agrobaby

For those interested in VCU, I just want to put my two cents in, since I visit Richmond, Virginia often, it's pretty much the Bushwick of the South. Not surprised where students go from there post-graduation! Contemporary art galleries, a large art museum, great food, drink, cheap rent, and a blend of art students and old southern aristocracy. If you have any romance for the southern gothic meets brooklyn, you will love it there.

Thanks Kafralal and Erpnope for your input! The sketches are hard for me to lose in the application process, simply because they are so vital to my practice. And I agree, "interested" is a weak word. :-)

New works posted, any feedback would be great! Especially in relation to my statement. http://trobinette.com/sculpture-installation ALSO, any thoughts on including sketches for sculptures (made or not made yet) in the portfolio? Thanks!

I will show you mine if you will show me yours! (mine isn't written yet, but I would love to get a handle on this part of the process) Keep in touch!

I would be interested to read your statement, and see how you conceptually tie this work together. There seem to be stronger and weaker paintings, 2011 and 2012 have some good examples. The element of fantasy or other-worldliness is the most interesting part of the work that runs through many of the paintings. Maybe continue to develop that? Are they all self-portraits, or are you only interested in the female form?

I agree with kafralal, It seems to me that the strongest work are your photo-transfers and paintings, and that the photo-transfers should be rephotographed. Post your statement when you have one together!

Thanks for hooking me up! Great text.

I've talked to Beverly Semmes about her recent pinch pots, and still don't like em. I haven't talked to Ghada Amer about her new stuff, but they seem so much weaker than her earlier work. (I drink with older artists, and end up meeting people). I couldn't find the article anywhere online, I will email you for it. Maybe it will change my opinion? thx!

Thanks for the feedback Kafralal. I agree that I may be saying too much in the 2nd- not leaving enough for the audience.

cool, I will watch it online. Did you get a sense of funding options being better or worse or the same as their regular semester MFA?

I find it really interesting that although I do not drop the "f" word at all in my website right now, you instantly latched on to my interest in feminine gender explorations, labeled them as feminist, and therefore found them quickly uninteresting. As an artist, and as a female artist, and as a person with radical politics, which includes feminism, I have struggled to decompartmentalize my politics and my work and life. I'm very aware of how female artists are treated, not only here but in europe, also. The female artists that do well either blend in with the boys, or become so loud that people can't help but take notice. Two female/feminist artists I whose work I use to love are Beverly Semmes and Ghada Amer, both of which are now making these stupid clay sculpture pot things, after loosing their feminisique in the early 2000's. I am not into their new work at all. I'm here to make authentic work, work that no one else could make, work that gets me riled up. I am fine with critiques, but I loose respect for people when they write off any perspective as uninteresting because it does not resonate with them.

Did anyone do the webinar session for SAIC's new low res program?

Your statement seems like you are playing a lot with the language itself, rather than the ideas behind it. Maybe pick one word or concept, and explore that fully in a couple paragraphs, analyzing how it relates to your work in very precise language.

I think because (particularly the new forms described in sketches, but actual sculptures won't be photographed for a few weeks) the works explore hybrid genitalia and animal/human/organism composite body forms, they do investigate a post-human body, though I agree that in the older works, that idea is not fully explored.

Yay! Statement critiques! I will throw a segment of mine in here for the mix. Would love to hear feedback. For visual reference, or an expanded version, see trobinette.com, though my new body of sculptural work isn't photographed yet, though there are sketches posted. My current work investigates a compulsive too-much-ness, a maximalization, as I create combinations of hyper-sexed engorged forms. My sculptural work is born out of excess, of bourgeois sensibility, and a perversion of good taste. I consider the fantasy of the sublime in my work, constantly seeking to heighten the clash of beauty and the grotesque. Both seductive and aggressive, the forms replicate like genetic abnormalities, cancerous cells, and become futile pop culture cadavers. They are mid-transformation; dangling in a liminal state, suggesting the final metamorphosis will be post-human. They assert that manufactured degradation is the conclusion of consumption. My own physical body is key to my work, both in sculpture and performance. The forms reference my size and shape, my appetite, genitalia, and my excrement. The horror of mutation is created using sensuous fabrics, as replicating structures emerge and are perversely disturbed. The fabric operates as skin; following patterns based on the body, both internal and external, and are stuffed, distending the forms.

I don't think you should change your work to fit some school's general aesthetic. Keep pushing hard, and look at a lot of contemporary art (new american paintings can give you an idea of what is happening in different regions). I don't think I would include the figure drawings in the portfolio, but I would include drawings. Sometimes writing about your own work helps to define what you are trying to achieve, where you fall short, and where you want to go with the work. I rework my artist statement every month, and have for the last 3 years, as my work, material handling, and specific interests evolve. It has really helped my practice.

Don't feel alarmed! We are all in the same boat! All of us are insecure about the next step, and the rejections that will inevitably come in our careers, whether we are showing it or not! Your figure studies, while academic, are really well done- I know many programs highly value good drawing skills. Maybe do a series that more closely tie into the work you are making. Draw spaces or objects, and treat them with the same care as you would a body. Check out Tyler, too.

I visited Bard. It is super expensive (private and lacks funding), and seemed a bit lonely and strange during the summer. No one is there, but it is located on the Hudson in the woods, so it is a peaceful and beautiful environment. The nearby train will take you to nyc in an hour though. It is a great program, but their facilities seem limited. Bard gets really great visiting artists in for critiques from nyc, and a friend of mine who did their MFA there loved it, and is doing well with his art and teaching career. He went straight from Bard to the Whitney ISP. The price and lack of funding makes it financially impossible for me, though. For sculpture + extended media, VCU has really great facilities, and post all their equipment on their site. That program is somewhat interdisciplinary, because they clearly encourage you to use all the resources they have available. I don't know how rigorous the theory/writing side of the program is, but I will be visiting again this fall and asking more specific questions, which I will post here. http://arts.vcu.edu/sculpture/mfa-program/facilities/ For me, VCU could be free (I'm in-state and impoverished) and have a TA spot or stipend if I got in. They are a big state school, and have the resources to give out funding. The TA positions are competitive, which means they come with more money. But they give them out before the first year, so you have extra money to work with right away.

Are we switching over from 2013? Kafralal, did you see distinctions between ucla's new media and interdisciplinary MFA programs that seem worth noting?

I can give a mini-report on calarts- its totally weird! I never really got this vibe (from their website/hype) til I visited, but the Disney connection is palpable. Also the buildings feel very much like they were designed to be a medical center. It's so far removed from LA, so located in the suburbs, that it feels like an island from any intellectual centers on the west coast.

oh and if you are into pursuing an interdisciplinary/theory/avant garde focus, check out the residency at Palais Tokyo in Paris. I just visited it, incredible! And I don't think Americans really know about it yet. Their 2014 applications aren't up now, but its something to watch.

also, DOOOOODS, lets play nice and get back on topic, xo

aschelp- you said "columbia, usc, university of chicago, northwestern, ucsd, and carnegie mellon" had great interdisciplinary programs. can you elaborate on how you know this? I won't be able to visit all these places before application time, so it would be great to have a first hand experience to think about. I think the big worry seems to be a mistrust of new programs promising a truly interdisciplinary, experimental focus. It's like 'collectives', which have just become a buzzword for lazy curators, and artists who want to feed off of one person's energy, and not the amazing collaborative post-fluxism one would hope. I worry that 'new media' and 'interdisciplinary' programs may just be the fetishization, then institutionalization of 'new' praxis. I was looking at UCLA's interdisciplinary and new media programs. any thoughts?

* I'm not discouraged necessarily by MICAs program because they have a new head, so there may be changes this year.

Litigious banter aside, I think it is totally relevant to worry about the focus of conversations in interdisciplinary programs. My close friend is at MICA for an interdisciplinary MFA right now and complained that the program was very painting heavy last year.