[Art-is INDEX]  [Syllabus]
The Portfolio

This page presents my notes/thoughts about thinking; portfolio-wise.

See also:  [Art Materials]
           [Art Technique]
           [Art Terms]
           [Art THINGS] (sort of a catch-all)

          -[Crtique (1)]-



The Portfolio
 

On this page:  {Intro}
               {What to Show / Not-Show}
               {Portfolio as "sampler"}
               {Portfolio as "teaser"}
               {Portfolio as "snap-shot"}
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Intro

A portfolio (and "in theory") each of us should have several 
different ones - just like we should all have different 
resumes; ie, we all wear different hats.

There are (to my mind) several different purposes which the
portfolio tries to full-fill:

1) A snap-shot of the author's work at the present time.
   THis is the "oh, here is my portfolio" sort of thing.

2) Breadth vs. Depth. A quick and dirty (QUAD) survey of
                      the kinds of things that you are
   most proud of (or least proud of - but not usually).
Breadth is again the variety (but usually focused on a
particular element/style/method/etc) of your work

Depth is a portfolio of a particular type of work - that
you might teach in a W/S (work/shop). Usually, this will
be something about which you are particularly passionate
AND focused on when you are "in a certain mode/mood".

3) A thing that gets you a gig. I would use the word
   "job" here, but gig goes *far* beyond the concept of
job. For example, in the 5-year monolithic work of
J. Michael Strazinski, "Babylon-5". The job Harlan
Elison was "Creative Consultant" - but, his role in
the GIG, was far beyond that. Most likely "tweeking"
a bit here and there. THE NAME OF THE PLACE IS BABYLON FIVE....

 

What to Show / Not-Show

There are two things that we do when we present our
portfolio: We SUBMIT it (silently; eg, via a "drop" or "submit" 
request) or we TALK about it (as in "a chalk talk").

There are also TIME CONSTRAINTS as to what/how-much
we present. 

The easiest way to think of the portfolio is that it
plays several roles:

  1) It's a sampler. A bit of this and a bit of that.
                     Think of a "box of chocolates" --
                     it hints at (some of) the possibilities.

  2) It's a teaser/trailer. And just like the "Coming soon"
                            sorts of "coming attractions",
                            it should leave the viewer with:
                            "I want more" (or else,
                            "Errr, ahm. Hmm, - next please."
                            reaction


  3) It IS a snap-shot of who/what/where/how/... you are as
     the author at this particular point in time - whatever
     that stuff is.

               


Portfolio as "sampler"
               






Portfolio as "teaser"

If the "sampler" portfolio shows us just a bit of all
of the myriad possibilities, the teaser takes us a 
single, coherent chapter of that encylopedia.               



catalog d'raison



A Forward-Looking, Backward Glance
(which is the title of one of Dr. Seuss's "serious" works)

Think 





Portfolio as "snap-shot"