Comments on: Art School Monster

By: maleja

maleja — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:35:25 +0000

loved <3 !

By: IamANT

IamANT — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:17:06 +0000

To hell with your “art school” monster I say! Look – when Marcel Duchamp wrote R Mutt on a urinal and put it in some dada show, almost any medium can be considered art.

If you have talent, bust ass, and are passionate about your art, it doesn't matter what the medium is. For better or for worse, art is subjective.

By: liz

liz — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:13:07 +0000

Oh hello ! Art school monster sounds so familiar except mine is called “you never went to art school monster” and he is sooo good at convincing me to stay in my “don't even try to go there” inferiority complex that I take his protective words for granted…silly huh ?

By: Kirsty Hall

Kirsty Hall — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 17:41:43 +0000

Thanks for explaining it better than I did, Havi.

By: Havi Brooks (and duck)

Havi Brooks (and duck) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 07:20:43 +0000

To be clear, I have never advocated pacifying monsters. In fact, I wrote an entire post called don't give your monster cookies.

What I actually talk about is: the usefulness of having a conscious relationship with your stuff, of knowing what it's saying and why, so you don't have to be impressed by monsters. And I talk about what happens when we find creative, intelligent ways to navigate their world, without perpetrating violence towards ourselves.

By: Kirsty Hall

Kirsty Hall — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:47:22 +0000

I guess your tutor wasn't a fan of the more experimental forms of photography, where being messy can be an advantage, not a disadvantage. Of course we all need to learn techniques and there's a point where we are a bit rubbish but a good teacher helps their students to get past that point. I'm glad you've started photography again, Carla – technique can be taught but I believe that deep love for an artform comes from inside.

By: Carla

Carla — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:26:49 +0000

It's interesting to read about the monsters originating from (or fueled by) art school. One of my biggest monsters comes from there too. It has the craggy old face of a tutor who took us for typography at design school, years ago. It repeats (ad nauseum) the kinds of things I got on my reports, like, “Too messy. Needs to keep her artwork clean,” “Lacks professional attitude,” and most-repeated, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” The worst was “Shows no aptitude in this subject.” That was for photography, which I loved. It's taken me till now to timidly start taking photos again, and thank god for computers, which have saved me from a life of constant handwashing! Thanks for the post – I am happy to learn that everyone else is harassed by their monsters too.

By: Kirsty Hall

Kirsty Hall — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:03:58 +0000

Dear dear, I think we ALL have monsters. We need to start some kind of monster retreat where we send them all of to live on an island for a while!

By: dryadart

dryadart — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:33:50 +0000

Kirsty great post as usual, I read all the newer ones above before I came to this, you are indeed a font of wisdom… I was wondering what guys monster's say to them? Mostly mine says you waited too long, you started too late, your ideas are boring and unispired/cliched so no one will want o see your work. Also she says make simple things, smaller things, you are grandiose… self inflated. Hmm. I never thought of talking softly to her, I tried to ignore her mostly, shut the door. And she dissapproves wholeheartedly of anything I think is fun!

By: Kirsty Hall

Kirsty Hall — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:08:28 +0000

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Kruse. And I loved looking at your beautiful work.