SPESC 2012

I know I said I was going to blog about the conference. Unfortunately, it turned out to be much busier than I had anticipated. The only images I managed to get were on my iPhone using Instagram.

Whitten, backstage, preparing to photograph a lecture

Google Voice Dictation is Terrible

Google Voice is terrible at translating voicemails even from a clear voice, let alone many of the thick accented southerners I know, here are a few great examples:

"Happy Birthday through you. Happy Birthday kidding you. Happy Birthday. And I also i'm staying on. Happy Birthday to you. I love you soon bye bye"

"Hello Yeah, bye. Mr hey he has. Well, I don't know your alright, okay. They wanna Yeah, hey. That. Bye Bye the bye basketball. Yeah, I've been I don't know baby. I'll do it."

"Hey, the uncommon bank give me your anger and bye"

"They went house tomorrow when you lay. When you're facing a late let us know what time. Okay bye. I love you."

"Hi, this is Charles sign for the the in your the Chris Wallace very good train, and I can't get on the road for the code on it, so if you don't show up some of the month. Hello Steven, Good confidence of approval for today alright. Thanks."

"Stay. 9 that were it was my only because Mary gal and I need to get in the record or print stuff up worrying it bye."

"Hey, this is joseph with the so give me a briskly training today. I'm here and I can't get in the room, so I'm on the lease."

Grad Schools and Other Things

I recently managed to finally narrow down the list of schools I am applying to for graduate school. I've struggled with settling on a reasonable number. I finally settled on picking certain areas I would be happy with and picking schools nearby. Most of them are around Portland, OR because, why not?

University of Oregon
Pacific Northwest College of Art
Portland State
Carnegie Mellon University
University of Alabama Tuscaloosa

While I'm at it, check out RaccoonSpoon and KittyKonundrum's thesis work so far! They are incredible. Just all around.

Cyanotype-Photogram Fun

As part of my job, I occasionally work with students by doing demonstrations, giving small lectures or (usually) just sitting in for a professor. Today I filled in for Professor Gootee by leading her first year seminar group in creating cyanotype photograms.

Sometimes, A Man Needs Rest

This is appropriate to how I feel today.

Christo!

This past week the Department of Art chartered a bus (with wifi!) to go see a Christo & Jeanne-Claude exhibition and talk. The show (a special exhibition at Lauren Rogers Museum in Laurel) seemed a bit out of place among their permanent collection which primarily consisted of 19th century paintings and relics.

I heard complaints among a small group of students who didn't seem to quite see the point in the exhibition. I've personally always found the exhibitions to be an exciting look into their process. It's also the closest many people will ever get to seeing the physical things they've created (save through videos and photographs) as their works are all large-scale and temporary.

The talk was in Hattiesberg at USM. It was my understanding that there was no photography allowed, but I did manage to catch a quick cell phone picture of Christo answering questions.

Poignant was the absence of Jeanne-Claude, who as you may or may not know passed away in 2009. She came up very often in the talk- which is to be expected, as all his current projects were conceived with her. It did feel as though he was simply talking about someone who was back home that evening. Upon being asked about a future work to memorialize her, he replied that they didn't believe in that sort of thing. Hearing him speak however, it feels as if carrying on their planned work may be an in memoriam.

At any rate, it was a nice talk and a great opportunity. Wouldn't have missed it for the world! If you're unfamiliar, I suggest checking out one of the many documentaries following their projects from inception to fruition. The Gates is currently streaming on Netflix instant.