Okay, people don’t end up in the design department because they can’t hack it at fine arts. Design isn’t somehow, magically easier and accepting of mediocre work.
There seems to be this attitude at MCAD that fine arts is somehow more…
I’ll respond to both of these at once, and offend everyone in one go.
First of all, I understand that the laptop cost goes on tuition.
However, I was recently made aware that if they applied before a December deadline, they got a scholarship of sorts that covered most of or all of their laptop cost.
Second, I am not mad at their technical abilities.
High school art does not breed for strong technical skill.
I know when I got here, I needed a lot of technical help; I understand that.
My issue is the overwhelming amount of work that is mediocre even by high school standards: work and artists that should not have been accepted but were due to the financial need MCAD is in.
Lastly, I will address the Fine Art vs. Design argument here.
To preface, I personally do not believe that Illustration belongs in the design department.
It is kind of a halfway mark between Fine Art and Design.
It’s also very marketable. (I’ll leave you to decide whether that’s good, bad, or neither.)
Comic art, while bordering Fine Art, is predominately design: taking a narrative and making it cohesive, aesthetically pleasing, etc.
Now, the school is called “College of Art AND Design.”
“AND” operates as a delineation, because while both are inherently related and valuable, they are very different.
VERY DIFFERENT.
Design is formulated.
People who design have steps, a regimented process.
They are creative, hard-working people, but they are regimented in a way that Fine Art is not.
They are also client-driven. (Again, comics are excluded from this, as they are narrative based.)
People who design make personal work, but are driven by being served with a problem.
That is where I find the biggest line drawn.
Fine art is asking questions and seeking solutions; design is answering questions and making solutions (even if the solution is to ask a question).
When I say those who can’t “hack it in Fine Art will wind up in design,” I am saying that they will realize they can’t make the bills off the shit they’re making so they will treat design as a trade, learn the programs, make the work, and make the money.
When I talk about Fine Artists versus Designers, I am not talking about the level of difficulty in the work.
I can’t do Design, I know that.
What I am addressing is the fact that Design is a more marketable skill and piss-poor artists have turned it into a trade, not an art.
Finally, from my personal view, Fine Artists are frequently risking more than Designers.
Economically, socially, and emotionally.
Designers are not limited to the clear-cut dichotomy you’ve placed them in. I Hope you’re presenting this as a single case, and not a bastardization of what it means to be a designer at MCAD, and the place of a designer in the world of art. Clearly you are not a design major, or under the design umbrella. Sticking people in a broad category is a quick way to homogenize an individuals experience. If you want to understand others, just ask. Its much better than demeaning their presence in the art community.
I wonder how I would feel about this if I was an incoming freshman. Dejected or devalued? Aggressed upon even. I do not think that this is anyone’s intention, but I think there is a lack of empathy in this conversation for people who are most definitely listening in. We can go back and forth forever on the idea of ‘skill levels’ or whatever MCAD’s admissions policy is, but I personally think that would be asinine. Go back and look at your admission portfolio and defend it to me now. In this dialogue some have acknowledged this, but honestly what makes any of us the rightful judge of such a thing? Do none of us have faith in our own institution? In those who make those judgements, many of whom we know very well?
It’s so popular and so easy to take a big shit on people younger than you with a different generational experience, and I’m sick of people slipping into that. We’re all like 18-26 people. This is a problem that exists for our parents generation that we should learn to move past. I personally am very excited about the incoming class; not only for their volume, but everyone I have met has a unique perspective and voice I that I am excited to see develop and grow here. And that’s why we all chose to go here, no?
I’m tired of the exclusive (you could even say ‘elite’ in some cases) attitude that much of the student body, and yes, even many staff and faculty members extrude at MCAD. Is not the college experience about intersecting perspectives? Learning a pluralistic approach? We should be inclusive to people. Why don’t we all try to fucking learn from each other and enrich our lives instead of passing petty judgement related to artificial categories (major, department, skill level, etc.)
p.s. I don’t want anyone to think I am attacking them, this conversation just hits a lot of points that I’ve been thinking about for a while.
basically what coleman said here
when I stop shaking from anger i’ll add my own points
i’ll say this now though,
COMICS ARE DESIGN
DESIGN IS ART
and also one fucking person is NOT going to sit up on some goddamn throne and decide what art is or is not and who is ‘good’ or ‘mediocre’
I don’t want to call out the person that started this discussion, but there is some really interesting discussion going on and I want to add to it. (also late to the party hello.)
It is considerable arrogant to call all the Freshmen work mediocre. It’s the only thing I can’t chalk up to “annoyed with that fresh out of highschool smell." Comparing your work to others like that is just going to make you stagnant, no matter what you do. It make you reliant on others to improve yourself instead of taking matters into your own hand. Make the effort yourself, don’t rely on others to push you to achieve more.
But really, this is some fantastic discussion that I don’t often see out of the people here because most of us are all caught up in our hidey holes getting stuff done.
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Key and Teeth 