Learning English

 Learning english in pandemic wasn't that bad as it could seems. In my expirience the tools that internet offers to you are really useful to learn at your own rythm. The use of this blog for example, it's a good exercise to practice the writing in a freer way, and having a timeframe to do it it's really comfortable to me, because I can arrange my schedule to do it when I can, and also I'm not a really fast person so I need time to do some kind of things. 

 Probably the bad side of learning english in pandemic are the zoom classes, I belive that the classroom it's an fundamental part of the learning process, because of the direct contact with the teacher and other students, so the expirience of the class it's more significant, an important part of the university it's the contact with other people, I think it's there where the knowledge it's shared and learned. 

 In line with that, I think that the most difficult part for me it's speaking in english, mostly because it's hard to do it in an online space with people you don't know at all, maybe because i'm kind of shy and trying to speak to new people gives me a little anxiety. Probably in a face to face situation it could be easier, for me at least, speak and establish a conversation in english with other people. 

Now in my daily life I try to watch series or movies in english without subtitles, and I watch a lot of english speaker youtubers of the topics that i'm intrested, like music or movies. Also I read some blogs and subreddits in english without major problem.   

Changes in my study programme

 In general I think that the programme of Art history and theory that I'm studying it's really well designed. The courses are related to each other so the diferent contents are approached from diferent perspectives and areas of knowledge. The study programme is designed in a chronological way so the first years you see from ancient art to the rennaisance and baroque art, and then modern and contemporary art. I think this is a great way to learn how the occidental art got to where we are right now. 

Maybe a change that could be made to that it´s incorporate oriental art history, because the programme it´s onl focussed in occidental and latinamerican art, but there's a lot that we are not learning at all about, the japanese or chinese art tradition, the art of the middle east cultures, for example, and I think it could be intresting to compare the occidental tradition with what happened in other geographic contexts. 

In therms of the teachers I think we have really good ones, people who knows a lot about what they are teaching, but not every one have a pedagogical study, so I think it should be mandatory that every teacher should have some instruction in education techinques and methodoligies. This should be an stadart for all the university, so we have not just erudites making classes, but teachers who know how to teach. 

About the faculty facilities there's a lot of things that should be improve, in my carreer we don't need a lot of infrastruchture, because we are a mostly theorical carreer, but we need more study spaces, and computers. Also the classrooms need more modern projectors and computers so the teachers can show better images in their classes. I think that's in general what I would change in my study programme. 

 

80 years to the future

It's a weird time to be alive, there's a pandemic that it's far to be controlled, the digitalization of the culture, an economy that permeates every aspect of human life, and a climate crisis that threat the way we live in this world. That kind of things that are happening right now makes me curious about the future, are we (as humans) able to overcome this situation? or we are just slowing down something inevitable? 

Those are the kind of questions I try to avoid when I go to sleep, but I also think it's intresting to think about the future, and time travel it's one of mine favorite themes in science fiction. So if I had to think in traveling to the future i'd probably travel 80 years into the future. 

I think 80 years it's enough time to see how the world had change, and in which way, so I want to see if we get to mars, if that was a good idea, if there's still enough water to everyone or no, how we face the climate change and the techonological advances.   

I wouldn't stay too much, enough to see like how everything is going, maybe look for some sports results for betting when I came back to the present, but I also want to keep some surprise in the future. Maybe the most important thing is to watch if we could do something now to change that future, in a good way, I think that our actual lifestyle is focused in the present and take a look in the future that we are building could be a good way to become aware of what we are doing wrong.  

My ideal job

 Everytime I think about what I want to do for a living I think in photography, that's something that I'm really passionate for. Luckly I'm actually working in photography right now, for de pandemic me and one of my best friends create an studio where we are making some product photography, we are working with a bar in Republica, and I enjoy it, but I see this like a step to reach the kind of photos that I want to do, more artistic and creative images. 

So, I want this studio to grow up enough to allow me work less, and dedicate more time to travel and create some photographic projects that I could publish or sell. That's probably my ideal job, where I could have the time to create and also live. I worked in a mall once and it's incredible the normalization of exploitation that happen there, so when I think about the job I want, having time for me and for do unproductive things it's a bassic thing.

I can't see me in the future working in an office, in front of a screen from 9 to 6, I like to create things, think in how to comunicate an idea and make it real in an image, or the adventure of finding that crucial moment and take the photo, thats are the things that moves me. 

My bucket list

 I've never thought in making a bucket list, but I have in mind some things that I want to do in my life. In terms of places to go, I want to visit a lot of countries: Japan, Mexico, China, Vietnam, also go to the middle east, and Africa. I'd love to make a lot of photos of those places, maybe make some kind of photographic journal and publish it. I think that's another thong to put on my list, publish a book of my photos and travels, where I can talk about the places I visited by showing the photos that I made in the process.

In terms of activities or other things to do, I'd like to dive in the ocean at least once, I don't know why, but I always have thought that it's really intresting like swim into the water and see all of the creatures that live there. 

Another thing that I could add to my list is having a nice house in the country side, in the south of chile, nothing fancy, just a place with a nice view, where I can have a big library and where I can recive my friends and family.     

An animated master piece

I think it's really hard to say which is my favorite movie, there's a lot of films that I think are amazing and everyone should watch. But if I have to choose one it should be Mononoke hime the master piece of the japanese director Hayao Miyasaki. 

Miyasaki is well known for Spirited Away (2001), probably because it won the Oscar for best animated film that year, and here in latin america was the first anime movie to be screened in theaters. Spirited Away it's an amazing movie but Mononoke hime  it's (in my opinion) the magnum opus of Miyazaki, it was released in 1997 and tells a story about the relation between progress and the destruction of the nature. The title Mononoke hime translates from the japanese as the princess of the avengers spirits, and it refers to the spirits of the creatures of the forest that in the movie tries to take revenge of humans who has destroyed the forest. Miyasaki in a lot of his movies has an ecological message, about the importance of take care of the nature and the enviroment, but it's in this film where he has the most radical and violent version of the relation between humans and nature. 

I love animated movies, specially japanese ones, but this one it's my favorite by far, it's visually and narratively beautyful and I think it's a must for everyone who enjoys anime and good movies in general. I liked that much that I get a Mononoke tattoo a few years ago so I literally have this film engraved in my skin. 

 

 

   

The best concert ever

 In 2018, for my 23th birthday, I recived tickets for one of my favorite artists, Roger Waters, the concert would be in november 14, in the National Stadium. I was really exited about it because Pink Floyd is one of my favorite bands and I already went to a Roger Waters concert a few years ago and it was amazing. 

The concert started at 9pm, with a british puntuality, with Speak to me and Breathe, the first two songs of The dark side of the moon. The first part of the show was a lot of songs from that album and some of others like Wish you where here, then one of the highlights was when Roger Waters played Another brick in the wall and a big brick wall was projected in the giant screen and a choir of kids start singing. Then there was a break and suddenly four big pipes appear over the stage and create the factory of the Animals album cover. 

Another big moment of the show was when Roger Waters made a tribute to Victor Jara playing El derecho de vivir en paz in his phone and put it in the microphone with a big photo of the chilean artist in the background. 

Close to the end of the show a big laser pyramid was projected over the crowd and then other lasers create a 3D version of the The dark side of the moon album cover, it was an amazing concert, the sound, the visuals, and everything was perfect, one of the best days in my life.