October 12th, 2016

I enjoyed seeing the second year student show at CGU. It's remarkable how far the work evolves in just a year with focused study and lots of dialog. I had good discussions with several of the artists. One in particular who is from China had an installation that brought his work full circle from the very first installation he did when I was up there. Using common objects, he is able to cause an effect that changes the way people relate to objects of consumerism. His conversation overlaps with art historical reference and also touches on global relations between America and China. He asked me if I watched the first Presidential Debate. The embarrassment was clear on my face. He was really concerned, NOT for my embarrassment (HA!) but for the criticism surrounding American businesses having contractual work with China. Attention should be placed, he felt, on positive relations that benefit both countries. I thought he should do a piece that reflects this concern.

We are, in fact, a global world now. Technology has dissolved boundaries in many capacities and yet we continue to hold on to old-school thoughts about internal and external relations. Collaboration can be a means by which all humanity advances. When people's skill-sets become obsolete we need to re-evaluate our educational system. This does not mean everyone should go to college. The fact is that not everyone is college material. Ouch. It does mean that trade schools and alternative training centers need face-lifts and those who take the alternative school path need equal respect for their much needed skills, as part of the necessary infrastructure that makes an economy function well. If outsourcing jobs leave Americans out of work then we need to reconfigure our own field so that productivity shifts to areas right here that do need attention. When the numbers are crunched, bringing out-sourced jobs back to America may not be the best answer. I know- double ouch. But consider this: re-directing our own citizens into areas of work that do need attention will advance us all. Look around. There is much work right here that needs to be done. No one should be sitting idle while collecting unemployment or welfare. There is no value in that for anyone. An exchange needs to happen. For example, paying back through community work that builds neighborhoods and relations from the inside out in exchange for that unemployment check builds us up right here. When people are invested, change happens and it happens from the inside out.