Sister Corita Kent was a nun, artist and activist. She eventually left the church, but remains welcome by both Catholics and atheists alike for her groundbreaking art education. Thanks to Swinehart for bringing her to my attention. Her show runs at U of P until March 10th.
http://www.corita.org/
Interestingly, I have asked my students to do this same exercise, which was requested of me by Viola Frey:
--SENSE DIARIES:
Corita urged her students to keep a record of everything that sparked their interest - words, poems, quotations, lyrics, signs, slogans, music, composers, films, books, images drawn or collected from magazines, photographs, descriptions of things or experiences, tastes and smells, encyclopedia entries, and newspaper headlines.
She had her students keep everything in their Sense Diaries, a special notebooks they made, for future reference.
Sister Corita's rules
Rule I
FIND A PLACE YOU TRUST AND THEN TRY TRUSTING IT FOR A WHILE.
Rule 2
GENERAL DUTIES OF A STUDENT:
PULL EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR TEACHER.
PULL EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS.
Rule 3
GENERAL DUTIES OF A TEACHER:
PULL EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR STUDENTS.
Rule 4
CONSIDER EVERYTHING AN EXPERIMENT.
Rule 5
BE SELF DISCIPLINED. THIS MEANS
FINDING SOMEONE WISE OR SMART AND
CHOOSING TO FOLLOW THEM.
TO BE DISCIPLINED IS TO FOLLOW IN A GOOD WAY.
TO BE SELF DISCIPLINED IS TO FOLLOW IN A BETTER WAY.
Rule 6
NOTHING IS A MISTAKE. THERE’S NO WIN AND
NO FAIL. THERE’S ONLY MAKE.
Rule 7
The only rule is work.
IF YOU WORK IT WILL LEAD TO SOMETHING.
IT’S THE PEOPLE WHO DO ALL OF THE WORK ALL THE TIME
WHO EVENTUALLY CATCH ON TO THINGS.
Rule 8
DON’T TRY TO CREATE AND ANALYZE AT THE
SAME TIME. THEY’RE DIFFERENT PROCESSES.
Rule 9
BE HAPPY WHENEVER YOU CAN MANAGE IT.
ENJOY YOURSELF. IT’S LIGHTER THAN YOU
THINK.
Rule 10
"WE’RE BREAKING ALL OF THE RULES. EVEN
OUR OWN RULES. AND HOW DO WE DO THAT
BY LEAVING PLENTY OF ROOM FOR X QUANTITIES." JOHN CAGE
HELPFUL HINTS: ALWAYS BE AROUND. COME OR GO TO EVERY- THING. ALWAYS GO TO CLASSES. READ ANYTHING YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON. LOOK AT MOVIES CAREFULLY, OFTEN. SAVE EVERYTHING IT MIGHT COME IN HANDY LATER. THERE SHOULD BE NEW RULES NEXT WEEK.
