DMP Artist Educator Statement

I was originally hesitant to take this course because I was scared to participate in this final performance project. I was insecure about acting in any sense and the idea of using my body in that way in front of people seemed terrifying. However, this turned out to be one of my favorite projects I have ever done in college. I learned so much about myself and about the production of art in general. I learned that I have a lot to contribute to the artistic world. My English brain has been trained to look at things critically and creatively, which is effective when applied to media. I also learned that I am capable of growth. Even though I have never performed before, it doesn't mean that my inexperience equals incapability. Instead, all that acting required was my own heart and stories. Being willing to share myself with others and be vulnerable was my largest contribution and as I saw my other group members do this I found that the piece came beautifully together. We discussed at the beginning of the semester the value of stories and the danger of telling a single story. I felt like this project taught me the importance of sharing your stories and the power behind multiple voices coming together to relay one message. It is moving and spiritually strengthening. 

A modified version of this assignment in a classroom could be instead of using verbatim from interviews, students could use dialogue and texts found in a variety of novels to reflect a single theme. Groups could work together to create a soundscape and a visual landscape that engages the audience but also reflects an appropriate tone for the pieces they are using for collaboration. I don't think this project could be successful without group work, so I would continue that aspect of the assignment. A modification might be giving students roles or assignments during the process so that every member of the group stays on task and does their part. I found that our group had no trouble with this, but I wonder if on a high school level there should be some sort of higher accountability factor. I might also include more scaffolding. The theatre majors helped us English people a lot in this process and coming up with acting ideas and knowing how to write a script effectively. In a general English classroom students probably would not be super familiar with such parts of production either. So it would be effective to have students taught piece by piece and supplemented with outside content and examples so that they have a huge well to draw from as they collaborate and create. I read an article about how embodying characters help students create more empathy for different perspectives. I feel like this assignment would aid students in understanding the characters and their choices better and seeing the impact of their experiences. These are hard concepts to teach students but I feel like this assignment has that capacity. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Identity Remix

Image
  With recent war developments in Russia, a topic that has received a lot of attention lately is whether or not women should be drafted. Tiktok, Instagram, and other media platforms depict videos of females cleaning captioned with “me when WWIII starts.” This led me to think about my own response to a female draft. For this remix project, I took a WWII draft registration card and photoshopped it with my own information. All the information is accurate and completely my own. The process of creating the draft card is perhaps more meaningful than the project. On the line that asks for the name and address of someone who will always know your address, made me realize that that information was equivalent to an emergency contact. Who will know if I don’t return from war? Who needs a letter sent to them? The second image is my own grandfather’s WWII picture. I photoshopped my face onto his. Even though it is kind of funny looking, it adds onto this conversation of me following in his foot...
Read more

Media Specificity

Image
This portrait uses procreate/digital art. Its affordances include the ability to create quickly, and with zero mess. The procreate app is only $10, which allows this medium to be made at no cost, It is easily shareable and duplicable. It also allows for certain features to be highlighted more than others. For example, in this portrait, the eyes receive the most attention, and lines are used to direct you to her face. Its limitations include a lack of detail that is represented in photography. The texture of the coat, the sunset that caused the gaze, the changing colors of the sun reflecting off her hair, are all features lost in this portrait. Digital media strips the image from the authenticity of the individual and instead places the individual in a virtual world. Shading using this medium was complicated and challenging. The medium is also challenging with its learning curve. I had to ask my roommate for lots of help when it comes to layering and shading the hands. I had used procre...
Read more

Process Piece

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1asQ98ciXfIukmav4o8ObkZas6BZsSa4W/view?usp=sharing Reflection: The 1-2 minute time restraint made the video a bit more challenging, because I had chosen to do a simple process like filling up my water bottle. I enjoyed this work, however, because it required authenticity. If you notice, I am laughing any the background because I am struggling to hold down the water fountain button and hold my water bottle at the same time, a daily struggle that was magnified through this silent process. I enjoyed the constraints, it made this project fun and unique. Like the Barney reading mentions, "students must have the opportunity to read and write authentically in the visual arts" and these constraints created that opportunity. It allowed me to think like a creator and to make specific decisions about my piece. Like Jan Yager's work, my work is made from my environment. It was made literally on my way to class with my cellphone. I love that art can be...
Read more