowledge that much about his lasting legacy and leave him in peace. I wish Richard had stepped up sooner to talk before everything reached critical mass, -but would we have even listened?  His message may have lost luster in the recent year, but I hope that everyone can understand that we all, you- I- Richard- everyone passionately believed in changing Art Center for the better.  

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2008- In fourth term at Art Center, I took on a whole new slew of classes. Since the majority of classes the previous semester did not focus on drawing or the figure, I made a deliberate attempt to have no lab classes that utilized the PC for 4th term. I decided to attack criticism head on and go after my weakest area by diving knee deep into Analytical Figure Drawing and Inventive Drawing. On the first day of Inventive Drawing I found it relatively difficult to jump start myself, as I had not picked up a pencil to draw a live nude in approximately 3 months.

I was placed under tremendous stress during the ‘off-season’ between term three and four. Not only did I have to move into a new place,  I also had to do battle in the financial aid arena to be able to continue my education at Art Center, as my financial aid loan partner had ceased giving out student loans.  The industry is a parasitic one, relying on a constant stream of students paying on their loans and taking out new ones. The system is convoluted and difficult to understand and the student lacks complete control over the funds they receive. Students are thrown money to go deep into debt, but at the same time told, “Remember that you need to pay that all back.” It’s a shame that reform is not being aggressively persued to a point where it also addresses escalating college tuition. At this point the defaults by students and now by the banks themselves are becoming as persistent as the mortgage market collapse which will ultimately domino into the schools themselves- which are more business now than education.

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2008- I didn’t really expect much to come out of third term from my materials class and it quickly became my most restrained and boring class. We had to cast a form from a silicone mold so I decided on this bobblehead that sat on top of my car dash for the drive out here from Texas. As my car languished in front of my residence after moving out here, the bobblehead began to bake and the plastic began to warp under the hot sun. Before his condition became permanent, I decided to hasten the effect and entomb him- embalm him persay- so that he would be immortalized.

I built a container to hold the bobblehead and molding materials, sealing him to the bottom of the container with tape so that he would not free float. I then created the mold for around $80.00 through a combination of mixtures. During the process, Mr. Sunshine dislodged from the bottom, and his head and body were hollow, – two things I did not account for. These both helped drive up the cost, and also ‘sealed his fate’ forever. 

After about 2 days I removed the square mold from the container. I cut out the bottom and slowly sliced out the toy. The bobblehead was DoA, filled from head to toe with silicone molding. I quickly sealed back up the molding and then filled it with the lightest, fluffiest injection molding used for nerf toys. After removing him again he was reincarnated in this even more cutesy form. I later actually used the mold again for wax that was fired in bronze, where Mr. Sunshine has become an extremely heavy paperweight.