Poor Art?

Got another interesting set back today. A professor in the art department whom I'd hoped would recruit a student to help with the Bear Cairn as a project wrote to say that it won't happen.

I wonder what all this resistance is about? The donation of a piece of conceptual art to my alma mater seemed like an opportunity for me to honor my old school and maybe give students something to discuss. Actually, the impression I've gotten as the Ghost Totem has begun to deteriorate has been that the students were inspired to make a permanent replacement maybe because they didn't understand the impermanence of my installation?

The Cairn will be up for only a short period of time. It's going to look pretty cool.. crude and ephemeral..

Growtowsky inspired a "Poor Theatre" and trained actors to just act from the essence of themselves. Their guts and spirits. It was not about the building or the sets or lights.. it was about the actor expressing himself in a very basic way.. for a primer on this, rent My Dinner With Andre (Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn.. a brilliant movie directed by Louis Malle). The Bear Cairn is like that.. a simple statement, up for discussion, even if the discussion starts with "What the heck is that?"

I'm a little disappointed that there hasn't been much response here.. but it's essentially a journal of my experience that I'll log until my trip to Greeley is complete. It's a quest.. windmills to tilt.. new folks to meet.. questions to be answered...

One question I'd like to have answered would be why the alumni folks who welcomed me in the past seem to have turned their backs on me?

Anyone?

How in the world could a few wooden blocks make much of a difference to anyone?