i was talking with my brother tim today about whether or not i was still planning to pursue an mfa degree in photography. when we started talking about why i would do it, i realized that what i missed most were the group critiques. anyone in l.a. missing dialogue about ongoing art? let's start a think tank!
i love critiques. during crits i have sobbed my guts out, gotten angry, and felt totally inspired depending on the minute. and i realy don't think there is much that is scarier than putting up work-in-progress on a wall in front of people whoe opinion i respect. i learned how to do it in maine at photo school, and now- five months out of school- i think i am ready to put new work on a wall.
what has gotten me stuck in the past with work is not being willing to share it or talk about it. like letts pinted out in our conversation- so much can come from talking about work and ideas. photography/visual mixed media and writing, my mediums of choice, are pretty solitary and so i often don't think of sharing or brainstorming about them. but i think my work suffers without the dialogue.
for one thing, i don't make as much work. i think anyone who is trying to make a big project go needs to have both support as well as someone to be accountable to other then themselves. ian and i have a technique that gets us working: we e-mail each other every day about what we have gotten done on projects we have committed to doing in front of each other. ian doesn't let people down with work, and i am really competetive, so it makes for a nice way for us to get our self-motivated projects done.
the curse fo the freelancer is really the illusion of unlimited time. another thing ian and i did today that i recommend to anyone trying to fit creativitiy into their life in a more productive way- and this isn't just for freelancers- this little exercise helps make time available to either those who think they have too much or not enough for their work.
first- make a list of all the projects you would do if only you had the time/structure/discipline /money/divine inspiration.
next- list them in order of priority to you.
third- make a list of all the ways you spend your time during the week: job, eating, sleeping, commute, household chores, time with family/friends. include as well how much leisure time you want and time for exercise.
fourth- add the time up and subtract from 168 (number of hours in a week). round up before subtracting at least a few hours. there is always the starting in space and hunting for keys time to account for. look at the number you have left. if it is negative then reevaluation is necessary to go on. if it is a positive number this is the amount of time you can give yourself every week to work on your creative/personal projects. value this and make it a real thing for you
finally- schedule it. make a schedule- we just wrote out the days of the week on sheets of paper turned sideways and blocked in our for money jobs, and figured out how we wanted to block in our extra time. we each came up with about 18 hours of personal time. ian chose to do four 4.5 hour blocks in the evening/nighttime, when he works best. i need longer stretches, so i gave myself three six hour chunks- two from mid-afternoon through evening during the week and one on sunday afternoon/evening. put the schedule into a calendar. i use a basic paper planner. another option ian came up with is to use google calendar. that way we can each input our schedule and see what we are each doing. this can be another fun way to be accountable. make your calendar viewable to a creative partner so you can each check up on each other about taking the time seriously and working toward your goals.
so i am excited about this little exercise. we'll see how it pans out for each of us. my house is close to set up now, so i should be able to start working on photo and my photo site soon- i'll keep everyone posted about when it will be ready.
and with regard to the group- who wants a group crit? i forsee a group of about 8-10 for a monthly meeting where we would have a potluck or rotating hosting where we would take turns hosting with food where each person would get about 20 min to show a current project and get feedback from the group. eventually i would love to be able to collaborate for shows or getting work out in the public view. email me if you might be interested in such a group. i hope to have a mixture of disciplines: writing, visual art, photo, film, music or any kind of art project you want support with. i would like people interested in an ongoing group- showing work to people who have a relationship with what you have been up to is so rewarding and i love seeing what people come up with over time.
and let me know what you come up with if you try to exercise above. feedback is awesome.
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