Visual Harvesting
After having followed the Visual Harvesting workshop by Martine Vanremoortele, my markers are never far away. This method of visual facilitating and summarising information, thought processes and brainstorms is intriguing and addictive. I already noticed how useful it is to communicate ideas and summarize a dialogue on the go so all involved know where we stand and where we’re going.
About the Digital Art Lab
The Digital Art Lab an aRt&D environment within a center for arts and culture (CKC Zoetermeer) where local individuals, communities, artists, students and art teachers can experiment, play and learn together – often but not exclusively – with creative technologies.
I’ve been involved there from the beginning in september 2010. Initially, the lab aimed to innovate in the field of amateur arts education by experimenting with advanced creative technologies and media arts methodologies. During my position as lab manager, I’ve slightly changed the emphasis and redirected the strategy and goals towards developing bottom-up, grassroots creative projects with an emphasis on pear learning and learning by doing and to initiate collaborations with the local creative industry and higher education. This strategy has proven successful in giving the CKC new impulses, ideas and productes that are inspired and informed by collaborations with the young locals.
Video Mix
I have been nourishing a little VJ community in the Digital Art Lab since spring 2012. A couple of boys from the gang offered to facilitate VJ Jam Sessions for beginners in the Digital Art Lab. The second P2P experiment is now in full swing! Coming October the two 13-year old boys will start a short course called Video Mix. As peer teachers, Bram and Lucas will show the participants a mixed bunch of audiovisual techniques such as stopmotion animation, lightgraffiti (in stills and animated), and VJ-ing with Modul8. The focus of these get-togethers is fun & play & creating, and they master it very well :) They’ve been preparing a bunch of example materials and I am thoroughly surprised and inspired. I cannot wait to see what these young creatives pull out of their hats ten years from now. See the rest of this post for more pics. Peer teaching for the win!
teenage scifi series: ALPHA
In Winter/Spring I produced ALPHA; a science-fiction webseries made by 30 teenagers from the city of Zoetermeer and around. It was initiated by 15 year old Thijmen de Valk, who’s been writing stories all his life and has the ambition to become a film director. After a successful crowdfunding campaign on voordekunst.nl and dazzling recruitment of talented crew and cast between 9 and 19 years old we started the rocket ride. The team of 30 kids had to learn to work together and develop all sorts of skills like how to…
- be a scriptwriter (Sebastiaan Smits)
- be a director (thank you Nikolaj Feifer)
- be a producer (thank you Anna Spierings)
- be a cinematographer (thank you Hayo van Gemert)
- be an editor (thank you Lex Diederik)
- be a sound(track) designer (thank you Vincent Zaalberg)
- be a VFX artist (thank you Timothy Kok) and many other things.
Episode one viewed exclusively at the VIP sneak preview, but below’s the trailer for those who can’t wait for the series :) www.facebook.com/AlphaTheSeries.
Fun Facts
Fun facts is a workshop format for kids where they learn to translate data into imagery. How can you create the most informative, understandable yet fun and compelling image? In stead of using pencils, kids use physical materials and cameras to allow them to work 2D and 3D. This workshop was developed for the Cinekid Mediafestival in Zoetermeer.
Real/Digital Installations
Heike and I wanted to bring together a bunch of mature students from the visual art department to have a go at making art installations. We asked them to bring in a piece of their work or inspiring object to incorporate it into an audiovisual installation, using some basic projection mapping tools. It was a challenge to change mindsets and resolve some personal digifrustrations, but the whole group eventually experimented and played freely, opening up to new possibilities and ideas. An afternoon was definitely too short for developing and working out solid concepts and artworks but it was a good laugh and we surprised ourselves with many happy accidents.
Undercover Fox
Undercover Fox is a social experiment in urban space, executed by luring locals into participating in an audiowalk through Zoetermeer. As temporary special agents, the ‘players’ receive instructions through their headphones and experience the city centre as the location for a strange mission. Agents start out undercover but slowly start doing strange actions involving the shopping public passing by on a seemingly normal friday evening. Who’s in control of our actions?
See participant’s reactions here.
Undercover Fox is co-production of Digital Art Lab and Storytellers.
Credits: Sven Ruggenberg, Sebastiaan Smits, Jessica Fuchs, Ingrid Rekers, Vincent Zaalberg, Loes Bogers.
Robotics P2P
We successfully developed a P2P course in Robotics (using Lego Mindstorms), with two 13-year old interns. The two peer teachers coach two teams for 8 weeks teaching them and helping them to build and program a robot that can triumph the challenges of a playing field the boys designed. In the last week, the two teams fight each other in the grand finale. The contest is now structurally programmed in the CKC, being offered 3 times a year.
Unschooling
I’ve been getting into the phenomenon of ‘unschooling’ or learning through natural life experiences, including play, game play, household responsibilities, work experience, and social interaction, rather than through a more traditional school curriculum. This and some peripheral topics related to it have sparked my interest. I should probably start writing down insights but am not getting around to it as yet. I can however tell you what I’m reading/doing and promise to say more about the experiential stuff later. Really.
Readings
Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Ignorant Schoolmaster. Five Lessons in Intellectual Emancipation by Jacques Rancière (transl. Kristin Ross)
Learning By Heart by Corita Kent
Design Research On Learning And Thinking In Educational Settings by David Yun Dai
Design Thinking by Nigel Cross
Doings
‘Learn Anything On Your Own’ – Skillshare Course by Dale Stephens (founder of Uncollege.org)
Dancemedia: Joined Creations
I have been working on a dance dialogue or rather, multilogue for Joined Creations (2012). Using mapping software and a Kinect sensor I have been doing some experiments to create a dance/media synergy for this wonderful African-inspired dance piece choreographed by Melanie Sloot.