polyethylene

Well I figured minimalism in relation to maximalism would probably put minimalistic work on the less-labor-intensive side of things. Fewer marks, fewer actions and so on. Minimalist architecture and highly geometric painting as per the minimalism movement, sure, I can see preparation being a highly demanding and labor intensive aspect of the process. So let's just pretend I used primitive and simplistic in exchange for my use literal use of minimalism.

Well here's the umpteenth topic on this. I didn't major in studio art so I never really got anything in the way of program suggestions from faculty regarding where to apply for an MFA. I'm interested in cathartic work that can go either way as far as being labor intensive or minimalism is concerned. I majored in philosophy and I know for a lot of people in their practice, it's essential for them to ask and challenge that conception of what art is, or to make inquiries about relationships between institutions and art and so on. Personally I'm more concerned with questions like beauty, motion, the sublime etc. and in that way I consider myself to be relatively traditional in terms of practice and philosophy. Tumblr/blog of work that's most recent: http://charlienewton.tumblr.com/ Flickr that has everything from the last few years: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33330903@N07/

May I ask why you're electing to go into graduate studies? Some would find your completion of a tattoo apprenticeship and subsequent employment as an artist rather enviable.

Some new work: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33330903@N07/ Suggestions are welcome. Admittedly some of the stuff is kind of all over the place which makes me feel like I ought to consider a post-bacc. We'll see.

My portfolio needs work before I apply to MFA programs and I'm trying to come up with ways to be in/near a class/studio setting in order to get work done- I don't have much in the way of formal training and only took two studio classes as an undergrad. Another key point here is that I'm trying to do this without spending an exorbitant sum of money (30,000 for a post-bac seems insane to me). So far what I'm thinking is taking classes for a certificate program at a place like RISD, Parsons or SAIC (I'm planning on moving in general so the possible location's flexible). Any thoughts or experiences on the matter?

I'm thinking about applying to the post-bacc program (I didn't major in studio art as an undergrad and my portfolio's kind of all over the place). What's the consensus on doing it there? I like the faculty work involved with the post-bac as well as the student work that's come out of it.

Today via e-mail

Also rejected from UIC

SUNY Albany accepts applications until April 1, however their deadline for funding was February 15. Montclair takes applications on a rolling basis and I think they're pretty lenient semester deadline wise.

Now there's a nice thought. They e-mail acceptances and waitlists I believe so it looks like this is going to be another one of those sitting in the dark/keep hitting refresh on the admissions page scenarios for me. Conversely the UIC application was the last one I submitted.

Holy cow, UIC's taking a minute and a half. We were supposed to hear this week, no?

Were you send the decision in the e-mail? Or did the message tell you to check the status on the UIC site? My status just says to wait for further updates. I figure their lack of speed in notifying me signifies a rejection.

@michaelwesbter- I'm really onboard with going against calling this abstract expressionism- especially since it's been solidified as a historical reference paint in art history. We can allude to past movements now, but ultimately it's assumed that it's always just that- an allusion or a reference to something that's already happened and that's ultimately been (re)absorbed into contemporary practice. Also, we're looking at those paintings without knowing things like what the rest of their body of work looks like and with what I suspect to be of greater importance- what the painter's statement and educational history is. The matter of heroism is traded in for rhetoric and storytelling where the practitioner constructs a metaphysics surrounding their art and lures the viewer in with the image as the punchline or clincher.

@TheSweetestPainter- If you've been asked to interview somewhere I feel as though that puts you at least statistically in the running for acceptance. As for myself, I'm a little shocked and almost impressed by the amount of hubris that possessed me to apply where I did. I maintain however that I was blinded by last-minute decision making and since I feel I'll have no choice but to reapply next year my decisions will be much more well informed.

I applied to UIC. They get a lot more applicants than I had originally expected.

I'm scheduled to have a discussion with a faculty member from one of the schools I've applied to. Since they don't conduct interviews I asked someone personally if they'd be willing to talk to me about the program and the like- what I was wondering was what I should ask, exactly. I've done my homework as far as finding out about the place- I went to an info session, talked on separate occasions with people who have been- and currently are enrolled in the program so I think I have a pretty decent feel for the department's approach and it's because of all of this that I'm attracted to it in the first place. So do I ask sort of usual questions when I talk to this faculty member or... ? I

I went to UIC last week and the woman I talked to in admissions said that between now and the end of the month the faculty would be making their decisions and around the first week of March we'd be hearing via e-mail.

I talked to someone from the painting department at University of Iowa and they said that decisions would be going out this week. Isis hasn't been updated so I'm assuming we'll be hearing from them early next week.

Why wouldn't you just call admissions?

Yeah, spending 80 dollars to get a rejection letter/complete silence has quite a bit of sting. Especially when work is slow and it would have been nice to have spent the cash on groceries. I also found it a lot more difficult than I had expected to get fee waivers from schools- Iowa was the only University of oblige me.

The painting and drawing department is far and away the largest at the school- it would take longer for all of the submissions to be reviewed which would in turn delay the date that interview requests are sent out. Unless all of the departments are coordinated and send out requests on the same date.

@Brown06- I enjoy what you have up. The work jibes with what's going on in contemporary art with really loaded and cut up scenes with bits of information that's reconfigured with care. I like the daringness of the expressive/angular, almost gestural architectural qualities of the structures and linework- it's a nice few steps away from the really soft curvy stuff that's out in the world. There's work I've finished in the past few weeks that I definitely wish I could have had in my portfolio that went out in January. For once it turned out to be a reasonable choice to procrastinate and have the work make it into what's gone out for my February deadlines.

Glitter, football and members; looks like the American Dream to me.

I decided at the last minute to apply to a few schools. Some of those are my portfolio, yeah. I also included a few pages from the comics I've worked on. We'll see I guess.

Longtime lurker: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33330903@N07/sets/ Just reorganized/tried to clean house a bit. Comments are appreciated.