Today was the semester 2 presentation for MFA. After a little sleep and a lot of snoozing the alarm I made it into uni via a peanut butter, banana and almonds breakfast, for last minute presentation swotting. After our last assessment, I was told I needed to work on my presentation skills. I'm not so sure about presentations and presentation skills. I was speaking to Ross about this earlier. He finds that there is this horrible tension where it begins very academically, but lurches back and forth from completely informal into art discourse. I don't mind this so much. My thoughts and ideas are often scattered but overlap heavily and therefore seem quite suitable for this chaotic and unsure structure.
Semester 2 is ending. I'm terrified. It feels far too soon to be over. The dissertation ate so much studio time, but in turn gave me an incredible amount of clarity in my research and huge inspiration to get back into making. Graham commented that there had been a creative burst in my studio. I find it so funny that most tutors comment that I should tidy my studio space, but Graham comments on how productive the space feels. I tidied for the assessment. The floor was covered in cardboard boxes and stuck together parcel tape (you know that way that it sticks to itself the minute you have bitten it off the reel and it won't unstick to matter how hard you will it to?). But straight away after I tidied I thought I should have left it the way it was. In undergrad we would take assessment so seriously- painting the walls white, whiter, whiter. Not that I haven't taken these assessments seriously - of course I have, but it feels so different. I don't want to edit my studio space. Like in Berlin- the gallery walls had the last exhibitions screw holes left uncovered, pencil marks for hanging and peeling paint and lino. It was beautiful. And everywhere you turned was graffiti on graffiti, in restaurant toilets, in stairwells, on studio walls. Lettering, text... everywhere. Inspired? Maybe....
