lurkinglurk

i only used detail images when the work really required it.

the answer comes in the form of a question. is it important that the string be invisible? if the answer is no, then the string needs to thicker so that the human eye is more likely to detect it. if the string is invisible and the paper is suppose to be some kind of illusion of floating, then why not simply suspend the paper from the ceiling?

well, for me. its that i don't have worry about loans.(because of the TAship i have), proximity to NYC, and the fact that the soon to be 2nd year students actually spend time together. community amongst grad students is very important to me. Its something that I feel has been beneficial to the grad students i worked with in my undergrad. Now, like all schools its not perfect. Rutgers used to be a very painting heavy program in a very limited way. This is something that they are now actively moving away from, but it is still somewhat there. I believe that they are actively looking for students that are pushing against traditional boundaries while still accepting some of their more traditional students. Rutgers is also a 2 year program. This is all something to consider. I will now show another piece from portfolio. I Break Mountains installation. wood, dirt, paper mache variable dimensions. (at least. 10' x 12' x 8' This was for the young latino artists 15 retrospective show i took part in at the mexic-arte museum in austin, tx. I created a mountain and split it in half. It is a response to francis alys's "when faith moves mountains"

Well, i hope that really works out for you. MFA's aren't for everyone and i agree success is more of a personal definition than something in the concrete. Its also very possible to meet other people's definition of success and your own definition of success without an MFA. however, I do hope that you look to more places outside of your home for good artwork. I really doubt that it is the only place to find a good painting. Plus seeing work outside of your own context can be really helpful at bringing new ideas and evolution to your own work... in my experience at least.

RUTGERS! they offered me more money. TAship = full tuition remission +24k a year and benefits. I gave up 62k from irvine over 3 years(it seems like more money, but its not)

"hot" is a relative terms really. there are the old standbys of yale, columbia, ucla, but most of those schools hadn't any breakout names coming from their program. The reality is that most of your favorite artists didn't attend any of those schools. sure they turn out people middling "success," but often that success is quantified with "gallery representation" Which can be broken down even further. who has had continuous gallery representation? whose work is more widely seen/known? how many have put out multiple bodies of work with a clear sense of change and growth? who shows outside of their gallery on a consistent basis? who teaches? These are all really big questions. sadly or awesomely (depending on point of view), the artworld is largely unregulated and lacks that hard data. personally i think an artist will do just as well in any school that is probably in the top 50.(estimate) and getting into a hot school is almost impossible. This is mostly because faculty turnover rate tends to be fairly high, funding is almost always in flux (more aid = better recruiting) and the all important x-factor. sometimes a school gets lucky and gets a really awesome student who becomes something on just chance. sometimes, students are able to capture a communal energy that exists just between them. in all cases, people come afterwards in hopes of riding that wave of hotness. Its just that the hotness probably happened 3-5 years ago and everything is probably different now. although, i must admit, that the big schools probably do a great job of recruiting future good artists by emphasizing mystique over the realities of the situation. For instance, when i interviewed at yale. I asked about recent faculty turnover and what that would mean if i attended. and their response was essentially. "well, its yale"

i just sent my rejection letter to UC Irvine, maybe a spot and money will open for others.

awesome! who did you meet with? I'm still trying to figure out a cheap place to live.

Now of course everyone has to make their own financial decisions, but I would definitely ask for any aid that they could give, and possibly consider coming to the school on loans. you do have the benefit of being a licensed teacher. so you could theoretically, pay off the loans much easily or partially forgiven by teaching at a lower income school (but that's something you would have to want to do). either way. i know its a super hard decision, and just do whats in your heart. Here is the 2nd artwork from my portfolio, that every school that accepted me loved. Its a performance video from last spring (when i was bit chubbier, don't judge!) Adversary 4, single channel performance video, 2010 This is actually a slightly older edit. the final edit is about 30 seconds shorter. more artwork from my portfolio to come! hope this is helpful for those looking to buff up their portfolio's I hope more people post here. i am really excited about meeting, facebooking, and hanging out with other first years!

have you decided on rutgers?

sorry to see we didn't end up in the same school. but philly's not far. i'd love to do crits sometime with you. good luck!

go to both. the connections made and the fun had is worth it alone.

I really love your work! I hope you can find a way to attend. I was very impressed by the rutgers printmaking facilities. They have two huge rooms dedicated to printmaking. You should ask them to also show you the sculpture area, its away from the art building, by a good distance, but they have good facilities that are underutilized and are about to revitalized by new energy. I also realized that I need to figure out a place to live! most 1 bedroom apartments go for about 900ish is what i was told, but i think splitting places could bring costs down to 400ish. I sorta looked through craigslist, but feel like its too soon to make that choice. well, i'll start by posting 1 piece from my portfolio. A Personal History of Bleeding metal, wood, stone, motor oil, milk, fake blood. variable dimensions. (about 6'x8'10') forgive the image quality, this isn't the exact image i used in the portfolio, but that is the work.

So, i'm fairly certain that i will be attending rutgers. i really want to make it the best experience possible for myself and my fellow first years. I know some of you have been accepted and some are attending. Its an up and coming program but we need to be on top of things if we're going to push through to the top of the nyc area students. so lets talk! who is going? mediums? expectations? I'll start. I'm performance/video/installation artist. My big goal is to have even higher quality artists/critics come visit the program for talks and studio visits. So that we and the school can benefit. I can start posting my portfolio for anyone who wants to see it.

its a standard college tour. some outgoing guy or girl takes you around and tells you mostly silly trivia. Its geared mostly to undergrads and their parents. now, after your interview. i strongly suggest going to the anchor. Its this great local diner/bar. The afternoon bar tender is this amazing and funny lady. I ordered an awesome cheeseburger and beer. She then gave me like 3 free shots of tequila and 3 free beers. I also got to meet some really friendly local people. which is something i felt was important but seemed cast out from yale.