Big Ideas, A Reflection
My Advanced Digital Art students were introduced to Big Ideas during their Path 2 project. Yesterday they turned in their finals for Path 5. The students are completing the entire Big Idea packet at this point. They are working through their ideas and focusing on meaning making. After Path 2 focused on Identity, students were tasked with coming up their own Big Ideas for the next 3 Path projects. Looking at ideas such as Power, Community, and Journey, students come up with their own interpretations of their work. Using various digital media, the students bring their meanings into form.
By creating a classroom built around creative choices, my students felt more ownership and were able to experiment with materials. There were early struggles with students buying in to the idea of meaning before product. Some of my students would come to me telling me what their final was going to be and wondering how they should force the meaning into it. We had to restructure the way they were thinking and push for a meaning that creates product rather than the reverse.
The students have begun to get excited for the structure of the packet. It gives them a step by step process to figure out what and how to begin their artmaking. While some of the students put it off and view it as "boring homework," others asked for a packet on the most recent project that did not require one. JL stated, "it just gives me a place to organize my thoughts so I end up likeing (sic) my artwork more."
DC created a video game using Flowlab for his project on Emotion. He writes, "(I made) a basic platform with a character going through different levels and each level represent an emotion which was my topic, the first level was happiness, the second level was sadness and the last level was anger."
AS worked in Photography for her project on Identity. She writes, "My dog is a huge part of me because we got him when we needed some light into the family and that is exactly what my dog did for my family is bring everyone closer and make us laugh when maybe we don’t feel like it."
AK created a digital collage based on her Big Idea of Heroes. She writes, "I wanted to create a collage of pictures that signified someone or something strong. I wanted to fuse these in with my heros (sic), even if those heroes were literal or figurative. I used hero by taking pictures, and using pictures of my heros (sic), figurative: my mom and dad, and literal: batman. I chose my mom and dad because they are very emotionally strong and they went through a lot to raise me despite their setbacks. I also chose batman because since I was little, I always looked up to batman. I never looked up to Disney princesses and Barbies, but always looked up to marvel and DC superheros like Batman, or Spider Man. I used strength by taking pictures of the memorial in front of Watkins Middle School, where a 13 year old girl, and 15 year old boy were memorialized. This showed strength because, even though they ended up passing, they were strong enough to withstand a lot before their deaths, whether that was suicide, or disease. This shows emotional and mental strength in that person. My project is about the projection and awareness of these people and to recognize both them, and heros(sic) in their own life that they look up to."
SM is busy creating this work in progress based on Inclusion. He says that he hopes to fill the bus with a wide range of riders. He says the interactions between the riders will become the most meaningful thing in the work. How they interact and respond to each other defines how he hopes the world can move towards.
