kaleidoska

In response to your question regarding theory at Massart, Arsenic, I don't know enough to say. I agree with lightswitch in that I rarely came across Massart graduates in Boston, though it seems reasonable that many of those already living in MA, attending school in-state, would stay and work there. So perhaps the SMFA presence was only more salient due to personal relevance... still, from my experience SMFA is well connected within the local art scene. True that the school communities are separate and mostly insular, but not antagonistic towards each other, I don't think. I lived with Massart students and in turn attended shows, events, etc that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. And while cross-registration at other schools is possible, it involves lots more effort to orchestrate - so I maintain that the SMFA/Tufts partnership offers a greater breadth of academic courses easily accessible to students. But if you'll be in the studio all the time and are happy with Massart's offerings (which are certainly solid), this disparity doesn't matter. As for the quality of mfa student work, yeah, it varied. The good stuff was pretty fucking good, though. Also, I think SMFA likes taking students who come from other fields of study, which sometimes means their work is less developed coming in. I don't know if SMFA is *more* conceptually driven, only that it is *invariably* conceptually driven. Given your stated interests and concerns, I feel Massart would be a better fit for you.

I don't think its necessarily immature to dislike something for finding it too literal. Though I wouldn't apply that criticism to your work, Arsenic. SMFA is certainly not focused on technique at an undergrad level, and I imagine this is even more the case in the grad program. One or two teachers who are technique-focused can suffice - Tufts offers some pretty interesting academic courses, as well. I've met really dedicated, talented, supportive artists at both schools. Your interviewer's remarks are not representative of how faculty respond to student work (its odd that she said she 'didn't like' those pieces). Much of the Boston art scene is connected with SMFA, the performance scene especially so, though not to the extent that a Massart student would be at a disadvantage. Another point to consider is that lots of SMFA grads leave Boston a year or two after graduating. If you plan to stay in the city, you may have more peers who remain in the area long term if you attend a state school. If facilities are important to you, and you have great funding (!), I'd opt for Massart between the two, unless there are faculty at SMFA you really want to work with. Hope this helps!

Hmmm. The Breathless Zoo is a book on taxidermy I browsed recently - I'd read a review of it in the LA Review of Books some time ago - you can read that here: http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?id=955&fulltext=1 . The book itself is a bit airy, though. And I know this is very old news, but just in case, Baudrillard has an essay about animals in Simulacra & Simulation - among other things it touches on sentimentality, and the silence of animals. Also Deleuze & Guattari discuss animals at various points in A Thousand Plateaus. I really should know more. I'll try to think of something more current.

Congrats to your friend! Anyone else heard from RISD painting? Do you think this means they've notified everyone already?

Interview at SAIC for painting! Letter received 2/11. The letter mentions bringing along a few small scale works to discuss. Do you think they expect entirely new work (not included in my portfolio)?

Thank you for the advice! If asked to interview, I'll prepare a few questions to curtail any interpersonal silences that occur. I do have interesting things to say about my work, but I freeze up terribly in certain social situations. Hard to foresee. However, I think (hope) people understand that I am just shy and not disengaged or inarticulate. It's more productive, at least, to prepare for interviews that may not occur than fret about factors now beyond my control (reviewing my submitted materials again, and again!). I was also wondering if those applying to Skowhegan recommend including detail shots. In my case, detail shots truly are helpful, but occupy valuable space, as there's a limit of ten images. Further, do you think it's best to use one body of work, or two? I don't want the work to look scattered, but I'd like to include a few strong pieces from the earlier series. Are three images sufficient to suggest a coherent body of work?

hum. this makes me somewhat nervous - i'm a fairly quiet person, and much better at interacting with small groups. do you think a shyly amiable person would be at a disadvantage?

What exactly is meant by the term 'meet n greet' pre/post interview? Are there often events applicants must attend beyond the formal interview?