By Jacob Hicks (MFA 2012)
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| Detail of Last Supper-Jacob Hicks |
I feared post-graduation and was unsure of my next step-even before the day arrived. I am sure current second year students can relate (calm down, it will be okay (if only I could have said this to my past, panicked self)).
Coming to the conclusion of my degree was a huge excitement, but I know my task is always progression, so, in my last frenzied months at the Academy, I began to hunt for a continuation of my art and education. Thankfully many opportunities are provided by and through our school, and the “One-Sided Story” residency was one such opportunity specifically targeted toward Academy alum.
Below is a little philosophizing on the theme and goal of the residency, which is to introduce multiple cultures, who carry their “one-sided” versions of life with them (their perspective being entwined within their cultural experience). It is also to create new connective tissues and entangle varied perspectives in a new, widened truth.
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| “Oscillate” or “Over Ripe” by Kaitlyn Stubbs |
To see multiple perspective is to undulate between truth, like one falling leaf floats through a forest, our subjectivities (eyes, hands, ears, mouths, noses brain-stemmed to thought) become an integral strand in the dynamic human web of consciousness.
The truth I know is born of my experience, my location in time, space, and culture. My “one-sided story” is a fusion of the internal (I like to think eternal) me, and my connection to an ever-diminishing nature, and ever-expanding human architecture. To be able to weave a more whole subjective understanding of “objectivity” into the greater human structure, my paradigm must confront and adapt to include the “objectivities” of as many other individuals as possible, past and present.
This is the goal of the “One-Sided Story” residency, to provide an environment for international communication among artists whose personal experiences range broadly.
Our side of truth deepens and expands when confronted by another’s. I am a leaf floating with a palpable peripheral forest-distant, but for this moment, accessible.
For information about Jacob Hicks and Kaitlyn Stubbs’ residency check out their kickstarter campaign.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2054989324/send-us-to-germany
