Manuel A. Raposo // Seminar 1 and 2

This morning we visited the Boston Center for the Arts. It was my first time coming across the campus. I’m from the South Coast and have been living there for the past year while attending Massart, so I’m pretty ignorant of the Boston art scene. I appreciate all the gallery visits and particularly seeing the BCA as an ongoing center for artists across mediums.

We saw the William Cordova exhibit in the Mills Gallery. I approached the gallery blindly at first. I didn’t read about the individual work descriptions or theme, I just walked in and experienced the work raw. I think it worked better that way as I ventured through the gallery and came up with connections on my own.

The obstructive installation piece House That Frank Lloyd Built 4 Fred Hampton and Mark Clark was hard to ignore. I walked through it, reminiscing about the construction of my family home and the times I would run through the skeletal frames with my brother. I continued to the deconstructed artist book on the wall and then into the last room that included two pieces, one of which was a video of the documentary on Tupac Shakur with audio from the documentary on the last indigenous leader in Peru, Tupac Amaro. I also witnessed a video of 1980s urban breakdancing with audio from Jim Morrison’s rant on stage of a live concert.

After ward, we got together to discuss the work and draw those connections. I got backstory on some of the works, the most poignant being the installation piece House That Frank Lloyd Built 4 Fred Hampton and Mark Clark. It was the skeletal frame of the house where two prominent Black Panther members were martyred. While it wasn’t the actual house, there was a lot  of emotion resonating from the frame.

Later that day, we visited the studio of Linda Price-Sneddon. Her work was an explosion of colors and sounds and video. It was colorful and fun and almost Seuss-like. It was good to talk about the evolution of an artist, the studio life, and the work process that goes into installation art. I’m always curious about the process, learning about how artists get from point A to point B. I feel like it is very helpful in my own work, comparing and contrasting with my own work process.

I found both galleries interesting in their approach not only to curating, but also presentation and involving visitors in discussion. We looked at several artists primarily working in new media breaching a variety of subjects from nature to love. At Tufts Gallery, we were taken through the Nancy Holt photography and video exhibition. I will be the first to say that I can only take nature photography in small increments and video even less. Nevertheless, I appreciated the thought and work put into her photography and not to mention working as a female contemporary photographer in the 1970s.  That alone earns my respect and I appreciate having been informed that the curator for Tufts Gallery likes to exhibit female artists as well as minorities–giving them a voice in the art community that can be very white male dominated.

Western Graveyards, Nevada and California by Nancy Holy, 1968; tufts.edu

Nancy Holt doesn’t just take shots of nature. She also creates ‘land art’, implementing sculpture into the space and documenting it through photography and video. Sun Tunnels is one such example in which Holt, with help, created large cylindrical sculptures with holes punched in. She photographed through the sculpture in various times of the day, relying on the position of the sun and landscape to create dynamic pieces of work.

Sun Tunnels by Nancy Holt, 1976; tufts.edu

The walkthrough was a little awkward, but more effective in including us in the conversation re: the artwork being displayed. This contrasts heavily with our visit to the MIT and the gallery guide’s lecture method which left little room for inclusion.

At MIT, we observed a series of paintings and installations by Cheyney Thompson. This artist deconstructed color theory and built bridges with digital painting, applying digital methods to traditional medium and alluding to digital effects through their painting.

I was fortunate enough to be pulled aside by the curator and point out individual works of art and understand more about the themes and ideas behind the pieces. This was more effective than the lectures which tended to drag on.

We also took a look at a video by artist Akam Zaatari. The title of the film is Tomorrow Everything Will Be Alright dealing with a romantic connection between two men and a typewriter operating as an instant messaging program. As a queer person in a long distance relationship, I was particularly moved by this short film. I laughed at some parts, was moved to silence at others–I am particularly interested in queer themed art, so this was a treasure to stumble upon. We never actually see the men, but we get to know them through a familiar format (instant messaging) that is connected to the old fashioned type writer.

It was a good contrast in different methods of gallery tours and relevant to my interest in working in museum education.

I didn’t know prior to this course that I was already engaging in new media through my digital artwork. I thought it was all about video and being savvy with film editing and installation projects, but new media is as broad as painting. There are a lot of materials at your disposal and a lot of ways in which you can use it. In my case, I paint using brush settings and my tablet in Adobe Photoshop. I also do some sketchy work in MS Paint as shown here.

While some artists may have the privilege of stumbling into contemporary accessible art, others aren’t so lucky. Schools are rapidly shutting down or cutting funding to art programs and only offering very basic traditional modes of teaching. My own high school had a dismally small art department with the art teachers having to buy many of their own supplies and trying their best to create individual unique experiences in class.

I still use traditional mediums, but with more contemporary artists relying on new media, it is becoming important to introduce these techniques to budding artists rather than push it away as not being ‘real art’.

This semester, I worked with the ICA teens program. Every month, for the Boston schools semesters, they have workshops that cover a variety of subjects that high school students can sign up for.

Some kids are even eligible for a scholarship which means they can take classes already paid for them. these classes range from DJ to Video Game Design, all of it concentrating on new media techniques.

I never thought I would be interested in teaching or of educating anyone under eighteen, but the more I spent time with these kids, the more I enjoyed what they had to say about their work and just how excited they were about trying new things.

The class I stayed the longest with was a video game design class taught by Darius, an experienced game programmer. using current exhibitions as inspiration, these kids got right to work, talking together to come up with fun and visually interesting games.

Kids are becoming more tech savvy, having knowledge of multiple social networking websites and software. teaching new media techniques could lead kids into a comfortable and familiar setting. It also keeps them up to date on the latest tech and new media artists and what you can do with what you have at home.

Today we got right to work after a quick review for those who missed the last class or forgot where they were. The kids got right to work splitting up responsibilities and getting to drawing their characters and programming. I observed how Darius walked amongst the students and conversed with them on their projects and what they can do and how they can do it, keeping them on track and in the know of what they can accomplish. I stepped back to watch (killer headache tonight), take pictures, and casually talked to students about their work and what they liked to do.

This class was spent going over more programming that can be done in Game Maker. We also looked at numerous online sources for sound, music, and references. We went over copyright online as well as provided websites for free material that could be used in the students’ games. Darius has a lot of knowledge over various stock websites for sound effects, custom music, and for image referencing. He also informed the students that he will be bringing in some of his professional friends for personal input on the last say of class. Visiting artists gives the students a rare opportunity to talk one-on-one with professionals within the industry that make this medium their life’s work and passion. I’m personally excited for it.

After wards, we came up with the class projects. Students are divided into teams where they each create their own unique game using the current exhibition Figuring Color as inspiration. Kids used paper to sketch out ideas as well as inspiration from video games such as Bomber and Castlevania. Some are ambitious in wanting to create two player games. I like seeing the creativity and found myself pleasantly surprised by the varied and thoughtful ideas per game.

I was able to talk with the students some more, gauging their interests in comic books this time around. We talked about super heroes and movies and I learned more about where they are coming from and what interests they are bringing into the class that could inform their work. I took some notes on Darius’s teaching style and usage of resources.

For the past three classes, we have been working closely with the Artward Bound program. With Fang and Natalia, we’ve been adventuring and art making with Murielle.

The first day, we walked around the Fens, admiring the foliage and trees and finding anything interesting to use. We collected sticks and flowers, fungus and tree bark into a bag and even took opportunity to feed the ducks (another classmate’s idea). Fang and Natalia left around 5, leaving me an extra hour with Murielle. We walked all the way around the Fens, picking out more wild life and foliage. I learned more about her family and her work. Her favorite artist is Jeff Koons and she likes working with 3D and found objects. She also likes calligraphy and drawing in pencil.

The next class, we brought in some new materials from Natalia’s studio. We played with oil pastels and charcoal and water color, mixing together mediums to create our observational drawings of dandelions and daffodils. Murielle is a quick worker and sped through her work. She seemed to genuinely like playing with different mediums and the effects she could make with them. The challenge was trying to make her focus on one piece of work long enough to get it more detailed and finished. I didn’t want to pressure her into working on something she didn’t feel like doing anymore while at the same time needing to adhere to Artward Bound’s goals in creating a college portfolio.

The last class was our fun day. We brought in balloons for Murielle to play with. We got the idea from Jeff Koons large scale sculptures of dogs and flowers seemingly made out of balloons (yet are steel). We spent about half of the 100 balloons, finding new ways to attach balloons together and create different shapes. I got my hands dirty scribbling marker on my balloon creation and then covering it in tape. I planned on painting over the tape with gesso and then over that with acrylic. Murielle told me she wanted to do the same thing only with water bottles instead of balloons.

When Natalia and Fang left, Murielle was pretty tired out by the balloon making and turned to 2D. We concentrated on daffodil and dandelion drawings and again trying to encourage her to work more on one piece.

Time passed by quickly and we packed up to leave. Over all, I enjoyed working with the Artward Bound kids in encouraging their artwork and working side by side with them on the same projects. I gave some advice encouraging to keep working and defining drawings as well as encouraging Murielle’s own ideas and personal interests. It was a good experience I wouldn’t mind repeating again.

- B

Darius brought in people he knew from the video game industry. One of the speakers is Courtney Stanton, a video game producer/project manager. She discusses all the work involved in video game design with designers and programmers and checks up on video game development and process. She ventured into mobile and social (ex. facebook) games.

He also introduced: Alex Bruce, independent game developer from Australia, currently developing Antechamber; employees from Gradient Studios, working on an multiplayer demolition truck game.

He invited these developers to freely discuss with the students on their gaming projects. The professionals split off, approaching different groups on their work.

The students today made the finishing touches on their gaming projects. Once again, they were hard at work, focusing on their project and working with each other to complete it.

Darius went to individual groups and inquired as to their process. When a common problem came up, he went to the main computer and did a small lesson and demonstration for the class.

At the end of class, we all sat down and went through each groups’ games. They played the game for us and then spoke about how the gallery exhibit Figuring Color influenced their work and what they learned through the course. After ward, Darius would add his input and praised the students on their work.

I felt this class was really successful. Darius really knew what he was doing and did his best to support and provide many resources for the students including bringing in game developers to give feedback and make connections with the students’ works. The students also looked like they really enjoyed what they were doing and worked well together while also incorporating pieces from Figuring Color. I’m hoping some of them continue to attend workshops at the ICA or further experiment with new media.

I enjoyed observing teachers and workshops in the ICA teen program. The atmosphere is very comfortable and the staff were very welcoming. I learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes at the ICA as well as how workshops flow and different teaching methods depending on the medium.

I know I have been quiet about my observations so far. I have only been able to sit in for two classes on digital collages and those were real learning experiences in growing accustomed to the environment and learning how best I can observe and aid in a classroom. Then there was a break between classes as most public school students had winter vacation. Followed by personal issues with health and family, I have sadly not been able to get to the ICA as much as I’d like to, even to do simple data entry.

Today I was able to get in for the second class on Video Game Design. I’m pumped, because I’ll be able to observe this class from beginning (roughly) to end. Plus, it’s a subject I’m particularly passionate about. While I’m not a video game programmer, I’m a video game enthusiast. As the kids started walking in, I asked them if they played video games and what their favorites titles are. I got a dialogue going about different video games and what they liked and didn’t like. I was surprised and happy by some of the responses that didn’t correlate with most major gaming company’s key demographic (white cisgender heterosexual males). The teacher (Darius) was also fun to work with and we connected over video games and current titles out right now.

We started off with a gallery tour. We went through Figuring Color and discussed the usage of color in a variety of ways and how it can influence video game design. We then went through the other galleries freely. I was able to check out some displays I haven’t seen before including a photograph taken by my favorite photographer, Nan Goldin and a piece by Collier Schorr exploring gender identity.

Back in the classroom, I sat back and mostly observed as it was largely in Darius’s hands on explaining the different elements in the program they were using to make their games. I sketched the various students as they worked, took pictures, and helped out with a few regarding small issues and not catching what Darius said the first time around.

It felt rewarding to escort the kids outside and hear their enthusiasm for the subject and excitement for pending classes.

I’m having a lot of fun at the ICA. The environment is relaxed and really centered on making the kids comfortable and inspired to work. These kids usually come here of their own free will and have some desire to continue a future in art. The staff is also really welcoming. I’m one of those people that takes a while to warm up to things, but they have made me feel welcomed really fast. I almost don’t want this internship to end as I’m enjoying exchanging ideas and enthusiasm over art and teaching.

-B

I’m a huge supporter of up-to-date technology and utilizing the Internet to further education. The Internet is a fast and accessible and reaches globally. Millions of artists can share their work online. I have several websites I go to for referencing as well as stock websites on hand and Google is one click away for searching my favorite artists both classical and contemporary. Digital illustration is becoming more common and in some cases more cost effective for young artists who cannot afford all the supplies.

When I was an Illustration major, Digital Illustration was an elective and my preferred medium of choice while many others stressed traditional painting. While I think practicing both is important in growing as an artist and being aware of what is at your disposal, I feel like there is a bias towards more traditional mediums and painting even within liberal art communities.

Even in the virtual world, the emphasis is on do-it-yourself. “Digital is definitely the biggest news in the field of education; it’s been a game-changer for everyone,” said Wendy Woon, the deputy director of education at the Museum of Modern Art. “It was as though the museum just got a new wing.”

It’s refreshing to particularly see a museum update its education program to use the Internet more to its advantage as well as actually offering digital illustration classes. With educational programs catching up to the 21st century, the Internet and digital tools should be talked about and practiced and accepted as a new form of art.

- B

While helping Kasey with her Artist Statement, I learned a little more about her body of work namely painting. I thought I’d try tapping into that since she already expressed an interest in painting and it’s such a fluid medium that can be interpreted in many ways. This is all on presumption, of course. I’ll gladly alter what my partner and I have planned if Kasey decides to go in a different direction.

For today, we’re going to the Fens and looking at nature there. I don’t think the roses are in bloom yet otherwise that would be a perfect place to go. As is, we could explore the different plant life as that can be portrayed in many ways from brush stroke to wetness of medium. If she decides to go for an animal, we can start looking for patterns in the coat of feathers or fur and how texture plays a part in observational drawing.

Observational drawing can be pretty rigid to a young growing artist. It puts this pressure on them to draw something realistically and failing that, they feel they cannot be ‘real’ artists. This was one thing that hindered my growth growing up. I concentrated more on drawing realistically for my art assignments than exploring color, texture, weight, and over all creativity.

I don’t know if the Artward Bound kids have sketch books. If not, I have a small sketch book I carry around with me that we can use together to draw out what we see and I’ll try to emphasis drawing what we see rather than what we think we see which can be a road block in observational drawing.

For the next class, I want to bring in different painting supplies (if Kasey decides to go down that route–if not, I’ll look at other materials we could use). My partner, Fang, suggested mixed media which is also really fun for experimenting in painting. I have water color, acrylic, and gouache paints as well as brushes I can bring in for Kasey to try out. I’ll also ask Fang if she has anything at home she can bring. We’ll both be playing our part in researching what Kasey picks out and bringing those resources in.

I don’t want to pressure her into having to paint a certain way. She’s been in school all day with teachers undoubtedly telling her what to do and I know when I’m under pressure for even art assignments, I don’t perform well. I want to make this as casual as possible while still adhering to the original lesson plan.

I have a few artists in mind to show–some she might know like Vincent Van Gogh–who do observational paintings, but do it so that it still retains the artists’ personality and fun. This hopefully will inspire her to be more free with her art.

The following class will be fine tuning. Hopefully we can get a base for the painting or drawing and then detail it the following class. This assignment should be about her and her own creative inclinations and showing that there is no right or wrong way to approaching art, even observational.

And hopefully it will go well.

- B