First week

The longer stay in Canada meant that I started my new course, MA Visual Arts (Book Arts), at Camberwell a week late. I was plunged straight into the deep end, with Symposium 1 - a day of 5-minute (powerpoint) presentations from everyone on their current practice. (I didn't manage using PPT - obviously a skill I need. It's on my list...)

By lunchtime the diversity of country of origin, field of former study, and projected work was getting a bit overwhelming. Backgrounds include writing, multimedia, graphics, moving images, literature, fine art, illustration, copywriting, dance, textiles and fashion. The projects I most related to were those using fractured type, journeys through buildings, conveying happiness, minimal landscapes, embryonic words, and subversion in libraries.
At that point we were running about 30 mins late - not bad at all. I remained in the room to try to let the jetlagged brain catch up with the onrush of information -
Outside, waiting for the bus, a moment of sunshine before rain -It wasn't till the next day that I finally finished enrolling, but now that I have a copy of the handbook and "the card" I'm starting to feel less of an interloper -
Of course one of the requirements is a "reflective journal" - reflecting our raw thinking - so far mine consists of scribbling on pink post-it notes (kept at the bedside) during the long waking stretches of the night, and on little yellow ones while watching art videos -
A big help with "reflection" is the blogging. I'm excited about the course and being with people who like developing ideas for books of various sorts, and looking forward to seeing where my research proposal - to develop the TravelWriting - will lead. Our first project is to rewrite our proposals (by 14 Dec) - this is the time for doing lots of research. Then, an essay ... the topic will probably originate in the research we do for finalising the proposal. And it's a good idea to do something practical - make book maquettes, for example - alongside.

Next week: a tutorial, two seminars, and inductions for the printmaking workshop and the letterpress workshop.