Diatom Art |
The goal I wish I could have developed further was my third goal, “To explore the relationship between art and technology.” Art and technology have a long standing relationship. For example, in a lesson I teach on the design strategy of magnification, I introduce my students to diatom art. Created during Victorian times, diatom art was made by arranging diatoms, single celled organisms not visible to the naked eye, into interesting patterns using the technology of a microscope. Lately I have been intrigued by the beauty of Raster Fractal Graphics created using raster animation. I plan to continue using this blog to explore more ways artists today are using current technology to produce art.
Raster Fractal Graphic |
During this course, I did have a chance to be inspired by some artists who reference technology in their art and use social media to promote their work. At the BC Art Teacher's Conference, I was introduced to Sonni Assu and Evan Lee. In my research for this term, I came across Canadian artist Mandy Stobo. “A Twitter newbie, she began pulling photos of celebrities she admired off the Internet and then painting them as unsolicited Bad Portraits. She then emailed the digital version to their Twitter accounts” (Davis, 2011). Through her Bad Portrait Project, Stobo encourages people to send her photo portraits that she then paints using water color, and posts on her site, Facebook, and Twitter for the world to see. I also recently discovered artist Chase Jarvis. He is practicing photographer who actively explores the use of social media and the world of Web 2.0 in his work. He believes “...deeply in teamwork, community, and collaboration” (Jarvis, 2012). He does things like organize Photo Walks using Twitter and encourages people to share their work online. I hope to find more artists who combine art and technology.
In my own practice as an art educator, I will definitely want to use two Web 2.0 tools further. I really enjoyed exploring online comic creators and their use in education. Art education is a natural place for the study of cartoon and comics with their rich visual content. I am considering ways I can incorporate the study of comics more into my art curriculum for next year and hoping to design a unit on cartooning. I also love the idea of bringing an expert into the classroom using Web 2.0 technology. When I worked full-time, before having my own children, I would frequently bring in guest artists- as I felt it truly enriched my students’ classroom experience. A friend of mine recently asked me for my husband’s E-portflio link, as she has friend that teaches in Australia who was looking for photographers to profile. Skype makes having my husband be a guest speaker at a school in Australia a very viable option! As a teacher, I desire begin developing these types of connections with artists around the globe myself. I currently use Skype to communicate with family, but hope to one day use it to have an expert visit my students. Web 2.0 tools certainly open up a new world of opportunities.
Works Cited:
Davis, A. (2011, November 23). Bad portraits gone good. Macleans. Retrieved from http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/11/23/bad-portraits-done-good/
Raster Graphic Copyright (c) <a href='http://www.123rf.com'>123RF Stock Photos</a>
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