Okay I am not going to lie it was nice having a break and watching a movie but I thought it was a little mediocre we were watching a kung fu movie with subtitles and had to relate it to art. The movie is not about art nor was it ever intended to be about art. Also the movie, in a nut shell, is about a student, San te, who rebels against the government, that kills his family and friends, and becomes a monk so he can learn how to get revenge. I can not get past the idea that a monk, someone who is thought to be peaceful, someone who has taken a vow of silence, has this master plan to kill the people. He finds the most corrupt young men and teaches them too. But when you look past all the silliness there are a lot of parallels that could be made. First of all it is San te's life experiences that inspire him and motivate him. That is what got him to Shaolin. When he got there he was very interested in learning kung fu just like artists are obviously interested in making art but we both have to start at the bottom. Most of us came out of high school being the best and when we got here we were pretty much taught to forget everything and start over. At the end of the movie the boy gets his 36th chamber and it is a happy ending but in this case it is hard me to think about art school because while I was watching it I kept thinking about my job. I have been working at a gymnastics center for about 4 years and like any job you start at the bottom. I worked my way up and now I have a lot of responsibilities there. Part of my job is teaching gymnastics and it is really fun. I form relationships with the kids I teach and I get to watch them grow and improve. I work with babies and kids with special needs so that part is just fun and i work with older girls who remember me and they can't wait for the next week and they get excited when they accomplish something and they honestly make me proud of them.
Rubens asked "What do you think of the abbot's quote "
it's peaceful in this
temple but outside is turbulent" in relation to art school, art and art making with the
world at large?" and in terms of art school I think it is an appropriate quote as well. As an art student I work really hard, harder then all of my friends who are not in Tyler. And in art school your hard work shows and pays off. We are rewarded good grades in exchange for our commitment. But once we graduate, in 3 years, after all the long nights and money spent on projects, and all the good grades, there are no guarantees. That is scary and also crazy to me that we all in Tyler work our asses off everyday and every night with no breaks and all of this may add up to nothing for some of us. I do not mean to sound pessimistic but in reality they don't call us starving artists for nothing. This brings me to the next question I wanted to address; "How do you think art making will be different outside of college?" Art making will be so different. I will have no restrictions as an artist my art can be as big or as small as i want, as realistic or as abstract. I can use any media I want and there are no deadlines. My art can start in a studio and stay there because I won't be sharing the room. My art will not be influenced by the teachers and students around me but just the world I will be living in. There will be no more suggestions in the paths I take and at the end people will see my work and they may hate it or love it but it doesn't matter.
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