Some Friday Notes.....

Yes, it has been a bit of time since I last wrote. Over the past week we have had two hours of art history (9-11), then lunch, and studio class (bookbinding from 1-5 or 6). So to say we have done a bit is an understatement.

The school we are stationed at is a small group of building housing a computer lab, general classroom tables, two rooms for printmaking equipment, and one room with tables in a more studio space. We use the general room for art history, and the studio space tables for our bookbinding class. The other students (in the large format class) are over on another island, Murano, in a very large and spread out printshop within a glass blowing complex. Over the past week our class has made small travel logs, and hard backed books that the spine is actually made using cords and leather. Today we learned how to sew headbands, the stitched dual-colored pieces above the pages in some hardback books. After a long week, and battling a headache, the meticulous nature and repetative steps of the headbands was calming. And I found that it is my favorite part about making books, stitching together those tiny tiny headbands using silk thread. It put me back into the mentality that I use to print and draw, which I had not been in relatively recently because of the stress of learning two book structures in less than a week (the equivalent of half a semester of class time at school, fyi.)

However, also extremely theraputic was ripping down paper last night on the tearing table in the Murano studio. After class we went over to the see the print studio our other students were using, which was gorgeous. I had been carrying a roll of paper around the entire day, with the intension of tearing it down to small sizes for my text block. I spent over two hours just measuring, folding, and ripping/cutting with a knife. It was AMAZING. I know, I'm crazy. (Also, look: I found the apostrophy on the computer '''''''''!!!!!)

Side note of advice: the quickest way to look like a local in extremely tourist cities is to carry around random things ie. big wrapped up rolls of paper or hardware ie. make shift bookpress with threaded rods sticking out the top. You will be studied by pondering locals trying to analyze whether you are actually one of them while attempting to identify what you are actually carrying.

The interesting, non-studio things we have done include visiting the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, down the street from where we are staying; and speaking with Alfredo Jaar, an artist participating in a curated exhibition in the Biennale. Walking through both sites was really interesting to compare the two (one permanent and one temporary, one fully set up and one at the tail end of their installation, one past and one present). The docks of the area are amazing as well. Next week I will be spending more time there, so these topics with be discussed in further detail.

I have also had some really nice dinners and nights. I finally found my way over to Lido, where the beach is. Erin, another student, and I left our hotel at 6pm, after the Guggenheim and artist talk that day, in our swim suits to go. After getting off the vaporetto the first thing we notice: cars! Yes, I have not seen a car in almost two weeks because Venice has boats. It was a bit ridiculous, really. We walked across the island to the free (and empty) beach, where I went swimming for about 30 minutes. Erin just sat and read, she decided it was too cold and I was a bit crazy. The air was getting cool, and it was around 7:45pm, so I finally decided to stop, plus my stomach started boycotting the rest of my body out of hunger. We then meandered over to a restaurant and had the 'tourist menu,' a fixed price menu of 14.50€. (Yes, we owned up to our status finally of tourists). The night continued as we finished, got dessert, and made out way back to the hotel. It was finally a relaxing night after 12 days of non-stop, and also the first night I did not do any real homework after class, which I am okay with.

Anyway. This is getting long and I am getting tired. I will write about some of the other adventures in posts that will go up this weekend-I promise.

Buona notte!