The Art History Newsletter

CAA Cont’d

by | 25 February 2008 | Conferences

X.M.B. writes:

So here is a brief overview of the 2008 CAA conference in Dallas. There is no Bohemia. everyone gets dressed up and applies for jobs, the world of academia is as cold and stiff as everyone described. There are good eggs and bad eggs though, It is fun to differentiate between the folks who are obligated to be here and the ones who came for the party. At times i find myself being part of the sea of dazed graduate students, flowing in and out of the interview tables, finding out that there are thousands of people exactly like them.

Shermaniac writes:

The word of the conference that I wasn’t familiar with is indexical. I’m probably way behind since several people used it with ease.

B.S. writes:

Man, I had hoped to go to Dallas yesterday. Me and Maria Elena were going to stop by the CAA conference at the Adam’s Mark and sweet talk our way in with fake press passes.

Artist / teacher Mike Odom writes:

… It’s a little embarrassing to confess, but that was my total involvement with the 2008 CAA: Meeting friends from out of town for restaurant meals and a little gallery hopping. Not exactly career building, I suppose.

SlideRoom representative Christopher Jagers, wrote a few days ago of his pre-conference woes:

1) My dog ate my (very expensive) glasses, so now I have to wear old ones which are ugly and barely work.

2) My copy of Photoshop expired, and my new copy isn’t working. (I need this for my presentation).

3) My orthodontist inserted a new device into my mouth which is painful and bulky. This is the worst. It holds my mouth open a little all the time, so I can’t enunciate words nor eat. I sound retarded, literally. So, over the next week, I am trying to: Learn how to speak again (S’s are the hardest). Learn to love soup. Learn to look at the upside (I am going to be skinny)!

Trying to keep a sense of humor, see you at the conference …

Fortunately, all seems to have turned out for the best:

The CAA conference was a huge success for SlideRoom, and felt very different from last time. I believe the university art world is reaching a tipping point in its desire for online systems. Even just last year, there was some resistance. But this year, art faculty were eager to hear all about how SlideRoom worked, and were aggressively asking for info. Change is coming.

Jeanne Jo writes:

Heather, Rachelle and I were lucky enough to have a few run-ins with Yoko Ono, who was at CAA receiving a Distinguished Body of Work Award. Can I just say, that lady is fierce. So beautiful and full of life. She restores my faith. Her bodyguard told Heather that “they” (meaning himself and Yoko) liked her hair! Preceeding Yoko’s participation in the CAA Annual Artist’s Interview, she showed the audience film clips from when she was child. She was incredibly funny and touching, talking about her parents and her life growing up in both Japan and San Francisco. She then read a very moving poem that she had written four days prior, on her 75th birthday. Here it is:

It is a giddy feeling
like being on a mountain
looking down
many little houses
many little streets
I was once in them
how little they were!
The cars are driving
like soldiers
like cockroaches
like dots

I look up
there are many trees
leading me to…
is that the top of the mountain?
I see that I have
much more to go

Then I see
that I am still in my kitchen
In one of the little apartment buildings
which looked like a pebble from the mountain!
making my morning coffee
sitting at my computer
looking over the park
Sunrises.

Yes!
Seventy five
and I’m alive

My body is filled with
many people
many cities,
many countries
many laughters,
many loves
many, many spaces and
oh, many, many times…

Is that what it is
to be omnipresent?
to experience all your
senses and feelings
of all times and space at once?
With no limitations
of the human world
Freed from time
Freed from space?
Are we all getting there?

I am full of thankfulness
for being alive
I am full of love
for knowing you
knowing life

Your beauty
Life’s amazements
still unfolding
it’s mystery

Thank you, thank you, thank you
For a very rich experience

Yes. I’m seventy five!
I’m alive
still dancing
in love with life.

Now, I’m suddenly
at the top of the mountain
Seeing the other side -
The Future!

It’s so magical
I’m speechless.
It’s so beautiful
We’re smiling!
You are there
We are there

Yes. we are all there!
We are all there.
Still dancing
In love with life…