Up until college, my experience of contemporary art was rather sheltered. Since my late childhood, I had lived in the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ann Arbor is an educated community with a lingering liberal reputation. But as it is in so many mid-western American locations, a majority of contemporary art forms and practices are hard to come by. Here, there is a lot of cultural pressure for decorative arts.
Sculptures are to stand as evidence of skillful labor.
Ansel Adamesque photography gets a lot of attention. For many members of the community, video has yet to prove itself as an art. In general, art is expected to be as interactive as an elevated altarpiece. Needless to say, I found collegiate dialogues of exploration, experimentation, and the ultimate democratization of the arts quite liberating. It wasn't that I couldn't do the kind of work people back in Ann Arbor expected.