jodi's mfa thesis: February 2008 Archives

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February 19, 2008

february 14, 08

Posted by jodi at 04:20 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #03

dress #3, state 17 (printed february 13, 08)

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Posted by jodi at 04:16 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #03

february 13, 08

Posted by jodi at 04:15 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #09

dress #9, state 17 (printed february 10, 08)

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Posted by jodi at 04:12 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #09

february 12, 08

Posted by jodi at 04:10 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #18

dress #18, state 8 (printed february 10, 08)

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Posted by jodi at 04:04 PM | Comments (1) | categories: dress #18

February 13, 2008

february 11, 08

Posted by jodi at 08:58 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #16

dress #16, state 11 (printed february 10, 08)

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Posted by jodi at 08:53 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #16

February 11, 2008

full disclosure

I have a confession to make.

When I went home for the midwinter break I decided that I would stop date stamping the dresses until I got back to school, because I didn't have the right ink at home, didn't want to get on an airplane with a can of ink in my luggage, and wasn't sure how I'd clean up from it every day anyway. Printing the dresses at home, kneeling on the floor rubbing the woodblocks by hand, was bad enough. So I left it, intending to backdate each dress in January.

Well. I completely slacked off, and didn't date stamp the dresses at all in January. Not just the back dates from the holidays but the daily stampings went out the window as well, as having gotten out of the habit I just couldn't get myself back into it. Which means that this morning, in preparation for my meeting with the curators of our thesis exhibition at the Georgia Museum of Art this afternoon, I backdated all of the dresses that have been retired since early December, plus the dress I'm wearing today. I also re-stamped a few dates that had been completely obscured by ink, which is why you can see some November dates in the photo above, where I tested the stamp all over the inking slab.

There, I said it. For the aspect of the project that is all about routines, schedules, and rituals, this is a serious offence. But this project is about me, and my way of working (and attempting to establish these routines in my studio practice). It's not something I was good at before I started, and it's been hard to change my way of working overnight. Often I print enough dresses to last me a week and then the very next week I wait until the last day and print knowing that if I don't, I'll have nothing to wear tomorrow (then I come in to the studio earlier than usual, take a dress off the drying rack and get dressed right there in the print shop). I know it looks like things are just chugging right along when all I do is keep uploading photos, but sometimes, especially in the last month as I get ready to bring the project to a close, I've been frustrated, lazy, even bored, and sometimes I just really want to put on jeans and a t-shirt.

The project has affected my life in ways I wasn't expecting. Last year I lived about 2.5 miles away from the studio and rode my bike every day. Having to commute this way made me reconsider a lot of my clothing choices: I could no longer wear a certain pair of jeans that were a little tight in the thighs, or my beloved bellbottom corduroy trousers, or my short straight skirts, because they got in the way of riding. I had to embrace the leggings-under-skirt trend so as not to show my rear end to the frat boys who lived all along the route I took. I started wearing my trouser cuffs rolled up all the time, and started buying only skirts that were full and pleated.

The beginning of the Wardrobe Project coincided with my move to an on-campus apartment three minutes away from my studio, so I no longer had to ride every day. The longer two of the three dress lengths I chose get in my way while riding, something I didn't think about while making them because it wasn't a necessity anymore. Wearing the footless leggings beneath the dresses in the colder weather has meant that I wear my boots more often to keep my ankles warm, and boots aren't comfortable for bike riding. And so I don't ride my bike at all anymore; I don't need it for school, but I also walk to get groceries when I used to ride. I don't take bike rides for pleasure either, because I still have the problem of choosing between freezing cold ankles or inappropriate footwear (now that spring is coming this will change, and I'm planning to start going for bike rides again in the next week or two).

And so since August I have gained nearly ten pounds. Now, my tendency to slip into an unhealthy grad school lifestyle is a big part of this as well, but last year I was able to offset my poor eating habits with the daily riding. The dresses are all cut exactly the same, and no longer fit me the same way they did at the beginning of the project. And so it goes.

To get back to the date stamping for a moment: I've been thinking about my laziness and what it means to the project, and I could have just kept my mouth shut, faked it and moved on. I thought about doing that. But this project has become for me a sort of practice run at how I'll organize my life when I'm no longer in graduate school, when I don't have the deadlines of the school year and a committee to answer to. I don't want to spend my career hushing up my mistakes, faking it, not owning up to who I am and what sort of artist I am (can be). So I'm laying it all out here in an attempt to keep my project honest, maintain its integrity. I screwed up one of the major aspects of the project due to poor work habits. I'm correcting that mistake now, and moving on.

Posted by jodi at 11:24 AM | Comments (3) | categories: the rules

february 10, 08

Posted by jodi at 09:08 AM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #11

dress #11, state 17 (printed february 6, 08)

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Posted by jodi at 08:07 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #18

February 06, 2008

february 4, 08

Posted by jodi at 08:39 PM | Comments (1) | categories: dress #19

dress #19, state 7 (printed february 1, 08)

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Posted by jodi at 08:35 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #19

february 3, 08

Posted by jodi at 08:25 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #09

dress #9, state 16 (printed february 1, 08)

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Posted by jodi at 08:06 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #09

February 03, 2008

february 2, 08

Posted by jodi at 04:45 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #11

dress #11, state 15 (printed january 26, 08)

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Posted by jodi at 04:39 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #11

february 1, 08

Posted by jodi at 04:19 PM | Comments (0) | categories: dress #17

dress #17, state 6 (printed january 26, 08)

I haven't been very good about keeping up with the writing here, and I have a lot of thoughts I want to get down, especially as it seems the project will soon be coming to a close. In a way it's fitting, as this work is a reflection of my daily life, and I've let life get in the way of reflecting, here, in writing, on the work. But that's a cop-out. I'm working to get the daily photos caught up, and should be there in a day or two; then I'll get my thoughts together and write.

I think I might be just about done with this dress, I'm just so in love with the way the pockets look.

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