I
MET LAURA .....
Sometime in mid September 2004
.... at the Cafe at the Academy of Fine Art in Oslo and informally
enquired if she would consider being my main supervisor/advisor. Laura is
a professor at the academy and a practicing artist. Here is some cut and paste
blurb about Laura ripped out from the Academy's website:
Professor, electronic media.
Laura Beloff works with computers and digital technologies. Her pieces are
interactive and networked installations, which often combine physical/sculptural
parts, electronics and computers. Many of her recent pieces are collaborations
with other artists, musicians and programmers. She has an education in new
media and critical studies (MFA 98, USA) and photography (MFA 95, Finland).
Her website is at:
http://www.saunalahti.fi/~off/off/
I presented her with my project description (or the start of it, at least) and the proposals for both "Ikon" and "The 8th Sister". She seemed enthusiastic, but expressed some degree of confusion as to whether I was aiming to write a paper (theory) as my final product, or whether I was planning to serve up the art productions as the "final" result. Her confusion was as clear as tap water. To be honest, I find it difficult to write a project description that is based on art research over a longer period of time for two reasons:
1) I am always reluctant to give up the potentiality of a situation by closing
the gap, so I mind the gap quite closely.
2) I am not sure, in the remaining time of my research position as to whether
or not the proposed artworks are realisable. If they are, I am not even sure
if they will reflect my study of synaesthetics. I have often experienced,
as many others have too, that things get in a muddle for various reasons and
then come out as something totally different than was originally intended.
I have got used to swallowing quite a few darlings along the way ...... sometimes
the taste is sweet, sometimes bitter, sometimes bittersweet and possibly blue
....