1st March 2010

'Hey, are you going to the student rep meeting?'

'Yea. And you have to be there too you know.'

Hmmm, how best do I respond?
1. 'Yes, you condescending cow, I was just making a polite inquiry.'
2. 'My stomach happens to be turning over as we speak with food poisoning. Fuck off and I'll get there on my own time.'
3. 'Yea, I know. 31C. 10 minutes, I'll see you there.'

No awards for guessing what I said.

You could say we're all a bunch of subversive, fucked off cowards, all vying in a race to get to the top of the intern pile. No one knows who will be a future co-worker, boss or major source of help later. To venture out on the branch of open hostility could be fatal. To be starting off in the art world, one lives with the nervous marriage between frustration and willingness, both of which are in an affair with passion for art (and penniless-ness). It's a special brand of crazy from which I am not exempt.

After answering the painful cries of my stomach (even those consumed by the world of the intellectual are not immune to the needs of the physical), I arrived late to the student rep meeting.

Oh the scrutiny of arriving late.

The 'meeting' as it was lovingly dubbed consisted of 3 characters doing a majority of the representing and one new member of staff, keen to listen, leaning in and enthusiastically nodding. Which people hold sway? Well, not me, instead it was:

Contemporary Art Bird: She's the pinnacle of Geek Chic, everyday. She will look back at photos of herself in ten years and really regret it. Guaranteed. But so goes the fashion of contemporary art, bless.

Failed Artist Type: Tends to steer the discussion toward how best to start, restart or revive a career as an artist. Someone should really lean over and tell her, 'Wrong course, love.'

Art Business/Greek God: So gorgeous he stuns everyone else into silence. Has a 'Jesus-walking-on-water' effect on conversations. Truly amazing. No wonder the girl sat next to him seemed to worship him.

'Well, that's about all we have time for, I promised I'd let you all get back to class. Thank you for your thoughts.'

I am at the back of a crush to get out the door. Stumbling out into the hall I bump into my friend, a beacon of hope in this cutthroat environment, 'Hey! How was your meeting?'

'Don't even get me started.'