Third time through

Well, This is the third time Bob and I have offered the Generative Art class – the last time was two years ago. In a workshop with folks from the Olin College of engineering last May we pulled the syllabus apart and reconfigured it into its current iteration. Some of the material and projects we had in place last time are still there, but the basic frame moved from being driving by seven individual projects to being driven by a hybrid model that includes lots of in-class work and only three (well four if you count the first one) individual projects. This came about through the Olin model that created groups for a specific class that worked together the entire term. Our thinking on this is that the groups could be a resource for students that struggle with the prompts for the individual projects.

But, how to create workable groups? Rather than randomize the process – something I have generally done in previous project courses – we decided to have a more specific structure in place. As with most Paths to the Present first days we discussed what students remembered from Self, Society, and Cosmos. this generates a list of terms and ideas useful to begin a discussion of the self. Next, we asked the students to define themselves with one word or a short phrase, write it on a post-it-note, and post it to the board. We then asked them to look over all the terms and sort them into five categories. Terms could complement one another or somehow fit together. It was great watching this process – completely different between the two sections. Section one seemed more of a free-for-all with many voices and hands chiming in all at once. Section two seemed to split into doers and watchers – one group ringed the board, the other group ringed the first group. But the results were basically the same – five groups per section each with a specific descriptive name attached. Section one had: Hope, Control, Seeker, Vulnerable, and Squish. Section two: Seekers, Eccentric, Wholesome, Creative, and Awareness. Bob and I pointed out how this project was generative and within a few minutes the students had designed a system, with specific rules and outcomes.

Then we did the tedious nuts and bolts thing of going over the syllabus. We wanted to make sure that everyone understood what they had signed on for. So we stressed attendance, keeping up with reading and writing assignments, and how the projects will function. While I do miss the chaos and kind of barely keeping ahead of the students the first time we taught the class, it is also nice to have a bit of structure to help support the chaos. Their first assignment is due on Thursday – Juxtaposition – a project I almost always assign first for project classes since it is simple to execute, but can often yield a great deal of discussion. Pairing out conversation with the Lincoln Center list of ideas should help frame this project and way of observing nicely. Can’t wait till Thursday!

Section 1 SSC Terms:

Section 2 SSC Terms: