This is my last semester at CCA. Accordingly, I've been taking inventory of my time here; and I'm still happy I came.

For example, after watching the latest of a series of amazing sunsets from my studio (see image below), I received a firm and poignant desk crit from Neal Schwartz and Jasmine Benyamin, my primary critics for Thesis. The first of three major pin-ups for the semester is Wednesday. It's an interesting paradox: I've been looking forward to Thesis since the beginning of my program and now must force my brain out of the way in favor of my gut.

All of this was punctuated by running off to a standing-room-only lecture by LOT-EK. Don't miss a chance to see them in their current guise. I asked them about their modeling: all of the models shown tonight were computer based. I asked if they did physical modeling as well. Giuseppe replied that for several years now they only model in the computer, but that they had always missed physical models, even crude sketchy ones. He said they were making a direct effort to return to chipboard and #11's.

I can definitely empathize. It's all too easy to develop complex 3D models without the physicals counterpart using the ”˜I don't have the time' argument. The extra time it takes, however, is time spent thinking about the project, just like when we hand drafted. Read Billie Tsien's essay “Slowness” for an eloquent take on this.