Marianne Dages Freshman Lecture September 28th

Marianne was a quiet young lady who had good things to say but hardly the voice for it. I struggled to hear her for the majority of her presentation, and it was short. She is a letterpress and bookbinder based here in Philadelphia. She did say though that it is always important to keep working -- no matter what, just continue to be active in your artistic realm. She also said that it's making work that allows you to be an artist not being an artist that allows you be making work. I found this to be a profound statement, in the way that you're not automatically an artist -- you have to be active in the art and create something without fail. The pieces you create define you rather than the job title.

Marianne also said that the studios and resources that we as freshman here at Tyler have access to should made good use of, because it becomes much harder to follow through once out of school when you don't have all the resources yourself. She also said to take advantage of having the opportunity to have your work critiqued, because not all artists have other peoples' opinions readily available to them. both of these things hit home with me. For one, I know being here at Tyler is an insane opportunity, but I easily get caught up in the masses of projects and work that is due. But I should take time to develop my own mind's thoughts and ideas while I have this great building and it's resources available to me. Also, critiques tend to be very intimidating! But they're something that shouldn't be taken for granted, and definitely well considered because the way others view your work is the way its going to be viewed...because art isn't just for you yourself to stare at. Marianne's presentation helped me to realize these things.