What I Did Wrong

I asked for another impromtu critique from Terry, and as I was coming back to the studio, I ran into my drawing teacher of great influence. I asked if she was too busy to help me out, to which she gladly came with me back to the studio. After what felt like an entire day of conversation and critique with both of them, it's become clear what I've not been able to do.

The idea and concept is great and thought provoking, but the execution isn't living up to the grandness of the idea. As an artist, it is our challenge to make damn sure that our idea and concept is communicated as grand visually as it is conceptually. If a line of thought comes off as scary, make art that evokes that sense as well as communicates that thought.

This is apparently where I went wrong. The idea of a community accepting or cutting off a person based on collective knowledge spans more than cartoon geeks like myself and semiotic relationships on a social scale. It can be applied to politics and personal relationships in the form of witheld information. But visually? I've been keeping it in an area of play so small it doesn't have an affect on the viewer's social conciousness.

I got the impression that I didn't have to do any of my work over again (which is a good thing since I just spent $120 on foam board yesterday in hope that I could use it to make my work more formal), but that I should not concern myself with what I've produced up until now and look at my conceptual intent and underlying subject matter.

In other words, paper first; art second. I've been trying to do both side-by-side as the class was designed. Or more accurately reformed. I can't tell you what came first, but before now, students would do more of one than they would the other during the first half of the semester, leaving them with nothing but weeks to come up with the the part they should have done all that time. I don't know. Making art is hard.

The bottom line is this: The fact that I've been struggling with just trying to type my paper is proof alone that I don't know how to communicate my thesis. This has translated to my art work. I am in a position now where I need to figure out what it is I want to say based on my thesis research. I do not have to make any new art unless need be. I have to do so in a way that is formally interesting, visually appealing, and stimulates critical thinking in the same line as what it is I want to communicate.

Question is can I do all this before April 4th?