Engaging Students with UMW Blogs
There is a tradition every semester that I insist my students look at the work of Jeff Baij and respond to it on their university blogs. I came across Baij’s work in the exhibition catalog for Younger Than Jesus, an exhibition of young new media artists at the New Museum. Every year, the students think it’s awful and can’t understand why I would have them look at this guy’s work. Every year, they exclaim to me, “that’s not art, how can THAT be art?”
Every year, Baij responds somehow (the best was the video). And every year, the students are a) tickled that he saw their posts, b) mortified that he saw their posts, c) excited that he responded, or d) sort of apathetic (eh, sorry).
But every year, after they s*** all over his work on their blogs (see some of the more unreserved lashings from previous years on his –> bio <– page), we have one of the best conversations of the semester. It’s a conversation about… art NOW. It’s a conversation about how the Internet has changed the world. It’s a conversation about the pulse. About the banter. About the back and forth indirect communication that can happen over the Internet. It’s about surplus. And making art every day.
LET’S BLOW SOME MORE MINDS.
A chronology of banter:
Jeff Baij I
Jeff Baij II
Jeff Baij III
Jeff Baij IV
Baij has since recently been mentioned in ArtForum and has agreed to come visit us for a collaborative on campus extravaganza…. check back for details.
After this interaction, I immediately noticed the possibilities for indirect communication. Other artists who have responded, directly and indirectly include Roger Sayre and Jordan Tate.
[Feel free to bring a friend and dance, skip, or cartwheel, etc. by us!]
