SAGE Magazine is a nonprofit student-run publication based at Yale University’s School of Forestry & Environmental Science in New Haven, Connecticut. SAGE’s mission is to expand notions of environmentalism and mainstream communication about pressing and informative environmental issues.

From Sage Magazine; Volume II, Issue III below:

I’m just about to complete an Apprenticeship with Globatron University which I recommend highly. As described on the site, Globatron is:

a free course of academic study meant to address a growing global need for a consciousness-based education, one focused on the long history of human striving for justice and truth and the beauty that expresses its presence. The works chosen will not make you a better worker. They are chosen to make you a better human being, one more in touch with the divine calling of existence; they are chosen, just as you are, to face existence in a more direct way and as a result be a beacon of hope to those in your community.

The brainchild of the American artists Byron King and Ken Vallario, the Apprenticeship programme is one of the most educational and entertaining syllabi I’ve ever had the pleasure to follow. Following the Apprenticeship programme took little time for me as I was already familiar with some of the great texts, videos, podcasts and works of art, most of which are provided on the site and save the student the effort of having to track down free versions. The wealth of non-text materials also allows for people who struggle with reading English to participate and appreciate these great ideas, thinkers and artists.

From the texts, my favourite was Herman Hesse’s Siddharta which I read in one morning and which inspired me to examine my own life and approach a personal moral dilemma from a new angle (which I wrote about in a previous post).

I’ve started watching The Fog of War and Wires, which I will continue watching in the evenings: I enjoy watching movies and television series on the computer as I have no television since I put it in the cupboard owing to inability to pay the cost of the licence fee (and my life has improved immeasurably as a result of this action). When I had television before, I used to watch NCIS and CSI as I liked the characters. I preferred NCIS because there was less graphic violence than in CSI, which I sometimes found too difficult to continue watching. I was criticised on Facebook for watching these programmes; people said that no good could come of witnessing glamourised negativity and certainly, when I put the television away, my mind was not full of violent images that I am sure contributed to states of depression. Having watched the Bill Moyers Journal podcast about Wires, this series seems to have been an attempt to avoid glamourisation and tell the truth that has been largely absent from televised crime drama, so I will stick with it even although I find televised violence abhorrent and difficult.

Of the works of art and architecture, I’ve been fortunate to have visited Rome and Paris, so have seen the Sistine Chapel, Roman Pantheon, Colosseum and Notre Dame Cathedral. In the art section, the image is simply offered and it’s left to the reader to explore the provenance and meaning of the artworks if they wish. It’s difficult not to be curious about such fantastic works of human creativity.

Whenever I read another “I’m bored” comment on Facebook, I’ll be sure to offer the link to Globatron University.

Please print and share…. http://tinyurl.com/3nrmf8k

>>Download<<

From the original post:
http://www.globatron.org/choken-word/red-pill-or-blue-pill

It is always thought provoking.

View on Adbusters.org.

Photos of images from the Polar Brokers and Trophy Soldiers collection installed in graphic designer Roel Dalhuisen’s home.  Roel lives and works in Utrecht, Netherlands and has been a big supporter of my artwork the last couple of years.  Wish I could get a plane ticket one day and visit as it seems like a nice place to drink a cup of tea.  I’d especially enjoy seeing what books are in his book collection and discussing his graphic design and background further.  Although currently I’m more focused on my writing, I truly enjoy seeing where my artwork finds a home.  It’s redeeming to me to know my work is being appreciated in a city as full of culture as Utrecht.

A list of realizations I’ve come to find as personal truths.
Follow them at your own discretion.

1. It is okay for artists to have day jobs.

2. Try and make your day job align with what you’d like to really be doing as closely as possible.

3. If you can’t do that, look at how your day job can feed your art or design creatively.

4. Try and see how digital art and physical art can be connected as many ways as possible.

5. Your design should feed your art.  Your art should feed your design.

6. Try not to have any gaps on your resume – if your job isn’t involved in what you want to do for a living, freelance when not working.  Keep Dunkin Donuts off your resume. Hint….Volunteer work or internships can go on your resume.

7. Don’t get bent out of shape trying to label yourself as a Designer, Painter, Sculptor, Writer, Musician, etc. because it’s all related.

8. Learn how to learn. Become an expert at what you are passionate about.

9. If you don’t know how to become an expert ask questions.  You can interview anyone you respect in order to find out more information.

10. Don’t wait for the powers that be to find your talent, become the powers that be.  Curate a show.  Start an art & design blog.  Start a band.  Build your network by interviewing people you respect.

11. Learn software as need be.  Don’t focus on trying to know everything at once.  The trick is knowing where to find the answers, when you need to find them.

12. Remember that design or art projects are only as strong as the concept, regardless of their implementation.

13. Draw!!!!!  Write!!!!!

14. When you don’t feel like drawing, write, and vice versa.  Both of them feed creativity.

15. Keep a sketchbook on you at all times.  You just never know when an idea will pop in your head.

16. Don’t be against working jobs that have nothing to do with art or design because they will feed you creatively if you allow them to and can give you something to draw from for inspiration in the future.

17. If you find yourself working on a construction site don’t tell anyone that you work with you have an art degree.

18. If you find yourself enlisted in the military don’t tell anyone you are serving with that you have an art degree.

19. Get over the stigma that you need a sloppy old studio to sling paint in or a huge loft to house your super computers.  Your studio is your brain.  You can take it anywhere and it is rent free.

20. Realize that committing to art and design is a life-long journey.  Don’t be upset if you haven’t “Made It”  five, ten, twenty years after graduation.  Actually, expect to never “Make It”.  Keep it for yourself and remember number 2.  (Try and make your day job align with what you’d like to really be doing as closely as possible.)