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Portfolio Thoughts

In the visual arts, we are faced with two fundamental
opposite views as to what to put into the portfolio:

       Depth vs Breadth.

This is almost always the case in all portfolios.
Each artist will normally have several strengths
that by their own drive and focus are bound to
get stronger and stronger. Part of the challenge
in education is of course to get them to try
different things. But, in order to see that they
would benefit from the program, there has to be
a match between what they do and what the school
offers.

Driving Forces: Student, School, Faculty
Into the fray...

In the case where the student has mastered many arts,
it will most likely be to their benefit to go to one
of the art schools rather than a general university.
Rare though these kinds of students are, even they
usually have a passion for one kind of work. But, 
even in this case their broad mastery helps to 
"seal the deal" - and mainly that means getting
scholarship or work/study money. 

At this point, the "plight" of all students resembles
each other: To put the best foot forward in terms of
their work. Ideally, their portfolio should reflect
that area of art that is their driving passion. Later
in the process, as they may have been not picked up
by their first choices, they have to re-arrange their
portfolio to more and more match what a given school
and particularly the faculty there is "looking for".

Finally, the "match" between student and a particular
faculty member (or members in the case of less diverse
interests) goes toward much of the "acceptability" of
the student and their work. And of course, there must 
be a compatibility between the student and the faculty.


What the student has to say

Since i am primarily a 2d artist, i will only address
those aspects of an art portfolio that would apply to
a student's work in the realm of 2d work. Also, since
i deal almost entirely in abstract, surreal, and textual
areas - these too are what i will speak of. But, in
general if something it supposed to BE realistic,
then it should LOOK realistic; and etc, with photographic,
hyper-realistic, etc.

That a student will have a large number of items to 
choose from is a given. But, as the last year or
semester of study, they need to be reminded to begin
thinking of specific projects that will highlight
their work. 

Traditionally, the portfolio review has been submitting
20 slides (as in "Slide Projector") and the faculty at
the school spending 5 minutes looking at each slide
individually thru the slide, usually without even 
loading them into a slide cassette. Recently, some
schools have started to accept a CD-ROM.

But, of course what one needs to look at is the work and
how it holds together. In many cases, non-representational
work is submitted and the strength of lines, the use of
the space itself and the choices made in "solving" the
problems of the work are the criteria by which it is
judged.

Of course, each of these things is highly subjective. 
Note that in the case of graphic work, the work itself
usually stands at the other end of the spectrum: While
expressive work is often intense and emotional, graphic
work often is almost minimalist and sardonic - even 
humourous. This is not to say of course, that graphic
works can not have a strength to them - words often 
convey the stronger elements in such cases; as well
as colour, font, and size choices of the text(s).


Two Dimensional Work
There are primarily now, four areas of 2d work that
we should address:

  1) Drawings
  2) Print Work
  3) Paitingings
  4) Digital Work

We note immediately that the tradtional forms have a
sufficent tradtion of centuries (if not indeed, millenia)
and as such (like "sculpture" and "pottery") go by
simple names "drawings" and "paintings" which encompass
an extremely broad and variety of techniques, treatments,
and subject matter. While the "late comers" print and digital
work are of a "also ran" way of seeing.

In drawing, the scale and use of the paper are fore-most in
the craft. The rule is: If the paper is supposed to be folded,
scored, or dented then it should clearly be so - and thus, in
the manner of a sculpture and/or dada. The care with which
the artist has approaced this the most universal of the 
"picture plane" should be clear. 

Next (as with all work) the intent of the artist may or may
not be clear (which of course leads us to our old friend
the "intentionalist falacy" all that that "mistake" entails).
But, the use of materials should show a mastery of them and
their presentation. Line quality, value, and the classical
"design" elements should be clear in each and every work.
We only see "fragmentary" works in things that are specifically
left unifinished; eg, Gorky's "Portrait of the Artist and his
Mother", Sonenfelder's Mother's "Laundry list", etc.

Again, the work is torn between two extremes: To show 
"consistency, coherence, and continuity" vs. To show
variety and creative leaps. This is almost always tied
to the art teacher reviewing the work and how they themself
see the world through their work. 

This is important to note: If the student is wanting to 
learn from the style and ideas of a particular teacher,
then they are best to submit things of a similar nature
and working method.

In Painting, we are immediately addressed by the choice
of material: Oil, Acrylic, WaterColour, or Utility paints.
In general, these media should not be mixed unless the
student's work tends to be MAINLY mixed-media. In this
case, the work is more interpreted in a sculptural light
even if the expression is primarily 2d.

Of oil painting, i can only say that the work should show
a clear feeling for the way that it moves and how it can
be layered to efface various tonalities showing through.

In terms of acrylic work, strong grahic lines should be
clear and strong and any bleeding about them should force
itself upon us as clearly intentional. Underpainting and
background figures should help to support the foreground
work. 

In the case of minimalist works, the style should jump 
out at us from and two or three of the student's work --
this should be (in my oppinion) a forcing issue in the
selction of works to submit:

    Minimalism that does not attack us
    in some way with its defiance, lacks
    some element that needs re-work.

Passing now to water colours and washes -- i also include
ink (black and white) in this as well -- we may say that
mastery of the technique is everything. Unlike other areas,
this is probably the most delicately intimate of painting
works; probably only matched in pottery work with the 
delicacy of glazes, and fine details. This may sound a
bit strange coming from such a ink-and-pen minimalist
such as myself, but when i am in-falling into a wetted
piece of paper (or even dry use) and mixing my shades 
and bringing them in and out: Then i think to myself
that "This is what oil painting must be for those
who seem to converse so easily in that medium." For 
me oil painting is something to be fought, conquered
and that the canvas is to be subjugated to expressions
of all my fears, hopes, and angst that not even sculpture
can say to me.  And for me: Watercolour is exactly the
opposite. 

Again, this goes back to the student submitting their work 
to an artist that more-or-less "thinks" as they do. Some
reviewers will be arrogant to make judgements in areas
that they know nothing of. I can only hope that i don't
do that.

In terms of print work: If the student's work shows that
they know which side of a paper is up, that they can
tear paper down, and they know how to roll up ink. Then
"all" that remains to express themself in print. Only
pencil or pen and ink comes closest to the ideal of 
seeing the image in our minds and then making it exist
outside of ourselves. 

In general, printwork will reflect a "painterly style"
except that it is expressed in a different medium. And
i would say that "composition" takes a larger role in
this medium as well - which is of course a completely
absurd and ridiculous statement.

In terms of digital work (of which i am not really 
qualified to speak of except in dadaist ways), there
are two "schools of thought",

   1. It doesn't look digital and appears to
      be done using only tradtional techniques.
      The exception of course, being photographic
      techniques which in this school should at
      least look like they might have been done
      on a printing press.

   2. It's clearly digital, and damn well proud of it!
      This is of course, the modern and the graphic
      -- where this will all go, i for one don't
      know; but can't wait to find out.


Video Work
Finally, i should say a few things about video work in
the portfolio since i have some experience in this.

1. Videos should not have loose ends. That is, if they
   are produced in a "tight style" (eg, tradtional
   film work like "North by NorthWest", "2001", 
   "Girl Number Six", "Little Miss Sunshine",
   "Enlightenment", etc.) then they shouldn't have
   floating frames, bad cuts, etc.

2. Alternatively, if they are in the ragged, edgy
   style (as purported but never used in Woody Allen's
   "Hollywood Ending" - we never see THE film itself),
   or in "Memento", "Pi", "Nemesis Game", "American
   Splendor", etc. Then the rules are simple:

      The camera angle should be dead on. If it's
      not dead on, make it CLEARLY not dead on.

      The camera should not shake etc unless it's
      supposed to. Wind makes a camera shake, but
      if we don't hear the wind: Then it's just 
      irritating.

      Sound should be clear and mixed as carefully
      as possible. Again, like the shaking camera,
      the sound shouldn't be "out of character"
      with the scene that it is supporting. This
      is not to say that sound (which is often 
      used to bridge two (or more) scenes) can't
      go from fine, HQ to "over-volumed" to flattened,
      tinny, etc to convey a transition of emotions.

      I'm thinking of something like John Coltrane's
      "Spiritual" which could start very nicely in
      a sleepy, smokey pub and then slowly become
      more ragged and over-volumed to show (perhaps)
      the effects of drugs on him. This idea is of
      course goes back to Jimmy Hendrix and his
      rendering of the American Anthem.

      Again: If there is something (even if it's normal)
             in the vid or aud tracks - then it should 
             be there because it works, and simply that
             the student couldn't think of any other 
             thing to do.


Final advice: Almost never submit things that are last-minute.

Of course even that advice fails - as every performer knows;

   At the last minute all of the sets had to be
   moved and some of the staging re-done in the
   opening night of the Kurt Weil/Bertolt Brecht
   production of "The Three Penny Opera".

   Herbert Hoover stumbles on his speech and calls 
   for a return to "normalcy". It works.

   Guernica is NOT a display of the history of Spanish
   art as intended for the exhibition in 1938.

Well, you know:  Ladies, Gentlemen, and Nethers - we have
                 no need of a ghost come from the grave
                 to tell us things are screwed up. 

                 Let's go to work.

That. That's what the portfolio should show: work.  


This concludes my presentation at this time.
We appologise for the inconvenience. 
Please pay as you exit.

--42--





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