I think I can relate to San Te in the way he grows as a person and the changes that occur to him prior to Shaolin, while he was in it and after it. Prior to Shaolin, you could say he was fairly set in his ways and was full of spirit without any real logic or reasoning behind it. But once he got in Shaolin he kind of got a slap in the face to wake up and really dig deeper into himself than just that on-the-surface-fury that he felt towards the the Manchu (I think that's who they are.... basically the bad guys). Once going through Shaolin he wanted to create the 36th chamber, which is basically a representation of all he has learned and who he has become. From what he has learned in Shaolin it basically inspires him to go further than what is already in existence. I feel like that's how art school can effect a person. When you go into art school with limited knowledge and no expectations outside of just wanting to learn, you get knocked on your ass at first and kind of get a big wake up call that there is more to art than just simply wanting to become better. There's discipline, conceptual problems, technical problems, money issues, and a bit of a competition going on, not so much with the students around you, but within yourself between your habits in creating art and your full potential - really going that extra mile vs just doing what comes naturally to fulfill an assignment. There's tons of things that, while you're in school, slowly start to become something that you always think about in your art and soon you're thinking about art and making art with a passion and a mindset that you didn't have prior to becoming a student. After art school, everything is fair game. It's a fend for yourself kind of thing and some people will begin their journey to become the next big hit, others will just fade into a routine and others will use the skills they've learned to fulfill their desires but in a different way. It's actually kind of insane how much a movie about learning kung-fu can relate to art school.
At first glance you wouldn't think the twol are similar in any way but if you really think about it they are kind of the same. As a student you come in with passion that is pretty much driven with no real logic. You go through a foundation course where you basically get the shit beaten out of you but you somehow still manage to hold your own.The physical cuts and bruises on the kung-fu trainees are somewhat reminiscent of all the harsh critiques everyone gets where they really just weren't on their A-game and totally created shit. But each time the student tries again, they keep the lessons from the last experience and prior experiences in mind to get better. Art school and Shaolin are a series of levels to complete and a bunch of sleepless nights to practice. They're both little bubbles in the world that shelter their students as they make them grow.
"It's peaceful in this temple but outside is turbulent." : To me this quote really relates to art school because of how much we can get away with in school versus out. In school it's more of less okay for us to appropriate images we find and somewhat use or copy the works of other artists without permission. Outside school, we'd more of less be sued to hell for so much as looking at an image and considering to use it in any way. Art school is more liberal in terms of what is allowed and what isn't. We display work in a safe environment where people certainly get offended by things but it won't necessarily end our career as an artist or put us in some deep shit. On top of it all people in the outside world don't give a rats ass about you. Let's just say on some rare occasion you find people to truly critique your work. If they aren't fellow artists who are your friends, dude watch out. People will rip you to shreds to discourage you from continuing. People outside of art school don't want to help you out and make you grow, they want to get you out of the game and get themselves ahead. It's just a big competition of who can be the next master.
But who/what is a master anyway? I'd have to say everyone's master is themselves. I am really the only one who can limit myself and keep myself from fulfilling my full potential as an artist. Most people would probably say their teachers would be their master(s) but I don't really think teachers an obstacle. A teachers job is to challenge their students and draw out the full potential within the student that they are just too lazy to bring out or don't know how to bring out.
I'm not really sure what art outside of Tyler is going to be like honestly. When I came into Tyler I wanted to learn new techniques to help with my craft and the way I see the world. But I honestly feel that Tyler is a more conceptually based school than it is a craft school. Being able to be more conceptual has been very challenging for me but it's been a really wonderful thing for my art as well. I don't know. Maybe I'm a lame artist but I find it more impressive when I see something so expertly done that I have to question whether or not it was done by hand or see a painting/drawing so realistic I'm just kind of thinking "wait....is that a picture?" Sure being able to make an abstract drawing that has splashes of color that represents someones frustration with society or have a still life drawing of shoes represent a person's fear is awesome and all but it's too much bullshit for me. Just because I can attach a really heartfelt or complex meaning to a blank sheet of paper doesn't mean it's art. I'd like to live out my days illustrating books, not necessarily children's books always, but I just want to make little drawings inside books that make people happy and is more accessible to people. I'd also like to get a teaching job at some point because I never want to stop talking about art as well as inspire people to do art like my teachers have done for me. As a foundation student who isn't 100% sure what to major in, the possibilities are endless. All I know is that I'm going to do what I love; I don't need to label it.
