Otis presentation development

Talking to the right people can make a world of difference in the quality of my day.  Yesterday I spoke with my colleague that teaches at several institutions in Southern California. Now that I have a range of dates, my Spring trip to CA has substance.

Otis College of Art and Design qualifies as a forward thinking institution in my estimation.  This is not solely because let me speak my piece upon occasion, though this is obviously to my benefit.  I also think their progressive orientation is to be found in their sustainability minor: "Students study and develop strategies and systems applicable to art and design that meet the needs of current generations without compromising those of future generations."  The question this begs, is whether it is possible to justify the forces of our economy with sustainable social structure.  If it is to be possible to reconcile our needs with our wants, it will likely require the attention of those adept in the world of symbolic manipulation, as well as engineers and ecologists.  

In my case, my interest in the ways that forces work on the people in a given sphere of influence led me to be very understanding when I read The Field of Cultural Production; or the Economic World Reversed.  I became so obsessed I had a diagram tattooed on my back. The option to forget about it doesn't really exist for me.  This is relevant because it helped me to see the value of thinking about the forces in society as fields of social relations.

So, today before I do some reading, I wanted to watch The Art of the Steal again.  It was not available on streaming Netflix for a while, but it is currently back.  This is one of my favorite films ever.   Then, I remembered about Beautiful Losers, so I decided to watch that too.  All the while I had been thinking about this other film, not currently available on Netflix instant (I know it's not the only outlet, but it sure is easy if it's paid for), but couldn't remember the title.  I had to ask another colleague.  The name of that film is Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time, which is quite beautiful, if a bit slow.  I was thinking how the "naturalist" ethic portrayed by Goldsworthy's amazing constructions would be quite fitting in a class called Human Ecology at a college of art and design.

The point of all this rambling is that both of the colleagues in this story are childhood friends, from the same cohort or milieu, if those terms apply in the small rural city of Banning.  This realization, or at least the cognitive epiphany premised on this information, suddenly and forcefully convinced me that I should show some of the artwork of the artist I consulted for videographic information.  This video shows a time-lapse installation on a backyard wall by that colleague.  Our social similarity and shared experiences are among the aspects that make possible the mobilization of resources in each other's directions, referred to by Bourdieu as 'social capital.'  The problem with this norm of human existence is, of course, nepotism.  When social connection far outweighs estimations of merit or other methods of evaluation, people outside that network tend to be alienated.  But the best-case scenario of social capital is community.  When a group of people actively promotes their mutual well-being, it can be advantageous for that group.  This is likely to be a key strategy is sustainable oriented thinking.

So, I will talk about my friend's artwork at the arts college where my friend teaches.  I also asked for some notes to learn a bit more, and was given these names: John Baldessari, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Ed Ruscha, Wayne White, Robert Longo, Jasper Johns, Mathwe Barney, The Clayton Brothers, Mike Maxwell.  For now, I have some reading to do.