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Scanned for viruses (Windows 10)

8.30 am: Against the razor-edge of the wind, onto the road, and up towards the School. 8.45 am: Hibiscus. It’s a good choice on days when I rarely have the opportunity to drink to the bottom of the cup in one sitting: delicious hot, lukewarm, or cold. 9.00 am: Onto the studio floor. 9.30 pm: In the space created by a deferred tutorial, I drafted several responses to postgraduate applications.

Today, I’m getting the students to envision what their work might look like in an exhibition space. Having a vision of the final stage can be immensely encouraging, especially when there’s still time to remedy weaknesses. I sense that the Coronavirus crisis has unsettled some students. Their expectations about how the third year of education will conclude are no longer reasonably predictable. ‘But we aren’t at war; things could be worse’, we reasoned together. And it’s not the ebola virus, either.

Pastoral issues had been close to the surface throughout the day. How hard it is just to be, these days. The foundations of the world are shaking: a pestilence stalks the land; the world burns, and there are ‘wars and rumours of war’, famine, flooding, and a failure of leadership.

12.00 pm: Off to Old College for my weekly appointment at the West Classroom. The day was now bright and fulsome, albeit still buffeted by moderate winds coming off the sea.

2.00 pm: After lunch, I recommenced tutorials. There was an opportunity to talk about Systems Art with one of my students. This was the first movement (a subset of Minimalism) with which I connected. It introduced me to the idea that art could be a supremely rational practice. There were conversations about aesthetics, processes, technologies, and the practicalities of securing an artwork to the wall, besides.

Some principles and observations derived from today’s engagements:

  • If you don’t feel like painting, just turn up at the studio, get into your stall, squeeze out the medium, and apply it to the support. After which, you may feel like painting. And, even if you don’t, you will be painting.
  • S: ‘I know exactly what I’m doing, kind of!’
  • Demand much of yourself, but not more than you can possibly give at this point in your life. Be realistic and charitable.
  • Make less with more. Make more with less.

7.30 pm: An evening making preparations for a weekend away.

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