ASK: Collaborate to make a thematic marble run lasting about twenty seconds. Assign roles to each group member. Incorporate sound (triggered by marble), jumps/loops/other surprising moves (?), and surprising use of materials.

Limitations: time, materials (fairly open though), successful structure building

IMAGINE: My group, Nina, Pedro, and I, decided to base our marble run on a day in the life of being a SUNY New Paltz student. We began with sketching our ideas beginning with an alarm that would sound , transitioning to a bagel funnel, through an orange juice container, off to Smiley Arts building, passing through a book, traveling down campus roads, to bed and then a moving piece that would catch the marble at the end to bring it to the top. We split the project into three parts, I focused on the beginning, which would have included the alarm, bagel and orange juice.

BUILD/ EVALUATE: I focused on adding sound by using one of the motors we learned how to make with the Doodle Bot Project on the alarm clock. I did have to figure out how to make it work without getting caught on the decorative ribbons coming out of the clock, but still be able to hit something to make a sound. I would like to work on making sounds using other materials later in this class. I also tried adding push pins hoping they would make noise since the piece happened to shake. For the orange juice I had to pay attention to how big the straw was and create ramps inside the container so that the marble would not get trapped.

After finishing each piece, which included some ramps and Smiley Art Building with steps coming down the side, Nina put a lot of focus into connection points to make the system work hopefully flawlessly. That took a lot of trial and error.

Pedro had searched up a YouTube video about the moving piece he worked on that would have rotated to bring the marble to the top and be a continuous cycle. Though it wasn’t able to function properly by the end of the time we had, I think that for what he was able to create showed a lot of exploration with the prototyping process and understanding function of the materials we had.

I feel like as a general note Nina and Pedro have both been very explorative and it has been really awesome to see what they are creating, especially with our current light project.

SHARE: Our final result began with an alarm, then traveled a ramp into the straw of the orange juice container, spilled out the bottom onto a ramp, onto the steps of Smiley Arts building and rolled off the chair into bed. Through the run we wanted to include the bagel, book, Pedro’s rotating device, jumps and loops as well, but ultimately we were forced to cut a lot of what we planned due to the time limit. We also did not meet the expected time of twenty seconds. I think that was an issue every group had. If I were to teach this in the future I want to keep in mind how long students may need to fulfill requirements. I would have liked to have succeeded in adding in the things we didn’t have time for. I liked that this project was thematic because it allowed creativity, application of how color affects mood/understanding of objects/ stories and other skills to be used. I was able to do a bit of drawing and also showed Nina how I was making the ribbons. I think it is also important to note Nina’s comment about these kinds of projects becoming male dominated and ultimately losing female interest out of a lack of inclusion so that I can prevent hat from happening. I think that by assigning parts to each group member may alleviate some of that.

Here are some notes I wrote down while watching that are important in my response:

Designing for Tinkerability- middleground of science, technology, and art

• builds on prior interest/knowledge, materials invite inquiry, multiple pathways, STEM as means not ends
• how to welcome, sustain and reflect
• environment: inspiring, supports initiative, cross-pollinating ideas, allowing collaboration

I liked that these foundations allow self-initiated creativity. Something that already stresses me out about going into education is the idea of having children who are uninterested, but this studio seemed to have for the most part eliminated that possibility because it welcomes lots of ideas and learning styles. One of the audience members pointed out that in designing a curriculum the content in education is often focused on the end goals, whereas the Tinkering Studio’s methods are attentive to the process of learning as well as developing understanding (19:04). It accounts for loss of engagement, progressions of learning along the way and lets people set their own goals. This relates to how class was taught on Monday with choice based and student centered learning. Honestly I did get bored and even a bit overwhelmed after finishing my origami and attaching lights. I feel that our professors demonstration and giving us more time to work after seeing what everyone else was doing was meant to bring back more curiosity. There was a moment where they touched on overloading information while teaching. I personally get overwhelmed with technology and often lose interest before I have even started. I think for me, participating in the Tinkering Studio would allow me to pick up these skills in small portions at a time like how in class we sort of worked in sections and small progressions. The potential for collaborative learning can also really aid that problem. When we have worked in groups in class, I feel like things have been a lot more explorative. Additionally, something that I felt that was important that they said was “learning is not linear or terminal” which is a good reminder that educators can help students build onto prior knowledge. We are also constantly asked to document and reflect as we work, which is what is talked about in the second bullet point.

When they talked about Scott Weaver’s toothpick art, I was thinking about how it involves the Design for Tinkerability (science, technology, and art). To me it was obvious how it included art factors. They then mentioned the ping pong tour of San Francisco and I could understand the science side. However, it made me have to think about what technology really is and I realized that it does not always have to involve electronics/ circuits, it can tie into science and stand as function. In fact the definition that comes up online says “the sum of any techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation.” I think that really embraces their ideas of creating multiple pathways to learn from.

The beginning of the video showed some clips of the Tinkering Studio during the toy focused open make event. There was a moment that showed a LEGO sculpture by Nathan Sawaya (10:49). I visited one of his temporary exhibitions in Pittsburg when I was in high school. Here are some things I had documented from that:

Yellow: https://newpaltz.knowmia.com/V5Me

Dinosaur Skeleton: https://newpaltz.knowmia.com/Qd3F

Ascension: https://newpaltz.knowmia.com/omGh

Not only is Sawaya’s work relevant to tinkering by using LEGO’s and having to consider how they can be held up without falling apart, but he also adds sound, lighting and backdrops to his exhibitions. He sometimes then incorporates his sculptures into photos. I think it is great that he pushes himself beyond just sculpture building in maker education.

If I had to pick three of these ideas to work with, I would want to try something like the toothpick/ LEGO sculpture building, soldering, and use of conductive ink . I enjoy building sculptures and it is something I would be up to trying again. I chose soldering because it is something I tried to use once for a sculpture in the past, but for what I was attempting to use it for did not work out, so I would like to have a better idea of it in general. I was also really fascinated by the idea of conductive ink because I like drawing/ painting and I think that those two things can be related.

1. Janet Cardiff
2. Rafael Lozano Hemmer
3. Camille Utterback

My first choice is Janet Cardiff because I liked her use of sounds and the idea of fear being established by one sense but contradicted by another. I thought it had a similar idea of my candle stop motion of indecisive emotions (relaxation/ fear).

My second choice is Rafael Lozano Hemmer. I liked the aesthetic/ visuals of his work as well as ideas behind some of them. I especially liked “Surface Tension” and “Speaking Willow”.

My third choice is Camille Utterback. I also liked her visuals and movement in the works. I recently went to the Van Gogh Expo in NYC and her work reminded me of that.

They Say “Leap With Your Heart” (Group)

Group Member: Nina

For this stop motion, we were all prompted with creating our videos based around how we are currently feeling with Covid. Nina and I discussed what it is like returning to in person classes, how our mental health has been affected, as well as the social displacements we have faced. We talked about having desires to see our friends, and take up opportunities of being in college, however we have felt that we ultimately need to prioritize safety for others as well as for ourselves, thus weighing our hearts and our minds. I was thinking a little bit about Egypt’s Weighing of the Heart Ceremony when brainstorming and thought it would be really cool to try and create a balance scale with the materials we were offered. We had a hard time figuring out functionality, especially when the heavy clay pieces were added. If we had more time, I think it would have been worthwhile attempting a more secure beam.

Mental Health in a Pandemic (Group)

Group Members: Olivia, Danielle, Margo, Dee and Sean

I really enjoyed this video. Because we all had such strong , as well as sensitive, emotions toward this subject, it was not very difficult to bring together what we wanted to convey. We did have to call a break as this was very emotional to all of us. Though this project conveyed only a glimpse of our thoughts, I feel this stop motion really wrapped up every thought we had. We started out with earth floating in a starless space and introduced our character. In the beginning, he begins to show signs that can be physically identified by an outsider, such as a lack of hygiene. We also introduced a mask to indicate the pandemic and bring in the topic of how mental health has recently evolved, and how it is finally starting to be recognized as a larger issue than how it was presented before. We then began to dive into his mind, something internal that we wanted to visualize for others. We wanted the hallways to suggest a psychiatric hospital which would ultimately lead to Danielle’s interpretation of hell. I had a chance at working with some new materials, like the powdered graphite, as well as see everyone’s individual art styles incorporated.

New Paltz Water

For this stop motion I was really inspired by August Lamm’s work and wanted to bring some of that to life. She focuses primarily in printmaking and often depicts figures looking through glasses. I have always loved the way she depicts the fragmentation. I wanted to explore the idea of curiosity and also wanted to tie in a bit of a relationship to the water crisis some of us experienced in New Paltz a few years ago. That may have only been brief, but a lot of people make sure to always have extra water or a filter because it really taught us a lesson about the safety and accessibility of our resources.

Candle

For this one, I primarily wanted to focus on understanding the app. I set a timer so that I could use both of my hands, and I was really excited about how the smoke would move. I also think incorporation of candles can create either a relaxing or uneasy setting and I wanted to be able to play on both ends at the same time.

Ivy Growth

For this stop motion I have been documenting my Ivy plant and a budding flower on it over the last few days. I really enjoy nature and growth, and wanted to focus on a time-lapse feeling. I had some issues with lighting and had to remove pieces that I took at night.

Nettrice Gaskin’s talk about incorporating STEAM into Art Education expressed myriads of lesson ideas to bring into the classroom as well as how to keep students engaged. I loved that she allowed art to tie into different fields of study, such as music, fashion, math, science and technology. This consideration for inclusive and culturally responsive Art Education, not only engages students by hopefully tying in other interests students relate to, but also allows them to learn and broadens the scope of their capabilities. Personally I did not enjoy the Black Panther piece because I haven’t seen the movie and could not relate to it. However , I found her story during the Q and A of the boy who had a hard time with classes, but was self-driven when he was passionate about learning to create something of his interest quite compelling. I think as a future art educator, I need to remember that I may not personally enjoy each project, but that I should allow space for students’  interests.

I thought the term “tinkering” was funny because I have always related that term to child’s play. It honestly made me a little more uplifted about the idea of incorporating STEAM, especially since I am not one that typically feels engaged when it comes to technology. Tinkering is about using whatever materials are available to produce work. The upside to tinkering is that students who may have less resources to art supplies can achieve creations. I loved that at around 31:46 in the Q and A video, she also discussed the application of failure and leading to success through those experiences. I think it is important for people to recognize that things do not have to be, and likely won’t, be right the first time.

When Gaskins spoke of her physical computing color glove, I was thinking a lot about the Van Gogh Expo in New York City where colors used in their film were based on certain frequencies and resembled the experience of synesthesia. I often feel that technology inhibits our senses but in this case, where she applied color to sound, it incorporated more.

I think overall, Nettrice Gaskins had a very distinctive approach to Art Education and the world of STEAM, in which her ideas can be really valuable for future reference.