Met with John quickly this morning in between Wi-Fi issues.
He asked me to generally give an overview of where i am, and what my thinking is so far with the course. I mentioned that I have an almost intrinsic aversion to the scholarly language, but that I am really enjoying the in person teaching, as I can feel this almost osmosis of the language rubbing off on me, which is something I have often felt lacking in, as I didn’t have anything close to that in drama school

I explained my puppetry / performance background, and John was interested in the ability to embody a role, (or puppet) and how a heavily embodied practice might express itself. We discussed that it is, like Book Arts, a world of Tacit knowledge, and how perhaps embodied ways of being, or bringing performance in to the workshop could take shape.

I brought up that I truly fell into teaching, though I find it to be more fulfilling and rewarding that being an industry binder, I had no prior experience, other than leading workshops with primary children.
I likened the beginning of my time delivering workshops at UAL as like following a script, that it was a performance I could repeat, but that as time has gone on, I no longer rely on that script, and it is more like stand up. This brought up that perhaps even the students participating are following a ‘script’, or scripted ways of being. What does an Art student look like? How does an art student behave? How does someone in this workshop specifically behave? Perhaps I can bring a performative/puppet pedagogic angle, and see how this manifests with student encounters.

The cafe-like culture of the afternoons in Book Arts might be a more appropriate forum for experimentation in these behaviours, and i suspect this is in fact already how I function. We encounter such a wide variety of abilities in the workshop, those who have completed a full foundation, and those who have never used a pair of scissors. It is nicer to imagine it more, as though they have a lot yet to discover. There are then a lot of different expectations of the space, and what the space holds for these students. What concept or idea does Book Arts serve?

I read also this article, which came up in discussion for Staff Development opportunities with Rahel about Mildreds Lane, Reassembling Time: The Alternative Pedagogy of Mildred’s Lane. Not sure, but did enjoy the read. Though I do think it is very “scholarly” in the most Third Bird sense of the word.