Week 35 – Maps and Paint

This week we are going to continue working with maps, adding more colour to the surface. We are goint to experiment with different kinds of paint.

One Wednesday we meet in the classroom. After an introduction we move to the garage, to work with paint and maps. We will make paint that can be made without cooking. On Friday we will continue, but then there will be paintmaking with heating. We will end the week with a summary and discussion of the different projects.

Doing your own research

Making paint is a craft where none of us are particularly skilled. Thus we have to collaborate, to get as much knowledge as possible in a limited time. You will be introduced to some materials and some recipies, but as in any kind of "cooking" there are many ways to make paint. To accumulate our knowledge, both through sucess and failure, we shall document and evaluate as we proceed.

I have made an online form (http://goo.gl/ULGrND) that you shall use to document the process in writing. It will be nice if you also include images, but as the form does not support uploading: use http://imgur.com for images, and post the link to the image in the form.

The results will, of course, be shared with you by the end of the week.

Making paint

A bit (out) of context - The outhouse

The following is just to give you an idea of what is going on in the garage, when you are not working there. I try to make your work "fit in" with the ongoing art project:The project will present statements from students, staff and visitors: what the inhabitants of Bergen University College have "on their mind". These anonymous statements will be played out inside a physical object: a double outhouse located indoors. BackgroundThe debates related to the ongoing merging of university colleges in Western Norway, are not very public. Most of the processes seems quite distant to most people who will be affected (students, teachers and staff). Thus this project will create a space for alternative voices and other views, without setting thematic guidelines in relation to the stories people wish to tell.Few places are really private. At the same time: what we previously perceived as private spheres are increasingly exposed to the public. Blogs and other social media are almost overflowing with personal information, but this is almost always about representations that the sender wants to give to others. Real stories are appreciated, but seldom really told. We always strive to create an image of ourselves. At the opposite end of the scale we find web trolls, who come with private opinions in settings that for most practical purposes have be understood as a public. Paradoxically, it seems that there is less room for personal reflection, uttered by all those who belong to the "silent majority", and which is situated between these extremes. The field, between what most allow themselves to say in public and what we they actually want to say, is often very complex. When we express our real opinions these expressions can be completely private, as for instance in the form of diaries, while other expression may be located at the intersection of the private and the public. In everyday life, the toilet is one of the few places you can be completely alone. The privatization of a toilet visit is in many ways the essence of the modern project, but we do not have to go many decades back through history before the public outhouse was used as a venue for discussion with others. Also at that time was the outhouse a sanctuary, but where opinions could be shared with others, in a completely different way than today.

Watch this in the weekend:) It is actually quite interesting – The Toilet An unspoken History:

Some notes for the discussion about out maps – from last week

In the discussion with Magni we saw that some of the maps started a bit topological, concentrated on where objects were in relation to another. Distances between objects then came more or less by itself, mostly because off the fact that we, as adults, tend to see things this way.

All the projects chose to make some objects in 3D, which allows a more dynamic perspective.

Two of the groups were working with fantasy maps. One included a camp with a tent and a fire, a camp that became kind of euclidian.

Children will tend to make the things that they consider important larger.

Why is the awareness of the differences between topological, projective and euclidean space?

The child who grasp Euclidean ideas might have developed their spatial understanding more. There is, however, no reason to exclude any of these three perspectives, even among the children who are very young.

Given more time outside, the groups could have explored the area more thoroughly. If this was to be done with children on should give some more specific directions. Children may need to go in and out several times to make the connections between nature and maps.

Narrowing down the tasks, portioning out the project.

Taking pictures of things one see, and place it on the map.

To work topological you will have to focus on the order of things. Small children might be encouraged to tell their topological stories to a toy, like a teddybear.

To work Euclidian you can find different ways of measuring with your body. Work with what is bigger and smaller: a kid then being represented smaller than eg a tree.

Children need to train their skills, making representations of their environments.

Readings in aesthetics, this week

Fredriksen, Biljana C. (2011) “Negotiating Meaning with 3-D Materials” FORMakademisk 65 Vol.4 Nr.1 2011 - 18 pages

Fredriksen does not discuss maps in particular, but a lot of the things you have been working with fits within 3-D materials.

Leddy, Tom (2016) “Dewey's Aesthetics”, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - 23 pages

This is an introduction to Dewey's Art and Experience. I have also made a page about this.

Lindsay, Gai M. (2016) “John Dewey and Reggio Emilia: Worlds apart - one vision”, University of Wollongong Research Online - 22 pages

Dewey is interesting because he makes many connections between pedagogy and aesthetics. This article makes a further connection to Reggio Emilia, an approach to early childhood education that you will learn more about later in the semester.