Wow, I have heard so much about portfolios.

Some of it has been through my facebook page. I suppose because it is public there it is o.k. to share it here. IF anyone does object I will take their comment down. But how inspiring this has been.

I posted this on my blog and these were some of the responses.

Fellow student

No, no, no. Cutting each page in half, throwing it up in the air and reassembling would be so much more fun: construction, deconstruction, reconstruction. :)

Another fellow student

Don't worry it's not all for naught! I promise. Save it and watch how you'll use it later. It's frustrating as all hell before that though! Hugs! Miss you! :)

My response

linka was telling me there was a portfolio that was created so that each page was individual, that if you did throw it up in the air it would not matter the order it came back down in. Who was that? I wish I could see it. hmmm going to not look at original and think about reorganizing and new thoughts. Step away from what was done, do something else and see how to put the two together. thanks guys

Another fellow student

I started this way too - I went from 300 pages to 175 not including my title and contents pages. You will get it just how you want it.

Another student

Bridgette--the portfolio that you're referring to was Lisa Strier's. And it is a thing of beauty!

Lisa replies

you are a lovely woman! ( to the student above) thanks! Bridgette Mongeon-- The clearest MFA-IA advice I ever received was from Pete Hocking--the Goddard program is NOT your practice, packets and portfolios are not your practice, they are merely guides for developing & exploring your work/practice. Your portfolio is the work YOU do/how YOU do it-- YOUR practice in the format of a thesis. If you think about the portfolio as holding a space for someone to enter/interact with your work in the way that your work/practice does, it can help your own portfolio process. You can access my portfolio download online here:http://mfacamp.blogspot.com/2010/11/culminating-semester-portfolio.html. (& if you scrambled my portfolio pages, it could be a coherent document, but would offer a different experience/flow than how I crafted it.)

Peter states-

Pete Hocking Tara Rebele, who graduated some time ago, built a portfolio that was all one-page performance scripts. She subsequently had much of it published in the book, And I'm Not Jenny (http://tinyurl.com/3zach7w).

Thanks for the nice shout out, Lisa Strier! The portfolio is always the most interesting when it's the embodiment and enactment of one's practice (as a creative act).

And I'm Not Jenny

www.amazon.com

Who is "Jenny"? Well, who isn't she? Tara Rebele, in her debut, crafts a series of alternately defiant, sublime, racy and hilarious monologues in the latest hybrid text in the Slope Editions catalog. Prosaic, poetic and rooted in the performance arts, this book promises to help redefine "feminism...

Another student

Hey, I'm reading that book as we speak. Thanks Karen Bunch!!!!!

Bridgette Mongeon wow Lisa this is an incredible portfolio. love the design. I feel so inadequate but inspired at the same time. Incredible.

SO THIS IS WHAT I HAVE FOUND OUT

Lisa's portfolio is excellent and inspiring. I have seen so many people use the portfolio as another piece of expression, another piece of art.

How can i look at what Lisa has done, what Rick and Erica have told me. How can I make more reflection showing work, but less about "what I did" more about "what I learned?"