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'Tis the hiring season
Post #930 • January 3, 2007, 10:56 AM • 8 Comments
As I am not yet selling work in the quantites that would keep Supergirl and I in the lifestyle to which we've become accustomed (or even a reduced version thereof that involves regular meals), it's time to look at teaching gigs, and lo and behold, here we are in Deadline Month for positions starting in August and September. I can't say I relish going through this again, but a few things have changed for the better since my last sorry slog through the hiring mill. Colleges have wisely begun to accept images on CD. That's $40-plus that I'm not spending on slides for each application. On a personal note, all this computer work I've done qualifies me for graphic design positions, especially ones with a web emphasis. I've therefore found nearly fifty jobs to apply for.
More importantly, the CAA now seems to be paying attention to criticisms regarding the hiring portion of its annual conference. E-mails exchanged more or less privately between myself, a couple of industry professionals, and several parties at the CAA during the ten months since I bitchslapped them demonstrate real listening. I have been assured by CAA staff that reforms are imminent. I'll see for myself when I attend the conference in February, but the whole tone coming out of the CAA has changed for the better, and they deserve credit for it.
I even renewed my membership. Really.
Now we just need to do something about that conference date. Supergirl and I had plans for Valentine's Day, yo.
Excuse me while I go make 600 photocopies.
2.
January 3, 2007, 5:29 PM
Right... tortured artist movies... gotta work on that...
3.
January 3, 2007, 6:04 PM
This is a colleague's response to the new regime at CAA:
" I know there is new leadership (they spoke at a SECA/MACAA lunch in Nashville) and they do seem open to try to become more user friendly to increase membership and participation but I also know that I had a lot of trouble this year finding a session to apply to .... There are a couple of interesting topics on painting and modernism but they are scheduled for Wednesday - a time when hardly anyone is present to attend the sessions (conspiracy theory anyone?. I think it is premature to declare the pomo orientation of CAA to be in decline."
4.
January 3, 2007, 6:16 PM
I contained my later communications with the CAA to the topic of making the hiring portion of the fair into something resembling a respectful environment. In this I took my cue from Mark Gottsegen, who I'm sure won't mind my saying that he decided to focus on getting sessions about art materials introduced into the conference offerings, and had some success, I believe. I had already voiced my disastisfaction about the sessions - I went as far as saying that I needed a reason to attend the CAA conference instead of SXSW - but realized later on that specific criticisms would elicit specific responses, and the Meat Market is really a bigger lapse than the ideological lockstep of the organization as a whole. It is at least possible to ask whether the hiring fair represents the organization's vaunted allegiance to the highest ethical standards for the field.
5.
January 4, 2007, 12:03 AM
Since "simple viruses last" (nameless biologist) - one must see the works of the Pangnirtung weavers in Montreal. Fucking incredible works of beauty! Happy Jan. and Feb.
6.
January 4, 2007, 3:21 AM
This one is for Opie:
http://www.museumofbadart.org/
7.
January 4, 2007, 7:32 AM
You know, the Museum of Bad Art is really close to where I live, and I've sincerely been meaning for a long time to to check it out.
8.
January 4, 2007, 7:49 AM
The Museum of Bad Art has been around for years, and y. I like the idea, and they have some outstanding specimens, but I feel they should branch out from the Salvation Army leftover type items into the high-priced collector's area. Some of the stuff at Art Basel, for example, would give their art some severe competition. And some of their paintings are perilously close to becoming interesting folk art. Choosing "bad" can be just as tricky as shoosing "good".
1.
Jack
January 3, 2007, 2:29 PM
Franklin, please, you're supposed to suffer for your art. Valentine's Day and any associated non-art activities cannot be allowed to distract you. Let's get our priorities straight here. I mean, haven't you seen all those tortured artist movies?