[quote]Quote From chrisrolinski:


"An "unmade bed" or other contemporary art installations or pieces don't just happen."

- I think they DO just happen. That's the point of an awful lot of it; to be a part of the reality that it reflects, but this time it IS an object in itself, which means we no longer consider the object that the art may be trying to represent anymore, but the art itself becomes the object that we as observers reflect on. It's the technical "arty" jargon that they use AFTER it has been made that might be 'incomprehensible to outsiders'.

I think that people look back to more traditional forms of art because each generation, one step at a time (going back), were closer to an idealistic way of life; a quest for truth and beauty (showing life to be worthwhile among all the chaos), whereas the art of today seems to surround us with a mirror of our individual and numerous alienation from culture and society.

They probably only bought it so they can use the term "art" to justify the reason why they're staring at dirty knickers all day long.

Did you enjoy your 39 minutes of fame at the top there moonblue? :-)

Wow, not long til the amount of views reaches 20,000!! Keep working hard guys!

well done sneaks! :-)

What does everyone think about modern art? There has been so much about it (for and against modern and post-modern art) in the media lately, I just wanted to know some other people's opinions.
Do YOU think that Emin's unmade bed is art, just because she calls it art, or do you think that she is a bit of a skank who just had the confidence to expose raw elements of her life to the public, and in turn contributing to turning art into a commodity or brand, just by offering a little slice of her reality.
Surely art is about presenting the beautiful aspects of life, in order to lift us to a higher plane, away from the grind and chaos of the reality we live in? Perhaps the sole intention of art today is just simply to shock - and that's it. Or, is there beauty in the chaotic art of today? But what's so beautiful about seeing the inside of half a cow?
I do like some modern art, mainly in the way that most of it presents the thing-in-itself, and draws our attention to the object, but surely the creative and imaginative mind is more interesting, with all it's philosophical enquiry?
What do you think?

Oi!! Do you mind? I'm trying to procrastinate here!
Was that the best you could do? You don't want to smear chocolate over yourself and plunge into a skip full of marshmellows then? No?

If you could do anything right now, what would that be?
...and I mean anything.

What I want to do right now - RIGHT NOW - is run through my department building naked, screaming "I love rice pudding!!!!!" Then I might like to go and stand on the roof with a megaphone and do a great big fart through it, knowing that no one would remember a thing...because earlier I put some super magic memory-loss dust in everyone's tea.
Then, I would like to run to every pub in the country that has a bouncy castle, and erm... well, just bounce... frantically (!) (may I add). Then, I would run away giggling like a little girl because I just pulled the plug and let the air out. After that, I would train a monkey to read a paper whilst doing a poo in the landlady's back garden.
:-) Then, I would go and fill the uni library with loads of colourful plastic balls and disco lights so everyone could have a party. 8-) cool.

Everytime I talk or do stuff, I keep thinking that I'm having out-of-body experiences. It's such a strange feeling!
Is that a good enough 'peculiar reason' for not doing any work?

I'm not on drugs.

Ha ha ha absolutely hilarious! :-) That's such a brilliant story! What an experience!
Seriously, don't worry about it. Yes, I would be absolutely cringing with embarrassment if it happened to me, but later you'll have a right laugh about it when you share the story with others! It's called BEING human; living! It's times like these that make life so interesting....


Also....later when we've all forgotten, you could always add it to the confessions post! :-)

I'm having a bit of trouble.
I have lost my motivation.
Have done so little work.
I am only one and a half months into my course.
I can't get used to the lonliness.

My mind is distracted by thoughts that my partner is going to lie to me again.
We've been together for 7 years.
Lots of small lies throughout that time, and three big lies.

Some work was supposed to be in last week.
I didn't get it in.
It still isn't done, but haven't emailed the supervisor.
Hoping it will be done over the next two days.
Hope supervisor doesn't notice the lateness.


How easy/difficult is it to submit 35000 final words in 10 months?
Is it enough time?


Thanks for any advice in advance.

Being in a position where I cannot 'comfortably' afford to go to university to do research, in my opinion, puts me under a bit more pressure than someone who doesn't even need to think of the finances involved. This is because my mind cannot wholly be occupied with thoughts about my research and a social life etc, but also with worry about how my next fee installment is going to be paid. This may have caused me problems with the types of grades I achieved - if I didn't have to work as well as study, then perhaps I would have more time to think about study and achieve better marks. Right? Erm... yes and no.

Perhaps if you were brought up in a position where you have never had to worry about food and a roof over your head, then you would probably be more confident in life. With confidence you tend to have the courage to try out new things and just 'go for it' becuase you've got nothing to lose (e.g still have a very cushty future with inheritance, etc).
If you are poor, you have everything to lose. If you don't get things right the first time, all your dreams could potentially go out the window. So what some people tend to do is say 'well, I need something to fall back on just in case this happens.'
But trying to lay down a 'safety' foundation ALSO takes a lot of work. So what happens? You don't spend so much time on the things that you REALLY want to do. In addition to this, it's so easy to settle in what you set up as 'the back-up plan', because other things, such as partners, and well... LIFE might get in the way.
Oh but hang on a minute... that person was so bright! They should have done a Phd!

It doesn't make someone more capable of research if you were brought up in poverty, as opposed to having a very comfortable life and upbringing. But rather it is likely that both are pretty much equal. However, the one in poverty didn't get the same opportunity as the one who could afford to go.

On the other hand, if you want something SO BADLY in life, you would do it no matter what it takes. The only problem here is that, if you're someone who can afford to go to uni with no worries whatsoever AND you DIDN'T want it that badly, but didn't really know what else to do with your life so you just go anyway, THEN it is a little bit unfair. But I guess that's just life.

If it wasn't for the fact that I had to earn my own living and fund almost every penny of uni myself (undergrad/postgrad), I wouldn't have been so determined to do so well. Also, you learn so much from being in the 'real world'. You gain so many skills that really benefit the whole uni experience, and make life more interesting.

Sorry if this didn't make an awful lot of sense - I'm rushing coz I gotta get on with my work. I've wasted so much time already. My point here is that I can see the pro's and con's of being in both positions.

mmm...I'm not too sure. It might look a bit cocky if you just smile at him when you walk past etc, pretending you know nothing about it. He already thinks that you were behind the email complaint.

To be honest, I would go in and ask if you could have a private chat, explaining the whole thing, how you feel etc.

The trick is to behave as if you are actually asking him for his advice about the situation.
He will feel so flattered that you saw him as someone who is important enough and trustworthy enough to speak to about the issue - AND it would subtly let him know that you didn't have anything to do with the woman's rant. Chances are, she probably already has quite a bad reputation herself, so it wouldn't be too difficult for him to see who was REALLY behind that email.

:-)

For you, or for the dog?