A day in the life

By jennifer Posted in Art History, Exhibition, Museums, Yale Art Gallery
Thumbnails for days

Thumbnails of potential objects for exhibition

During any given day, you will find me prepping to teach, cutting out thumbnails for an exhibition, speaking at a workshop on teaching at the Gallery, attending a History of Art Community meeting, editing my manuscript for the exhibition catalog, connecting to new colleagues on LinkedIn, or spinning at SHiFT cycling in New Haven. This week has been full of all sorts of challenges (intellectual, physical, logistical), and making it all work is a huge juggling act. Keeping all those balls in the air, thinking that they are each independent and autonomous of one another, while only I know that they are all interrelated. As one ball goes up, another goes down. The trick is keeping everything in motion, right? So just as my legs don’t stop spinning at my cycling class, I feel like my mind never stops moving (and that’s where yoga comes in).

The best thing is that I love every minute of it. I guess you could say I’m a born juggler. I thrive off the constant challenge and excitement of it all, and would be very poor at being bored or under-stimulated. I’m can definitely get overwhelmed by the work load and constantly switching gears, but I am not one to complain about it. I don’t think I could do it if I wasn’t genuinely passionate about academic affairs, teaching, curating, and the Gallery.

After all the craziness of the earlier part of the week, I have the next two days to slow down, return to editing my essay, and figuring out the objects for the show. I’m grateful for this next period of time to focus on keeping just a few balls in the air.

Post-doc life

By jennifer Posted in Academia, Exhibition, Museums, Yale Art Gallery

Yale University Art Gallery

It’s been way too long since I’ve last written, and so much has happened! I finished my PhD at USC in May 2014 and one day after walking down the stage to receive my hood, hopped on a plane with my family and crossed the country en route to New Haven. As a born-and-raised Californian, I had doubts about the East Coast, to say the least. But, after just a year-and-a-half, I feel like I should have been a New Englander all along. I am kind of obsessed with the four seasons (though we’ll see about the big snow storm predicted for tomorrow). I think the Yale Art Gallery is just the most amazing teaching museum, and I am having the best time as the Cullman-Payson Fellow in the Education Department. I wish I could stay forever, but my fellowship ends in July 2017, alas, only a month after my show comes down. It’s going to be a sad time.

Show. Yes, I am curating my very own exhibition. It’s insanely exciting and completely mind-boggling that I am the sole curator of a show at the YUAG. AND there’s going to be a fabulous catalog. And I’m kind of obsessed with the research, writing, and entire process of putting an exhibition together. To say that I love it would be an understatement. Must. Temper. My. Enthusiasm. But it’s just so hard to!

More about the exhibition later, but let’s just say it’s about Josef and Anni Albers and their role as collectors of pre-Columbian art and textiles. I know. Couldn’t be more perfect from what I’ve been focusing on for the last, say decade. I’m floored that I have this chance to think about how modern art and pre-Columbian art actually work in the context of a museum. And try to avoid all of those criticisms I myself may have launched at other shows that have attempted the same thing. Not to say that I won’t fall into the same traps of, “hey, this looks like that” (because I will), or muddy up the chronological waters in a desire to put Tlatilco objects next to Aztec ones. Because, again, that will happen. But I’m definitely trying to avoid having pre-Columbian art solely in the service of modern art, and instead try as best as possible to retain the autonomy and complications behind the pre-Columbian object as well as the modern one.

private collectors

By jennifer Posted in Art History, Graduate School, Museums

art_images1

I really need to get started writing this article, but I just came back from a field trip to the private collection of Matthew and Iris Strauss (see also here) and I feel the need to process. To back up a bit, I’m a visiting scholar at UCSD’s Center for US-Mexican Studies this year — a huge honor — and to try and take advantage of my affiliation here I am auditing a class on curatorial practice taught by MCASD director Hugh Davies. The class is phenomenal and the final project is to design an exhibition based on MCASD’s permanent collection that, if chosen, might be selected to be actually put on exhibit. Is that not the coolest thing ever?

Anyway, the class is awesome because we’re learning both theoretical and practical skills of curating — something that I’m eager to learn more about. Today’s class was a visit to the Strauss collection and it was really breathtaking. My favorite piece is definitely Fred Wilson’s Picasso/Whose Rules, though I was also impressed by the amazing array of contemporary art, much of it newer artists that I was less familiar with. One thing that my visit put into relief is that writing a dissertation will definitely give you a more narrow view (“specialized” is the polite term) of art because you’re really focusing on a few artists (and even then, a few works from their oeuvre). Plus, you tend to forget about the business side of things and the importance of private collectors. I’ll have to ruminate on this a bit more, but I am really impressed by the eye of the Strauss’s and their commitment to art and especially local audiences in San Diego. Wealthy individuals have the ability to spend their money on anything, so it is quite admirable when they spend it on art collecting with an eye toward benefiting the larger good.

pterodactyl badge

By jennifer Posted in Academia, Dissertation Writing, Graduate School

pterodactyl badge

 

It’s official. I’ve written for 200 days in a row on 750words.com. That’s the longest streak and I’m extremely proud of it. It really is amazing how this simple act of staring at a blank screen every day for 200 days and managing to write something (anything, really), has helped me avoid writer’s block and get 3 chapters of my dissertation written. Of course, there’s more to successful writing than just 750words.com, but I do credit it with helping me get through these last months.

In other dissertation writing news, I would also say that Demystifying Dissertation Writing is also a great resource for anyone who is either starting or in the process of writing a dissertation. This is especially true if you’re like me and prefer a systematic approach to writing. I really like her writing chart in which you chart the time that you write in short blocks (15-20 minutes) and the process from interactive note taking –> focus statement –> short outline –> long outline –> draft. Her tips make a lot of sense, she incorporates real classroom anecdotes, and the book is available at at reasonable price.

Two other things that have helped over the last few months are: (1) my dissertation writing group and (2) the Pomodoro technique. My dissertation writing group started at the beginning of the spring semester and we meet twice a week. We set goals together, chart progress, hash out frustrations, and do fun exercises from books like Stylish Academic Writing. We’re going to start experimenting with a help-line through Google Hangout because sometimes it’s just easier to work while you know someone else is (virtually) with you.

Whenever I can’t seem to get started working, I just start a Pomodoro (25 minute block of time). I use the Promodoro! App, which I really like, though there are plenty others to choose from. After 25 minutes of working, I take a 5 minute break for stretching or checking email. After 4 rounds of 25 minutes, the app gives you a 15 minute break. In the morning, I usually get through about 4 pomodoros easily, and stretch it to 6 if I’m really on a roll.

a decolonial approach to visual culture talk

By jennifer Posted in Academia, Art History, Dissertation Writing, Graduate School

VSRI Flyer

 

Last week, I gave a talk as part of the Visual Studies Research Initiative at USC. I was really nervous because I was sharing my ideas about decolonial approaches to visual culture with my colleagues and professors, and I had been preparing for months. I envisioned creating a different kind of space for knowledge exchange and production, so I came up with the idea of a dinner party — which was also timely considering it was the end of the year and a good moment for celebrating this year’s accomplishments. The talk turned out better than expected and people responded well to the Devil Wears Prada clip and the three artists who I presented on. I was worried that audience members might have negative reactions to decoloniality, but it was quite the opposite, as I found most of my colleagues genuinely wanted to learn more about the decolonial project. They offered some great comments and questions at the end and I received many congratulatory hugs. Now I just have to figure out how to spend the $250 gift certificate to the USC bookstore that I received as an honorarium!

rebecca’s coffee shop

By jennifer Posted in Dissertation Writing, Graduate School

One essential component to grad school success is having a local coffee shop with an extensive selection of tea, good food, and free & reliable wifi. Even though I have a designated room as an office at home complete with an ergonomic chair, scanner / printer combo, and lap cat, it’s really hard for me to do serious writing there. Reading is fine, and it’s good for busy work too. But there’s something about being in a coffee shop surrounded by other people on their laptops that begs you to be productive. I have a habit of falling in love with one coffee shop at a time — lately, it’s been Rebecca’s in South Park. I maintain a monogamous relationship with said coffee shop until the chairs get a bit stiff and the clientele too familiar, and then it’s off to another.

late november

By jennifer Posted in Academia, Art History, Dissertation Writing, Graduate School

It’s that time of year when students & professors go into stress-mode. That special time between Thanksgiving and Christmas when you’re realizing that you only have a few weeks before the end of the semester. Which is great, but at the same time, extremely frightening. As an ABD student, I don’t often work along the same time frame, since I’m neither teaching nor in coursework. And I live about 100 miles from campus. But like some sort of persistent muscle memory, I still have the feeling like I’m supposed be busy and on deadline — and in some ways I am. I scheduled two talks late into the semester — one at the USC Fisher Museum of Art (above) and one next week on “A Decolonial Approach to Visual Culture.” These talks are not only a good way to disseminate my work to my fellow USC colleagues, but also function as built-in deadlines. Kind of like conference papers or fellowship deadlines.

The next major goal is to write Chapter 2 by the time I’m getting ready to leave for Vietnam. I have about 16 days to get this done, which seems kind of impossible. But I’m talking a draft — nothing perfect. The polishing can be done later. I just feel like if I don’t get all of my thoughts down before my trip, then I’ll forget them and lose some of the momentum that I’ve had over this last semester. Plus, my goal is to finish a draft of the entire dissertation by August 2013, so I have to stay on schedule. Let’s see how that goes!

getting it done

By jennifer Posted in Academia, Art History, Graduate School

The trick to getting your dissertation done is writing or reading or doing some dissertation-related work EVERY DAY. Or almost every day — let’s say 6 days out of the week. Ideally in the morning, for at least two hours (if writing) or four hours (if reading or other stuff). Appropriate “other stuff” includes working on fellowship applications, writing abstracts for conference panels, organizing symposia in your field, meeting with professors or colleagues, etc. How people manage to finish their dissertations without working on it steadily every day is beyond me. I’ve never been the kind of person to wait to the last minute to complete a large assignment (small one, sure), and I refuse to pull all-nighters. That’s just me though.

This morning, I didn’t feel like working. I was inspired to work — actually, my encroaching deadline is what really inspired me — but nothing came out of my head & through my fingertips. There was some sort of malfunction and the only way to repair it was: just. start. writing. Taking the monthly challenges on 750words definitely helps. But so does just sitting in front of a blank screen and writing whatever comes to your mind. Even if it’s just, “I’m tired and I can’t seem to work.” Eventually you’ll exhaust yourself of writing that and something even somewhat interesting might come out. Kind of like unclogging a sink that’s full of gunk. My mind was stopped up and I had to just start writing something to start the water flowing again.

Listening to upbeat music also really helps, as well as relocating to a coffee shop. There you’re stuck in a room with other equally hard-working people, all striving to do something productive (even if it’s just completing a Sudoko). I don’t know where I’d be without my noise-canceling headphones & Nina Simone Pandora station.

Ok – back to free-writing and free-wheeling my way toward an article…