Tuesday, December 9, 2008

AUT vs Carnegie




















Yay for Claudia's re-emergence on the blog!!


This is sneaky peek into the Carnegie Mellon art school way of life.

Right now I am blogging from the studios where Claudia is attempting to pull an all-nighter for her painting crit tomorrow night. We all know that Claudia is indeed the queen of all-night paint marathons, I very much feel for her pain...


So far I have learnt that studio space is scarce and that most people tend towards fairly figurative work that revolve around very prominent narratives...


Studio environment feels very closed and not communal at all, as you can see from the photos, everyone gets their own tiny space (or have to share the space if they are unlucky) and also curtains for 'privacy'!!! What a novel idea, great for collecting one's thoughts, but I can't say that it is one that I am partial to.


The way of working here also means that students don't really get time to develop their ideas as they are too busy trying to finish various projects by their deadline. Very different to back home where we were pretty much given free reign over the year, uninhibited by pressures of due dates etc. But this also means that Carnegie Mellon students are therefore very productive as they are working at break neck speed all semester...


Great things though are the University's support for the students. They get spaces outside of the uni to create and make student based initiatives such as the start up of a 'Waffle Shop' with the intent of opening up social spaces and all.


Which leads me to wonder which I would prefer? I know Claudia is pining for the AUT life, and by the looks of things, I would too.


There's plenty of free food here though (and we all know that starving art students rely on food of the free nature) as demonstrated by the cupcakes that were handed out at 9.30pm by a tutor.


uber excitement for cupcakes.


- Agnes

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