yyt

so i am back feeling more like a dinosaur at the school of efficient art production. it seems that to be bothered less in the lab they are making sure there are no choices. all the printers now will have inkjet paper in them and to make a print one will simply swipe their i.d, be charged and make a print. the option of the human element in this will be the choice of a generic - glossy, lustre or matte paper. this lengthens the passivity in making a photograph to the entire school experience here. already in intro to photo students to make prints of their images place them into a folder and hit print. there are no options in the printing method and the snaps are done on the cheapest paper possible. now while they will have the option the time at the ‘tute can now be spent with printing being command p. my anachronistic self feels that an art school is all about options and even in a school that touts itself as conceptual - which usually hides the lack of ideas behind bad technique - it seems that the object is still important, to turn a department into a fancy walgreens one hour photo-finishing plant - seems to be against the idea of options. there will be two printers in the department left open so that people can use their choice of papers - and it seems that these printers will be free - so it means that either these two printers will be booked all semester long or the student not knowing how to work epson printers, will be used only for my class in the making of inkjet negatives. my feelings of superfluousness comes not from the policies of the department, but from the actions of the students. even though the new intro to photo is reviled by everyone who has taken it, there doesn’t seem to be a rebellion and a flocking to the analogue classes. people in them say they like the darkroom - although fewer and fewer have been in one but don’t like the frustrations it brings. manipulations is still full but most in the class are printmakers who want to expand their options then those who think direct contact - versus sitting in front of a computer screen - and options are romantic. i am guessing that most will never use their hands again to make snaps. my fear the department is correct and i am wrong due to the fact that no one was in the wet labs, no one seemed to have anything to develop from the summer - well except for baleful the steward and while this really isn’t telling yet, there were only a couple of people at computer stations and they were checking e-mail, i can only see the downward slide from last year. last year there was a hope though for while the wet was declining there was a compensation with inkjets by people making books and series. this may be nullified by the drive toward the generic that seems to be official policy in the department. it is pretty hard to make something small when the roll paper is 17 inches wide.