https://iriscovetbook.com/eric_mack/
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Artist - Tara Donovan
Article:
Buttons
Buttons
Paper Plates
Disposable cups
Disposable cups
Index cards
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Assignment 1 - March 25th - Alternative making materials. Working with limitations.
Assignment 1 - Alternative making materials. Working with limitations.
As large as possible, and with any and all materials in your current possession, create and decorate a sign, poster, or banner for public display with a positive message for the public to read. Such as:
Everything Will be Okay
You may need to work with the unconventional materials you have at hand. I do not want you going out to buy art materials. How about an old bed sheet? Thread and needle? Glue? Buttons? Get crafty! Coffee and tea both stain fabric well...
Make the message easy to read. Please write this in English, your native language, or in any other language you would like, but only if you are comfortable doing so. Find a place for your sign so the public can see and read it. Attach your sign permanently. Your sign does not necessarily need to be outside, but others do need to be able to see it. Please use your best judgment when choosing a place to display your sign.
Take a photo of your permanently attached sign and post it to the class blog. In three or more sentences, write a description of the materials you used, what it was like to use unconventional materials to convey a positive message for the world, and why you put your sign where you did.
Title your blog post Assignment 1 - Your Name. Example - Assignment 1 - Jason Starin
This assignment is due Wednesday, April 1st at 6:59pm EST. Please post to the class blog by this date and time.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Artist - Mary Mattingly
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| Courtesy of the artist and Robert Mann Gallery |
https://art21.org/playlist/the-world-is-yours/#/2
Class assignments, image and video posts, written descriptions, and peer comments on this blog
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| Marcel Duchamp with his work “Roue de bicyclette” (Bicycle Wheel) |
This class blog will now serve as a classroom space. I, the instructor, will be giving weekly assignments, prompts, tasks, or exercises in written form every Wednesday before 7 pm EST / Philadelphia time. I will also post examples of artworks by artists whose work may be similar to the assignment being asked of you each week. I will also be giving feedback in the comment sections of your posts or commenting on the comments you made of your peers' work.
FYI, this blog has been made public throughout the academic, Craft, and Art communities, nationwide. Please keep all posts and comments within a professional classroom setting. Remember, this is still school, please be respectful when creating your own posts and commenting on your peers works.
All student homework assignments, class blog posting documentation, and class blog peer comments will be due by 6:59 pm, EST / Philadelphia time, the following Wednesday. Your postings will act as both your assignment evaluation and your attendance. I will be monitoring the class blog in order to record these grading variables.
All blog posts documenting your weekly assignments must include three or more images or videos and three or more written sentences describing the work. Include in your written descriptions the process you used and the experience you had making the work. Be aware of and write about what you were thinking about when you first read the assignment description and then how your thinking changed as you were doing the assignment exercise. How did the work change your behavior? How did you have to adapt to the new space the work created? What did that feel like?
Required weekly comments on two or more peers’ blog posts should be three or more sentences in lenght. Respond to your peers posts from the week before. Why did their post capture your attention? How? Did they interpret the assignment differently than you did? In what ways?
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
The time for making is done! The time for reinterpretation is now!
Let's consider the Spring Break as a half way point in your object educations. Thus far, we have approached a heightened awareness of objects by making them by hand with clay and following the ceramic process. Through hands-on making, we paid attention to how clay objects felt in our hands, how the lip of the cup interacted with our own lip, how heavy the clay object was, how thick the walls were, smoothed out rough spots and cracks for more comfortable tactile interactions. We were learning about craftsmanship and design through the act of making, with our hands, and through touch. We were learning to see with our hands and appreciate quality in design through feel. We may have begun to appreciate the commercial products we have at home with a little more consideration for their ergonomic forms, how they fit in our hands, or how they balanced well on a table. We were learning all this with physical material, with clay in our hands.
But then everything changed....
We no longer have clay to use, nor do we have access to glaze or kilns for firing. We no longer have the format of the ceramics process to learn object appreciation, but we do have stuff and life must go on! If it takes a making act, like making something with our hands, performing acts of wedging, coiling, and slab building to make a clay vessel, then there are reciprocal acts when we use that finished object in our everyday lives. Your finished ceramic cups don't just sit there in the cupboard do they? No. They are props for your everyday lives and needs. We give them meaning through their function. Maybe we give them sympathy, if they were handmade by someone special to us and given as a gift. We perform daily life with our possessions. Yes, we own them, they serve us, but we rely on them for sustenance, storage, protection, comfort, and nostalgia. The objects we own have meaning and play very important roles in our lives. We can no longer make these things, but we can still continue to learn these lessons in our online class. These values are what makers consider during the act of making. This is Craft Thinking.
When is a cup not a cup? I guess when we turn it upside down or lay it on its side. Maybe when it's not holding a beverage? I mean, when it's empty, is it really doing anything? Kind of a strange thing to think about, but believe me, there's been a lot written about these ideas from philosophers, such as Martin Heidegger, Vilém Flusser, as well as found in the texts of the Tao Te Ching. So, do we define a cup by how it's made, what it looks like, or by how it's used? If we use the cup inappropriately, meaning, we use the cup as an object for reasons beyond its originally designed function, holding a beverage, can we still talk about that object as a cup? If not, just what the heck is it now?
What does it become? Do we ascribe it a new meaning? How does this new thing change our lives?
If we use a cup in a context other than holding a beverage, we change its act. By doing something else with it, we begin to use and see it differently. Oh, this thing that was once called a cup, now seen as just a cylinder with the top missing, gains new potentials for use, I see! Function Vs. Use. That is what I'm getting at. And what a better way to be aware of something than when we misuse it. A design object has a set intention, it has a function, but we can use it in other ways, In ways the designer did not intent. A brick is supposed to help make a wall of a building, but it also makes a great paper weight! A pillow as a doorstop? A blanket as a fort? Sure. If we take these ideas to extremes we have something very different. We may have the beginnings of Art.
We can't make objects with clay materials any more but we can still learn to appreciate objects by changing how we use them. We can take the things we already own in our homes and change their meanings. We can create new roles for them to play. How will we, as actors, adapt to the new circumstances we will be asking our possessions to perform in? We can't make, but we can disassociate, re-contextualize, mis-use, stack, pile, and re-categorize how we perceive the objects in our everyday lives.
When we are learning to make something with our hands, we are learning to appreciate what we are trying to make. But we have to put it to the test. When what we have made is finished, we must use it to find out if our hands made it well enough. The thing we made goes through a physical evaluation with our hands and bodies. When we are making, we strive to pass this simple test. Does it function? Does it hold water, will it hold weight if sat on, is it comfortable?
Our lives are being tested now. We are encumbered. My life does not function like it did just a week ago. There are places I can't go, things I can't touch. Hesitation is now a persistent consideration. My life has become hindered. The pandemic has re-contextualized everything I do and changed how I think and approach everything.
Moving forward we will accept this! There are things that still need doing! We have to make food and eat, rest and sleep, read and watch tv, and keep in contact with friends and loved ones. We are grateful that we can still do these things. I am grateful that I can still teach this class!
As a group of varied individuals such as you are, with multiple majors and lives, I cannot assume any of you have art materials at your disposal in your homes. Nor would it be fair to ask you to buy any. Nor will I be asking you to make pottery out of cardboard, that would be an asinine request and furthermore, disrespectful to the medium of ceramics! If you have art and craft materials at your disposal and would like to use them in your projects moving forward, please, by all means, do.
I must acknowledge some consistency within the group. From what you have told me, you all have the same thing in your homes, a space that is yours to work in, now called your studio. And I can rightly assume you have stuff. We all have stuff. Possessions like books, furniture, clothing, dishes, toys, shoes, silverware, junk, art, decorations and sentimental items. All stuff! Those objects will now be your new materials to work and think with. Space, stuff, cell phone, internet and this blog, that's all you will need for the second half of Intro to Ceramics. Now online.
Thank you.
But then everything changed....
We no longer have clay to use, nor do we have access to glaze or kilns for firing. We no longer have the format of the ceramics process to learn object appreciation, but we do have stuff and life must go on! If it takes a making act, like making something with our hands, performing acts of wedging, coiling, and slab building to make a clay vessel, then there are reciprocal acts when we use that finished object in our everyday lives. Your finished ceramic cups don't just sit there in the cupboard do they? No. They are props for your everyday lives and needs. We give them meaning through their function. Maybe we give them sympathy, if they were handmade by someone special to us and given as a gift. We perform daily life with our possessions. Yes, we own them, they serve us, but we rely on them for sustenance, storage, protection, comfort, and nostalgia. The objects we own have meaning and play very important roles in our lives. We can no longer make these things, but we can still continue to learn these lessons in our online class. These values are what makers consider during the act of making. This is Craft Thinking.
When is a cup not a cup? I guess when we turn it upside down or lay it on its side. Maybe when it's not holding a beverage? I mean, when it's empty, is it really doing anything? Kind of a strange thing to think about, but believe me, there's been a lot written about these ideas from philosophers, such as Martin Heidegger, Vilém Flusser, as well as found in the texts of the Tao Te Ching. So, do we define a cup by how it's made, what it looks like, or by how it's used? If we use the cup inappropriately, meaning, we use the cup as an object for reasons beyond its originally designed function, holding a beverage, can we still talk about that object as a cup? If not, just what the heck is it now?
What does it become? Do we ascribe it a new meaning? How does this new thing change our lives?
If we use a cup in a context other than holding a beverage, we change its act. By doing something else with it, we begin to use and see it differently. Oh, this thing that was once called a cup, now seen as just a cylinder with the top missing, gains new potentials for use, I see! Function Vs. Use. That is what I'm getting at. And what a better way to be aware of something than when we misuse it. A design object has a set intention, it has a function, but we can use it in other ways, In ways the designer did not intent. A brick is supposed to help make a wall of a building, but it also makes a great paper weight! A pillow as a doorstop? A blanket as a fort? Sure. If we take these ideas to extremes we have something very different. We may have the beginnings of Art.
We can't make objects with clay materials any more but we can still learn to appreciate objects by changing how we use them. We can take the things we already own in our homes and change their meanings. We can create new roles for them to play. How will we, as actors, adapt to the new circumstances we will be asking our possessions to perform in? We can't make, but we can disassociate, re-contextualize, mis-use, stack, pile, and re-categorize how we perceive the objects in our everyday lives.
When we are learning to make something with our hands, we are learning to appreciate what we are trying to make. But we have to put it to the test. When what we have made is finished, we must use it to find out if our hands made it well enough. The thing we made goes through a physical evaluation with our hands and bodies. When we are making, we strive to pass this simple test. Does it function? Does it hold water, will it hold weight if sat on, is it comfortable?
Our lives are being tested now. We are encumbered. My life does not function like it did just a week ago. There are places I can't go, things I can't touch. Hesitation is now a persistent consideration. My life has become hindered. The pandemic has re-contextualized everything I do and changed how I think and approach everything.
Moving forward we will accept this! There are things that still need doing! We have to make food and eat, rest and sleep, read and watch tv, and keep in contact with friends and loved ones. We are grateful that we can still do these things. I am grateful that I can still teach this class!
As a group of varied individuals such as you are, with multiple majors and lives, I cannot assume any of you have art materials at your disposal in your homes. Nor would it be fair to ask you to buy any. Nor will I be asking you to make pottery out of cardboard, that would be an asinine request and furthermore, disrespectful to the medium of ceramics! If you have art and craft materials at your disposal and would like to use them in your projects moving forward, please, by all means, do.
I must acknowledge some consistency within the group. From what you have told me, you all have the same thing in your homes, a space that is yours to work in, now called your studio. And I can rightly assume you have stuff. We all have stuff. Possessions like books, furniture, clothing, dishes, toys, shoes, silverware, junk, art, decorations and sentimental items. All stuff! Those objects will now be your new materials to work and think with. Space, stuff, cell phone, internet and this blog, that's all you will need for the second half of Intro to Ceramics. Now online.
Thank you.
Intro to Ceramics - Online!
Intro to Ceramics - Online
The Struggle is Real, Embracing Disruption, Deep Dives into Dysfunction.
Instructor
Jason Starin
Due to no longer having access to ceramic materials or facilities, this class will no longer be evaluated on a mastery of skill in ceramic hand making. Rather, it will be based on introducing a higher consideration of an object's value by reinterpreting the items we already have in our everyday lives.
Students will acquire a basic knowledge of Craft Thinking by considering an object's function versus its use as that relates to a conceivable reality versus a reality of imposed living conditions. Through a series of prompts, tasks will be assigned to the students which will be meant to disrupt or deconstruct the assumed functions of everyday items associated with everyday acts in a controlled home environment. We will, with humor, embrace the disruption of everyday life by re-considering the assumed functions that we place on the objects we have in our lives which provide comfort and reliability while still trying to live a normal life.
Through acts of mis-use, mis-interpretation, and re-contextualization, students will use everyday objects, such as dish ware, clothing, and furniture, in a series of prompts set by the instructor to create physical re-arrangements and performative everyday acts, such as cleaning chores, making a meal, and relaxing, in order to challenge our assumptions of an object's original design. Through these exercises, students will become more aware of the importance of intention in form. These considerations are analogous to the ergonomic and technical decisions a ceramic object maker has to be aware of while constructing works of either functional or sculptural inclination.
These temporary installations / rearrangements and acts will be documented with pictures and videos, described with critical written explanation, and then uploaded to a class blog that will be created and used by the instructor and all the students. Assignments and attendance will be graded on this weekly evidence. After posting, students will have opportunities to witness each other's work and will be required to comment on their peers' works as a form of group critique. While students will be working from home studios, the blog will serve as a virtual viewing and discussion space for everyone involved in the class, as well as, the public.
Staying in line with a studio based class, I will not be introducing philosophical or historical readings that would be above introductory and non-major levels. Again, this is a class based on the experience of creating physically and analyzing those physical manifestations through the student’s written consideration of works made, as well as instructor, and peer feedback. I will, however, introduce examples of works created by artists that are indicative of the assignment prompts given to the students on the class blog as needed.
Evidence of what is learned in this class will come through the creation of a number of real installations and recorded acts which will show a consideration of the value of everyday objects we take for granted in our everyday lives.
The Struggle is Real, Embracing Disruption, Deep Dives into Dysfunction.
Instructor
Jason Starin
Due to no longer having access to ceramic materials or facilities, this class will no longer be evaluated on a mastery of skill in ceramic hand making. Rather, it will be based on introducing a higher consideration of an object's value by reinterpreting the items we already have in our everyday lives.
Students will acquire a basic knowledge of Craft Thinking by considering an object's function versus its use as that relates to a conceivable reality versus a reality of imposed living conditions. Through a series of prompts, tasks will be assigned to the students which will be meant to disrupt or deconstruct the assumed functions of everyday items associated with everyday acts in a controlled home environment. We will, with humor, embrace the disruption of everyday life by re-considering the assumed functions that we place on the objects we have in our lives which provide comfort and reliability while still trying to live a normal life.
Through acts of mis-use, mis-interpretation, and re-contextualization, students will use everyday objects, such as dish ware, clothing, and furniture, in a series of prompts set by the instructor to create physical re-arrangements and performative everyday acts, such as cleaning chores, making a meal, and relaxing, in order to challenge our assumptions of an object's original design. Through these exercises, students will become more aware of the importance of intention in form. These considerations are analogous to the ergonomic and technical decisions a ceramic object maker has to be aware of while constructing works of either functional or sculptural inclination.
These temporary installations / rearrangements and acts will be documented with pictures and videos, described with critical written explanation, and then uploaded to a class blog that will be created and used by the instructor and all the students. Assignments and attendance will be graded on this weekly evidence. After posting, students will have opportunities to witness each other's work and will be required to comment on their peers' works as a form of group critique. While students will be working from home studios, the blog will serve as a virtual viewing and discussion space for everyone involved in the class, as well as, the public.
Staying in line with a studio based class, I will not be introducing philosophical or historical readings that would be above introductory and non-major levels. Again, this is a class based on the experience of creating physically and analyzing those physical manifestations through the student’s written consideration of works made, as well as instructor, and peer feedback. I will, however, introduce examples of works created by artists that are indicative of the assignment prompts given to the students on the class blog as needed.
Evidence of what is learned in this class will come through the creation of a number of real installations and recorded acts which will show a consideration of the value of everyday objects we take for granted in our everyday lives.
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