Topicless thread

[Chocofreak13]

heh. i already know what most of what i like, weirdly enough. and it's not what most of the kids at my school like, which lands me as an outcast there, just the way i like it. i never thought that there would be so many chobani-eating, tight-pants-wearing, smoking hipsters claiming to be "artists" there. :\

either way, i'd say my "college experience" is basically my high school experience, only further way and more artsy. i keep more irratic hours, and i don't get yelled at for getting soda from the vending machine (though i still invade the teacher's lounge on occasion).

[IanDanKilmaster]

That's funny, I kind of thought that was the stereotype of so-called "art students".  Not to say there aren't many, like yourself, there to learn art, but many seem to be those hipster posers that have become the blight of any college campus with an art program.

I say this because I ran into the same problem back when I was in college, I think I might have witnessed the first wave of an invasion at that time.  In the art department, the theatre department, and yes, even the philosophy department.  They were "existensialist" souls armed only with a pack of smokes and a "free love" mindset that screamed "hippie wannabe".  Please laugh with me if you can enjoy the irony (as you know, hipsters do many things for the sake of irony, yes?).

[Chocofreak13]

i recognize the existence of stereotypes, but work so that they're not furthered. an artist that goes with the crowd isn't an artist in the slightest, which leads to my confusion as to why they think I'M the freak. the only silver lining is that at least half are predicted to drop out after the first year.

(sorry if i seem a little argumentative, just saw this video and decided to call an asshole out on his comment that the "nordic type" americans lack any sort of compassion. being half swedish and a raging liberal (not to mention one of the loudest anti-nuclear voices i know), this guy irks me on multiple levels. ><;;; )

[IanDanKilmaster]

No worries, I agree with you, Choco-chan.  I was just commenting on your apparent surprise.  What I meant was, being familiar with said stereotypes - how could you expect much else?  Granted, most people desire for situations to exceed their expectations, but at the same time, we're used to getting the norm, right?

[Chocofreak13]

i suppose i expected art students to be more original. i've learned not to set my expectations so high in this country. :\

[IanDanKilmaster]

Well, despite my own cynicism, I have to respect your higher expectations.  It truly sucks to be negative all the time, I assure you.  All you can really do is strive for your own greatness and not worry so much about the people around you.  If it is as you say, surely you'll stand as more than just "the outcast", right?

I think you already know that being labeled as different isn't always so bad :3.

[Chocofreak13]

i love being the outcast. it's what i strive for. :3

[stewartsage]

Negativism isn't that bad!  I live life positively thriving on the hopelessness of the future without actually being consumed by it.

Well 'art' school these days mostly covers the trade side of the field; graphic arts, whatever the hell the call lithography these days, that sort of thing.  That being said some pretty wacky things seem to go on at my BFFs art school in Pennsylvania.

I head back to school in.... two days.  I.... look forward to meeting my new room mate (and probably spending most of my time a few floors up with my freshmen year room mate).

[Chocofreak13]

good luck stew!

and there's alot of graphic design majors at my school, almost all of which are hipster. i consider graphic art an art, but at the same time it feels like it lacks the passion of, say, fine art or illustration. having all your creativity being directed to the pursuit of making money feels rather empty to me, considering how much i love doing art. alot of the people at my school seem like they're only in art school because they couldn't find anything else to do. not to say they aren't pretty good, but if the artist doesn't have a firey passion, deep enthusiasm and undying love for art, it feels empty. it's as if to say, "why are you here? what do you really want?"

i got the vibe from most of my classmates that they weren't as in love with the art field as i am. :\

[IanDanKilmaster]

i love being the outcast. it's what i strive for. :3

That's a good attitude to have, but there's more to going against the grain than simply going against the grain - remember that ;3.

@stewartsage New roommates can be fun, and it's good that you're still hanging out with your old one.  I don't know if it's the same for everyone, but I was friends with my freshman roomie for a good while.  We'd still be most likely, if I had bothered to keep in touch.  He was a really cool and fun guy.

@Choco (again) Well, if they're freshman like you, get used to it.  A lot of first year students are just trying to get a grasp on what it is they want to do with their lives.  Many students just think about something they enjoy doing and go with it, not realizing at the time that maybe it's something better left as a hobby than a professional endeavor.

[Chocofreak13]

@IDK: i'm going to let your outcast comment slide, since it's been awhile. ^^;

also, i don't think they even enjoyed art.....it was simply something they have a talent for. it's like saying that someone who was forced to learn the piano should make it a career. yes, they're kind of good at it, but that alone shouldn't be a basis for choosing a career. :\

[IanDanKilmaster]

No, it might've been awhile, but I still remember you, Choco-chan~

I was simply offering some friendly advice.  If it just so happens that being who you are sets you against the crowd, then go with it :3.

I also concur that simply being adept at something is no reason to pursue it as a career, as I've already mentioned, the passion should be there to match it.  Things done with talent and no passion simply lack any real flavor, they're all sizzle and no steak (or is it the other way around?).  In any case, passion always comes through in art, and there is no real art without it.

Anyway, I think I'm calling it a night for now.  I'll try and get on tomorrow, or at least some other time this week :3.  Goodnight.

[Bella]

Thank you for the advice, Dan; I remember that, a couple of years back when I was angsting about college, you said something similar - it kinda mirrors what I've heard from my family. They seem to have reached the point where they really don't care what I do, ie, go to college or not... I'm not sure if that's a good thing or if they've just given up. (Which would be a bad thing, since I've sort of given up too, and I need someone to push me. ><)

I really, really want to go to the university that's near my home, since I'm moving soon and it'll be the first time in my life that i've lived in a brand-new home and one as large as it is. After a lifetime of being packed into leaking, moldy, structurally-unsound little houses like a sardine in a can, it'll be nice to live in a clean, new place and have practically an entire floor to myself... if I end up moving away to go to one of the UNH colleges, I'm back where I started - living in a sardine-tin apartment, having to pay my own bills, in a strange city, one I probably wouldn't even like. (Seriously, i hate southern NH.) Not even touching the fact that i know very little about any of the universities in southern NH; I've been bothering advisers and the admissions people at PSU for years, but UNH is totally foreign to me. -w-

But the thing is...... there is literally nothing I want to study at PSU. They have no museum studies degree or degree option, they have no fine art/photography degree (WHAT THE FUCK PSU?), I know I'm in deep shit when I read the course list and think, "Wow, Humanities doesn't sound that bad!" And I'd totally consider humanities, completely irrelevant and trite as it is, but there's the fact I'd be required to become proficient in a god damned foreign language to graduate. (I have no capacity for language, just so you know. Everything I know about English I learned by being raised in an English-speaking society.) And I'd even consider studying humanities with THAT caveat, but then I'd have to go through life with the dishonor of having a degree in humanities - I would probably gain so many more brownie points with the family/friends/world and become a fuckton more badass and well-suited to life in the real world by just skipping college and becoming a hobo world traveler for the next several years than get a degree in something as sissy-ass as humanities. But, you know, saying "I have practical experience in the real world" won't ever impress an employer - they only want to see a piece of paper that says you've finished college.

People keep telling me, "You like drawing - you draw all the time. You can sit down on the computer for hours straight coloring. Why don't you audition for the art/drawing program?" And a part of me would love to. But another part of me knows that manga/cartoon/comic-style artists are the pariah of the serious art community and that my "portfolio", impressive to my family and friends as it is, wouldn't hold a candle to anyone doing realistic/inspired/intelligent artwork, and that I'd be far less talented than the people around me. I feel way too embarrassed to even talk with anyone in the art admissions department, because I'm sure I'll get lol'd at (or awkward-silenced at) for even mentioning coming from a manga/comic background. :[

Since I'm nearing the point of tears writing all this (and probably sound partially-deranged at this point) I'll just stop here. But it's pretty clear that I can add "Horrible, horrible inadequacy issues" to the interesting little trail-mix of psychological disorders I have. ><

[Red-Machine]

Art colleges are getting more into the comic scene, so I think you'd do okay.

[NejinOniwa]

Step 1: Take any college course/program.
Step 2: Analyze. "How will this help me take over the world?"
Step 3: Evaluate.
Step 4: PROFIT. NO UNKNOWN STEPS REQUIRED.

Also, wb Dan!