ABOUT MY ART CLASSES
Art is, or can be, cathartic. This experience can be healthy and empowering. Erase any fears about HOW to make art – that is what I am here to provide you – the skills and techniques will be introduced and I don’t expect anyone to be instantly perfect. So tell your inner perfectionist to go to sleep. Those of you that are very literal will be aided by my juxtaposition assignments. These are akin to exercises. So they are practices in creativity. Practices are just that. I don’t expect perfection. I grade on effort: are you coming to class with your supplies? Do you do work in class? Do you do your Wreck-Less Abandon Journal assignments? Are you participating in class critiques? You will shine because you are unique. You have an individual perspective and each one of us is valuable and worthy. Some students will be amazingly skilled. I caution you NOT TO COMPARE your skill-level with others because we are all at different levels. I only want you to improve from your starting point. I also want you to be able to analyze. To analyze is to pick apart and examine. I will give many opportunities to do this throughout the course. This is also practice. I ask that you write in full sentences and write your analysis so that anyone, not in view of the art you are describing, can get a mental picture of the artwork or subject. The Elements of Art are the building blocks of art making and Principles of Design are the organizers. We will become familiar with them. They will be included in our vocabulary. Vocabulary is an important part of your education. Words are the tools to accurately and fluidly convey your knowledge and ideas. The right words lend credibility, the inability to find words might suggest that you lack true understanding. I have created rubrics that show how you will be graded. This tells you, in advance, what I am looking for. I am looking for effort, personal best and creativity in the form of engaging compositions. I want you to be able to use creative thinking in other areas of your life. MISSION FOR THE CLASS
Art for a New Era Why CREATIVITY is ESSENTIAL: Creativity is linked with innovation. A creative thinker can pull seemingly disparate concepts or systems together to make something new. This is very necessary for success in any realm of the "real", non-academic, as well as the academic, world. In Daniel H. Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, he writes that advanced societies are entering a new era: the era of meaning. We have gone through the agricultural, industrial, technological, and informational eras. We are beginning a new era, in search of meaning, where we are in search of a product or service to enhance or expand our existential questions and inclinations. Those societies that can create products and services, which provide MEANING, will reap economic and functional benefits. CREATIVE and INNOVATIVE thinking is the key. The ability to see a niche that consumers don’t yet know they need or want is essential. This may come in the form of more user-friendly software programs or the discovery of an “invisible point of view” in psychology that aids in helping people understand themselves therefore functioning better in society, or a new way of managing a corporation that is beneficial to the environment as well as the bottom line ($), etc. All of this requires BIG PICTURE thinking; the ability to visualize connections between seemingly disparate events, subjects, or systems. You will cultivate the ability to synthesize and evaluate through the art-making process. I am attempting to re-awaken your creativity. My assignments are designed to enliven and strengthen those parts of the brain. All courses you will take in your lifetime and every experience you will have – even if they do not fit obviously into your future career plans – will benefit you, the problem-solver, the innovator. So you are not just seeking to put facts into your head, you are making connections and using areas of your brain that will benefit your ability to control that thing on the TOP of YOUR BODY – its on the top for a reason! Human beings have survived as a direct result of the ability to problem-solve and innovate; we don’t have fierce claws or fangs; we cannot fight and out run predators. We have evolved because we became innovators due to need, due to environmental stressors. But we live in advanced, cozy societies now. We have so very much in terms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need. What we are looking for, in this era of our evolution, is Meaning – Big M. Be present. Be aware. Make connections. Use what you learn from my creativity exercises. Make ripples. Be fearless! Go! Change the world! |
|