New York Arts Practicum’s first critique, led by the artist Brad Troemel at Eyebeam, served as a good introductory to how the Practicum’s participants managed to pull together work despite all of the hurdles of transitioning and attempting to settle into New York’s fast-paced environment. Troemel also radiated this fast, athletic enthusiasm that emanates in his rapid production of sculptures and digital ephemera through the Jogging tumblr. The discussion of his work was followed by helpful suggestions and critiques regarding the cohorts’ own practices.
Troemel’s discussion and ideas behind his Jogging blog are in correlation with the refresh-button-clicking, ADHD-driven attitudes that many users of social media are familiar with. Rather than fall by the wayside by producing a few, perhaps even of master quality, art works, Troemel recognizes the “aesthlete”, or the artists working towards constantly producing work to keep up with the feeds, refresh rates, and the social media’s users hunger for now-ness. Even when moving to talking about our work, there were suggestions of “practice” and “strengthening our muscle” when working. In a simple sense, practice makes perfect.