Readings

September 7, 2017

Article: Understanding Digital-Synthesized Photographs Through Theories of Knowledge by Yi-Hui Huang

Main Idea:

The main ideas in this article are that you can gain insight about an artist’s knowledge through their digitally synthesized photographic work and that truth and reality are not one in the same. Overall, this article expands upon the idea that digital photographers and their work communicate much more than the demonstration of technical Photoshop skills.

Key Points:

·      An artist’s knowledge is the foundation of their artwork. We can better understand and decipher the message an artist is communicating by investigating their worldviews and questioning what they perceive as reality. For example, Huang delves into Bamberger’s work by starting to ask what knowledge his work is based off of. Huang learns that he has strong beliefs in science and is interested in philosophy and mathematics.

·      Truth- According to Bamberger, truth is constructed by us humans and is the representation of the world that people agree upon. But, directly seeing something with your eyes and being told something is true, does not guarantee that it is, in fact, the truth. Straight photographs do not tell the truth. (p. 38) Truth and reality are not one in the same. But, Bamberger believes beauty is the way to truth in art, through experimenting with different artistic styles and digital effects.

·      Reality- According to Bamberger, reality is reality; reality is what you make of it. There are two layers of reality in Bamberger’s work: his sensory experiences and his own construction of those experiences. (p. 38)  An artist such as Bamberger himself, can use their knowledge and sensory experiences to twist and turn reality or create new realities using digital tools, in search of the truth as an end product.

·      Formalism- Bamberger describes beauty as a particular form that humans find pleasure in. Form and formal arrangements, abstract and non representational forms, are where beauty lies. (p. 40)

·      Human minds and the world are inseparable in the way that your mind can offer hypothetical ideas and the world is your laboratory for testing. (p. 38)

 Mind Map:

Analysis: Bamberger uses a punch in the stomach as an example of reality, just like a constructed photograph is reality. Reality is what you make of it. A punch in the stomach doesn’t have to be painful like most people would say is the truth. You can reconstruct your thoughts and create a newly constructed reality that the punch feels like numbness or that it feels empowering not painful.

Position: I agree with the author and enjoyed their take on Bamberger’s findings. I also believe you can understand an artist’s work by learning about the knowledge they have obtained in their lifetime and where their interests lie. Truth is not the truth and reality can be reconstructed over and over. One person’s reality may not be the same as another’s.

Further Discussion:

·      How can we decipher truth from reality?

·      Does beauty ever lie in representational things that have already been given meaning?

·      Does digitally synthesizing photographs directly reflect what we believe is reality?

October 5, 2017

Article: Art Education Technology: Digital Storytelling by Sheng Kuan Chung

Main Idea:

The main idea in this article is that digital storytelling can take art education to another level, for both a student and educator. Digital storytelling is a modernized version of ancient storytelling of telling through pictures. Today, we can enhance how we story tell by adding moving pictures, music etc.

Key Points:

·      Digital storytelling takes traditional storytelling and teaching to a whole other level by teaching students multimedia techniques. Educators have to be digitally knowledgeable nowadays to keep up with the digital generation they are teaching. Digital storytelling provides in-depth hands on experience for students.

·      There are many dimensions to digital storytelling such as weaving imagery, adding music, narrating with voiceovers, all of which add deep dimension to a story and its characters and insights.

·      Digital storytelling is a powerful way to teach visual culture and art in the age of computer technology and it is our way to connect the past generations with the present and future to form new ideas or reformulate past ideas.

·      Storyboarding is the process of sketching out and visualizing how a story will look before any digital production. It is crucial and helpful in aiding script writers organize the evolution of a story and keep it focused.

·      Producing a digital story can require learning new software. Some programs used for digital storytelling are Adobe Premiere, Microsoft Photo Story 3, iMovie, PowerPoint, and Windows Movie Maker. Some are more user friendly and easier to learn than others.

Analysis: There is example of Jerita’s digital story, consisting of a series of interviews with her school principal, an art teacher, an art director, and a retired art educator. She asks them how art education benefits education. This example shows how people do value art in education and how we need to give more attention and funding to art programs. Two of the interviewees responded that kids need to think critically and imaginatively and art gives them that opportunity. Educating students in art and digital media will create a more imaginative and creative generation.

Position: I agree with the author that digital storytelling can take art education to a new level and that it is to educators’ advantage to learn digital media in this technology based generation. Digital storytelling connects people of all ages and we need to keep educating students in ways that keep them up to date while still appreciating ancient storytelling techniques at the same time.

Further Discussion:

·      At what age should students be introduced to digital media making?

·      Should all educators be required to be trained in digital media programs?

·      Does digital storytelling enhance or ruin traditional storytelling?

Mind Map:

October 12, 2017

Article: Five Ways to Integrate: Using Strategies from Contemporary Art by Julia Marshall

Main Idea:

The main ideas in this article are that art connects all disciplines, contemporary integrative art is key to reconciling curricular integration and the study of art, and explains 5 current art models based on 5 conceptual strategies or approaches contemporary artists develop to manipulate ideas and imagery to make meaning.

Key Points:

·      Depiction- this is the most common and easy way to integrate art where subjects are simply depicted by observations in ways such as drawings of nature, sculpting, costumes, or illustrations. Used in science and social studies.

·      Extension/Projection- The speculation about possible outcomes, taking into to consideration the impact of a given idea. It’s appropriate and easy enough for all grade levels. Some ways it is incorporated into a classroom are exploring and illustrating how organisms might evolve to survive on a warmer planet, and other similar topics where students are encouraged to come up with solutions.

·      Reformatting- This technique re-contextualizes a topic by picturing it or mapping it in a new visual format. Visual formats are scopic regimes that signify ways of knowing, organizing, and interpreting reality. Reformatting is a subtle and complex ideas, most likely best for upper middle school and high school level students. An example of reformatting would be charting one’s emotional world as a geographical map. Students take use ideas from one subject and apply it to a different subject through reformatting.

·      Mimicry- Very radical strategy in contemporary integrative art. It involves mimicking the methods and using the tools associated with other disciplines. Essentially it is a form of play-acting and can be done at any grade level. Some forms of mimicry in the classroom include doing experiments like botanists or digging up artifacts like archaeologists.

·      Metaphor- It is the description of one thing in terms of another. Usually used in language arts but also can be conveyed visually.  Metaphor entities have similarities and differences between the two with a remote connection. They are complex concepts that are most appropriate for high school level students.

Mind Map: 

Analysis: Julia Marshall uses David Wojnarowics’s “Something from Sleep III” as an example of a metaphor. It is an appropriate example to illustrate a metaphoric strategy because it is complex, most likely not able to be understood for its meaning by someone below a high school grade level. In this image, a silhouette of a man is peering into a telescope and his silhouette is filled with planets and galaxies floating in space. This image becomes a metaphor for our inner lives/mind. Human consciousness and the universe converge to become a metaphor for the things that shape our inner thoughts.

Position: I agree with the author that contemporary art is integrated into all subjects taught in school in different strategies. We can clearly see how these five contemporary art strategies of depiction, projection, reformatting, mimicry, and metaphor are used in each age group to facilitate learning experience for students.

Further Discussion:

·      Can younger age groups be taught the strategies that older age groups are taught?

·      Is something still considered art is there is no concept or meaning behind it?

·      What are other art strategies that can be used for teaching?

November 9, 2017

Article: Ethics is Visual Research

Main Idea:

The main ideas in this article are that ethics are an important, yet often overlooked, part of any kind of research. You must consider moral, legal  and practical challenges and responsibilities of research before starting any.

Key Points:

·      Research ethics is about acting with integrity and respecting the rights of other. Ethics is also about timing. Consider ethics before you start researching, while you are researching, and when you are analyzing and presenting the results of your research.

·      The most common ethical issues to consider when undertaking research are informed consent, absence of harm, privacy, anonymity and confidentiality, deception, and vulnerable populations.

·      A main advantage of visual research is that direct interaction with people and the need to elicit responses from them is often eliminated because information is instead gather by direct observation.

·      The internet has significant advantages to it when it comes to the ever growing volume of data available to us and the ease at which it can be accessed. It makes it so the need to interact with people is essentially gone. Ethical issues have risen with the growth of the Internet.

·      Some ethical issues with social science research are deception or manipulation, observing and objectifying people by covertly looking at them from a distance, intimate or detailed observations of personal places or behavior, and possibility of causing discomfort or concern. We have to be aware and consider these things and plan around them to be able to correctly and enjoyably conduct good research.

Mind Map:

Analysis: An example of considering ethics is when the author analyzes surveillance creep versus ethics creep. They mention notorious social science research studies such as Humphrey’s investigation of homosexual encounters in public toilets and Milgram’s electric shock deference to authority. These are both deceptive and are seen by people as being unethical.

Position: I agree with the author on their position that ethics must always be considered prior to conducting any part of research at all. It is important to consider how your research methods could potentially violate human rights and their feeling of safety and security. Also, ethics may vary depending on which region of the world you live in because society norms vary in different places.

Further Discussion:

·      How can we draw a clearer line that defines whether something is ethical or unethical?

·      Is ethics more of an opinion or a fact?

·      What are some practices that would be considered unethical is all parts of the world?

November 21, 2017

Article: Designing in Digital: Working with Digital Imaging, Audio, and Video

Main Idea:

The main ideas in this article are taking the ordinary and making them extraordinary through design in digital imaging, audio and video and thinking outside the box every once in a while.

Key Points:

·      Good design follows principles of good design such as color theory, composition, perspective, typography, photography, cinematic theory etc. But you should always mimic what you like if you aren’t planning on a professional digital storytelling career.

·      Design is so simple and that is why it is so complicated. It is putting together form and content. It can be art, and it can be aesthetics. It has multiple definitions.

·      Think outside the box and always remain original in your ideas, avoid clichés.

·      Digital storytelling is powerful if done with a lot of thought put into it.

·      Images can speak very loudly and Rob Kershaw succeeds at taking ordinary photos and making us see them in new ways.

Mind Map:

Analysis: Rob’s script and story telling is a good example of designing a digital story. He is faced with making decisions about simple yet powerful choices like, visual pacing, use of imagery, framing, panning and zooming, and other visual treatments. He has to consider the audience in all of these decisions and envision how the audience will comprehend these choices consciously and subconsciously.

Position: I agree with the author that digital storytelling has great power. Digital storytellers have the ability to communicate to the audience and make them feel any certain emotions they want.  I also, agree with the author that design is broad and has multiple definitions. To me, anything can be design as long as it is creatively solving a problem/coming up with a new creative solution.

Further Discussion:

·      Is originality dead?

·      Is mimicking what you like considered copying or is it simply seen as being inspired?

·      What separates design from art?