I wanted to post these photographs because I will probably never post on my Art 160 blog ever again. Art 160, aka Visual Thinking, was a course taught by Nell Ruby at Agnes Scott that changed my view of art forever. I will always be forever grateful for Nell and the knowledge/confidence she bestowed our class with. These are just some photographs I took throughout the year and I felt like sharing because I’m currently bored at home and missing school more than I thought. 😛 I wanted them all to be in black and white because this class is now only a precious memory I hold in my head, and I wished to preserve those memories on a film strip (similar to my Statesboro photo compositions except not as artsy). They aren’t really anything GREAT necessarily but they are memories I hold dearly to my personal self and I know this class will always be in the back of my mind if I take more studio courses in the future. It will also, therefore, affect anything I create from here on out. My husband is currently taking an art course (yes, I persuaded him 🙂 ) at Georgia State University called, “Routine of Ritual ” during his Maymester.
I bring this up because, interestingly, his professor is teaching him skills through a drastically different method than we were taught. His professor sounds awesome and wacky and incredible and it makes me excited for my future at GSU. He is teaching this course with a method of constraints; meaning, he gives them certain tasks and restraints throughout the day (while also integrating writing and text into his students’ visual thinking skills) where they are forced to tediously and ritualistically act out his desires on paper daily and for homework in order to see what the process creates for them. What comes out of these constrains, are creative techniques that can then go on to inspire entire compositions. For instance, one of Ricky’s tasks was to write one word on a piece of paper, for 100 pages. The students were told to start with the top sheet and write any word that comes to mind, then place it aside, then write the next word that comes to mind on the next sheet of paper, etc. until the 100 pages were filled with one word adorning the top of each page. They were then given a number of compositions to create and place upon these pagers. The compositions derived from multiple prompts such as planting a seed and draw what you observe every day of the class. His professor even integrated blind contour but it was done in a different method than I was taught. They placed their hands and sketch pad under the table and drew from memory, etc. and were allowed to lift their pencils. It’s really cool to see the differences and I wish I could be there to photographically document this radical teaching method. It sounds fun. But also tedious. My husband, however, is being inspired and creating cool art things with text, so that makes me happy. Sounds like a mind-opening experience.
Anyways, these photographs below are more for my enjoyment as anything but I had to commemorate my graduation and time at Agnes somehow, so this is what I came up with.
Watching The Photo Reels Go Round And Round... 