thesis to split with shaeffer
this is the thesis to the posted (and progressing) work I did with Michael Shaeffer (notice the correct spelling of scooter's name.)
I hope this clears up any opinions people may have come up with through viewing the work, and no harm whatsoever was meant in the statements chosen.
-nick
I met Michael Schaeffer amidst countless and nearly anonymous cigarette breaks during Professor Gilhooley's Life Drawing class of the spring. During the same time-period that I had met Mr. Schaeffer, the series I was working on had sparked frequent inquiries as to where my inspiration came from, which artists I was emulating, etc. Most of the time I shrugged the question off and got away with stating that I wasn't sure, feeling very self-conscious about my obligation to explain my work and the attention itself; but one encounter inparticular forced me to explain that I had been looking to my own head for inspiration and that I looked to no other artist as a template (in quite a few words less.) The fellow student was practically appalled at my response, and claimed that "everyone looks at someone else." It became apparent to me that most art students felt the need to have someone as a foundation to their own creative output. This was disagreeable at best towards the direction I wish to take my art.
Eventually as the semester came to a close, I came up with a split project, an action/reaction piece. I approached Mr. Schaeffer about doing work over the summer, as his art encouraged and impress me greatly. I found him to harbor the same discontent that I felt, and our meetings prior to the work developed the idea further. Barely becoming acquainted in time for the semester's end, we agreed to begin working immediately. We utilized eachother's presence and areas of specialty as influence, rather than "buying a bunch of art books and studying them," (quotes from both of us at different points of the entire summer) and strongly relied on eachother's musical libraries as means of inspiration.
I am sure I speak on behalf of both of us when I say that I hope this work inspires a sense of community in the art department, and jump-starts a movement towards an independence from the vast labelling of work and over-bearing admiration we have for those who have created before us.
I hope this clears up any opinions people may have come up with through viewing the work, and no harm whatsoever was meant in the statements chosen.
-nick
I met Michael Schaeffer amidst countless and nearly anonymous cigarette breaks during Professor Gilhooley's Life Drawing class of the spring. During the same time-period that I had met Mr. Schaeffer, the series I was working on had sparked frequent inquiries as to where my inspiration came from, which artists I was emulating, etc. Most of the time I shrugged the question off and got away with stating that I wasn't sure, feeling very self-conscious about my obligation to explain my work and the attention itself; but one encounter inparticular forced me to explain that I had been looking to my own head for inspiration and that I looked to no other artist as a template (in quite a few words less.) The fellow student was practically appalled at my response, and claimed that "everyone looks at someone else." It became apparent to me that most art students felt the need to have someone as a foundation to their own creative output. This was disagreeable at best towards the direction I wish to take my art.
Eventually as the semester came to a close, I came up with a split project, an action/reaction piece. I approached Mr. Schaeffer about doing work over the summer, as his art encouraged and impress me greatly. I found him to harbor the same discontent that I felt, and our meetings prior to the work developed the idea further. Barely becoming acquainted in time for the semester's end, we agreed to begin working immediately. We utilized eachother's presence and areas of specialty as influence, rather than "buying a bunch of art books and studying them," (quotes from both of us at different points of the entire summer) and strongly relied on eachother's musical libraries as means of inspiration.
I am sure I speak on behalf of both of us when I say that I hope this work inspires a sense of community in the art department, and jump-starts a movement towards an independence from the vast labelling of work and over-bearing admiration we have for those who have created before us.
