Day 27 Building Blocks of Life

Building Blocks 6x6 Oil on Panel

I had a required fine art class in College and in this class we were to paint a self portrait.  This was no ordinary self portrait though.  This had to be a portrait of our lives, a glimpse into our souls, something truly special, an expression of our inner beings.  Yep, not my favorite class.  To make it worse, we, meaning the students, graded one another right then and there.  And let me tell you, I was not the most popular kid in this class of Twinkies.

Today's painting is kind of like what I painted for this "self Portrait."  When I presented it I really poured out my soul to the class. You have to understand, the oral presentation or the paper write up is the true art here, not the works that are produced.  Anyways, I explained how I played with Lego's my entire life and how I built my way through happiness and sadness.  I explained how I was like the bricks in how they are simple but can make complex things.  I explained how in my life things don't always go as planned and we often get the opposite effect of what we where trying for (hence the purple and yellow bricks - opposites on the color wheel.)  An on and on I went for 10 minutes.

When I was done, the class judged and I was given an A minus.  This was crazy good because all my prior grades for this class were D's and F's.  But this time I nailed it.  The teacher praised me for finally letting out my soul and exposing myself.  I smiled and thanked them all then I told them the news.  This was a performance art.  The painting of the bricks is just a painting and means nothing to me.  I made up the story and performed my dance to just tug at your heart strings.  I explained that my self portrait was standing right in front of them.  If they wanted to know me on such a personal level all they need to do is say HI.  The class was absolutely pissed.  The teacher decided that since I changed my presentation that the class should re vote.  I got an F.

Looking back on this I laugh.  But I also wonder if I could have possibly got anything out of this class if I was not such a closed minded ass.  Probably not.  This is the same class that I had to sit for an hour and meditate for a grade - I feel asleep and got a D.

At the end of the semester, I went to the Dean and discussed my lousy grade.  We brought in the teacher and I quoted her as saying that art was to move people, to touch them deep down and really bring out thoughts or ideas that would change them.  And these feeling could be good or bad, fun or scary.  Then I proceeded to point out that I did exactly that on every assignment.  I had the majority of the class infuriated with me and my ideas.  I had the class arguing about different aesthetics and directions.  I explained how my  actions in the class exposed how like minded and intertwined the rest of the students were and how I was one who stood out and demanded every ones attention, criticism and praise.  Everyone else's art did not move the class in any way as much as mine did.

I got an A.

Stand up for what you believe!  I graduated with Honors of Distinction.

Completed January 27th.

Larry