This semester, I'm back in Chicago. I figured I'd start blogging again, as there are things I need to think through. It might also be helpful to write them out - it will also be helpful to finally evaluate last semester in New York properly. I won't write so much about the program, because I think that's mainly for the organizers of it (and they already have it), but about the projects made and the co-habitation or lack thereof in the space.

I did not write about it while it was still pertinent because lots of things were happening, and the last thing on my mind was to blog about it.

Above was the final project for the residency, along with this:

and also:

These were projects trying to think about my time there, and also some of the frustrations experienced personally and within the group. Finally, a small collective was formed, the Rolo Collective, with two fellow students at the program. More information to come about this.

This is a brief overview of the end, I'll get into the details more as the semester progresses and the spring gets digested. Safe to say, I am still "working" on the projects I begun last semester, but slightly differently. Mainly due to me being back at SAIC and not having the same, rich environment in New York (with BHQFU and other initiatives), it's changed a bit. I'd like to find something similar here in Chicago, but the art environment is very different here.

A large part of this is the almost absolute domination of SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) in the city and the galleries - everyone seems to be a current student, teacher or alumni of the school. Last week I visited a UIC-gallery, and the feeling I had in the space was totally different. Earlier in the evening we'd mainly visited SAIC-galleries where we bumped into acquaintances everywhere and the art mostly consisted of colored lines and line drawings, something not-yet-peripheral-painting-like and "geometric abstractions and explorations." Therefore, entering the UIC-gallery was refreshing, as the art seemed to be a little more politically oriented... or something. I also realized UIC offered free art classes during the summer! Free and open to everyone, many of the classes seem to have been oriented toward political engagement and activism. I wish I could have partaken in this, as it's hard to evaluate from the outside (considering who funded it and their requirements).

Which is what I'm writing my thesis about. For now, that is the continuation of working I can see. Looks like it'll be about art education, how expensive it is and what it does to art making and values for me to graduate with $100,000 in debt and a BFA. Plus evaluate some alternatives, like BHQFU and the School of Making Thinking (representatives of which were present at the Unpanel).

And that will be it for now, as this is already pretty text-heavy. Finally, this might be a way for me to work through the thesis topic and a sort of exploration in Chicago's alternatives to art education, as this is where I am now, and will have to work with this!