SECAC 2017 // Post-presentation

We survived! 

That's kind of how it felt to present, even though the woman who put together the panel was lovely and kind and relaxed and my fellow panelists were interesting and also kind and chill  . . . but the guidelines for writing our conference paper and the rules about presenting at SECAC were rigid and fairly antithetical to the spirit of the conference, which is celebratory and joyful and emphasizes fun in art. 

My writing looks like a middle-schooler's

M. and I read our paper last, after two presentations that were several degrees less formal, but I think it was received well and that we've come out of this experience with a paper we can submit for publication somewhere. That's a first for me -- I've published primarily poetry but no academic papers since being at Stuffolk, so this is a new adventure of sorts. An adventure for dorks, if you will -- but an adventure nonetheless.

This morning I'm attending a panel on punk rock and how it has influenced artists in both their art-making and their teaching. Yesterday I attended M.'s other panel, the one where she was talking about the role science plays in her art-making. Ostensibly the entire panel was supposed to be about the role of science in the making of contemporary art, but it became apparent that the woman who put together the panel did so simply to showcase the thesis work of this one woman who was simply researching art restoration. She wasn't an artist herself, but M. and the other presenter, L., are. Their presentations were so interesting and their work so gorgeous -- it was disappointing to see their work get short shrift or less attention than the thesis-woman. Also, witnessing cronyism at work is depressing. 

Anyway, that's the bad side of these conferences. You never quite know what you're going to get. But I'm optimistic about today - and there's a Cindy Sherman exhibit at Ohio University that A. and I may walk to see later this afternoon. 

Also, this may be the last time I do this kind of thing, and so I should probably savor and cherish these last few hours of travel and tourism. Looking after The Circus may be a little too much for my mother these days -- my call home last night revealed the kids were fighting, the dog was being a pain in the ass, and my robot car is freaking my mom out (we bought a Honda earlier in the year, and it has keyless ignition and those weird push-button gear shifts). I hate to think that we leave and no one can behave -- my mom doesn't deserve that. 

So anyway, I'm going to try and appreciate today. Tomorrow we fly home, and I'm looking forward to reuniting with the monkeys (to squeeze them, and also reprimand them). Not as happy about returning to the classroom, but hopefully it will be better after this little break.