Exploiting the Nude Female

I'm going to exploit one of my thesis readings here- a reading chosen for an entirely different topic- to blog about something else. (Notice my complete disregard for proper citation here. Screw it.) But what I will tell you is that this is a picture of a life drawing class at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1905. A hundred years later, the nude female wouldn't be the model; she'd be the performance artist. Art school now and then. Wow.

You've come a long way, baby.

I'm learning how to email blog posts through my iPhone in my
cyberpedagogy class. Laptops are so 2007.

Maybe this works via iPhone?

Nerd Alert

Okay, here's a quick blurb of images to sum up the week. "Must. Make. Things. Connect." -said the little thesis voice in my head. Here's a book work from an undergrad at SAIC's BFA show. Book artists. We just keep doing the same thing over and over! And I fully admit I love it. This genre just keeps repeating itself!
Now watch how I connect this book image above to the view from my Thesis class below. (My thesis is related to books.) This is also what a thesis binder looks like, boys and girls.
Now I will connect my thesis class to this image of a lecture I attended. I was late for my thesis class that day actually because I was sitting in on an art history lecture about the human body through history...or something. The professor claims it is the first lecture ever given in history via an iPad. I have no proof of this but I felt cutting edge.
Now I will connect this nerdiness above to a whole different nerdiness below. Soul Asylum. Yes. Soul Asylum. I saw them Saturday. There, I said it.
This image is just for emphasis. (You know, this blog post is sounding remarkably like my annotated image list from my Curriculum and Instructions class- inside joke: FMT.)
And this image is connected because I thought this, too, was a riot. As it turns out "Latino fiesta" tastes remarkably like my favorite cookie that I dearly miss from my days in Australia. The amazing Tim Tam. I actually left some clothes out of my suitcase in Sydney so I could pack more Tim Tams.
And now I will connect that image to this image of the aforementioned excellent Australian cookie...or bisquit as they say.
I miss you, Tim Tam. But, alas, I found a new lover: the Latino fiesta.

If you've made it this far down the blog post (congrats), please leave a comment for me answering this:
What is your definition of a nerd?

Do You Still Hold Books?

Look, it's a kindle! Look it's a newspaper!
Which is more exciting to see on the CTA brown line? You know you're working on a thesis when everything starts connecting...to your thesis. My thesis will be related to books. That's all I'm saying right now. But here's a new revelation I had at art group critique this weekend. (Their blog will be linked here shortly as soon as I know it...) I learned that my "books" come to life only when they are held. Deep.


This is a book works in progress. I'll report back soon. In the meantime, I'll probably be holding more academic texts in my hands. My dear blog readers, answer me this: In the loosest of terms,
what have you been reading...and do you hold it in your hands?

Work or Play?

(Artwork above: Why My Baby? by Dara Ket)

Last week, I received a postcard in the mail for the "Fifteenth Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners." If you are in Ann Arbor during the next few weeks, you should definitely stop in! This is put on by an organization called Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) that I was privileged enough to work with when I was an undergrad at the University of Michigan. When I got home and saw this postcard in my mailbox, I thought about all the freedoms and privileges that come with being in Grad school. I decided to not take my nap that I was looking forward to that afternoon. I gathered my energy and "got out there" while the sun was still out.
I was really grateful for that run and that simple image helped put things in perspective for a stressful week that I have had. But I'm still trying to find that balance this semester. When do I rest? When do I push myself to work harder? When is it okay to have fun? I usually think it is ALWAYS okay to have fun. The lines of work and play are delightfully blurry sometimes: Pictured below is a wearable art piece made by a student in the First Year Program at SAIC. I would call this having fun during work time. I'm also "working" on getting ready for the Chicago Marathon in October. While the improving weather will help my motivation to get out and run more, I'm also trying to get enough sleep. Time management, anyone?

New Heights

What is the origin of the hair poof? East Coast? I'm bringing my hair and myself back down to reality after a weekend of new heights!

To catch a teacher...

For my fellow Master's Thesis writers out there, the technicalities of "citations" took on a whole new meaning for me this weekend...although my thesis was the last thing on my mind.
Okay, here's my case:
We were entering the Chicago Red Line station after Saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade. The person in front of me dipped his farecard and proceeded through the handicapped gate. I had my U-Pass CTA card (with unlimited rides for the semester) out in my hand and ready to dip but the gate had not closed yet. I proceeded through in the flurry of getting to the train.
An undercover cop then asked me to step over to the side and show my I.D. Despite my explanation to her of the concept of an unlimited rides farecard and how it was in my hand ready to go, she continued writing out the citation. She told me I had committed theft. I told her my ride was already paid for and no one lost any money. I was then watched over by another undercover cop while she called in my information to make sure there were no warrants out for my arrest. (There aren't.) I presume the other undercover cop was standing guard over me so that I wouldn't run away? I told him that I had that U-Pass because I'm in a graduate program preparing me to become a teacher and be a role model for America's youth...and I STILL have to get a citation? He answered, "Oh, wow. Well, we just caught a lawyer going through without paying." I think he missed my point about professionals who are committed to morals but well, whatever.
They also stated that if I didn't have identification on me that day, I would have been arrested. I know what you're thinking: "Jean, when are you going to get your life together and stop getting into trouble with the law?" And I've got some nerve messing with the clean, efficient, and financially sound CTA!
I think this is an excellent time to point out the 'honor system' that is called the Viennese Transit System. Let me explain:
While I was visiting this fine, civilized metropolis called Vienna this past January- where they probably don't celebrate the feast of St. Patrick - I noticed the lack of turnstiles in all of the trains. You don't even show a ticket when you got on the buses! You stamp your ticket by entering it in the little blue box and then go on your merry way. If you have a 30 day pass, for example, you don't have to validate it again until it expires. YOU JUST WALK IN. There is the sporadic ticketing agent that will walk through a train and ask for tickets but that is a rare occasion. Might I also point out that on weekends, you can take a newspaper out of a bag (no locks!) on the lamppost, and they TRUST YOU to deposit coins into a little box. And yes, they have a health system that works, too.
I'd also like to point out the more pleasant train station experience I had in Budapest. Here I am (below) enjoying an unidentifiable pastry and machine-made cappuccino in a plastic cup upon my arrival at the Hungary's main train station. It was cold and soviet feeling, and it was still better than the CTA. And that's saying something.
So my question to you all is this: do I contest a $50 CTA citation on principle? (The citation turns out to be the equivalent of a parking ticket-I will not have a criminal record!) Or do I pay the fee and spend $50 worth of my time doing something productive? Like, maybe working on my thesis?

That's a wrap!

When Washington Mutual shutdown, I kept seeing all of their signs wrapped snugly in some tarp-like material. I saw another one still wrapped snugly while I was out in the 'burbs today. What was probably an attempt to remove the corporate presence has actually illuminated them even more. There are artists who have already been doing just that: the Jeanne-Claude and Christo duo. (See below.) I believe these artists wrap things so that we see their forms more clearly and to notice things that we would otherwise overlook. Well, I can't stop seeing Washington Mutual now. Note that I took no pictures of "unwrapped logos" on my drive today.




On a side note, Jeanne-Claude passed away this past November. But she lives on--even in a mundane drive through the suburbs.

Cyberdundant Olympics

Some of you may already be aware of a term I made called: Cyberdundant. It's where people post something on-line or link to something on the web that already exists. It is being redudant in cyberspace.
So pardon my cyberdundancy (the noun form) in this blog post you are reading. I will try to shed some new light on a topic that is already circulating plenty.

Because I love all things Olympics and don't want them to be over, I'm going to make a connection between ice dancing and ethical considerations in art education. You ready?
A Russian Ice dancing pair has been a hot topic of discussion regarding their costumes depicting Aboriginal people of Australia...

They even changed it up a bit for their second performance so that they were less offensive. What do you think? Lighter skin but still pulling on woman's hair. I'm confused. This is when I turn to the art class and ask, "Class, what is this image telling you?"
Last term around Thanksgiving time, we spent the whole class talking about the depiction of Native Americans (or American Indians, or insert other label here " ",) in American pop culture.
So what do you think? Are we any more politically correct than the Russians?

Falling for the Olympics

I did something very unexpected this past week.

I bought a television.

Please blame it on the Olympics. I'm considering returning the television to the store when the Olympics are over. Well, I don't know. I'm sure another sporting event will be aired again soon. Hopefully on ice...because, sports are so much better on a slippery surface. Man, I love the Winter Olympics.

Someone asked me what my favorite event was and my #1 favorite would have to be Falling and my #2 favorite is Crashing. In fact, there should be a compilation DVD of all of the skiers, skaters, and (curlers?) slipping and falling. I would watch it over and over again.
You're probably wondering who just hacked into Jean's blog. It's me, guys, really.
Jean loves watching sports.
A lot of people never thought I would have an iPhone either. Anything can happen, people.
So yeah, every TV screen I see now makes me wish it had the Olympics running. While pumping gas--- Show me the Olympics!
That would be way better than the advertisements they blare at you in the checkout line of the grocery store.

A kindergartner could do that!

I was doing some sketching over at my sister's this weekend and stepped away from the kitchen table for a minute. My kindergarten-aged nephew took advantage of the semi-blank sheet of paper I left out. Well, I had begun my own little sketch on that sheet, but he was able to finish it in a much more inspiring way. My sister and I, both being very artsy and teacherly, quickly analyzed his great artwork.

I couldn't help but make connections to the streetscapes of the artist Egon Shiele. I was fortunate enought to visit many of them up close when I was in Vienna last month at the Leopold Museum.

Viennese Ball

-Soooo, whadya see in Vienna, Jean?
-Oh, ya know, went to a ball at the palace.



Apparently, well-behaved Americans need to have"Excuse me" written in German on their hand.



You may have already forgotten that I went on a 11 day trip to Vienna, with short trips to Prague and Budapest sprinkled in there. I have decided to show my trip in small digestable pieces here on the blog bit by bit. My first blog topic is the night at the ball!
You heard right. My friend and host in Vienna, Bob, was able to get some tickets to the "Ball der Pharmacie." Yep, the folks who put it on have something to do with pharmaceuticals. Awesome. A ballgown was not in THIS backpacker's luggage. But luckily Austria has a healthy supply of shops. (Cinderella's fairy godmother was on a cruise in a warmer part of the world anyway.) I was able to get a dress that afternoon just in time for the ball.So there was ballroom dancing as to be expected, but at midnight...Michael Jackson came back to life and peformed at the ball!
Note in this video how Austrians are not so eager to cut loose like, ahem- Americans, for example. Go MJ!

Gum in Pill Bottle Form

Europe is, like, so different from America. I've been taking lots of gum here in Vienna.

Books out and about!

I'd like to share with you the exciting showing of some of my book pieces at the School of the Art Insitute of Chicago's Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection. (That's quite a mouthful, I know.)
I had the rare opportunity of curating my work with pieces from the school's collection in the cases pictured here. The pieces will be up for a short while, only until the end of this month, so if you have access to the 5th floor of the school, go take a look!

Also, here is a description from this exhibit:

This series of experimental book forms explores how to transform abstract thoughts from two-dimensional writings on paper into more physical three-dimensional space. In this way, the pieces experiment with new ways of reading in a non-linear manner. In a digital age that challenges the relevance of the traditional book, these pieces also consider other ways to envision the act of writing and reading. Personal journal writing is embedded in winding and sometimes circular paths. These pathways reference rivers, veins, maps, the Internet, and the changing systems of thinking and communicating information.

The other pieces in the adjacent cases were chosen from the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection. Many were chosen because of their unconventional book structures. Other pieces, such as the scrolls, relate to the winding spool of handwriting. Some pieces were also chosen because of the use of handwriting or because they reference digital media and innovative formats for revealing text and image.