Clay Animation -- with a twist!!!

For this project I want to step away from the usual assignments. I took this chance to create something of my own, not necessarily something for a classroom. I wanted to experiment with clay and animation. However, instead of normal claymation with stop-motion, I made a movie of me throwing on the wheel. I made the clay grow and shrink as it spun. In editing I removed my hands, played with the footage a bit and added music.

This project was purely experimental. I have found it hard to get a lot of good footage in a short amount of time. I can see a great potential for this. One would need a lot more time with filming and editing though.

Check out my movie!!

Project 1 - Digital Collage

The Creature in the Lost World...

For my first assignment I was instructed to collaborate images collected by fellow class mates and myself in order to create a digital collage. The project required me to create a landscape or world and a creature to inhabit it. This project allowed me to get back in touch with Photoshop after all these years. As well as learn how to animate my image.

My world was created by many aspects of images put together. I wanted it to look realistic, but still have that "out of this world" feel. I enjoyed combining the photo images with flat, 2-D copies of the images. This you can see in my clouds and shrubbery.  My creature is made of an owl, bison, flamingo, and fawn. I wanted to give it a mystical appearance. With simple animation I made my creature come alive!

I liked working on this assignment. It tested my Photoshopping skills, ones that I have not practiced with since freshman year. I worked very hard...maybe too hard... to get my composting looking really well done. I did not the look that a cut-&-paste would have given me. I really enjoyed animated me creature. I had no idea of the possibilities with Photoshop animation!

Project 2 - Moving Images

Puppet Animation

This assignment was for us to learn the many different approaches to animation. I was really interested in learning about the different ways of animation. This assignment made me aware of the most beautiful art forms.
The list includes:
Cut-out Animation
Claymation
Puppet Animation**
Stop Motion w/ Objects
Sand / Paint Animation
Chalkboard / Whiteboard / Graffiti Animation
Storyboard Animation
Cameraless Animation

Classmate Jessalyn and I worked as a team on Puppet Animation. We found basic information on armatures and the process of making the puppets. We found amazing sites that showed different cultures using puppets. After our presentation, we taught the class an activity of making simple armatures out of pipe cleaners. These were rather successful and can be brought into a classroom!!

Project 3 - Digital Workshop

Tales of Transformation -- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

This assignment was rather crazy. We worked with 10-14 year-old students in an after school workshop. We took a folk tale and recreate it in a digital narrative. To prep for this we got into teams, I worked with Jessalyn, and designed our visual plan. We were to present this plan to the kids and they were to pick what group they want to work with. It was two kids per group. We chose to do The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Both Jessalyn and I love this story and was really excited to do this project. We wanted to keep it dark and spooky so we picked Goya as inspiration.

Working with the kids was wonderful. They were just as excited about the project as we were. As time went on we hit many road blocks. Do to time constraints, Jessalyn and I had to do many of the work outside of class. Though it was a lot of work, this was not that big of an issue for me. My biggest concern was the time the kids got to work on their animation. They had a blast anyway. Our final movie was wonderful - everything I imagined plus more. The movie premiere was fun. I liked seeing the other videos and talking to the parents.

What I would have done different would be to not take an existing tale. I would take this idea and combine it with the creature idea. Students can make an environment and then create a creature of their own that goes through a small transformation, this way they can create their own story.

Project 4 - Media Arts Hands-on Investigation

Clay Animation -- with a twist!!!

For this project I want to step away from the usual assignments. I took this chance to create something of my own, not necessarily something for a classroom. I wanted to experiment with clay and animation. However, instead of normal claymation with stop-motion, I made a movie of me throwing on the wheel. I made the clay grow and shrink as it spun. In editing I removed my hands, played with the footage a bit and added music.

This project was purely experimental. I have found that it hard to get a lot of good footage in a short amount of time. I can see that there are great potential for this. One would need a lot more time with filming and editing. 

Art Education K-12 B.F.A.

UMD Art and Design, Dept of Education
School of Fine Arts

The B.F.A. program in art education K-12 is for students who wish to receive licensure to teach art in Minnesota; it is offered in cooperation with the College of Education and Human Services Professions (CEHSP). The program prepares art teachers for kindergarten through the twelfth grade and provides a foundation in a variety of studio areas, art history, and art education methods. To qualify for this program, pre-art education students must pass a portfolio review (ART 0903). In addition to completing liberal education and art courses, each student must gain admission to the Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP) licensure program during the junior year to complete the education courses required by the State Department of Education and Board of Teaching.

Students entering the secondary and K-12 licensure programs are bound by the policies in effect at the time of application to the licensure program. Admission is based on criteria established by the Department of Education that are consistent with Minnesota policies as well as standards established by the National Council for Accreditation in Teacher Education.

Info above taken from Art Education B.F.A. program site
http://onestop2.umn.edu/programCatalog/viewCatalogProgram.do?programID=440&strm=1099

I love being a part of UMD's Art Education Program. It is a wonderful program with an amazing faculty. Being enrolled in this program will better prepare me for teaching!! 

Tweed Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota Duluth

Web page..check it out!!
http://www.d.umn.edu/tma/

I have spent a lot of times in the Tweed. Either through volunteering, exhibition visits or working on a specific assignment. It is a great resource and a beautiful place to visit.

University of Minnesota Duluth - Department of Art + Design

Web Page...check it out!!
http://www.d.umn.edu/art/

Undergraduate Programs
Art Education
Studio Art
Art History
Graphic Design

YouTube

Digital Workshop Blog
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/jrock2/workshop09/

Art Education Blog
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/jrock2/arted/

University of Minnesota Duluth
http://www.d.umn.edu/

Organic Users Interfaces - Ferrofluid Sculpture
http://www.organicui.org/?page_id=74

Lesson Plan I found - Sleepy Hollow
http://edsitement.neh.gov

Washington Irving's Site
http://www.readprint.com/work-3971/The-Legend-of-Sleepy-Hollow-Washington-Irving

For my lesson plans I decided to focus on the same activity but change it to fit an computer equiped classroom or one that is not so fortunate. I combined digital art with the traditional art of collage.

Lesson Plan 1 - Full computer Lab
Amara BarthelemyFall 2009

 

Digital Art: Landscape Collage

 

Grade Level: 6-8^th Grade

Time Needed: 5 classes

 

Focus: This lesson is for students to learn and get hands on experience with Photoshop, and to experience the combination of traditional art and digital art.

 

Objectives:

A. (6.1.1.2.2) Students will analyze how the principles of media arts such as repetition, unity and contrast are used in the creation, presentation or response to media artworks.

B. (6.1.2.2.1) Students will demonstrate use of a variety of tools, materials and techniques in media arts based on the characteristics of the hardware and software.

C. I want my students to learn how digital media can be mixed with other mediums in art.

 

Motivational Resources:

• Tour of a Museum of Art (ideal) or images of landscapes and a look out the window
• Images of Collage artworks, focus on landscapes in particular (see bibliography for great references)
• Examples from previous classes or teacher sample
• Collage books
• Digital Art books

 

Art Materials:

• Classroom equipped with computers that contain the Adobe Photoshop CS3 program
• Will use selection tool, paint tool, layers, swatches, Edit : Transform, File : Save, File : Open
• Magazines, newspaper or decorative paper with a mixture of images and text
• Camera (one for teacher) or scanner (both must be able to transfer images to computer)
• White table top to take pictures (if using camera)
• Flash drives or disks to save work
• Color printer
• Printer paper
• Poster board (for matting)
• Glue sticks (for matting)

 

Introduction to the Lesson:

The term collage comes from the French verb coller, which means to paste, stick, or glue. It is an art form of assembling cut pieces onto a surface and tacking them down with glue or tape Collage came from the Cubist Movement. This movement was named based on artists such as, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. These artists would break up their images into shapes. Some images got to the point that they were unrecognizable. Collage flourished during the Dada movement, which occurred primarily in Europe from 1915-1923. Collage artists, Max Ernst and Kurt Schwitters, both found their art during this time (Hutton, 9). Another great artist in art history is Henri Matisse. Matisse was famous for his cut paper. He would cut out fantastic shapes of all sorts of colors and paste them on a large piece of paper. Now collage is an accepted art form that can be fun and beautiful.

            Computers are not only for communication but it has become a universal tool. It is a medium that can stimulate the details of any other medium (Youngblood, 10). Programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator allow artists to venture into the world of digital art. "The term 'digital art' has itself become an umbrella for such a broad range of artistic works and practices that it does not describe one unified set of aesthetics" (Paul, 7). Digital art can be used as a tool to create traditional art, such as, photography, illustrating, painting and sculpting, it is also used as a medium on its own. We will be combining digital art with the traditional art of collage. Students are to create digital landscapes by creating a collage of scanned magazine images.

 

Instructional Procedure for Art Making:

Class 1: We will hopefully start by having a tour in a Museum of Art. Here, we will look at some collage pieces, landscapes, and any digital artworks if present. Otherwise images of landscapes or a simple look out the widow will give the students an idea on what is common in a landscape. The students will be asked to take reflection notes while viewing the landscapes. We will discuss these notes in the classroom and start explaining the project. We will further explore the art of collage by showing example slides and posters. Particular areas we will cover are landscape collages (see bibliography for example artists). Also, there will be a discussion on digital art and how we will be combining these two elements for our project. Students are assigned to collect magazines, newspapers, and decorative paper from home to bring to next class.

 

Class 2: As students bring in the papers the teacher and/or some students can either scan or photograph the papers to bring them into the computer. Be sure to have the paper zoomed in to fit the photograph. The teacher will then compile these images in an image bank folder, which will be accessible on all student's computers by either a public folder or saved on flash drives or disks. Students are to gather in the front of the class to watch a quick demo by the teacher on the Photoshop tools we will use. In particular, the selection tool, arrow tool, paint tool, swatches, layers, and how to save the file. Students will go to individual computers and open Photoshop. We will create an 8X10 landscape image. Have the students name and save their image promptly onto the desktop. Students will go through the image bank and select pieces from different images. They will combine these pieces to create a landscape collage. This first day is primarily for practice. If a student is excelling he/she can move onto their actual project. Be sure to save every once in a while. When class is done, save the work in progress onto flash drives or disks.

 

Class 3: Students will start or continue to work on their final landscapes. Students are encouraged to keep looking at the landscape examples when making their own. Remind them about the use of light and dark as well as different textures. When class is done, save the work in progress onto flash drives or disks.

 

Class 4: We will have two critiques. The first one will be a progress critique on the computers in the beginning of this class. Students can listen to their peers' input and make any changes if they choose. When class is done, save the work in progress onto flash drives or disks.

 

Class 5: Once the piece is finalized we will print them out and matte them on poster board with glue sticks. We will gather in a circle to have our final critique. Students will talk about their work, the process they went through and their thoughts on the combination of digital and traditional art. Students will say one thing about another's work and, as a group, we will discuss the similarities and differences of each work focusing on the fact that we used the same technique and initial imagery.

 

 

Evaluation/Assessment:

The students will be graded based on a rubric. They will be observed throughout the lesson on how they worked with the computers, listened to directions, made their collages, respected the computers and other classmates, contributed during critique and their attitude towards the project as a whole.

 

DBAE

Art Production: We made collages with traditional and digital mediums.

Aesthetics: We discussed how collage is an art form and that digital art can be mixed with traditional art.

Art History: Discussed the use of collage in art history as well as the growth of digital art now.

Art Criticism: We looked in the Tweed Museum, saw examples of digital imagery and talked about well known collage artists as well as an in class critique.

 

 

Bibliography

 

Hutton, Helen. The Technique of Collage.

New York, NY: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1968. Print.

 

Paul, Christiane. Digital Art. Revised and Expanded edition. London:

Thames & Hudson, 2008. Print.

 

Youngblood, Gene. The Computer Revolution and the Arts. Tampa, FL:

University Presses of Florida, 1989. 8-20. Print.

 

Links to Collage Artists

 

Sally Bassett - Collage landscape artist

http://www.island-of-art.com/bassett/land-collages/index.htm

 

Dedicated to the Art of Collage

http://www.collageart.org/

 

Artworks by Theme: Collage > Landscape

http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolio/media/static_files/Collage_Landscape.html

 

Recently I have came across these fascinating sculptures!!

The first one is a sculpture made out of metal tubes. As wind passes by it makes the most beautiful sound...




This second a sculpture made from liquid metal.
Sachiko Kodama and Minkako Takeno, Protrude Flow.

Ferrofluids, the shape-changing material used in my works, were invented in the late 1960s in the Apollo Program of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and are known to be used for forming liquid seals and in electronic devices for computers, AV equipments, and other industrial applications. Recently they have been employed in medicine research.

Basically, ferrofluids appear as a black fluid. They are prepared by dissolving nanoscale ferromagnetic particles in a solvent such as water or oil and remain strongly magnetic even in a fluid condition. Therefore, they are more flexibly transformable as compared to iron sand. It is well known that ferrofluids form spikes along magnetic field lines when the magnetic surface force exceeds the stabilizing effects of the fluid weight and surface tension [1]. In my work, organic shapes are produced by these spikes under a magnetic field that is controlled by electromagnets. Sensing technology and computers are used to make the fluid change its shape according to environmental information. The transformation of the shape and rhythm of the movement is an important aspect of the work.

My first project "Protrude, Flow" used six electromagnets. In this work, the electromagnets sometimes prevented people from viewing the moving liquid. To solve this problem and to simplify the work, I discovered a new technique called "Ferrofluid Sculpture." This technique enables artists to create more dynamic sculptures with fluid materials. One electromagnet is used, with an extended iron core that is sculpted into a particular shape. The ferrofluid covers the sculpted surface of the three-dimensional iron shape. The movement of the spikes in the fluid is controlled dynamically on the surface by adjusting the power of the electromagnet.

Check out it out...

 


Here is a piece that is interactive. It is made up of reflective pieces of wood...
Daniel Rozin's wooden mirror and how it works. Taken from the OU course 'Computers and processors' (T224)




Here is another piece by Daniel Rozin. It is made with disks that vary their gradients.
Circles Mirror is a mechanical sculpture made of 900 overlapping circles with patterns printed on them and connected to motors, computer and video camera. Any person standing in front of the piece is reflected on the piece by the circles rotating to expose more dark/ bright patterns as needed.




Sheep Herding