If you know one thing about Canadian art history, it's the Group of Seven. Thing is, that's all I've heard about Canadian art history, and it's made me think, there has to be more to Canadian art than this! ...right?
Monday: I submitted a call for participants for my independent project to the NOW bulletin, which is published by the NSCAD Service Centre and distributed throughout the school three times a week.
Tuesday: Over lunch, there was a meeting about the grad show and catalogue. We can do either one or both, and both are voluntary, unlike NBCCD's grad show, which is a requirement of all the programs. I'm considering submitting stuff to the catalogue but not the show because of the cost of shipping my photos on top of the cost of mats and frames (Canada Post ain't cheap).
I was supposed to have an appointment with Joan that afternoon, but it was canceled because she was sick. I used the extra hour to get stuff done.
Wednesday: At the beginning of the semester, I had a look in The Plaid Place, which sells Scottish stuff, and checked out their tartan scarves. I have a Moffatt tartan scarf, but it's way too scratchy for me. The lady told me that they'd be having their annual sale (fifty per cent off) in the last week of January and the first week of February. On Wednesday I finally bought myself a scarf--or two. As I didn't have anything with the Johnston tartan (Mom's family--unfortunately, that tartan doesn't reproduce well: in addition to the gold stripe, it has dark blue, forest green and black) on it, I decided to get a Johnston tartan scarf as well.
While I did get stuff done, my time management was really bad and I was up until 2:00 AM studying for Thursday's classes...
Thursday: ...which meant that I only got about five hours of sleep, which is less than I get on Christmas (unless there's a power outage, I'm in bed at midnight and then up at 6:30 to put the cinnamon buns in the oven--and I'm someone who needs eight to nine hours of sleep a night in order to be happy).
Jayne spent the first part of class talking about the midterm exam, which will be my first-ever essay-format exam (all others have been multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank style). After class, I had a bunch of questions for her because I was new to doing an exam that way.
In between classes, I studied for Contemporary Indigenous Arts as I wanted to get a good start on the week's readings.
And yes, this week's Topics in Modern Canadian Art was about the Group of Seven. However, for the first time in my life, I was in a setting where there was freedom to actually think critically about the Group--in fact, one of the readings for this week took a step back and actually examined the Group and the National Art Gallery's role in promoting those artists to death. Apparently, the NGC's attitude has been, "if you don't like the Group of Seven, you're not Canadian or not patriotic" (which means I'm screwed: minus Harper, I love this country--but I like the Group of Seven about as much as I like Ketil Hvoslef: they're good, but not my style). I've been raised to think critically, and it's bothered me that no one has done that with the Group of Seven (at least as far as I could tell). Sure, I don't question the composers in the classical canon--but then again, I like most of them. And even with the ones that I don't like, I feel no pressure to like them and treat them like they're the best thing since music notation.
That evening I got my first response to the notice that I put on the SUNSCAD Facebook group, advertising for participants for my project.
Friday: During Helen's and my Skype chat/memorial service, she told me that she was going to be in Halifax a couple of weeks from then and we started making plans to meet. Friday was the big day and I met her on the first floor of the NSCAD library (it has three floors) and we talked for a while. Eventually Helen had to go put more money in the parking meter. On our way out, I said "hi" to Ken, who was also in the library and introduced him and Helen. The two talked for a while, discussing artist stuff. Also, yay, networking. After Helen fed the meter, we went in the NSCAD Art Supply Store's street door, as she wanted to get some supplies (unlike NBCCD's store, the NSCAD store is open to the public). Turns out, she knows Neil, the storekeeper. We finished with a thorough tour of the photo dept.--and a good, long chat with Alex and Chris (also: yay for all the random things you learn at art school. Today's topic: gardening.).
Saturday: I spent the day studying and listening to the Met.
I'm considering going to the simulcast of La Bohème. While I can afford it, the issue is that it's right at the end of the semester and therefore I'll be in the midst of studying for final exams and putting the final touches on my photo project. Keep your fingers crossed, everyone! I'd love to finish my time at university with a good Met Opera/MOO/favourite opera-induced sob-fest (Bohème never fails to turn me into a sobbing wreck in act four).
Because the BSO played a pops concert featuring the music of John Williams that evening, I thought I'd share my favourite pieces by him, some of which were on the program. Enjoy. What I would've given to hear the BSO play the Indiana Jones and Schindler's List themes...
You'll have to go to YouTube to view this one:
I still remember the time the BSO reduced me to tears with the Star Wars theme:
Sunday: Once again, I spent the day reading--while listening to opera on CBC Music in celebration of Renée Fleming's performance at the Super Bowl, which I was super-excited about (I was positively giddy as I wrote about the upcoming performance in an email to Lynn Saturday evening, and I think my excitement came across in my writing).
If you've ever wondered about Renée's vocal range--wonder no more. Long story short: it's impressive--yet another reason why she's my favourite soprano. I have always wondered about the numbers that followed note names, as in the video below, and I finally looked it up.
The video is included in this list on BuzzFeed.
Back in August, Suzanne Nance opened her final broadcast on MPBN with O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi, as sung by Renée:
I know I've shared a lot of videos (eight, to be exact) with you guys already, but I promise this is the last one. How can I deny those of you who weren't lucky enough to see Renée's performance of The Star-Spangled Banner live the joy of said performance, which was the first time an opera singer sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl? As I watched--with tears in my eyes because her singing was so beautiful--I was thinking about the significance of her performance. This is what I had been gearing up for and getting excited about since yesterday. BRAVA, RENÉE!
*"Toi, toi, toi" is the opera equivalent of "break a leg".
Showing posts with label show. Show all posts
Showing posts with label show. Show all posts
Monday, February 3, 2014
Sunday, January 26, 2014
the roller-coaster is over--for now
Finally, a normal week: I'm all caught up on my history readings, no one I know died (though I'm still a bit sad that I'll never see or hug Stan again--I think it'll take me longer than usual to truly recover from his death and what I felt, which, given the huge mark that he left on my life, isn't surprising). As a result, this post is about half the length of my last post.
Monday: This week's class was one that came with a warning, as it was about the residential schools. Some of what was talked about was stuff that I knew already, but some of it was new to me. It was still heartbreaking, though.
Tuesday: After class, I spent the day writing a response paper for Contemporary Indigenous Arts, which Carla had assigned in response to Monday's class.
Wednesday: I started writing one of the five response papers for Contemporary Indigenous Arts that I have to write throughout the semester (at least two before midterms and at least two after--if we do more than six, our final grade will be determined by the six best papers).
Thursday: In between classes I put up a notice saying that I'm looking for models for my independent project. That afternoon, we met at the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery to view their current show--which Survey of Twentieth-Century Art will be going to see as well.
Friday: A friend who had a show at the Anna Leonowens Gallery this week, Beck, had asked for better installation photos (they'd taken a few with a camera phone). I volunteered and spent some time in Gallery 3 (the Anna is split into three galleries, Gallery 3 being hidden around a corner and down a flight of stairs). The show is awesome. From the gallery's website: "I FEEL GOOD is a collaboration between Beck Gilmer-Osborne and their brother Mat Osborne that investigates the complicated nature of personal narratives and the multiple social constructs of masculinity. In their latest video and sculpture work Beck is interested in exploring non-verbal modes of communication and gender performativity. Their installation will reflect the shortcomings of traditional gender narratives, and the tension that exists between siblings who have been and continue to be socialized in radically different ways." Because there is very little light in the gallery due to all the windows being blocked as part of the show, photographing said show was a challenge. In a situation like that, autofocus is useless. I normally suck at manual focus, but I knew that I could zoom in on the image while in live view using the camera's zoom button, which allowed me to focus much more accurately. Shoot = saved. Most of the images came close to being tack-sharp. Thank you, modern technology!
I spent the rest of the day writing for Contemporary Indigenous Arts.
Saturday: Once again, I spent the day writing.
Sunday: At about 5:00 AM, the smoke alarm went off in my building, waking me up from a deep sleep. I grabbed my shoes, pointed wordlessly to where one of my roommate's cats had gone when said roommate asked, as I was barely awake and couldn't string together a proper sentence, let alone think one, and pounded down way too many flights of stairs (I live in a high-rise building). I only put my shoes on when I got to the lobby. Turns out, the thing that set off the alarm wasn't in the building: some people had set off fireworks outside and that somehow triggered the alarm. I never truly woke up during the whole adventure, and when my roommate and I finally got back to the apartment, I went straight to my room and back to bed. I think I fell asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow. When I think back on it, the whole thing feels like a dream, though I know that yes, it did happen.
When I finally woke up for the second time, I spent the day at school, editing the stuff that's due tomorrow, printing it off and reading the stuff for Twentieth-Century Art.
I found this today, and some of it speaks to what I just went through (see #10). Some of it is just plain awesome--which isn't surprising because it's Mister Rogers quotes. I grew up watching his show, and once a fan always a fan.
Monday: This week's class was one that came with a warning, as it was about the residential schools. Some of what was talked about was stuff that I knew already, but some of it was new to me. It was still heartbreaking, though.
Tuesday: After class, I spent the day writing a response paper for Contemporary Indigenous Arts, which Carla had assigned in response to Monday's class.
Wednesday: I started writing one of the five response papers for Contemporary Indigenous Arts that I have to write throughout the semester (at least two before midterms and at least two after--if we do more than six, our final grade will be determined by the six best papers).
Thursday: In between classes I put up a notice saying that I'm looking for models for my independent project. That afternoon, we met at the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery to view their current show--which Survey of Twentieth-Century Art will be going to see as well.
Friday: A friend who had a show at the Anna Leonowens Gallery this week, Beck, had asked for better installation photos (they'd taken a few with a camera phone). I volunteered and spent some time in Gallery 3 (the Anna is split into three galleries, Gallery 3 being hidden around a corner and down a flight of stairs). The show is awesome. From the gallery's website: "I FEEL GOOD is a collaboration between Beck Gilmer-Osborne and their brother Mat Osborne that investigates the complicated nature of personal narratives and the multiple social constructs of masculinity. In their latest video and sculpture work Beck is interested in exploring non-verbal modes of communication and gender performativity. Their installation will reflect the shortcomings of traditional gender narratives, and the tension that exists between siblings who have been and continue to be socialized in radically different ways." Because there is very little light in the gallery due to all the windows being blocked as part of the show, photographing said show was a challenge. In a situation like that, autofocus is useless. I normally suck at manual focus, but I knew that I could zoom in on the image while in live view using the camera's zoom button, which allowed me to focus much more accurately. Shoot = saved. Most of the images came close to being tack-sharp. Thank you, modern technology!
I spent the rest of the day writing for Contemporary Indigenous Arts.
Saturday: Once again, I spent the day writing.
Sunday: At about 5:00 AM, the smoke alarm went off in my building, waking me up from a deep sleep. I grabbed my shoes, pointed wordlessly to where one of my roommate's cats had gone when said roommate asked, as I was barely awake and couldn't string together a proper sentence, let alone think one, and pounded down way too many flights of stairs (I live in a high-rise building). I only put my shoes on when I got to the lobby. Turns out, the thing that set off the alarm wasn't in the building: some people had set off fireworks outside and that somehow triggered the alarm. I never truly woke up during the whole adventure, and when my roommate and I finally got back to the apartment, I went straight to my room and back to bed. I think I fell asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow. When I think back on it, the whole thing feels like a dream, though I know that yes, it did happen.
When I finally woke up for the second time, I spent the day at school, editing the stuff that's due tomorrow, printing it off and reading the stuff for Twentieth-Century Art.
I found this today, and some of it speaks to what I just went through (see #10). Some of it is just plain awesome--which isn't surprising because it's Mister Rogers quotes. I grew up watching his show, and once a fan always a fan.
Monday, April 8, 2013
prepping for next year
My university plans have changed again. And finals are just as brutal as ever.
Monday: Due to it being Easter Monday, there were no classes. I spent the day doing homework.
Tuesday: I returned the DVDs to the VRC and ended up discussing them with the woman in charge of the Collection (Rebecca, who's a NSCAD grad--Photography, Class of '99). I think Anna Leonowens and I would've gotten along quite nicely, and I love that she was a suffragette. Once again, I spent the day doing homework, including prepping for the next day's printing.
I'm determined to get an apartment next year: I've lived in a university residence for the last four years, and at twenty-four (twenty-five in July), I'm ready to truly start living on my own and be responsible for paying rent. So I visited a couple of apartment buildings on my way home. I didn't get to see any rooms, but I like the feel of both places, and they're close to pretty much everything.
Later that evening, I started to feel the telltale signs of a cold.
Wednesday: I woke up feeling like I could've slept another hour or two. By the end of the day, however, I was feeling much better.
That day was Printing Day. I spent a chunk of the afternoon doing final adjustments and then printed the photos.
Class was another group critique. I had some tweaks to make, but overall it went well.
Thursday: Here's where things get interesting. I went to school early to meet with Adrian Fish, who'll be my teacher next semester for APC, to talk about the course. I've been discussing it a lot with a student who's currently taking it, Mary Ellen, and I wanted to see what Adrian had to say. We went over the course outline, which he emailed to me. I also mentioned that I'd be doing all nine of my history credits (three courses) that semester. With APC that's a whopping eighteen credits, i.e., overload. Whenever I've mentioned this to my friends at school they've all said something along the lines of "that's a lot." And it is. But I'd gotten it into my head that I'll finish my degree in three semesters, and all my plans and decisions have been based around that schedule, so adding another semester was more than a bit stressful. Adrian said the same--in fact, he said that that was the most difficult way to go about finishing said degree. That did it for me. Because Adrian's awesome and I trust him, I figured he had to be right about this. I've been kind of worried, anyway, about doing it that way. Yes, it's cheaper, but while I'd save money, I'd probably end up racking up a lot of sleep debt (and this gal needs eight to nine hours of sleep a night. I can get by on seven for a night or two, but any less, or several nights in a row of seven hours or less, and you don't want to be me. Though I somehow manage to happily go through Christmas Day on about six and a half hours of sleep.). I'd also be stressed out of my mind, especially during finals, which are stressful enough at fifteen credits. And I'd run the risk of doing a crappy job on my APC project, and my expectations for that course are higher than they are for most other courses because it's the thesis course for the Photography BFA (and as I've gotten older and learned more, my standards for my own work and that of others have skyrocketed--and not just for photography, either: this also applies to other forms of visual art, dance and music). I won't accept anything less than the best. But because money is a big concern for me (I have a student loan for the first time, having gone through NBCCD with a university fund that no longer exists), I was concerned about the financial side of adding another semester. However, I'd rather go a little deeper into debt than sacrifice the quality of my work, my GPA--and my sanity.
After all that, I went to the SUNSCAD AGM--which didn't get underway until about 12:30. I unfortunately had to leave just after the new SUNSCAD exec was ratified due to class at 1:00.
The latter part of class was a working class, and I spent it tidying up the pieces that I'd done. During break, I went to OSAS to talk with them about the change in plan because I'd already applied to graduate and listed my graduation date as Winter '14. I have a couple of appointments to talk things over on Tuesday, which is going to be a ridiculously busy day.
Friday: The last set of presentations for Obsolescence. We also made plans for next week: because it's the last day for that course, we're meeting at ten instead of 8:30. Hello, sleeping in until 8:30!
Anna spent the class going over the structure and format of our final essays.
Saturday: Up and at 'em. That morning we installed the show on the second floor of the Port Campus, and my print is looking gorgeous. This is my first time mounting a photo using earth magnets, and I love the look. It cuts down on cost, yes (and I don't know if NSCAD has frames that I can borrow nor do I know who cuts mats well and charges an amount that's easy for a student to cough up), but some images are best when presented "naked". It forces the viewer to be confronted by the work and whatever idea the artist is trying to get across whether the viewer likes it or not. This is my first show outside New Brunswick.
Once the show was up, I went back to my place and spent the rest of the day studying, and I'm amazed at how much I got done--which is good news for Tuesday. I also dropped two courses from my Fall '13 schedule and registered for courses for Winter '14. I'll be taking APC and Survey of 20th Century Art in the Fall (twelve credits), and Contemporary Indigenous Arts and Topics in Canadian Art in the Winter (six credits, meaning that I'll be a part-time student--full-time status kicks in at nine credits). Since Friday, I've felt lighter when I think about the remaining courses: I don't have to worry about how I'm going to get all my projects done. Plus, if Contemporary Indigenous Arts is as awesome as I think it's going to be, I could treat it as an extension of my summer project on First Nations peoples, culture, history, treaties and treatment by white people (that's probably going to be the most painful part of the project).
Due to all the excitement, I didn't listen to the opera. This week the Met performed Das Rheingold, which is home to one of the most beautiful preludes ever. I don't care what you think of Wagner or opera--that thing's awesome. I'm not the biggest Wagner fan--I'm definitely not a Ring-head--but the Das Rheingold prelude is one of my favourite pieces. I love how it starts out simply and then grows and builds and swells, evoking the Rhine river. Here it is, as performed by the Met in the new Robert Lepage production. That's all eight MOO hornists you're hearing.
Sunday: Once again, I spent the day doing homework down at the Port Campus. Despite my rather late start to the day, I managed to finish much of the rest of my to-do list.
Monday: Due to it being Easter Monday, there were no classes. I spent the day doing homework.
Tuesday: I returned the DVDs to the VRC and ended up discussing them with the woman in charge of the Collection (Rebecca, who's a NSCAD grad--Photography, Class of '99). I think Anna Leonowens and I would've gotten along quite nicely, and I love that she was a suffragette. Once again, I spent the day doing homework, including prepping for the next day's printing.
I'm determined to get an apartment next year: I've lived in a university residence for the last four years, and at twenty-four (twenty-five in July), I'm ready to truly start living on my own and be responsible for paying rent. So I visited a couple of apartment buildings on my way home. I didn't get to see any rooms, but I like the feel of both places, and they're close to pretty much everything.
Later that evening, I started to feel the telltale signs of a cold.
Wednesday: I woke up feeling like I could've slept another hour or two. By the end of the day, however, I was feeling much better.
That day was Printing Day. I spent a chunk of the afternoon doing final adjustments and then printed the photos.
Class was another group critique. I had some tweaks to make, but overall it went well.
Thursday: Here's where things get interesting. I went to school early to meet with Adrian Fish, who'll be my teacher next semester for APC, to talk about the course. I've been discussing it a lot with a student who's currently taking it, Mary Ellen, and I wanted to see what Adrian had to say. We went over the course outline, which he emailed to me. I also mentioned that I'd be doing all nine of my history credits (three courses) that semester. With APC that's a whopping eighteen credits, i.e., overload. Whenever I've mentioned this to my friends at school they've all said something along the lines of "that's a lot." And it is. But I'd gotten it into my head that I'll finish my degree in three semesters, and all my plans and decisions have been based around that schedule, so adding another semester was more than a bit stressful. Adrian said the same--in fact, he said that that was the most difficult way to go about finishing said degree. That did it for me. Because Adrian's awesome and I trust him, I figured he had to be right about this. I've been kind of worried, anyway, about doing it that way. Yes, it's cheaper, but while I'd save money, I'd probably end up racking up a lot of sleep debt (and this gal needs eight to nine hours of sleep a night. I can get by on seven for a night or two, but any less, or several nights in a row of seven hours or less, and you don't want to be me. Though I somehow manage to happily go through Christmas Day on about six and a half hours of sleep.). I'd also be stressed out of my mind, especially during finals, which are stressful enough at fifteen credits. And I'd run the risk of doing a crappy job on my APC project, and my expectations for that course are higher than they are for most other courses because it's the thesis course for the Photography BFA (and as I've gotten older and learned more, my standards for my own work and that of others have skyrocketed--and not just for photography, either: this also applies to other forms of visual art, dance and music). I won't accept anything less than the best. But because money is a big concern for me (I have a student loan for the first time, having gone through NBCCD with a university fund that no longer exists), I was concerned about the financial side of adding another semester. However, I'd rather go a little deeper into debt than sacrifice the quality of my work, my GPA--and my sanity.
After all that, I went to the SUNSCAD AGM--which didn't get underway until about 12:30. I unfortunately had to leave just after the new SUNSCAD exec was ratified due to class at 1:00.
The latter part of class was a working class, and I spent it tidying up the pieces that I'd done. During break, I went to OSAS to talk with them about the change in plan because I'd already applied to graduate and listed my graduation date as Winter '14. I have a couple of appointments to talk things over on Tuesday, which is going to be a ridiculously busy day.
Friday: The last set of presentations for Obsolescence. We also made plans for next week: because it's the last day for that course, we're meeting at ten instead of 8:30. Hello, sleeping in until 8:30!
Anna spent the class going over the structure and format of our final essays.
Saturday: Up and at 'em. That morning we installed the show on the second floor of the Port Campus, and my print is looking gorgeous. This is my first time mounting a photo using earth magnets, and I love the look. It cuts down on cost, yes (and I don't know if NSCAD has frames that I can borrow nor do I know who cuts mats well and charges an amount that's easy for a student to cough up), but some images are best when presented "naked". It forces the viewer to be confronted by the work and whatever idea the artist is trying to get across whether the viewer likes it or not. This is my first show outside New Brunswick.
Once the show was up, I went back to my place and spent the rest of the day studying, and I'm amazed at how much I got done--which is good news for Tuesday. I also dropped two courses from my Fall '13 schedule and registered for courses for Winter '14. I'll be taking APC and Survey of 20th Century Art in the Fall (twelve credits), and Contemporary Indigenous Arts and Topics in Canadian Art in the Winter (six credits, meaning that I'll be a part-time student--full-time status kicks in at nine credits). Since Friday, I've felt lighter when I think about the remaining courses: I don't have to worry about how I'm going to get all my projects done. Plus, if Contemporary Indigenous Arts is as awesome as I think it's going to be, I could treat it as an extension of my summer project on First Nations peoples, culture, history, treaties and treatment by white people (that's probably going to be the most painful part of the project).
Due to all the excitement, I didn't listen to the opera. This week the Met performed Das Rheingold, which is home to one of the most beautiful preludes ever. I don't care what you think of Wagner or opera--that thing's awesome. I'm not the biggest Wagner fan--I'm definitely not a Ring-head--but the Das Rheingold prelude is one of my favourite pieces. I love how it starts out simply and then grows and builds and swells, evoking the Rhine river. Here it is, as performed by the Met in the new Robert Lepage production. That's all eight MOO hornists you're hearing.
Sunday: Once again, I spent the day doing homework down at the Port Campus. Despite my rather late start to the day, I managed to finish much of the rest of my to-do list.
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