more art assignments+analysis

in small groups we tried two more art assignments, ones we could do within a short space of time and weren’t too complicated. we decided on Learning To Love You More: teach us an exercise.

Deep squat and stretch : Stand with legs apart and go as low as possible, hold for 8 seconds then stand back up straight and touch the floor with your hands, repeat as many times as you like- Good for legs and glutes- Usually perform this exercise before a run or playing tennis 

i picked up on the ‘religiously’ requirement within the assignment and thought about how  if i do not complete this exercise at least a few times a day i feel like i have ‘failed’ that day. this task made me think about how often i do certain things and the things that i would have liked to include in this assignment had i actually completed it more often. doing the exercise at this moment felt silly as i was not wearing the proper clothing, although i have completed this in jeans before.  we also have to consider that taking part in these assignments was a part of the course and had to be participated in to acknowledge learning/engagement themes and methods. i enjoyed seeing what others had posted in response to this assignment, some more abstract than others, and there was an ability to learn other exercises but also the larger concept of what an ‘exercise’ could mean.

Second Assignment : Wicked Arts Assignments: Copy-paste: to come up with a conversation between two characters using existing material from the internet only.

Dolly parton: The way I see it, if you want the rainbow you gotta put up with the rain 

rain: it will be okay is that what you want me to say

dolly: this blonde ain’t nobody’s fool

rain: i cant sleep

dolly: yes that’s the way it is, you have to love and learn

rain: i cant eat

dolly: of course we all dream of all the things enjoyed by others

rain: breathing is hard

dolly: all you gotta do is smile that smile

rain: i’m not doing well in terms of being a functional human you know?

dolly: life rides the train, for some it moves slow

rain: sometimes its better to be alone

dolly: two doors down, they’re laughing and drinkin and having a party

rain: but there’s something inside me that screams you don’t deserve it

dolly: your voice is soft like summer rain

rain: i love crying in the rain

dolly: and i will always love you

this is a conversation between dolly parton and the rain (depressing quotes) she claims we must put up with to see the rainbow. i found this assignment to be fun to take part in and found it didn’t take me long for an idea to form. it felt similar to the score we were working on as part of the ‘play’ themes course that also includes producing texts from found or existing materials. there was a lot of scrolling through images and lyrics to find things that fit together into a could-happen conversation and, luckily, many possibilities. like the ‘say goodbye’ assignment, i feel like this one could go on forever as there is so much material of lyrics/interviews/quotes that are always being created and added to.

analysis

I have been just been commissioned to create an Artist’s Toolkit that is a comprehensive open educational resource (OER). I’ve been advised that I should avoid making assumptions about the learners that will use this Toolkit. Since I will only be paid when I complete the commission, I have very few resources at my disposal. How might I achieve this task?

in class and at home we completed many toolkits that are openly accessible. this gave me a good idea of what a toolkit is, what it can be used for, and the shapes in which this can take. i chose a fairly simple task initially as i thought it would be interesting to see what my answers would be, this was miranda julys (Miranda July/Harrell Fletcher- learning to love you more (http://learningtoloveyoumore.com/index.ph) say goodbye assignment. i chose this one as my mates had mentioned i should be more emotional and thought this would be a good task to follow and complete as this was on my mind. at first finding answers to this task was difficult and took me a while to think about but when i had written a couple suddenly i couldnt stop thinking of answers. i wouldnt describe this assignment as very fun but it was useful to get to know myself more and see myself from a distance i havnt been to before. i thought of answers that were too big to change but wrote them down anyway, most of them are fairly specific though and are genuinely things I’d like to get rid off, especially not checking the weather forecast. i like how this task doesnt ask a lot in terms of having to spend ages with it, use lots of materials and create something physically; although i found this wasnt the case and actually a lot was asked of the participants as this was not as simple as expected.

the teach us an exercise task was completed in class hence the inappropriate clothing choice. i went with the answer that came to mind first which was an exercise i do very often to help with walking and staying flexible. i thought this was an obvious assignment with clear rules to think about and follow but others in  my group thought of much more interesting, more abstract, ideas of what an exercise could be and how it can be taught.  this assignment felt slightly more closed in terms of how much thinking is involved, but perhaps the language set onto a task can always be manipulated and torn apart.

the final assignment of copy-paste was my favourite as it asked for creativity with answers produced but had a certain limit of being things only from inside the internet. the picture alongside this assignment had quotes so i thought it would be an interesting idea to take this as a starting point. this then endured into a play-like dialogue between dolly parton (after seeing one of her overused quotes) and various depressive quotes by people who clearly need friendly attention. this whole assignment put into question the openness of the internet, the mass amounts of information we use or could use if we wanted to, and, as this assignment is found on the internet, the participants would be knowledgeable enough to complete this task, in all kinds of ways.

coming back to the scenario, making assumptions about the participants in a workshop will mean the workshop will not be open and some people will be put off by the closed nature of it. when thinking of an idea i think it is best to make the workshop as simple as possible in terms of anyone can use the equipment/materials without confusion or difficulty. i have found that taking part in a range of art assignments has been the best way to learn about them and get a clear idea of what works and what doesnt, and how it can be as open as possible, both in person or online. i have found many resources online, especially on gallery/creative space websites, that give archives of workshops completed. these can be modified to suit what a particular theme of the workshop is to be and the desired results from participants. i believe with openness there should always be an expectation that the workshop may go in different directions than what is initially desired but this can be the best thing about them; because the workshop is simple to understand and follow, any anomalies can be considered and routed.

 

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