What Would I Want? Sky - Animal Collective
The World Has Turned and Left Me Here - Weezer
Supposedly, it precedes the storm. I believe that our studio is presently embracing it right now; there is some good-natured banter, a lot of kidding around, and surprisingly little panicking. Ideas are being formulated through collaborative input and no one is sick. Yet.
I anticipate that today - Sunday - will be the last day of the calm, with the storm following tomorrow, and hitting full intensity by Wednesday. At present, we still have not really given much thought to our models, for the most part, and are instead focusing on getting bogged down in the mire of our drawings, which aren't all going exactly to plan at present. "It's only Sunday - we've still got five days, dude!" This is all well and good until you spend nearly an entire unproductive day grinding out only one or two - or sometimes not even one - drawings.
So you stay up a little later for a night or two. You return to the studio the next day and you're just not quite feeling it; you're noticeably less productive and all you can think about is the finish line. And still there are five days, models, and final drawings/renderings to go. Suddenly, you're not in great shape and the prospect of the dreaded double all-nighter looms large on the horizon.
Yugoslavian monument to military and civilian casualties of the Second World War.
Skip forward a step or two, and tempers are starting to fray in a space that is becoming increasingly densely packed as the deadline nears - more and more people realise the need for being in the studio to complete their work. Elbow room is suddenly at a premium and unwanted guests/walk-ins only serve to augment stress and focus anger. I am certain that someone will snap. I know it won't be me as I have fairly good coping mechanisms in such situations, but I could cast a guess or two.
Folio week reminds me a lot of the slumber parties that I used to have when I was a kid. Friday night, and you and a few of your school friends have hired out a couple of videos, loaded up on snacks and have spent the evening playing computer games. You're completely abuzz on sugary delights and this is going to be the best weekend ever. It's a fun night and you go to bed considerably later than normal, much to the chagrin of the parents kind enough to host the event.
However, the next morning is always dreary. It's Saturday and you have responsibilities, and, even if they are good ones, they are responsibilities nonetheless. That fleeting moment of absolute freedom has passed, and reality has re-entered the room, shuffled its feet a little and audibly cleared its throat. An intangible, bitter and disdainful feeling circles and you're ready for it when the proceedings come to an end; the adrenaline has worn off, and everyone is in various stages of decline. The Real World is buzzing around you and others are going about their days. You eventually return to the system and all you can think of is how much you can't wait until you leave it again.
And so we return to Sunday of Folio week where the novelty is starting to wear off, three days in. It's no longer just a cool, new experience to be had in the surrounds of friends; it's suddenly your Uni career on the line - if you fail this folio, you fail the studio which means that you have to repeat it. No one wants that, so the stress starts to simmer and froth. The percolations begin and will ascend to a rapturous cacophony of whistles and hormones culminating in the utter chaos of deadline day, whereby every single Architecture student at the University will assemble in the ALVA building to submit their final folio at various points of the day.
In such close collision, it's not a stretch to imagine frayed nerves spilling over into confrontation. Our class gets along well with each other, so I'm not too worried. However, hallways will be filled, people will be panicking, running, stressing and looking to steal any last minute resource that they might need to improve their submission.
I am looking forward to Friday, for I want to see just exactly what happens and how accurate my predictions of the week have been.
I am also looking forward to Friday so I can have a prolonged sleep, safe in the knowledge that, for two months, responsibilities will be far, far away.
