Art Projects

make something, an idea takes shape, show the world

I don't have any projects going on right now. Mostly some vague ideas rattling around in my head. An idea here and there and no time to really work on it or ways to get it going. But, as they occur I will add them here and maybe try them out.

Red Wing, MN Photos
Just playing with a digital camera and exploring what I could do with FireWorks MX. I think the pictures turned out pretty good. Red Wing, MN Photos

Using and Creating Sounds: TechnoKafka
Playing with sounds to illustrate the idea of Power.

• Power:
  • technoKafka--underlying reading at normal speed
    
    
  • technoKafka2--version two with very slow reading layered underneath--I like this one
    
    
  • kafka reading-- apologies to F. Kafka. reading comes from The Penal Colony: Stories and Short Pieces, "Unhappiness", 1948,1976, Schocken Books, New York, New York, p. 41. I added a nice echo effect
    
    
• How I Made It: I used five acid loops (one thrumming sound, two drum loops, and two synth loops) from SONIC FOUNDRY--a cd came with my Macromedia Web studio box. I started with the first loop and copied it for the duration of the sound. It plays four seconds, then the back beat kicks in. Then the synth is layered over it and the first drum loop drops out. The synth plays and then the next drum loop kicks in. Then it is just variations on a theme. I thought a little light ;- ) reading might be cool underneath. I recorded myself reading and added an echo and boosted the volume--to be heard over the techno bits. I made one track at normal speed and then slowed down the reading tremendously to make another track. I then dropped them into flash and made them a .swf. The final track is just the reading, if you are interested.

Installations
As a teacher, I don't get many opportunities to create an art installation, but when I do, I like to have the children help make it too. I worked at EP's now closed, Central Kindergarten Center in the "Blue Den." Right above that big blue circle was a large recessed skylight--just waiting for someone to put something there. I started with a large whale and ran the tail down the hall and around the corner. Students encountered the tail and then came upon the body and flippers floating in the skylight. We added all kinds of fish, sea weed, and blue cellophane to give it that underwater feel. From then on, I used the space to create thematic connections to the curriculum.

 

The underwater installations were always the favorites. One year, I made a huge shark. Another, giant jellyfish with tentacles hanging down to the floor. Awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classroom Installations
Ok...so maybe I make more art than I thought. You might not consider it "art" in the strict sense of "put it in a museum" kind of art, but it brings a sense of wonder and enjoyment to a lot of people, so in that sense, it's art to me.

• The Chicka Chicka Tree
  Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault wrote the perennial favorite, children's book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. (Amazon) It is such a great introduction to the alphabet and a nice connection to the letters in the children's' names that I would recreate it every year. I made the tree and each student made the first letter of their name to climb to the top of the coconut tree. *Tip--I used sticky back velcro squares to attach the letters--easy on, easy off. I love the tropical feel of my desk all year.