Army surplus parachute

The ACAD Winter show & sale is up and it is monumental and terrifying. It confounds me how they can fit so much art into such small spaces. Honestly, it's overwhelming to step into one of the alcoves and just try to take it all in. Somehow, it feels like you're on a timeline, like, because this isn't a gallery, you've got to KEEP MOVING AND NEVER STOP. So I scan the walls and try to take snapshots with my brain, because I know that I may never see this stuff again. I often forget just how amazing some of the work produced at ACAD is, probably because most of it is in hiding. Once first year is done, art projects become secret operations that remain skilfully hidden until one of the Big Days, when they can burst forth with all the shock and celebration of a surprise party. I often need these days to remind me that, yes, I am going to an ART college, a real one, and maybe I should show it a little more respect.
I'm being hit with another wave of cliche anxiety, and it's driving me up the walls. Any time I have an idea for a project, the Art Snob part of my brain starts attacking it with words like "trite" and "obvious" and "insincere". I think part of it has to do with our increased exposure to real artists and the contention that art you can explain is worthless. Now, art has to be vague. It has to express something that you can't express any other way. It's not enough to make meaningful art--the meaning has to be intangible and visceral. But it has to be real at the same time. And god forbid that you make something that's already been done before. If it's done once, it can't be done again. I know it's just my lack of self-confidence talking, but boy howdy does it ever get in the way.