As to the studio meeting itself, I found it really helpful. I gathered that other students were entertained/enthralled as well, because when I would catch myself looking up at them, many people had an unconscious smile on their face, and everyone was actually listening to what Reich had to say. A few of the gems of wisdom he threw out us:
"Your real work is also here and now", which referred to the fact that at this point, a lot of students are just ready to get out and go get "real work" in the 'real world". But we are in a really privileged place in our lives, where we are able to devote one solid year to becoming an expert on one thing, and trying to express that knowledge, and expand the field. It is really amazing that we get to choose- not only the project, but also the speed and direction at/in which we progress. An opportunity like this probably won't ever come our way again!
"Art is very long and life is very short", to which he pulled (out of his bag of tricks) a set of scrolls, one for each of us, which turned out to be a calendar of the entire year, from the first day of class to graduation day. It is a surprisingly small scroll when you really think about how fast each day is going to go. He said that in this process, time will probably be our biggest enemy, so we need to try to do a little bit every day, and most importantly, be honest with ourselves about how much work we do. Because the three biggest things that people commit fraud over are money, sex, and time. He advised us (although it's optional) to keep track everyday of what we did for the project and how much time we spent on it. A really good idea, but I will admit- the whole thing is a little overwhelming.
"All of this work is in progress." This was something that reminds me a lot of a professor I hadearlier on told us- don't let your work become too precious. It's okay to have notes, words, thoughts, etc, on the work. It's also okay to do things that aren't perfect. They can be fixed, and they can be changed. A drawing, a sentence, and idea is not a commitment, but it is a step (one way or the other) towards progress.
"You want to have a take, and don't suck." This I guess, came from a sports commentator, and although it's kind of funny, it makes sense. Have a take- take a stand, believe something, make it matter to you PERSONALLY. Otherwise, what's the point? Don't suck- actually care that you do it right, and that you give/get the most out of it that you can. That's kind of the goal, right?
So, quite a few things to think about. This is a commitment- big time. This is going to be my life, my statement about what I want to do with myself. This is my chance to take a stand, and have a 'point of view' about the profession and what I bring to it. I'm excited, but also nervous.
Finally, he assigned us readings to have done for Wednesday, when we will meet for our theory seminar at Linnea's- a cafe downtown. I went through them last night, taking notes and trying to relate the information in them to my project in some meaningful way. They were a wide variety of topics, which I like, and not primarily about architecture, which I also like. I think that theory should be based in a world that doesn't revolve solely on architecture for its foundation. One of the papers talked about Spinoza, who argued that Descartes was wrong- the body and mind are not separate entities, but dynamically and intrinsically linked. Another was about modern societies slow move away from reality into man-made novelty as pseudo-reality. Another was phenomenological poetry, and the last about how skateboarders experience space in an entirely different way that the typical bystander. Kind of a little something for everyone. I liked it. Lots of questions, lots of topics to explore, and lots of influences to look to. Hopefully they can weigh in to the design I begin to develop.
Also for tomorrow: a (speculative) 100-word abstract about our studio project, as well as an accompanying illustration. I currently have that in the works.
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