Lesson Plan: Sound Piece
  1^st-3^rd Grade
Duration: 1 class period (45 minutes)

Big Idea

When sound takes over vision, what sound can you make? What do you see in the sounds?

Overview

Inspired by artist Benoît Maubrey’s sound art pieces, the students will make up their own character by sound.  The students will listen to various sounds, and they will record their story on the transparency film.  In the end, the class will share their stories on the projector.  

 

Objective	Assessment
Students will employ the knowledge of Principles of Design. Students will envision character and space through sound. Students will practice story plotting and problem solving. Students will connect their work with contemporary artist Benoît Maubrey.	Students will illustrate their story using the idea of lines, shapes, and space. Students will perform/illustrate their character and plot according to the sound. Students will compose their story along with the variations of sounds. Students will have an idea of how artist Benoît Maubrey uses sound as his art tool.

 

Challenge to Pose

Today, we are going on a fieldtrip.  We are going on a trip with our EARS!  Before our ears head out the door, I’m going to give you a little exercise of how we might start our adventure.  First we need to be absolutely quiet and to listen: listen carefully, and imagine.  I will need one volunteer.  When you hear the noise think about what character would you be (It can be something that does not exist)? What are you doing that causes the sound? Play sound and have three students perform their characters.

Great performances!  So, next, after you have an idea of your own character you can think about what is happening in your story.  Think about where you are. Forest? Space?  Park?  Imaginary place? You may think about drawing your background so that people will know where you are in relation to the middle and foreground. It doesn’t really matter where you start, but put your ideas down.  If you want to add characters like animals and trees, keep in mind that when things are closer to you, they seem to be bigger; when they are farther they seem to be smaller.  Lines can be thicker when they are closer, narrower when they are farther.

 

We are using transparency film. You can hold them up and look.  At the end of the class we are going to use a projector to project your story on the wall.  You can tell us your story.  What are you? What happened?  Who was there?  Were there any challenges?
You can test draw something on a draft paper if you are not confident starting off with transparency film, because we can’t erase marks.  Also be careful with your palms when you draw, because the colors will smear if you place your hands on it before it dries.

Quick demo of teacher’s version, keep it simple….

Procedure

1. The students will listen to a short demonstration before their sound trip (See Challenge to Pose) 10 min
2. They listen to the sound and determine the plot of their story. They will also work on foreground, middle ground, and background of the setting. 20 min
3. Present it on a projector and see what happened in their story. 15 min
4. Wrap up. 10 min

 

Materials

Transparency film

Markers

Draft paper

Pencil

Wrap up

We heard lots of adventurous stories from your sound journey.  There are many artists who use sound to create art.  For example Benoît Maubrey made a performance piece by wearing an instrument that he made which looks like and sounded like a peacock.  The instrument made him look like a big white peacock, and in indoors he used it as a projection screen. He projects colorful videos on his instrument/costume.

 

Audio Peacock

 

Outdoors peacock
Watch video: http://www.benoitmaubrey.com/?p=718

Indoor Peacock with projection of patterns on it.
Watch Video:http://www.benoitmaubrey.com/?p=702

Key terms

Transparency film, transparent, strokes, see through, color, shapes, space, foreground, middle ground, background

 

Related MA Standards

Methods, Materials, and Techniques: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4

Elements and Principles of Design: 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6

Observation, Abstraction, Invention, and Expression: 3.2, 3.3

Drafting, Revising and Exhibiting: 4.1, 4.3

Critical Response: 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4

 

 

Related Artist

Main inspiration:

Benoît Maubrey

http://www.benoitmaubrey.com/

Other related sources:

Edouropoulou

Walking through the streets of Manhattan, a city rich in sounds that one can choose to block out and treat like background noise or manipulate. It is a sequence of my daily, urban steps.

http://soundcloud.com/edouropoulou/city-steps-1/s-WSYcm

Hidekazu Minami
We do not as a society pay attention to ambient sounds. We are much more focused on the visual over the auditory. Infrasonic Soundscape is an online interactive artwork mapping New York City its sounds. It is created as a place where visitors can listen to the hidden sounds to reveal the importance of the city’s soundscape that we normally do not pay attention to.

http://www.soundtoys.net/toys/infrasonic-soundscape

Matías Montarcé

Installation consists of shell, mp4, and speaker (original duration: 8´05″). The sounds that form this installation are Tibetan chants and sea waves, when amplified by the loudspeaker introduced into the shell, produce a very particular surround sound inviting us to a deeper thought.

eva sjuve

audioTagger was started in January 2006, as a way to explore ubiquitous computing for audio applications in public space.

http://www.moolab.net/mobile/audioTagger.shtml

Social media has inevitably became a major part of how we communicate.  Different technology devices has their individual relationships with us.  The flexibility of technology can aid us with our teaching.  We as educators need to keep in mind if the online and offline learning is aligned.   To play the game we need to know the game.  Just like classroom norm, setting clear rules about using technology, manage privacy setting, being responsible for your part…etc., We need to be very selective with the software we use and consider if it is age appropriate.  It should be clear and easy to navigate.  There are many ways that technology can aid teaching, it can help us to create virtual versions of real life scenario so students will be able to generate problem solving skills based on the challenge.  Technology can be very powerful for art classes not only because the visual impact but also of its flexibility.

Online teaching can be really helpful if students need one on one instructions.  For example if I had a lesson plan for students to create a piece using photoshop, each students may want to learn different techniques.  Traditionally teacher will guide the whole class with step by step instructions, but if the student was not engaged or find it not useful or learn in a different pace, may shut off immediately.  This is when I thought technology may come in handy.  Students may choose tutorials that they are interested then ask questions when they need assistance.  It is also a better use of class time because the students have control over what they want to learn. Or how they would want to learn.

Teachers should be aware of their online identity.  It may be the best to create a separate account just for classes to keep you personal and professional lives separate.  Stay active by uploading art events and art works, but I would recommend maybe once a month or once every two weeks.  It should be concise and it is a portal to show students’ art work.  

“Blended learning” is learning that is facilitated by the effective combination of different modes of delivery, models of teaching, styles of learning and applying them in an interactively meaningful learning environment.  Under the paradigm of blended learning, we are encouraging students to become a more active learner.

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2009/10/20/100-ways-you-should-be-using-facebook-in-your-classroom/

 

http://www.slideshare.net/UpsideLearning/blended-learning-3374296

 

http://www.innosightinstitute.org/media-room/publications/education-publications/the-rise-of-k-12-blended-learning/

 

MIT Museum Trip
Lesson Plan: Optical Illusions @@
Duration: 1hr20mins
Age group: 8^th-10^th Grade

 

Overview

The students will be introduced to a brief history about optical illusions in art.  This lesson would be given before their trip to the MIT museum.  The students will then be working in groups to come up with examples of their own version of the optimal illusion theme that they picked.  They will present their version of the optimal illusion example and explain the usage of this particular illusion.

Objectives	Assessments
Students will watch a slide show about the history of Optical Illusions. Students will further explore other forms of Optical Illusions. Students will compose a presentation. Students will envision how Optical Illusion may facilitate our everyday life.	1.Students will read, discuss and categorize the art pieces that were mentioned. Students will work in groups to brainstorm ideas in responding the questions (See Procedures). Students will demonstrate ideas inspired by this form of art. Students will discuss about practical usage of this art form.

 Procedure

1. Students will each have a packet about optical illusion on their seat (see worksheet sontent below).
2. Images of examples will be displayed on the projector.  Students will be guided through the philosophic view of optical illusions.  Next, they will try to categorize the images shown on the projector with the hint on the worksheet (realism/perspective/surrealism/op art).
3. They will be divided into groups of threes.  They will further decide which topic to focus on (Impossible Optical Illusions/3 Dimensional Illusions/ Camouflage and Optical Illusion/ Facial Illusion/After Images/ Ambiguous Optical Illusions/Distortion Illusions/Color and Shadow Illusions/Other).

They will focus on a few questions:
How does this illusion work?
How can you use this form of illusion in your everyday life?
How can it come in handy?
Interpret your own version! (As a group or on your own)

        4. Present time.

 

Materials

Assorted paper

Scissor

Marker and Color pencil

Adhesive

Wrap up

Using optical illusions can be entertaining, but some jobs depend on them, and can be very useful. Pilots need to be skilled in flying airplanes so they practice in flight simulators run by computers to make situations appear that aren’t really there, similar to virtual reality.

Because wearing clothing with vertical stripes make people look skinnier and wearing clothing with horizontal stripes make people look heavier, fashion designers have used illusions when designing clothes. They have also learned that color can have a visual effect. For example, wearing black causes people to look skinnier.

Architects and interior designers can now use computer programs to make their designs look three dimensional. This helps the home buyer better see what the product will look like.

Finally, landscape architects use illusions to make gardens look bigger. If they create a path that gets smaller as it goes away, it will actually make the garden look bigger when it is really small.

 

 

 

 

 Worksheet content

What is Optical Illusion?

 

Optical Illusion: a picture or image that tricks your eyes and makes you see something that is not actually there.

 

In the beginning, people didn’t know when they were looking at an optical illusion if their brain was playing tricks on them or if their eyes were playing tricks on them. A lot of people thought they could explain why we see optical illusions.

 

 

 

 

 

Artist Felice Varini demonstrates a form of optical illusions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greek Philosophers has different opinions about

 Optical Illusion

 

Philosophers: someone who studies and develops ideas about the nature and meaning of existence, truth, good and evil.

 

Epicharmus and Protagorus both lived around 450 B.C. Epicharmus believed that our senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching) were not paying enough attention and were messing up. His exact words were, “The mind sees and the mind hears. The rest is blind and deaf.” Protagorus went against what Epicharmus said. He thought that our senses and body were just fine. He believed that it was the environment that was messing us up. He said, “Man is nothing but a bundle of sensations.”

 

Aristotle, who lived around 350 B.C. said both Epicharmus and Protagorus were both right and wrong. He said our senses can be trusted, but they can be easily fooled. For example, when it’s a very hot day and you stand near the road, heat waves rise and we can see them. Our senses are right, we can see the waves. But, if you look through the waves at a tree, the tree appears to be wiggling. That is when our sense get fooled.

 

Another Greek was Plato. Plato lived around 300 B.C. He said our five sense need our mind to help interpret what they see. In other words, that the eyes and mind need to work together. That is exactly what we think now.

 

Optical Illusions in ART

 

 

 

Realism

For centuries painters have tricked us into thinking that something is real when it is only a painting illusion.

 

Perspective

In the 1600s artists started to play around with perspective to create impossible pictures. In “False Perspective” (1754) by William Hogarth, the scene looks normal until you look closely.

 

Surrealism

A group of artists who called themselves surrealists painted some of the weirdest painting ever. Regardless of their weirdness, they were fantastic. These artists created the word surrealism to describe their work because their painting was beyond normal reality. Salvador Dali and Rene Margritte are two famous artists of this time period.

 

Escher
In the 1050s a Dutch artist, M.C. Escher, created art which seemed real but could never exist. He did this by playing tricks with your eyes by using math.

Op Art
The OpArt Movement was created in the 1960s. OpArt painters use optical illusions to show different puzzling effects. Most of these paintings change while you look at them. Some paintings look like they are moving. The picture below is “Square of Three” by Reginald Neal.

 

 

References:
http://dornob.com/interior-design-wall-art-incredible-optical-illusions/?ref=search
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110336/history.htm

 

 

 

 

Further playing with bbs
BBS: A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program
During their heyday from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, most BBSes were run as a hobby free of charge by the system operator (or “SysOp”), while other BBSes charged their users a subscription fee for access, or were operated by a business as a means of supporting their customers. Bulletin board systems were in many ways a precursor to the modern form of the World Wide Web, social network services and other aspects of the Internet.

As the use of the Internet became more widespread in the mid to late 1990s, traditional BBSes rapidly faded in popularity. Today, Internet forums occupy much of the same social and technological space as BBSes did, and the term BBS is often used to refer to any online forum or message board. Although BBSing survives only as a niche hobby in most parts of the world, it is still an extremely popular form of communication for Taiwanese youth (see PTT Bulletin Board System). – Wikipedia

 

As a user of the “old school” version of the internet, I decided to play around with the old system, using a black screen as my canvas.  The difficulty that I found while playing around was that every step relies on coding, which is challenging for visual thinkers.  Every number code combination stands for a color, for example *[0;30m stands for black.  The colors and the pixels in the BBS have limited variety.  As I researched more ideas, I realized that the form of art that was widely used for ppt (Taiwanese bulletin board system) was Japanese anime (see 1).  Using such restricted form, cartoons may be have been the easiest to decipher, whereas landscapes or images with delicate details may have been too pixelated to understand (see 2).  All of the images below are screenshots from telnet. It may be difficult for the general viewers from this era to manipulate bbs.

1.

ASCI form of Japanese anime (Originally from PTT by alex12582001).

 

 2.

Experiment with abstract ideas.

Code version

bbs version

Original idea

 

I decided to approach it differently.  I experimented with different ideas, but portraits seemed to be the best theme.  We are visually accustomed to the form of human features, so even the highly pixelated form could be decipherable.
From the last few days I’ve been experimenting with the basic color coding.

After I became more familiar with coding, I tweaked each code to create a blinking effect. The images distort in some way and blink back.  To take this a step futher, I experimented with animation.  It is a grayscale, simple series of a woman tossing her head, and the frames worked smoothly.  The frame and timeline settings were easy to operate, but I failed to code commands to make it move.  It was challenging for me to figure out the placement of the code.  I managed to collage the rough idea of my animation into a GIF file, so it is still possible to watch the movement.  Using coding as the tool for artmaking is challenging. It is possible to be stuck for hours trying to figure out an effect.  New media base artwork may be time consuming, but every risk brings you closer to mastering a new skill.  I think it also draws in the spirit of delayed gratification. Logical skills required for creating code combinations becomes a nontangible means to create Art.

Blink experiment 1
Blink experiment 2

Animation experiment 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sheets spread out. 

Sheets stacked together.

The black dots on each vellum sheet symbolize language.  When a language evolves, and its use spreads, it changes.  By not tracing the dots but by hand drawing the dots randomly on each page, the idea is to convey a sort of multiplicity in the evolution of language.  After stacking the vellum paper pieces, I discovered some parts of the dots might overlap, but each layer and each dot were still distinct. As language spreads, each individual interprets it: each person has his or her own approach to the language.   The scattered dots imply the randomness and geographic freedom of a language.

 

Next, I dipped my finger in acrylic paint, and picked up each sheet of vellum paper repetitively. How does the definition of “the original” change with subsequent tracings?  Our signature represents our identity; it signifies, “I am this name.”  Yet each signature is unique in that no one can sign his name identically each time. By recognizing the traits of one’s own handwriting, one might be able to ascertain if a signature is an original.  But if we ask a number of people to sign one specific name, can we really differentiate a person’s signature by his own handwriting traits?  Using dots on vellum paper the artist leaves his true mark, his fingerprint. This is unique to only one person, and with the aid of modern technology could be ascribed to only one singular person. This leads to the question of the relationship of truth and art.  How can we decipher the hidden truth in art?

Poland native Karolina Sobecka works with animation, design, interactivity, physical computing, computer games and other media and formats. Her work often explores cultural repercussions of scientific and technological advances, and the subjectivity of perception.  Sobecka received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MFA from Calarts in Experimental Animation/Integrated Media. She has also studied and taught in the University of Washington’s Digital Arts and Experimental Media PhD program.

 

 

Projects:
First Person Person Shooter (Persona)

First Person Person Shooter (Persona) is a twist of the classic First Person Shooter (FPS) game genre: the gameplay is centered on a gun combat and experienced through the eyes of the gun-holder. The gun is a prominent feature of the composition, and in my game it fires automatically on people within its field of view. The player cannot drop the weapon or stop it from firing, but he can turn or hide — obstructing his (and the gun’s) vision. The object of the game is to shoot as few people as possible. The gameplay is as stimulating as in the traditional FPS, but the conflict here is between the player and his own in-game persona. The off-screen player grapples for control, trapped in the body and actions of the game convention.

All the Universe is Full of the Lives of Perfect Creatures

Viewer’s movement and expressions are mimicked by an animal’s head which is overlaid on the viewer’s reflection. The resulting effect invites inquiry into issues of self-awareness, empathy and non-verbal communication.

A different animal appears every time a person walks in front of the mirror. The animals represent species from across the spectrum of domestication, from wild predators to domesticated species to animals who have evolved to coexist with human settlements, while remaining ‘wild’.

The animal mimics the viewer’s facial expressions, interspersing them with its own independent ones. One feels compelled to in turn enact those animal expressions, lip licking and snarling, fully inhabiting the role, following while being followed.

Video link: http://vimeo.com/35262930

Multicam / Immodesty

In this first demonstration we explore it to re-conceive or visualize a spatial perception which expands the body’s point of view in space.
We recorded multiple sequences with cameras arranged on quarter of a circle arch. For the interactive display we projected an image on the wall. As a person walks by her position is tracked and the picture displayed changes perspective (scrolling through our sequence) corresponding to the angle at which the person is viewing the picture. In effect the viewer can see a ‘moment’ from many points of view, physically moving around it to explore it.
Once the viewer scrolled through the entire ‘moment’, the sequence of another moment will be loaded, so that the viewer can walk through the story moment by moment.

Click on the link below to experience the moment:
http://www.gravitytrap.com/artwork/multicam

It’s You

It’s You is an interactive storefront-window projection that explores the mechanisms of public behaviors and the line between the real and constructed social actions.

The installation is a rear projection on large storefront window. Human figures crowd around something that they obscure from the pedestrian’s view. When the pedestrian stands behind them, as if to look over their shoulders, they step aside to allow him a view onto what they’re looking at. The pedestrian can now see part of the unfolding scene, and he obscures the view for the other pedestrians; he’s become part of the crowd.

When the pedestrian enters the interaction area in front of the window, the projected figures turn their heads glancing at him.
If the pedestrian stops, they will move aside, parting enough to allow him a view onto what they’re looking at.

After the pedestrian has been in the interaction area for a period of time, the projected figures will turn their attention to him. The viewer becomes the performer. If he does something to entertain his viewers, the projected figures will react by clapping, applauding the performance and clarifying their role of audience.

Video link: http://vimeo.com/35266165

 Night-Day (Wu-wei) 

A projection in the corner of two adjoining walls is activated by viewer interaction.
The interface to activate it is a big heavy rock.
There are instructions on the wall for various ways of picking up the rock.
But the rock is too heavy to be picked up by most people — they can barely budge it.
If someone exerts sustained effort in lifting the weight of the rock, the sun starts rising.

Video link: http://vimeo.com/40811793

 

Karolina Sobecka’s project revolves around the idea of empathy.  Building awareness to our surroundings and empathizing others.  Some of her works also requires audience participation, but not participating as an audience, the audience gradually becomes the subject matter.  The idea of role change will stimulate the viewers to rethink of themselves as spectators of self.

I am drawn to the idea of role change, decreasing self-importance, acknowledging the surroundings and being flexible in different situations.  It reminds me of my shadow pieces, I was also experimenting with the role change idea, when the shadow became the main character instead of the character itself.  I think her ideas brought me to another level of empathy.  The shooter game makes me think about how parents can show great concerns when their children are interested in video games that shows highly violent contents.  What if the game was the other way around, when instead of killing and competing, you have to shoot fewer people as possible.  Her mirror idea was also fascinating and at the same time can be very personal.  It is a simple gesture that we do every day, looking into the mirror.  What was reflected was not our own reflection, but the reflection of another animal.  This experience may allow the viewers to build personal connection with their morphed reflection.  I would really like to explore more on how else can we perceive our surroundings and how can we exclude viewing it as a viewer but viewing it as a part of ourselves.  

 

 

PTT is a terminal-based bulletin board based in Taiwan.
PTT is arguably the largest BBS in the world with more than 1.5 million registered users. During peak hours, there are over 150,000 users online. It has over 20,000 boards with a multitude of topics, and more than 40,000 articles and 1 million comments are posted every day.

Since 2000, Ptt has become the largest online forum in Taiwan due to its increasing number of users. Topics of various issues are enthusiastically discussed on Ptt, even to a profound extent generating social impacts in reality. The newspaper and television media started to report on Ptt, with journalists assigned to monitor Ptt for the latest updates.

The idea of an virtual world that heavily influences the reality world is nothing new.
To stress the virtual world idea further, it is a portal for us to outreach to almost anything.
http://www.goodanime.net/summer-wars
The above clip is from an anime called “Summer Wars”,  the first four minutes articulates the idea of the wide society on the internet.

Influenced by both, I decided to use the common internet code language to create art.

An art that will be exhibited and viewed in the “other internet world.”

 The original code that was inserted. Each numerical pattern stands for each color of the pixel and the width of the pixel.

 An african american woman.

Half nude chest.

 A girl with glasses.

 An old man.

Image Originals

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTT_Bulletin_Board_System
Images: Art+Commerce