Introduction
Art Schools are places of labor. Whether its running files through the ink jet printers before class, changing chemistry, typing papers, or sparring with peers in a critique, during the day this is a place of constant hustle. Late at night or early in the morning there is clarity into what the business is. A meditation before class, or the impact of a fist on a computer screen shows the internal labor of the artist manifested. Photographing an art school has been a way to gain perspective not only on my job, but to see the entire system—the institutionalization of art as it is embedded into an economic, technical, and social reality--a system of making art as well as artists.
With art institutions embracing the digital age, the machinery of art production that once stood out has been pushed away for seemlessness, accessibility, and cool glass. Most photography departments now look like a Kinkos or an internet cafe?. That's not to say that these institutions are without spirit, emotions still run deep here. They run and burrow away in the corners of the lab or bury themselves into studios, hording and holding onto every object, idea, or concept, hoping, and unwilling to stop believing in their purpose.
