thesis outline

outline

I intend to compose my "thesis exhibition statement" as though the sections within it were sections of a book that will be made for and about the exhibition.

opening
start with a story. one that grabs and directs. one that ends with why i moved to portland and came to grad school. the tone i'm going for is very conversational or comfortable. i think i'm going to do my best writing if i don't try to write it like an essay, not that i won't reference things or try to make it obvious that i have done some work and research, but just so it is more alive like i have always wanted my writing to be.
maybe i should write this part as a letter to myself when i'm 45 because there is the looming notion that the art you make in graduate school is not going to be the best art in your life. i would be speaking to a version of myself that would be making better art. i think i'm interested in this because of the attempt i keep making to look at myself from another person's perspective, and because i tend to talk to myself when i write in sketchbooks. also, i like the potential for humor, and it would be a new style for me. then again maybe that's stupid.

some of the history of what got you here and why this is different than the art you have made before.
the newness is what makes this valuable to you. regular work on something more deeply rooted makes this valuable.
explain why it is deeply rooted. with a story? i do want to become a better storyteller and i can't get there if i don't just get on it.

write a lot of back story and then edit down. no one cares about most of that shit and you should probably stick to most of the stuff that has to do with this project. keep it for later though
a quick modest and mildly pathetic admission of your process sounds good.


middle
list of things important to the cause of the book. this will be where the laundry list comes mainly into play. maybe it will be done as a list of bullet points or short sections that get elaborated upon.
i think i will attach all the writings done on the list topics and then hack off the things that seem less pertinent to the project.

dirty laundry:

geology
scale

story telling
community
humor
listening

adventures
time alone

heritage and hillbillies
italy and michaelangelo
ambition vs humility
to do lists

maintenance

movies
history: distortion vs acuracy
specialization vs (well roundedness?)

indifference and greed
relationships
the nature of people and their ability to change

documentation

lies imbelishment
seclusion and secrets
confessions

Borseda
Bodyworlds
Prostate cancer
interviews
parents
home
travel
family
guilt
responsibility

chess and competition
against competition and originality

words to strengthen the mundane

pride
we/they vs us
politics
historical fiction

teaching, mentors, and humility
martial arts movies, practice, discipline

materials


the second part of the middle will be all the exhibits. photos and stories of each piece in the show.


end
this could be a good point to describe all the experimentation in the first year of school. all the shit that didn't work out. or the shit that will resurface later. this is another section that i will probably blow out of proportion and then whittle away from.
the end of the book should have a bit about the failures and the successes of this particular project.