Some Rules and Hints for Students and Teachers or Anyone Else

 After reading "Some Rules and Hints  for Students and Teachers or Anyone Else", by John Cage it is easy to see how the list of suggestions is targeted at scholars and educators. It is essentially a cheat sheet at how to get the most out of one's college experience. The rules follow a general theme of throwing oneself into the process and bringing the best out of fellow peers and instructors. It argues for pursuit over production, and stresses that there is no fail or success only make, and that the people who consistently follow that law will be the ones who actually achieve success. 

An interesting aspect regarding the text is that although it is credited to John Cage, it was actually written by a talented woman who was an educator, silkscreen artist, and nun named Corita Kent. It is said that John Cage had the list composed by Kent, which he later distributed and popularized. 

Both were very talented artists, but I found Kent's work more interesting for it's use of color and her practice of silkscreening, which I can relate too. Cage certainly had some attractive work but I found that a majority of it seemed haphazardly put together, and although I like that style of a rougher less sophisticated look, his work was not particularly in my taste. Along with the vibrant colors Kent used, I was also drawn to her work for the expression of movement in her form and arrangement of content. Her work featured large bold text that jumped off the page and flowed from various directions, upon which she would accompany blocks of contrasting color. 

All of the rules feel important to me, and I think a number of them can be applied to life outside of design and school. For example "Consider everything as an experiment", is the equivalent as "carpe diem", and taking part in new experiences. "Be Around" (rule #10), has a similar feel and I interpreted it as take advantage of the various opportunities you may be presented. Don't turn your nose to anything because you don't know what you'll miss out on. You can't live life by watching it go by, and I feel as though that's what these rules are getting at.