Friday 30th September

Weather kept us indoors. We built on work done earlier in the week.
Found this little thing on youtube - it stimulated some useful discussion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuZJi4NpnzA
Claire

urban fabric tue and wed

sorry that update is so late but anyway here is a very brief account of what we did on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday afternoon John B and myself brought a group first years on a "look & learn" walkabout in Galway. Whilst we encouraged the students to draw in their A3 notebooks, the main aim was simply to get the students to understand and engage in the act of Looking/Observation/Consciousness. We pointed out specific aspects of the built fabric of the city which might have ordinarily been overlooked and so as we went along we pointed at and touched surfaces hoping that the students were observant enough to pick up on that we were indicating. At the culmination of the brief trip I believe that the learners did see the city in a new way, were aware of how they had not been aware of the textural richness of the material manifestation of the city up to that point and how their Visual Awareness was now sharpened.
On Wednesday we remained on campus and attempted to reenact the drawing activity of the previous day by looking at surfaces and textures. A seminar at the end of the day presented us with a marked improvement in the quality and intensity of observation. A discussion on the potential of how the project might develop followed.  The students then watched a DVD .
Aidan.

Clarification on language and some resources

In the real world creative personalities spark off each other and make for a dynamic visual culture. With that in mind, I think we own it to our learners to make them aware off  the possibilities of both art and design, through the language we use and the resources we offer. It makes for a broader, richer education.

Couple links to urban designer/artists

http://www.astridkrogh.com/

very interesting designer/artist mixes textiles, technology on a monumental urban scale.

http://www.maijalouekari.com/textile.php. 

Interesting a bit urban, and bit landscape and all the stuff indetween.

The following web resources are good and fun http://www.colourlovers.com/
It allows the user to create, share and apply colour palettes to other users design templates.
It offers a platform for a whole dialogue of connectedness with like mined individuals who "love colour".
It raises awareness that there is a world and an industry that places value, both personal and financial in developing such skills.

re. the workshops, its good to get a bit of clarification there.
Tony

Update and check emails

Hi all,

It appears I may have been emailing stuff as opposed to blogging, apologies and please check. Also everybody needs to be involved in this conversation otherwise this blogging craic will not function.

Regarding the project Urban Fabric and the Metropolis and the blogg on omission of design in the glossary by Tony .M - point taken. However I must say that the brief is introductory and as such can be and should be added to in an organic fashion by yourselves at any point through moodle, handouts, group seminars/lecturers workshops etc.. If you feel there is something left out or of important then put it in - In my developing philosophy of art education, its my view that we as educators (we are are already) and indeed need to move toward a shared team-teaching approach, wherein a single teacher/authorial narrative continuum is enriched by multiple, congenially voiced appreciations which allows for a true cultural democracy. Aidan, John B and I had fun with this today and I think the work on friday also adopted such an approach

 Not withstanding the function of this project

is to allow learners to use the spaces and fabric of Galway city as source to develop and create a body of creative exploration during semester one which allows them to fulfil the learning outcomes for the CVS module in an imaginative, creative and explorative manner.

 The CVS learning outcomes are; (note  3.)

1. Integrate critical thinking and problem solving skills with regards to their studio work.

2. Apply a basic visual vocabulary which facilitates critical analysis of contemporary visual arts practice and its historical basis.

3. Display competency in the application of the elements and principles of art and design.

4. Design and create projects and artistic statements with an emphasis on enquiry.

5. Apply good working practices and general knowledge of health & safety issues and time management.

6. Participate in new educational experiences and formulate an understanding through appropriate applications and participation.

7. Engage in a manner that is increasingly autonomous and self critical.

8. Interact effectively through visual and verbal communication skills

9. Demonstrate an understanding of the basics of Photography and Digital Media.

AS SUCH WE SHOULD FOCUS ON ALLOWING THE LEARNERS TO:

EXPERIENCE ART AND DESIGN AND THE RANGE OF POSSIBILITIES
EXPAND THEIR AWARENESS OF ART AND DESIGN  AND THE LANGUAGE OF ART & DESIGN
DEVELOP WAYS OF SEEING FOR EXAMPLE:
     A. THE FORMALIST WAY OF SEEING
     B. THE CONTEXTUALIST WAY OF SEEING

REGARDING WORKSHOPS WE SHOULD LOOK AT THE LANGUAGE OF FORM: 

THE VISUAL ELEMENTS

     A. LINE
     B. SHAPE
     C. SPACE (Two-Dimensional and three Dimensional)

D. TEXTURE
       1. Actual Texture, Implied Texture, Imagined texture
     E. LIGHT AND COLOR
    
THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD COMPOSITION IN ART AND DESIGN AND THE PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION
     A. UNITY
     B. VARIETY
     C. BALANCE
     D. EMPHASIS, DIRECTION, JUXTAPOSITION
     E. RHYTHM, REPETITION, AND PATTERN
     F. PROPORTION AND SCALE

WE COULD ALSO LOOK AT DIFFERENCES AND COMMONALITIES BETWEEN FINE ART AND DESIGN

AND SHOULD CERTAINLY DO SOME WORK ON MEDIA AND NARRATIVE.

The glossary in the brief represents a sample of terms in the lexicon of Art and design practice as opposed to the main terms or most important ones and should and needs to be added to. 

With regards to fine art and design and and whether the BAAD Level 7 as was stated at the programmatic review is design lite or design with a small d, well we can certainly have that debate. Since we have only one learning outcome which specifically mentions art &design maybe we need to revisit that arena? 

However for the moment the brief has been introduced, some students have been out in the field with John B and Aidan and the remainder have been mind mapping and getting to grips with the brief with me in the studio. John B. will do a workshop in perspective drawing on Tuesday next - with a limit of 30 places

Now I'am of for a run see you all tomorrow


The City exists to promote the good life — or the best life possible — for its citizens. Aristotle’

Here's some websites for your viewing pleasure (This one is good http://www.bl.uk/magnificentmaps/map4.html and a student sent me this today http://vimeo.com/17774990 )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City

http://www.integralcity.com/about-us/what-is-integral-city.html

http://www.cityofsound.com/blog/shanghai_diary/

http://www.arkinet.com/articles/new-master-programme-relational-barcelona

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZtveCkW9Dc&feature=player_embedded

http://www.arkinet.com/articles/ross-racines-graphic-communities

http://www.rossracine.com/

http://www.bl.uk/magnificentmaps/map4.html

http://www.arkinet.com/categories/mapping

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonepowell/sets/72157613841045343/

http://www.phantomcity.org/#

http://vimeo.com/17774990

Bye for now john L

 

Art and Design

Urban Fabric Project
Nice project, certainly lots there to get their teeth into and it should make for an exciting project.
In the glossary of terms; collaboration, content, context etc there is no mention of design, its all referenced in terms of artwork only. Its and easy omission to make, however, these terms have just as much relevance in the world of design. Think we have to make them aware of this and the language we use at this stage is important. Its not just artworks its about the elements and principles of Art and Design.
Tony

Monday 26th Sept

Hi Guys
I took my group today and introduced L2L Frida Kahlo Powerpoint Pres . We went to Library and every student got an artist to look up and they were only allowed library source for Day 1 . They are making a presentation in 2 weeks on giving artist . All went well .John then introduced CVS urban Fabric project . I also started Digital Media Class . Lynne
Also can everyone please blog at the end of day so we can plan ahead for next day , this really is the idea of blog and it is already a great aid to us all !!

Time is now GMT.

Hi Guys,
I've reset the time to GMT. It was set for GMT -8hours which was making us all look like raving insomniacs!
Claire

Hi guys there's two mails in our inbox, one from Lynne and myself. One video and a movie maker file, both show what we did fri. It went well. See you next week. Tony

L2L and CVS monday 26

Hi all Gerardine Quinn will take  groups 3 and 4 for L2L and in CVS I will introduce the project. Will forward copy of brief asap.. First Year Meeting next Wednesday 3pm in the office. Sent you the powerpoint for monday Lynne but will try to put it up here as well by gmail

have a good weekend

john

Wednesday -another day of Sound and Vision.

Hi again.
Blaise, Seamus and myself were in the CM hall again with those who weren't doing Life Drawing and we dealt again with much the same issues as Tuesday but the media used was ink and wash using a range of soft hair brushes on paper. We initiated the day's activity with a brief intro and then played Reich's "Drumming Part 1" as a listening exercise. We then discussed what visual impressions the students had whilst listening to the piece of music.
The students then went to work using ink and brush and being conscious of the ability to express tone as a visual manifestation of variation in sound. The music they responded to was Part's "Spiegel im Spiegel 1" using a singular brush.
After a tea break work resumed with the notion of duality being introduced- two brushes were to be used simultaneously, one in a dark tone , the other lighter. Sound- David Heath's "The Frontier".
They thus dealt with the various elements and principles such as balance, composition, contrast, juxtaposition whilst struggling to create two marks at the same time.
The next exercise combined construction and destruction in that the positive marks made had then to be obliterated or erased. Therefore erasure could be seen as not necessarily a negative action but as an integral part of a creative process (transformation). The sounds were Trihornophone's "BreathingTime"and Ardal Alpha's "Single Engine".
There followed a half hour seminar led off by Blaise, examining the resulting work hung  in the annex where a wide range of topics emerged from aesthetics to cultural expectation, intention etc., etc.
After lunch the learners were allowed to response with less strictures to sound and these longer sessions led to the paper being more intensely worked.
After a short break Seamus directed a very different activity which I will leave him to explain but it was one that was very thoughtful and powerful.
As regards Friday, I don't know how it will go but if anyone wants to experience something very different and yet completely familiar you might look at the following links
http://youtu.be/PT-3oR83LiI
http://youtu.be/XKK5IEhko3g
These are examples of Extended Technique in sound and I am sure we could all find visual echoes/equivalents in these.
Good Luck, see you next week, Aidan.

Student Groups, Group tutors and attendence sheets etc

Hi All,

Have divided the students into four groups 1-4 and also assigned tutors I will email the groups and an attendance sheet template and you can sort it out. it will be each lecturer's responsibility to take attendances for the modules and classes they teach and file that attendance weekly in the office I will sort out a folder.

Working on the project brief which has a working title of Urban Fabric and the Metropolis which should allow for plenty of scope. I hope that we can introduce on Monday afternoon in the one hour CVS slot which should allow for plenty of scope.  The brief will be straight forward with an emphasis on imagination, creativity and exploration: As weel as the learning outcomes for CVS the aims to include

1 – Gather learners into a shared work environment where they can inquire both  individually and together and create work in the attempt to penetrate a shared theme.

2 – To work within a framework and display the findings of this ongoing exploration 

3 – To create exhibits. (To this extent we will have a curated exhibition of year one work in the Hall space and Cluain Mhuire Hall from 12 - 16 December - probally set up Monday and Tuesday and launch on Wednesday remove on Friday)

4 -Allow lecturers to create, develop and deliver workshops and tutorials which facilitates the above

 I'm going to show this at the start as an intro 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j8Ba9rWhUg

then introduce the brief with a few more visuals for example

http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/artnow/kathyprendergast/default.shtm

OR

http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/online_az/4:322/result/0/84092?initial=C&artistId=19901&artistName=Nathan%20Coley&submit=1 


 http://web.mac.com/kuehne.klein/Mandala/Mandala.html#7


 If you have stuff please send on but bear in mind it is a 1 hour slot so it may be the case that some of you might what to give your own presentation as a means of developing the brief and adding feul to the fire!!!!

Weather permitting we hope to get off campus next Tuesday and Wednesday and possibly Friday to begin the process of gathering data.

Regarding workshops-we need to begin the week of 3 October. If your tutorial group has life-drawing on any given week then you are free on the Tuesday and Wednesday to deliver workshops unless you teach life-drawing (Lynne and I are doing that)

Okay kiddies hope to see you all at he Norman Villa's soon
john L