04.24.13

April 11-20, 2013 - After CIRAL Assembly on the 11th, left for 12 days in Port Townsend at Goddard College's MFA in Interdsciplinary Arts program residency, where I am guest faculty this semester.

04.11-12.13 - The first two days were 10-hour faculty retreats - six artists from different disciplines (dance, theatre, video, writing, painting, social practice) meeting for hour after hour of discussion about the nuts and bolts, as well the big picture, of enacting non-traditional pedagogy. Much discussion of "the commons," of participation, of collaboration, and much more.

04.13.13 - Participated in dance workshop with Reggie Wilson - blew my mind. Experience of dynamic, emergent choreography.

04.13-20.13 - Intensive group and individual meetings with grad students working in different disciplines. Much focus on the challenge of meeting individuals where they are at. Ever-present issues of micro-aggression and privilege. Negotiation of power and accountability. Putting it all in the context of an art practice and into the structure of MFA degree criteria:

• Personal Practice
• Engagement with Praxis/Integration of Theory in Action
• Rigorous Exploration Within the Context of One’s Art Practice
• Ethical Engagement & Thoughtful Action
• Understanding the Concept of Interdisciplinary Art

04.17.13 - Ran "Critical Writing/Creative Laboratory" - workshop for cultivating criticality as integral aspect of creative practice.

04.18.13 - Ran "What to do with Global Warming" - workshop/presentation on engaging with climate change as an artist.

04.19.13 - Closing "Cabaret" - illustrates need for and power of celebration in communities. Makes me wonder about how CIRAL enacts this.

All this time, thinking and talking about CIRAL and seeing civic intelligence - and the possibility to cultivate civic intelligence - everywhere!

Goddard experimenting with joint residency: MFA-IA combined with their BA-IA program. Some interesting and ultimately productive tension. Faculty seemed least able - though very willing - to adapt. Students come with a lot of good will, greater sense of shared endeavor, and less protectiveness.

Much talk of pattern languages among conceptual artists.

Trying to write the 3CP mission statement.

Noticing how challenging it is to get things done with lots of space between in-person meetings. Funny, considering our cluster is formed around a web project!

What does that mean? Do we need to consider that - the need for deliberate community-building - in the structure of the 3CP?