the current theme on my main site and i have had a major falling out, so that will be undergoing a huge makeover soon, but for the time being, i’ve updated my portfolio with lots of new work, including my final project for the course i’m currently on at central saint martins. so check it out if you’re interested.
our exhibition starts tomorrow and runs until saturday. final grade announced in a week. i really can’t believe this year is already complete. what a crazy, fun ride it’s been.
as it usually goes with me, i go weeks listening to the same song(s)/album(s) repeatedly, followed by a period of only wanting to hear new stuff or stuff i haven’t listened to in awhile. after learning every word to alice smith’s she and jt’s the 20/20 experience, i’m deep into the latter period.
also how it usually goes with me, i’m doing what i like to think of as musical stone skipping. the cousin of musical chairs, i guess you could say. i usually start with an artist i love. spotify is great for this – when it’s not acting up – because you have a full or partial discography all in one window. i’m super visual, so seeing a list helps me remember what i have and haven’t done, or in this case, heard. for this round, i first checked for the millionth time to see if KING was finally on spotify…they’re not. the only place they’re listed is on “move love” off of black radio. which led me to robert glasper’s discography. reminding me that canvas was the only album of his i hadn’t taken the time to listen to (and undoubtedly fall in love with). so i gave it my routine initial listen with no track skipping. loved everything just like i knew i would, then i got to “chant.” sometimes i dub a track my favorite on an album before i’ve even listened all the way through; this was one of those times. “chant” reminded me of “the path” by ralph mcdonald, which i hadn’t listened to in awhile, definitely not since moving to london. realizing this was ridiculous, i pulled it up (also not on spotify, tragically). immediately reminded of why it’ll always be my jam. so good.
i’ve written about “the path” here on my blog before; back then it was a new discovery and required the proper gushing. i’d just started at my last retail gig and my coworker had played it for me one day in the warehouse after hearing all the fela i had on my ipod. we blasted music 24/7 during our shifts, taking advantage of the fact that we weren’t on the sales floor and trying to get the day to go by faster. this time around, i’m sitting here listening to it while putting the finishing touches on a proposal draft for a master’s degree. surreal.
i don’t mention it often, but my original plan for my undergrad degree (all those years ago) was to major in journalism and minor in art. i took 2 art classes at elon in my freshman year before switching my minor to creative writing. i switched for 2 reasons: (1) the insane costs of art supplies that were mentioned as an aside in italics at the end of each class description, and (2) lack of self esteem. i didn’t get to spend much time in the art department because it was only my minor, and compared to the talent of others, i didn’t think i stacked up. anyway, the story the music tells in “the path” keeps reminding me of the piece of art i created during that time that i was most proud of. it was the final project for a class i can’t even remember the name of, nor can i remember the project brief. but the piece was a 3-d depiction of a pair of african drums morphing into a set of turntables. it was in 4 (i think) segments, all built out of white foamboard and paper. i remember not really knowing what i was doing, using pictures for reference. but i enjoyed the process so much because it was the first time all semester that i let myself get caught up in making something, not worrying about my other classes or maintaining a social status; just me in my dorm room (undoubtedly with music blasting), on the floor surrounded by bits of white offcuts. i was so proud of how it came out. i don’t even remember what grade i got on it. it didn’t matter.
the reason i sound kind of iffy on details is because it was awhile ago and my memory isn’t what it used to be as i approach 30 yes i’ve started the countdown a little under 6 months to go omgggg i don’t know what happened to the piece. ugh, it hurts to admit that. i think i left it in the art building, one of those drop off for grading situations, then went home for the holidays, then never went back to retrieve it when i returned to campus…or did go back and they told me they trashed it. and what’s worse, i didn’t take a single picture. double ugh. so now, it’s relegated to my memory, which, see the above text with the strikethrough. it gets fuzzier over time, but the basic description remains, i think because of how much i loved it. it was the first piece i did that had real meaning to me and some thought process behind it.
even though my confidence in my art was in the tanks back then, i was very sad about changing my minor. i just buried that feeling, told myself it was for the best and immersed myself in my new minor, which was very easy to do. my understanding of graphic design back then was minimal, and what i was learning about art wasn’t engaging.
fast forward 10 years (and much living/learning) later, and while relishing in one of my favorite songs, all i can think about is redoing the piece. from partial memory, from the training i’ve learned over the past year. don’t know when i’ll do it, but it’s now officially on the to do list.
graduate school applications are not fun. at all. the epitome of a neccessary evil. ewf is playing now, and i must finish up so i can move on to other things. and stop procrastinating with blog posts. just needed to get that all out.
skipping stone playlist:
“move love” by robert glasper experiment ft. KING [x]
“chant” by robert glasper ft. bilal [x]
“the path” by ralph mcdonald [x]
“kalimba story” by earth, wind and fire [x]
“kalimba suite” by bobby mcferrin [x]
(in king of siam voice) etc, etc, etc.
try the stone skipping method starting with one of your faves, it’s fun.
