Doug Bucci Lecture

Last week, Doug Bucci, from the metals and jewelery department talked to us about his method of using CAD(Computer Aided Design)/Virtual programming to create his tangible and very visceral artwork and jewelery. What interested me even more about Doug, although I enjoyed his work very much, was the story of how he got to where he is now in his work. He did not begin his work with the intention of working exclusively in CAD. I can relate very much, because I feel each new semester of art classes I have taken at Temple and at Tyler have bombarded my senses with new ideas about how I should be expressing myself. In the past, I have worked solely in traditional forms; drawing, painting, building, but now, having had a semester of four out of five classes being rooted in computer based work, I often feel frazzled. This is not because I am not handling the transition, but because I am handling it very well. The ability to make complex, clean, and professional looking work is strangely alluring to me. I find it harder and harder to simply draw for the love of the process, while my schoolwork demands so much technology-based attention. The jury is still out as to whether our arts and technology lecture series has exacerbated or alleviated the pangs of this dilemma. What I am sure of, is that I still wish to pursue a career of traditional illustration. My love will always lie with watercolors and ink, but I think the lesson that Doug has to teach is that the accesibility of technology is a beast of burden more than willing to make our lives easier as creators. I'll try to learn it well.