Challenge

It has been difficult to write with school keeping me busy over the past three months.  I have a little respite so I am taking advantage to write here some.  I will make my best effort to continue to write this blog over the following terms.  There have been several creative thinking ideas I had over the past stretch of time, above is an image from an eperience I had that was most definately a creative thinking exercise.  I was brought in to work with Theatre du Reve for a performance at the High Museum of Art.  The performance celebrated French History and specifically the role the Tuilerie Garden took. My role was to create street art during the performance.

To develop the imagery I looked through the script and experiemnted withusing differnt elements in a graffiti style.  I found that dialog from a play isn't always the most graffiti friendly.  There is a reoccuring theme throughout the play, how people should be free and that this sometimes comes through violent action, the French Revolution, the Terror, WWI, and Nazi occupation all played a part of this performance.  The balloon also made several apperences in the text , so after a while I took my freedom message, droits de l'homme, the balloon worked as a good visual element that attracts the attention, then it was just time to work out the color scheme.  This came mostly from experimentation, in the end, one doesn't go wrong with a primary triad.

What you see above is a mock-up I did on the painting wall at school.  As it turns out the museum was funny about me using spray paint so the mock up turned into the actual thing the night of th performance, where instead of painting, I wheat pasted. Problems promote creativity!

Film as an Educational Tool

I have been mulling over the idea of using film as an education tool for students for some time now and over the past week I have started to think about it more in ernest.  I should describe what I mean.  When I say film as an educational tool I do not mean showing students films that relate to content in the class, or as a reward or anything like that.  Rather I mean students should be making films to exhibit learning.  This originally came from an experience I had in the classroom where instead of requiring students to write a reflection (I called it an artist’s statement) at the end of a unit I offered the option of writing, or recording sound or creating a short video.  Later I offhandedly said to my students “For your artist’s statement you can write longhand, type and essay, record a video, write a song or a poem or whatever tickles your fancy as long as it covers the following points”.  The points are listed in their book as well as in a rubric and I covered them verbally.  I did not expect it, but when the artists statements were turned in as normal I got many typed essays and videos and low and behold I got one poem and two songs.  I believe this points to the nature of current students’ environment and where they are comfortable working and expressing themselves. 

A while back I was reading a graphic design back (by a while back I mean probably six or seven years now) and a particular statement stood out to me.  To paraphrase:  Graphic design is not longer about static images, if you create a logo or symbol, eventually someone will spin and twirl it.  If we extend the definition of students all the way through university then I feel comfortable is saying that students today have grown up in an environment of moving images.  It is not novelty but a way life is presented to them.  Naturally they should then feel accustomed to receiving and also sending information in this manner.  In fact they are so comfortable with this platform that I have found students often do a better job of meeting class requirements when allowed to communicate in this manner.  To set the stage:  In my class part of the requirements of the every unit is to reflect.  Often times there are audible groans in the classroom when the work ‘reflection’ escapes my lips.  The sad thing about this is first, reflection is shown to be a very valuable learning tool as it promotes metacognition in students and second, reflection can be quite exciting but students have learned that reflection is the same as describing.  Sincerely, when I read a description of what happened in class I also groan because I was there, I saw what happened in class and do not need to revisit.  What reflection should be about is describing meaning and pinpointing areas where a multitude of possibilities became an idea worth pursuing and where for artistic reasons the student took a direction different from the design.  It is my belief that as students come to recognize these moments (and there are more than I have just written) then we as teachers develop better honed thinkers.  Through giving the students an option to record a short film for their reflection instead of writing, I have seen students respond to the above mentioned moments instead of just describing what happened.

This is a singular event, film can be used to go beyond reflection and can also be a tool for exploration and of course, expression.  However I want to stress for the time being that a film as a thinking tool does not need production value which is a problem I have run into with film in the classroom.  At times with both students and enthusiasts of film, production value has gotten in the way of content.  From a simplistic point of view with basic tasks, clarity in communication is more valuable than a good looking film.  In most cases the better video reflections I have received are shot on the Mac program Photo Booth and usually features the art work and the student.  So long as the video and audio are clear  the job can be done and high marks can be earned.  This is not to discount the value of production but in circumstances I have described it is not important. 

But there are places where production value is important.  Making an eye catching film is the content of other education domains.  Drama and ICT for example.  Seeing as these are the places where the art of film are of paramount importance I believe this presents an excellent opportunity for true cross-curricular education.  The thinking skills and techniques that are being instiledl through these classes can be put to use by making it easier to operate the hardware/software and to better communicate a message.  Additionally, the platforms for sharing are increasing all the time.  You Ku and You Tube aside, film festivals and even student film festivals continue to grow every year.  I believe this give us a teachers the opportunities to exhibit to students how intellectual and technical skills are linked to valuable participation in the global community.

To conclude, I hope I have made my point that the value of using short film is great for a generation of students who understand and communicate in this method.  As teachers we should be giving the students the thinking process, technical skills and the platform to develop their minds and their abilities.

Journal that started with a friend and a web site

Being that it is summer I am have the time to think a little more abstractly about things and I have been toying around conceptually with what I am doing here.  a friend of mine works in the online education field and linked me into his web sites.  I had a read through and drummed up some questions and ideas.  Below are my notes, below that is my response.

• What kind of certification do courses need to practically benefit students?
• What is important to students in the future in regards to thinking skills and technical skills?
• How does one engage students?
• The current system of education is outdated in places but it is such a system that it cannot be completely uprooted.
• Teach students skills that allow them to apply techniques to the required courses.
• Educational gaming.

The united states has the AP system which is designed to allow students complete college courses before they actually enter college.  That aside I am certain that every state has its course of study and and universities have their own standard requirements.  There is a push towards STEM which makes me a little sad because it further reinforces the idea that the arts are for flakes and rich people and is a totally superfluous endeavor.  On all these accounts I am in complete disagreement.  One doesn’t need to have the goal of being an artist in order to study art.  How many people learn to dance; swing, line latin, whatever in order to have fun and exercise?  How many people play baseball for fun, how many children and adults are playing catch in the back yard?  Is it because everyone is working towards a career as a big leaguer?  I suggest no.  By this same argument studying the arts doesn’t have to mean one wants to become an artist.  The arts can be used to to better understand oneself and how to better understand other people and the human condition.  A further support of this lies in a comment I heard a director make “A good film allows people to understand the point of view of the character” we all want to know what it is like to be a hero, or a cancer survivor or even a bad guy.  I am getting a little off topic here but to bring it back it is not these skills that are explicitly looked for in a high school or university education.

Think skills are the underlying methods by which we attain technical skills.  A science teacher friend of mine said “Teach the students how to ask a question, and they will learn the methods so that they can answer that question”.  Teaching art skills or really thinking skills will never directly pay off because it is difficult to test, and I am not entirely opposed to testing to be honest, it can be an effective sorting mechanism.  So what we need to teach students is effective thinking skills and show them how they can be applied to acquire or use the technical skills that make money.  To go on with the hackneyed axiom “The world is changing very quickly and the skills we teach students today may not be applicable tomorrow” but there is a lot of truth to it.  Definitely communicating and sharing is the direction things have been moving in the last ten years.  So my argument is that making connections is quite an important thinking skill to have.  when one sees an object or a technology or even thinks an idea, the mind should be looking for way aforementioned thing is connected to its environment and other things.  In my own teaching practices there are several units where connection between ideas is required.  A partner teacher of mine wrote a unit in which she requires students to look at one specific tradition in the visual arts and then connect it to one tradition from modernism on.  That kind of thought process can be executed in any discipline.

Educational gaming:  Although I do not know much about it, I believe this is one strong way to develop students’ minds through a medium they are already familiar with.  fortunately/unfortunately my parents never got hip to the video game concept and unlike many of my peers my gaming experience is limited to Atari and Nintendo.  But so many people engage in gaming and truthfully I am quite encouraged by the amount of art I see being put into gaming these days.  Games now have designers that create whole worlds and story lines and the world of gaming creates communities that ten years ago did not exist.  I’ve had a couple of silly ideas like online Cadaver Esquis and brainstorming and association.  A new thought I had sprung from the new google Artwork catalog.  My idea is to start communities where people curate their own exhibits.  Look to curators and gallerists to create challenges based on how they put exhibits together and then allow the players to fulfill those requirements.  In fact it does not even need to be limited to just visual arts.  For example take a concept and look for items from a variety of disciplines that highlight that concept.  

Well, I don’t know exactly how to end this entry because there wasn’t really a point to prove to begin with.  It’s a journal exercise of sorts from which I examined a web sight and recorded my thoughts.  Hopefully it drums ideas for those of you who took the time to read it.  As always I am open to your thoughts idea, questions and comments.

Basic Understanding

I have been reviewing some of my practices and to do this I wrote out some of the techniques I have used in class with my students.  Through this process I actually changed some and please keep in mind this is for just developing the idea, there is still a lot of art to be done when it comes to creating the art.  As always, free to use as you wish because I'm a good Communist like that.  However, if you end up making some good money maybe you could kick a little my way since teachers don't get paid squat, or even better, buy me a bottle of wine.

School-Scapes Grade Six

1. Brainstorm feelings.
2. Brainstorm feelings about school.
3. Associate colors and shapes with feelings in #1.
4. ASsociate places with those feelings in #2 and add colors and shapes from #3.
5. Review good photo-taking techniques.
6. Go out and take photos around campus and keep in mind #4 and #5.

Ceramic Culture Grade Six

1. Define what culture is, both what it means and what are some examples of it.
2. Look at Principles of Design pattern, rhythm, harmony, unity, variety.
3. Research how different cultures have identified themselves on ceramic work (this is coupled with a slide show where one culture from each continent is displayed as well as some contemporary work).
4. In process journal brainstorm cultures you may be interested and making a cultural motif of.
5. Keeping in mind the principles of design we studied develop a decoration for your ceramic object.

1. Research different ceramic techniques and terminology.
2. Practice with each of the techniques - pinch pot, slab construction, coiling.
3. In your process journal design at least three different profiles.
4. Execute your work and halfway through working on it write a short journal entry about what is working well and what is difficult.

Artists and Communities Grade Eight

1. Brainstorm words that are important to your person or your place
2. Ideally 4 - 5 letters
3. Write on in all capitals
4. Join the bottom of the letters together
5. Write three questions about your name/tag.
6. Add a number and symbol.

Surrealistic Portrait and Still Life

1. Look at several surrealistic paintings and identify things you believe make them surrealistic.
2. Think about some dreams you’ve had, they are difficult to remember so do not rty to remember the whole dream, just images and as you have one write it down in phrases or a couple of sentences.  If you really can’t think of one then use classic ideas of dream imagery.
3. Practice drawing techniques found in both still life and portraiture.
4. Introduce students to some of the symbolism found in Carl Jung’s psychology, e.g. Greek myths symbolizing aspects of the psyche.
5. Have students brainstorm with images - circle exercise - of symbols they think represent themselves.
6. After a good bank of images exists, then design the drawing, with the symbols and the ultimate design of the painting, keep in mind that it needs to be surrealistic, so make odd changes in your imagery or juxtapose things not normally found together.  Also keep in mind you portrait and your hand need to be in the composition.

Sequential Art Grade Nine

1. First map out (write in words, in order first, second, third . . .) normal activities of an insect.
2. Now map out the insect doing something a human would do.
3. Now combine the two.
4. Look at your story map, rearrange parts of it.
5. Make an official story map.
6. From a story map make a story board.
7. Film your animation.

Crossing Cultures Grade Nine

1. Choose one work of art from one of the traditions.  Interpret it for the purposes it serves - look at the Purposes of Art for examples.
2. Describe how the work looks, be specific about colors and shapes and their relationships, narrative and overall design.
3. Take individual words from these activities and write them in a top to bottom list.
4. Now do the same with one work of art from the other tradition and write your top to bottom list next to that list from the first tradition.
5. Look for natural connection and random connections, as you make these make a small sketch of an image this makes on another sheet of paper.
6. Take these images and compose a drawing of one or a combination of a few.

Process

I thought I would outline the creative process when creating this painting as it highlights some of my methods.

• I wanted to expand my graffiti practice so instead of just writing my name I looked into typography and thought to practice all the letters of the alphabet.  My first was ABCD and then I recited the alphabet until I found some letters that had a nice mnemonic device.  I decided upon LMNOP
• After a couple of sketches I thought shorter would be better.
• Back to research, looking more at I Love Typography and read articles about some font developers and what makes an easily readable font.  IN this process I also seized on some color words..
• Adjusted the design to just LMN because it fits better on the paper.
• I drew each letter in a box, actually I drew the box first.
• Looked at the underdrawing on the paper and thought it was too simplistic.  so I reflected back and reviewed some sketch books to add to the design.
• Began painting and in the process and reviewed the color wheel during the process.  Added the little circles and octopus later during work.
• Reviewed the final painting and decided I like the design but it's too small, it needs to be wall sized.

Idea Generator

So I am playing around with this, check it out, try it out.  Hopefully something great or at least entertaining comes from it.  If you are so inclined, comment with some feedback.

Magazine Development

I have been working more scientifically (not really scientifically mind you) and have begun compiling evidence for creative thinking exercises.  Below is something I have written up in a report and I thought it would be nice to share.

Task Description:

When embarking on this unit I asked the students to think about the content of their magazine cover and I wanted them to follow a certain protocol when developing their ideas.  I instructed them that this method is not the only method but one I had found successful for students.  I also instructed them to put their idea development on paper, I believe this is most beneficial because it allows the mind to focus one one thing, new ideas, and allows paper to do the job of keeping track of ideas.  The concept here is that one should put as many ideas down as possible and then when they are documented, choose the best or most appropriate.  The student followed the following protocol:

1. Make a group of nine circles on you paper and in two minutes time fill in each circle with one thing they like.  It could be in the form of  words or sketches and that quantity is better than quality.
2. Then I asked the students to review verbally the previous lesson about the design of a magazine covers and make another circle brainstorm of topics they found interesting.
3. After the students had filled several pages of ideas I asked them to pick one of their ideas and brainstorm in a list sub-genres of this topic/item.
4. Finally the students were required to discuss with the classmates at their table their brainstorms and have their classmates give honest response to what was a good/interesting idea, what would be most suited to the student and alternative solutions.
5. Once the students had an idea they were happy with they could begin sketching out possible designs.

This is not a very involved process and in total time it lasted about thirty minutes.  My intention was to show the students how they could use what was already in their mental vocabulary and then developed that concept more robustly.  Then to make editing decisions that would best suit their skills, interests and third party opinions.  What is missing from this picture here is that the students had already been thinking about magazines and they had been given the unit introduction which definitely influenced their decisions.  On the opposite end some of the student reflections are missing so it is difficult to evaluate their exact opinions on how the creative thinking exercises assisted them.

Student A followed the in class method well.  She gave herself a variety of options when beginning the idea and choose clothing.  Where the idea for fashion for pensioners came from I do not know.  I believe it is related to her desire to do something different from the norm.  I do not recall specifically if this conversation took place between myself and this student, but several times I did discuss the issue of not having a magazine only about fashion but to choose a particular demographic to target.  Her choice is clever and entertaining.  This student’s trimester grade for Criterion C Thinking Creatively is six out of eight.

Student B used a slightly different method, choosing from a more limited brainstorm but then expanding upon that brainstorm and setting a kind of to do list for herself before beginning on the design of her magazine cover. This student’s trimester grade for Criterion C Thinking Creatively is a six out of eight.

Intellectual Review

I have been working, somewhat sluggishly, at developing myself more as an artist these days.  The entire Autumn was dedicated to first figuring out what kind of art I am going to make now that I have returned to the USA and then pushing that concept into a body of work.  In this regard things are going well.  I decided upon taking a class at the local art school to get some expert advice and take advantage of working at a studio instead my flat.  The expert advice came in the form of a discussion with my teacher, Kevin Archer and then I followed it up with a phone conversation with my friend and artist Charlie Kerns, or Beijing Charlie as he goes by  when he was traveling in China where we met.  They made two similar suggestions, one was to write about art that I like so that I can zero in more clearly on what interests me and then make art around those things.  Make what I like my own.  The second was to read art critiques from well known magazines and analyze the writing of the article and then write about my own art in the same way.  I have also made an active effort at making connections between ideas and I saw these two suggestions as a creative thinking tool as well.  So what follows below is a diary entry of my exercise of the first idea and then a short auto-critique of my own work.

Anish Kapoor
I first got a close up view of Anish Kapoor's work in Seoul although at that point I didn't really know much about him.  I just felt the trick of the eye that he was playing with were pretty neat, interesting, entertaining.  The way there was the appearance of a swirling vortex disappearing into the wall or the floor brought a smile to my face and led to many "How did he do that" moments.  In Beijing I got a much closer look.  There was one very large piece installed in the main room of Galeria Continua; that piece - Very Yes!

The entire art was constructed of mist and air.  Nothing more than a column of fog from ceiling to floor; how stunning.  I have the same appreciation for this piece as I do for something of James Turrell's  The art itself plays with the necessity of needing a thing to make art.  In these cases it is like music.  It only exists in a dynamic state.

Here my mind takes a step on its own (the creative thinking bit).  When we look at great art 'in the flesh' we normally stand in front of it for a few moments and more often than not it comes after seeing hundreds of other great works of art.  The moment we spend with it is fleeting.  The work of James Turrell and this of Anish Kapoor's highights this fact in a more direct way.  The memory we have of seeing something iconic  as Starry Night remains only a mental function.  This work of Kapoor's is vision in and of itself.  This is the strong attraction for me.
This is also why I like traditional Chinese and Japanese painting so much.  There is a delicacy that is almost ready to disappear before the eyes.  This is connected to my desire not to make more stuff.  I am very discerning about what I will hang on my wall.  When I make work I prefer to display it online or in a gallery space so that one can experience it for just a short moment.

But back to Kapoor.  I should read an interview to understand better why he makes work (the following quotes are from Kapoor during a BBC interview).

"A good work has the potential to promote a whole series of meanings, none of which are exclusive".

"The job of an artist is to excavate meaning, not to deliver it."

And her is a thought for the reader to put together - Anish Kapoor, James Turell and Yoko Ono - ephemeral and impermanence.

Auto-Critique
This work was created as the final to a series of four that were executed by myself and guided through the process by Kevin Archer, an Atlanta-based artist teaching at SCAD.  The work reflects an extension of imagery that I have been working with in one way or another for the past three years.  However, this series in particular serves the most effective summarization of the multitude of influences that may on the surface seem contradictory but are united by narrative and experience.  Similar to images one finds in Japanese comics or Chinese landscape paintings, the eye of an octopus gazes directly at the viewer and a tentacle hovers along the upper edge of the painting, lazily reaching across the surface with a mild, menacing intent.  Along the left hand side of the painting are three Asian-rendered trees which are a product of my years studying traditional Chinese painting and modeled after the three pines outside my flat.  The work is simultaneously open and closed; there is little depth and in the one space where to painting surface opens the viewer is halted by the large eye of the octopus in the receding space.  Despite this closed space, the large, black semi-sphere acts as the punctum to where the viewer enters the painting.

As I mentioned earlier this work is about narrative, like all of my art over the past year.  I am expressing journeys I have taken, things I have learned and my shyness when asked to expose myself.  I am a cautious person by nature and do not like to talk about myself unless I am sure of it or exploring some new possibility.   From my life as an epistemology teacher I have become uncertain about everything, so talking about myself deeply rarely happens.  But the eye is pleading to be noticed, much like myself, and wants to be noticed in a sincere fashion.  I am aware I am not an abnormality, although my personality type may be less typical, this work speaks to that aspect of everyone who is like myself.  We recognize the shyness and the desire to be noticed, and also the desire not to be arrogant.  The work is small which also requires participation on the viewer to approach and engage with it.  The other works in this series are less like this, they are open and fluctuate in their perspective.  They reveal other aspects of myself, in a more bold or symbolic fashion.  Throughout all these works the viewer is invited to share my experiences but also asked to share theirs as well.

Zen, The Sword, The Brush and David Lynch

I have taken a break from writing for a bit so that I could do a little bit of research, reading, making art, playing music and celebrating Christmas.  But now I am back and want to spend a little time making some connections between what I have been reading and making art.  This is slightly off of the normal creative thinking topic that I normally write about, but it’s related and worth an examination.

I recently changed schools and classrooms and I share a very large space with two other teachers.  They have made a point of collecting old books that are heading for the recycle bin, particularly if they have an art slant to them.  The book I picked up is entitled Zen and Japanese Culture by Daisetz T. Suzuki published in 1973.  I have, in the past read several text about Zen, some I’ve retained, others I haven’t and this one I am hoping I retain for a while to come, this is in part why I am writing this article.  To date I have only finished the first four chapters, the nature of what Zen is and its relation to sword play.  If possible I will attempt summarize nearly three hundred pages of material into a short paragraph.  The sword is an instrument of life.  It administers justice but puts its bearer the in the position where if not executed properly will result in death.  The swordsman trains the techniques, learns them by heart, puts himself to the utmost physical challenge.  Why?  because the swordsman must get to the point where no mind is used to execute his maneuvers.  When the mind stops to rest on a thought during a fight it will hesitate, it will not flow it will think and that brief pause of thinking is enough gap for an opponent to strike one down.  Beyond just knowing the maneuvers a swordsman must learn to let go of his thoughts and allow his subconscious to make the right moves, to be aware of the body’s actions but not allow the conscious mind to control them.  To say that the swordsman needs to be fearless is not stating the situation strongly enough.  He must have no concept of death, he must be beyond life and death so as to not interrupt the subconscious mind at work.

Aside from physical training the mind needs to be trained to access the subconscious.  Practice in not thinking while employing simple daily tasks is important.  Meditation is also of great importance.  By sitting and quieting the conscious mind one reaches into the areas of the subconscious, it creates a stronger link to the waking life we live everyday.  Through this conduit one can live one’s life beyond life and death.

If we are to substitute the sword for the brush I believe we will see that the same correct actions will come about.  The arm and the hand will move in correct, precise order.  The need to make decisions will be unnecessary because the subconscious knows what to do.  But to reach this state the same physical and mental training needs to be put into action.  The artist must train, push through strain and mental hardship.  I hate to use the word hardship because it sounds cliché, however, I believe we are all aware of the suffering artist stereotype and in this situation there is a valid connection.  Exactly what manner of hardship is difficult to say.  My opinion is that the artist push their skills far beyond what they believe is capable.  She must work tirelessly on things that are difficult, challenging, incomprehensible.  Also she must lean to reach into that subconscious, to lose herself in the painting, or sculpting or whichever art  form is being executed.  I believe not only the correct actions will come about, but also new ideas, ideas that cannot be accessed in the conscious state.

David Lynch talks about this, he describes it as “The real big fish”.  The great ideas/big fish are in deep water and to get one fishing line into deep water one needs to still the shallow.  I really like this metaphor and whether you like his movies or not I think most will agree that his ideas, stories and imagery are among the finest examples of creativity in the last fifty years.  I wrote an article a while back about the graffiti artist and movement and I still believe that this connection between movement and art is there.  The graffiti artist must know his art because it is executed on a grand scale.  The movements must be correct and precise and the body must not hesitate lest the line or the fill has a hitch in it that disturbs the entire work.

I will leave you with a verbal painting, something I have been meaning to work out visually.  One rectangle on top of two squares and another rectangle below the squares.  In the top rectangle a scene from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon where the two heroines are discussing the relationship between swordplay and calligraphy.  In the square to the left a graffiti artist at work, the square to the right a photo of Chinese brushes and a calligraphy workbook and in the rectangle at the bottom the following quote: “Therefore do not get your mind stopped with the sword you raise; forget what you are doing, and strike the enemy.  Do not keep your mind on the person who stands before you.  They are all of emptiness, but beware of your mind being caught up with emptiness itself.” Suzuki 1973