Dear Research Diary,

Today was pretty cool. In Prof. Smyth's class we looked at some cool northern painters. It's always pretty funny to see the reactions of non art historians to Bosch. We got our papers back, and Prof. Smyth said she enjoyed my comparison of two portraits (Ghirlandaio + Vermeer). At the art history meeting we had at lunch time (YAY free pizza!) she even told me that perhaps I should consider doing some more research and expanding my paper in the future! I've never really thought about taking a simple paper from school to a higher scholarly level, but why not! I enjoyed writing it.

Next was Prof. Yawn's class, where we finalized some decisions, such as when our end of the semester cupcake mini party will take place. She also met with us individually to briefly discuss our research. I was glad she approved the direction in which I am headed, but she warned me that there is a lot to be done, and I could surely encounter difficulties working with a topic that's not so accessible here in Italy, so a lot of care and planning is required.

Today I had to finish up some banal work for many classes so I had little time to advance my research : ( but in the next days more time will be dedicated to this!!!!!

Oh PS: Prof Gianni had to cancel our meeting. I really need to speak to her about all of this!! I hope SOON!

Dear Research Diary,

I am back from Morocco. My trip was great. I saw a lot of things, and although none of them were directly pertinent to my thesis topic, it was refreshing to look at objects from a world about which I know little, and to do this purely for my enjoyment (usually visual). After days of a chaos of musicians, snake charmers, and sneaky tricksters, I am back to continue my quest for a solid thesis topic.

Today I briefly chatted with my Italian politics prof, who I know is quite knowledgeable in Ukraine, as I have travelled there with his class some semesters ago. Also he is published on this topic. Anyway, I told him that I'm working on this and he was rather overjoyed, and pointed me in the direction of 3 very good books on the history of Ukraine, as well as the online Encyclopedia of Ukraine, which he claims has many entries on Ukraine's history of art.

Of course after our chat I went to the library. I found two of the three books. They are veryyy large, and proved to be unhelpful in the subject of art, but of course I will be using them to contextualize my research historically. The online encyclopedia is sooooooo primitive and not so easy to use, but has good bibliographies on many ukrainian artists, with adequate bibliographies (once you finally find what you are looking for).

Tomorrow I have a meeting with Prof. Gianni. I am looking forward to it and know she will be helpful.

Dear Research Diary,

Today I had my last advising meeting, which was quite sad but also reminded me (as if I needed more of a reminder) of my thesis. I had the pleasure of being advised by Professor De Sena AND Professor Smyth (and even two students!!!...this was not so pleasurable, however). We got to talking about my thesis, and they both had a lot of useful advice. Prof. De Sena told me that he was a 2nd reader on some of Prof. Dohna’s past theses, and thought they were very good, and more importantly, he thought that the student’s own voice was definitely present, not overshadowed by some of Prof. Dohna’s often strong ideas and perspectives. This is good. Prof. Smyth seemed to stress that my thesis will be an independent project, and I should rely on no one except myself. She did, however, offer her services, reminding me that although it is not her preferred field, she is quite knowledgeable in modern art. She hinted at the fact that she could be a good choice for 2nd reader. This got me thinking, and I recalled that I did take the Modern section of the intro course AND Theories and Methods of Art History with her. I enjoyed both of these courses very much, especially from her point of view.

When I told Prof. Smyth that one of the reasons I want to work on Russian avant-garde is because I feel compelled to do so because of my personal connection to Russia and the Soviet Union, she stated the obvious and asked if I had considered researching the Ukrainian avant-garde. I have in fact considered this, but I thought Russia would be more interesting since the Russians were sooooo influential. But maybe I should reconsider. So now I will indeed see what the Ukrainian’s were up to, perhaps in light of the Russians and Italian futurists. It could be very interesting, I DO read Ukrainian, there are a number of professors here who I have had from the Poli Sci department who have studied Ukraine in great depth who could be of much use… This is very exciting!!!!!!!!!!

Oh I forgot all about Prof. Smyth’s presentation in class today. I love hearing about her personal projects, she really reminds you about how brilliant she is!! She spoke of her research in Northern Italy. She gave us some practical tips, such as using our youth and inexperience to our advantage ..this way we can get our hands on a lot of valuable things. She also explained the importance of seeing art works in situ. Also she told many stories and anecdotes about the scholarly world.

Research Diary!

I have so much work in all my other classes! I feel like I am writing papers and assignments nonstop! Sometimes I literally wake up and start typing away at my computer! This is causing me to neglect my thesis!!!!!!!! Balancing schoolwork + my friends + my boyfriend is becoming more difficult than ever! I am taking Bolker's advice and becoming SELECTIVELY ANTI SOCIAL.

Anyway, I found this book in the library. It's called the Russian Avant-Garde Book. I took it without really looking at it, and it turns out it is about physical BOOKS. I don't know much about the topic (this might be useful for Emelie, I must remember to tell her)! It speaks about how Russian artists used the book as a practical way to express their ideas. I am reading about Malevich's books in particular.

Dear Research Diary,

I am feeling very guilty because I have not been doing much research. Furthermore, I am sick AGAIN and had to miss class yesterday... I even had to miss my library shift which never happens :(. Luckily, Angels informed me of the events in class. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to catch up.

Dear Research Diary,

Today Professor Dohna gave a lecture in class. She is always really interesting to listen to, but I am definitely nowhere near her level, so sometimes I can get lost. She talked about some of the research she does, which is basically applying a lot of modern theory to older works, for example, works from the Renaissance. Although this may seem like a strange thing to do, since none of these theories were floating around in the time of Michelangelo, it is important that these theories can be applied to all art. She somehow made sense of it all. This was inspiring because even though something may seem whacky and nonsensical, with excellent research and adequate evidence, an innovative and thoroughly interesting project can be produced.

Dear Research Diary,

I’m finishing my summary on Malevich in Prof. Dohna’s book. He was really whacky. His new style.. Suprematism was a completely new vision, and it all started with his Black Square. And this somehow emerged from the Futurist opera ^Victory Over the Sun^…from its stage backdrop. This was cool to know because last year when I went to the Venice Biennale, one of my favorite pavilions was the Russian one, and their exhibit was called Victory of the Future. Such a strange name..it was a weird mix of nostalgia and “the future.” Anywho this Malevich chapter was a good introduction into his ideas of abstraction, but unconscious and intended.

Dear Research Diary,

It is so hard to let go of the traditional way of writing that I know and love. I think writing has always come rather naturally to me. I am not FANTASTIC, or particularly talented, but I can get away with writing rather good papers without really trying much. (Of course, I do put in extra effort to get those exceptional papers I actually want.) Often times, I can just jot down a few key points (or make a more detailed outline) I must remember to mention in a paper, and I can build around this…simply writing the paper from start to finish, then going back and messing with it. With particularly dense research, I gather a number of sources, and as I read through them, I take diligent notes..writing the page number after each section of note taking. Then around this I construct a paper which flows and has support for its argument from my research. This is basically how I have been doing things since I learned to write papers. Bolker’s soup suggestion is so hard for me to adopt. Yes, it helps me get ideas from my brain onto paper, but once they are on the paper (rather computer screen), I just get lost in all those words! As I said, I tried to write my paper for my Italian Politics class by first making a very messy, stream of consciousness zero draft, but the result was a panic!!! I literally had to abandon this mess and return to my way of writing. But I guess it did help me find some interesting ideas. I guess we’ll see when I get my graded paper.

Meanwhile I am reading some things from Prof. Dohna’s recommendation: Primitivism, Cubism, and Abstraction in Modern Art. Very cool…

Dear Research Diary,





Yesterday was our library day. We started off the morning with the Biblioteca Angelica. Although I feel it will not be tremendously useful to my research, I will definitely be returning simply to use the absolutely stunning and inspiring space. Next, we walked over to the BIASA in Piazza Venezia. This library is certainly less beautiful but much more useful. I admit it is a bit complicated. I will be returning there soon to do some research, as for the moment I have a lot of reading material at home!! Currently I am reading a chapter on abstraction in "Primitivism, Cubism, Abstracton: The Early Twentieth Century" recommended by Prof. Dohna. Meanwhile, I am using Bolker's suggested freewriting method for a short paper I am writing for my Italian Politics class and admittedly am having some trouble letting go of the traditional outlining method. I am finding that my thoughts get lost in my 'messy soup.' I guess I will see what happens when I am finished.

Biblioteca Angelica... wow....

Dear Research Diary,

Yesterday I met with Professor Dohna. She was quite helpful and kind, and suggested 3 books for me, one of which I checked out from the library today. I will make this my next summary. Professor Dohna said she would be happy to work with me if I choose a topic in her field. I'd love to work with her, but I'm wondering if her influence would be too strong........

Today we had class, everyone was quite enthusiastic about electronic bibliographic tools, which was cool, also the advice of Bolker, which was also cool. Yay research!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow we're going to the Biblioteca Angelica and also BIASA, which will no doubt be exciting, especially since Professor Smyth and her class are coming! partyyyy

..

Dear Research Diary,

Scratch that. I continued to research some Italian Futurism. As Art Since 1900 suggested, I picked up Christine Poggi's Inventing Futurism. Although the book had a plethora of tempting titles, I chose the chapter which seemed most outrageous. After reading "Futurist Love, Luxury, and Lust," I've realized that there is an odd romantic side to Futurism which I hope to investigate further.