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| Camp Cuyamaca, San Diego County, winter, 1950s |
Hi everyone--after our roaming-just-about-everywhere first night (including the three Charlie Feathers' songs--I never dreamed...). Finding the elevator out and then some computer snafus right before class had me preoccupied, so that by the time we got going I was just glad to be in the room with you, in one piece. And in any case, the singing was particularly good. I liked the way you joined in on Candy Man (Rev. Gary Davis) and Leadbelly's Rock Island Line. Also Shenandoah. Portends well...
So thanks for your patience--and your enthusiasm. Following are my notes on things you need to know to get started. Read carefully:
CONFIRM. One more time, confirm that you received this email and that you will be enrolled in the class. (I have people on a waiting list and will need to notify if there are changes.)
CLASS ORGANIZATION. Kouros asked about this. I will post on blog as well. Basic plan: bring your projects at 6pm to pin up in 170. Arrange the room with down lights, cleared floor, tables in place for campfire lamp. I provide pushpins and basic tools from my cart. Pin up projects. Also pin up a comment sheet so that you can respond directly to each others work (6:10-6:30). Then some songs. Followed by Tony's introduction (visuals, music, videos) to current week. At 8pm or a little before we take a short break, then return to look at your work as a group. I'll want everyone to join in on discussion, both during my presentation, and also during the review of new work. We end with some more songs...
We'll try to get done by 10pm, but if class runs over, I expect you to stay on.
MONITORS. I'll need some help from you on (1) arranging room with lights, tables and lamp (2) getting my cart setup working (3) returning computer monitor screen(s) to Joe's Office (Room 103) at end of evening and (4) help getting everything back to my own office. Volunteers?
NOTEPAD. As Claire picked up on last night, you'll want to have/bring a small notebook to write down names and terms as they come up. The world of American roots music and its cultural sources is vast--like a big weaving, all inter-connected. So picking up on names and places and related ideas--and beginning to make sense of them as they're mentioned--is an important part what the class is about. I want you to know this stuff!
READER. I will have readers available in class. The reader fee & xerox fee will be $30. Please bring $30 cash to class--no checks. Next week!
BOOK PURCHASE & RESERVE LIST: For now, I want you to order John Swed's Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World (2010). Available used online for around $5. Order this immediately. Other books are on reserve in CED Library (see S&P blog for list). We'll be discussing in class. They're on the S&P blog, too.
S&P Blog LINK: http://anthonydubovsky23.blogspot.com/
FIRST DOWNLOAD. Here's the S&P CD on Rapidshare (30 songs on S&P Tan Songset):
https://rapidshare.com/files/4148560062/Songs%20and%20Places%20CD%20%202.zip
The system works--use free download, no need to pay--but you may have to try a couple of times if busy until you get access. Be patient... Also import the .xml file into your iTunes for song order and info. This is important! I expect you to know the names of the musicians as well as the songs themselves.
LISTEN to the SONGS and LEARN THEM!!!
DIGITAL NOTEBOOK. I expect each of you to make a personal blog for the class. This will be a week-by-week record of your work, with notes on songs, readings and visual discoveries. Please use blogger (blogspot.com) format, not tumblr. This will allow me (and your classmates) to make comments on your posts. And yes, you need to make a new blog for this class...
Have your name in the title or description. The class is Songs & Places (Visual Studies 185X). Go to google's www.blogspot.com Use a simple template so that your work stands out. (Some of the formats are much too busy.) Your first post should be a kind of self portrait--based on FIRST SONG / EARLY SONG, OLD SONG (I leave this open to interpretation) and something written about your reasons for joining Songs & Places (you can include ideas that come to you after the first night's class). When your blog is up, send me an ACTIVE LINK with the URL to your Digital Notebook homepage. Get me this BEFORE next week's class. When I have full set, I will share with class as a whole. I'll expect you to keep your notebook up to date for each week of the class. It really is a notebook--showing your work and your thoughts & responses as they develop!
CECs. Provided in class next week, after reader purchase and after I receive the URL for your Digital Notebook homepage. You should be taking this class for the full 4 units. If not you need to discuss with me.
GRADES. You can ask me to discuss in class. I'm fair, and I expect good attendance and good work. However, I'm also encouraging as to the leaps you take--where you grow...
FIRST PROJECT. An early song, an old song--FIRST SONG--the first song you can remember hearing/singing. Singing yourself. Having someone sing to you. Mine/explore your memory... visuals, places, surfaces, textures, materials, warm/cool, setting, what was around, why were you there, whom do you love...? You can use any medium (I encourage work made by hand--painting, drawing, montage)--and for Kouros and Baylor--we'll find a way to include what each of you do.
Crazy idea. Some of you suggested that it was hard to recall a first song. So work a bit! Mine are quite clear--maybe I'll show you--pictures from Camp Cuyamaca, near San Diego in I think 1955. I'll bet you'll remember some too... But if you're really stuck--then invent a character for yourself. And invent that character's first song... Remember, this is an open-ended creative class...!
READING. We'll start the reader and reserve list next week. For now, do some online explorations about the background (musical, cultural, historical) about your FIRST SONG. Include this in the evidence aspect of your project.
CREATIVE WORK & EVIDENCE. Remember that we talked about these two modes. Creative work--a painting drawing, collage, montage (music, film...)--something you've made from your own creative being. However, since I want you to base your work on the songs and their geo-cultural surround--Songs & Places after all--you need to show these traces and trails--some kind of visual evidence of your exploration which you pin up together with your creative project. (And post on your Digital Notebook.) I have no idea what form this should take, but I want to see it on the wall--we'll see what you come up with... Layers and overlaps are good. Ask in class...
OPENNESS. Finally, let me encourage you to do work that's open. Where your discovery of the form and the meaning is part of the way a work develops. We'll be talking a lot about this!
See you next Thursday.
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