Post submission blogging - another non productive day

Yesterday I was able to go to CSM because on Wednesday I worked hard and stayed late finishing the editing, curating, printing, and mounting of all the work for VFX L6’s grad show. There were about 40 prints, plus 2 long banners on rice paper. All of this was on top of other tasks, like helping students print and trim their postcards. George supervised the students for that part. Few meetings, and checking with George the darkroom.

At CSM, I coated two zinc plates with light-sensitive emulsion after degreasing them, since I have two more images I want to try photoetching.

I left the plates to cure in the dryer around 12:50, then went to lunch and joined our class. Gradually, I started feeling exhausted for some reason. While on Zoom, I tried cutting some sheets of Japanese paper I had on a roll. I measured to cut at 57 cm, but after using the guillotine, all of them came out at 53 cm wide… what?

Later, I checked my plates. They seemed fine, but just as I was about to place them with the film in the exposure unit, I noticed they were very sticky and I kind of ruined one. That was around 4 p.m. I gave up and went home.

On the way to the train station, I jumped on a call with our group Seven to realise that we were all a little lethargic. Was the Unit 3 submition so draining?

In hindsight, pushing so hard the day before, on top of prping the Unit 3 submition probably set me up to crash. I was trying to stay productive at CSM, but by the time I ruined the plate, it was obvious I was too tired to concentrate properly. It’s frustrating but also a clear sign I need to manage my energy better during these intense periods.