I think I love college. I really do. The idea of being able to learn a mass amount of knowledge and information, especially stuff I really enjoy, and being able to use that information for my future career, is really a genius idea. Although, despite that, college education isn't perfect, isn't always ideal, and isn't always fair. It's come to the point where a bachelors degree isn't quite as amazing as it is made out to be. Sure, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get one, but it certainly doesn't always mean you have the qualifications and knowledge required to work in your field. It's not always the colleges fault, and it's not always the students fault. But it's come to the point where your college degree means little compared to your extra-curricular activities, your internships, and your portfolio. If you can't show it, you ain't got it. Students struggle to attain stellar GPAs, only to realize that their GPA means little in the workforce. A student with a 3.0 can be far more successful than a student with a 3.5 or even a 4.0 GPA in their careers, and I think employers are starting to catch on to that now as they have noticed the incompetence of their high GPA employees.
From an art student point of view, I have actually seen some really... bad... student portfolios and I have seen students graduate with these portfolios only to wonder where in the world they plan to go with it considering the hundreds of thousands of other artists out there whose skill significantly outshines their own. I'm not bragging about my own skills, I don't consider them fully professionally polished, but I know for a fact that I have made significant amount of progress in my skill and work and that I will continue to do so as the years go on. I still have a few years to go before I can feel comfortable being a professional in my field, or even seeking out an illustration gig. I won't deny it if it comes along, but in the mean time, I'm just going to practice until I get there.
The art world is a really strange place. I've learned so much about it during my coursework, so many new things and so many disappointing things. Honestly, at times, I felt strangely uncomfortable to be associating with other artists. It was like... I didn't belong. One of the things about the art world that made me feel a little less comfortable in my own skin every day, was the fact that now a days, "conceptual art" aka work that has little to no skill but a really cool idea (but not really), was becoming increasingly popular, especially at my particular college. I just couldn't stand it. I felt like the outcast, the rebel, when in fact conceptual artists are the ones who were supposed to be the so-called rebels, rebelling against traditional art that requires years of practice, skill and dedication to get right. I saw things such as filthy mattresses with stuffed dead animals shoved in between them or crafty projects made of foam and mirrors to represent a self-portrait of some sort... or something like that. Or even white and black canvases splattered with drips of paint and odd shapes that my 4 year old niece could draw better... It looked like garbage, it really did. I'm not being mean because I don't LIKE conceptual art. I would be alright with art that has meaning AND skill. But this stuff often lacked both. It was just really crappy artists trying to be clever in some way but failing utterly at it and living in some self-delusional world where they think that they are actually doing it right! *breaths* There was no development of skill, there was only... garbage :/ I think their idea was that anyone can and should be able to be an artist. But, I beg to differ. Artists are not made, they are born (and that is coming straight out of artists mouth). You develop something, but if the talent and passion isn't there to begin with, you're not likely to get far in the art world. Honestly, I prefer it is left at the way it was supposed to be. You know you're an artist, you go to school to expand your knowledge and develop your already inborn skills, and you network with others. Now, it's something far more different. Something that can actually be mocked...
I recently watched a movie called 'Art School Confidential'. As an artist, I SHOULD take offense to the movie. The movie IS portraying artists in an unfair light after all, aren't they? Well, as a film, the movie did not play out very well. Perhaps, the sub-plot was too cheesy, but the film failed. But what the movie did not fail to do (and it is not necessarily praise to the director, because this movie was based off a graphic novel) was to portray a realistic (albeit slightly twisted) image of art school life and the art world. The class critique expressed my utter frustration I had every critique, in which I wanted to yell "this is awful!" while students praised and found meaning in something that was obviously lacking any skill or effort. I remember one student who often was blunt and honest during critique, and although I at first found him too harsh and critical, I later realized he was not only right, but that I shared the same thoughts and feelings he did, I was just too afraid to say it. Need less to say, his work was always amazing. He had stable ground to speak from.
I want argue that art should be this way and not that way, but I think I may have to come to terms that two different realms of the art world now exist. The one I experienced at my art school, and the one we see most every day being used in practical means: illustrators, concept artists (for film and video games, they draw the characters and background), and designers. I'm sure I am missing a few, but they pretty much all fall under the same categories. We see illustration and design in our products, in our movies, video games, book covers, animated films, and so on and so forth. This is the kind of work you will most likely NOT see in a prestigious gallery of some sort, such as at Guggenheim or Saatchi. Art in galleries is useless to everyone but the wealthy. Why hang up somewhere for only a few lucky to see when you can print it and publish it for the entire world? Isn't that what art is for? Oh dear, don't get me into the art world now, that is a whole other discussion and this is long enough already...
And that means that I must conclude. So, to put it simply, did I enjoy going to college? Yes, I did. Most certainly. Do I think I made the right choice in my degree? Not really. Although I consider myself a skilled artist, a studio art degree is a far cry from where I want to be. Like I said, I constantly felt out of place and out of touch with my classmates. Although we were all artists, we were operating on completely different realms of art. I learned a lot though. I got to understand a whole lot more about the art world, and I am glad I now know. However, it only means I simply wasted a few useful years that could have gone to development of my skill and the publishing of my work, which will now have to be done on my own time... In the meantime, I'm going to teach, because education and knowledge is another passion of mine. Teaching is an art form in itself. Now, we must find out, can it be taught, or are you born a teacher?
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