Still from “Paris Metro Swaggers” by YAK Films, a recent influence for MFAEDA student Eric Barstow.
The fifteen students in the inaugural class of Duke’s first MFA program—in Experimental and Documentary Arts—have launched a blog, Influences, that was created as part of the Documentary Fieldwork seminar.
Under the guidance of instructor Alex Harris, each student began creating a new body of documentary work, but in addition to moving forward with their own artistic practice, Harris also asked them to look back: “Each member of the seminar presented his or her influences: the films, photographs, artists, books, music, and experiences that have most influenced their own work,” explained Harris. “Influences is a record of those presentations, a syllabus of inspiration for the rest of us, and a place where students can update their entries as they find another artist or body of work that is important to them. We hope the blog is a site that viewers will want to come back to.”
Click here to visit both the MFA students’ Influences blog as well as Viewfinder, the MFA program’s blog.
For more information about Duke’s MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts, go to mfaeda.duke.edu. The application deadline for fall 2012 admission is January 30, 2012.