This semester has been faster and more insightful than expected. Although my time with seminar was short I feel as though I’ve gained not only a new understanding but also a new kind of respect for visual culture. I arrived with the preconceptions that visual culture was and only was exactly what the word means: cultural manifestations in visual forms. However, in this course I learned that culture is not limited to “countries,” but rather it expands throughout all of our society. Because of this, I learned that visual culture is present everywhere, from a tampon wrapper to the layout of the Guggenheim . With this newly acquired knowledge I gained a deeper respect for the culture I that I see around me (such as advertising), rather than hating it, I now try to understand what it is enticing us to do.
In the class itself I feel as though I’ve developed my personal relationship between my work and how it interacts with academics. As a BABFA student, interdisciplinary classes that include and focus on academic and artist work tend to be my favorite and the most challenging, as it is harder than it seems to create sensible work. I’ll be taking with me the writing skills I’ve developed in the class, as well as the enhanced passion I’ve gained.
If I’m honest, I did not feel incredibly challenged by this class. In studio we were given the space to be creative, experiment, and fail, however in seminar everything was straightforward and simple, and didn’t leave much room for experimentation. Nevertheless, the class worked very well with the studio work, something I was missing last semester.
