Hot Rod Biology

She said didn't really get my use of the term hybrid - She said that my ideas about shifting between ideologies just sounded "schizophrenic" . . . which in hindsight I quite like - I might look into that idea more - schizophrenia. She mentioned that perhaps I was more talking about 'mutation' and this is certainly true to some extent, although there is a difference between a mutant and a hybrid [I don't think a mutant is always necessarily a hybrid], and I think it's still the hybrid nature of things that interests me [I know that's vague though, sorry!]. Obviously I need to work on clearing this 'hybrid' thing up a little more . . . it bugged me when Denise said it didn't make much sense, and I've had the same response from other people. I guess I had been thinking that I had started to define my use of, and interest in, the term via the work I'd been making and the entries into this blog . . . but I'll try and post something more in relation to this in the weekend.

In regard to 'mutation' Denise suggested Donna Harraway [I have her Cyborg Manifesto somewhere and will re-read this] . . . the fact the mutant 'doesn't fit in' . . . and the political nature of that idea [in Harraway].

She said I should try to "push forms harder" - I really liked this, it seems so obvious now she's said it!

She said I should "indulge in incorrectness" which I really liked too . . . don't be afraid to be ugly! This is actually kind of what I had been trying to do with my most recent Elvis pieces - to me those are pretty ugly! How to do this . . . ?

In relation to incorrectness Denise suggested I look at Elliot Earls' work [I've seen some of his stuff for Emigre but will look into him again via his site the 'Apollo Programme']. Art Chantry came up which was interesting because I hadn't mentioned him. We talked briefly about Dan Friedman and Denise suggested I look at April Greiman too - which I kind of already had, I was really only referring to Friedman for his ideas in his book Radical Modernism.

The last thing was that I was kind of mildly irreverent, and she thought I should push this further - be more irreverent. She didn't like my trying to link Duchamp and Elvis because "it's too easy to link Duchamp with anything" . . . that made me feel dumb!

It was good because before I talked with her I was quite confident that I had my shit together . . . and then she made me feel dumb.

Kinda' made me realise too that I'm really not an Academic - which I guess I already knew, and it's not like I ever saw myself like that anyway, but certainly made me question why the hell I'm doing what I'm doing? And by that I mean more my current job than this Masters thing!

Denise, if by any chance you end up reading this, thanks for the discussion - it's got to be a little weird to have some complete stranger ring you up and expect to discuss their work? Cheers.