Kismet Arts Tangent

Today, the soft spoken Jill monologued about her childhood history with the most colorful teacher and how she wants to continue to strive to be as involved in teaching as she was. Though Jill didn’t dawn any historical costumes, she did bring in metal letters. They were passed around the classroom and while we examined the feel of type between our fingers, she waxed poetically about how materials available affected letter making. Papyrus, codex, chisel, pen nib, vellum, scriptorium, carved wood, copperplate gravings.

We took a tour of the North Plaza which included the silkscreening area, the letter press stuff and some machines that make polymer stamps. All of this as my classmate who had been there before should have wowed me and it did, but it also intimidated me. There is so much I don’t know. I’ve been playing with paint too long perhaps.

We discussed how this quarter will go down. I have chosen/been assigned a creative brief for Sutherland Creative, which will determine the designs for the next 12 weeks.

I could hardly call the first day of class, the first day of class. Marc, the chairman of the graphic design program waltzed in with his usual swagger and told the class that he had invented a Mr. Hoppy and he’s going to be teaching photoshop next week. Meanwhile, he said, we work on this special project (in my mind, I am thinking that this is a babysitting type project, something to busy ourselves). Most of the class dispersed slowly after he announced he come back later to check on us.

Assignment: “Create a detailed map of your journey to the graphic design program. Your solution should be 15×20. Your final solution must include your name. Print your solution in Color and mount it flush on foam core. E-mail me a .pft of your solution. Due 9am next week.”

The first few hours after getting an assignment, I think of a lot of boundaries. What is the core of the assignment and how can I make this assignment fun by stretching the assignment to include what I would find to be interesting?

I made thought map about the assignment and what I could put into it. What are some map types? What are some journey types? Spritual, stylistic, physical? The assignment says “detailed” map. What are some map details? Legends, keys, color codes. This is essentially an autobiographical assignment. What is unique to me? What art classes have I taken? What metaphors can I utilize?

I discussed the assignment with some of my peers and jokingly suggested something, but then I decided to do that.

On my whay home, I saw this structure. I was struck by it. What is the purpose of its shape other than to intrigue me?

Update 1-9-12:

Here’s my execution of the assignment for the map of my journey. After a lot of thought, I decided to make a nice sweet simple poster. Nothing too offensive or witty about it. It’s a word map.

Photo Credit to Erik.