Hybrid Homework: Instead of going to class Friday, I took inspiration from Oscar Wilde’s “The Harlot House”. I went to the MASC and one the selected laid out exhibits was Wilde’s handwritten copy of “Vera”. Seeing this really made a deep impact on my connection with Wilde. Instead of being type on a computer screen, he became an artist to me, an individual hand with unique handwriting. I loved seeing the shorthand. I didn’t realize plays were written in that way as a draft. It made the whole art seem less pretentious to me. It also made Wilde seem like more of an author and less of a piece of classic literature. Seeing the editing process on paper added artistry to the work. Reading classic authors like Wilde, I had this idea they just spit out pieces of work. I didn’t imagine all the work put into the pieces that they produce. I think that short-term value of this is a deeper appreciation of this specific author. I feel more connected to the works that he produces now. The long-term value is seeing the artistic process and seeing myself in that position. I had thought about writing, not even professionally but just as a piece of who I am. I had always felt like writing was something successful or art-driven people did. Reading Wilde made me feel like he was just another person on the other side. I can see myself putting myself on the side of the creative process which is empowering for me. Seeing his work written like that makes me want to write.
-Alexis Burt
