The teacher’s tale
Having taught Art & Design for 34 years, I am currently drifting gracefully and gratefully towards early retirement.
The first three quarters of my career were surprisingly rewarding, considering I was really too shy to be the confident, middle-class professional that advertisers and Teachers TV like to portray. I drifted into teaching because I couldn’t think of anything else to do and there was a shortage, even of Art teachers. Once in the job I found I quite enjoyed the first quarter century in a difficult but well organised school where an Art Teacher could be a bit wackier than most. To be a teacher all this time without ever once wearing a tie has been the source of considerable countercultural pleasure.
Seven or eight years ago things changed. A forced amalgamation of two schools, poor management, decline in student behaviour, and the stigma of ‘Special Measures’. All the fun evaporated. Many teachers jumped ship, and in retrospect I should have too. Those who stayed found that the stress of being squeezed between an increasingly intrusive inspection regime and the rise of anti-social behaviour was unbearable. Mail Art has long helped me keep things in perspective, and throughout the dark days designing fonts also became good therapy. Even so, stressed out or burned out I needed to see my doctor and take some time off.
Now I have the offer of Voluntary Early Retirement and it’s time I finally left school. The teacher’s pension will ensure the mortgage gets paid, and I’m hoping to earn a modest crust doing some design work for Leanda if her business continues to pick up speed. I’m expecting money to be a bit tighter, perhaps a lot tighter, and whilst I can never imagine giving up postal art completely, for me the idea of emailart is increasingly attractive.
Michael Lumb has written about soaring postal costs and the rise of new communications. The postal service has declined in reliability as email reliability has increased. Traditional mail is under pressure as email gains hegemony.
Mail Art is also having to adapt and change, and it is no longer essential for Mail Art to be a wholly snailmail experience. Indeed, it is paradoxical that many Mail Art projects culminate with website or blog documentation, yet contributions are still only accepted via traditional mail. It is time for the email attachment, emailart, to be welcomed as warmly.
drifting into digital
Keith Bates • 2 Ferngate Drive, Manchester, M20 4AH, England • keith@k-type.comThe first three quarters of my career were surprisingly rewarding, considering I was really too shy to be the confident, middle-class professional that advertisers and Teachers TV like to portray. I drifted into teaching because I couldn’t think of anything else to do and there was a shortage, even of Art teachers. Once in the job I found I quite enjoyed the first quarter century in a difficult but well organised school where an Art Teacher could be a bit wackier than most. To be a teacher all this time without ever once wearing a tie has been the source of considerable countercultural pleasure.
Seven or eight years ago things changed. A forced amalgamation of two schools, poor management, decline in student behaviour, and the stigma of ‘Special Measures’. All the fun evaporated. Many teachers jumped ship, and in retrospect I should have too. Those who stayed found that the stress of being squeezed between an increasingly intrusive inspection regime and the rise of anti-social behaviour was unbearable. Mail Art has long helped me keep things in perspective, and throughout the dark days designing fonts also became good therapy. Even so, stressed out or burned out I needed to see my doctor and take some time off.
Now I have the offer of Voluntary Early Retirement and it’s time I finally left school. The teacher’s pension will ensure the mortgage gets paid, and I’m hoping to earn a modest crust doing some design work for Leanda if her business continues to pick up speed. I’m expecting money to be a bit tighter, perhaps a lot tighter, and whilst I can never imagine giving up postal art completely, for me the idea of emailart is increasingly attractive.
Michael Lumb has written about soaring postal costs and the rise of new communications. The postal service has declined in reliability as email reliability has increased. Traditional mail is under pressure as email gains hegemony.
Mail Art is also having to adapt and change, and it is no longer essential for Mail Art to be a wholly snailmail experience. Indeed, it is paradoxical that many Mail Art projects culminate with website or blog documentation, yet contributions are still only accepted via traditional mail. It is time for the email attachment, emailart, to be welcomed as warmly.
drifting into digital
www.keithbates.co.uk • www.k-type.com
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