Elise Martin UWS

During today’s Expressive Arts and Culture input we had the opportunity to visit Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

During our time at Kelvingrove we were given a lot of information around all of the different workshops and activities that are available here, specifically for young people. We also had the opportunity to view the “Dippy on Tour” exhibition. This shows a dinosaur skeleton that is to scale. Dippy is kept in a museum in London but is currently doing a tour around several museums across the United Kingdom. I felt grateful to be able to see a current exhibition that was available for a limited time and I was informed that new exhibitions often change and are kept up to date. This allows visits to the art gallery and museum to be different every time you visit.

While we were exploring the museum and art gallery, we had the task of taking ten images of exhibits and exhibitions around Kelvingrove that connect to a particular theme. We were able to choose our own theme which meant that we were individually searching the museum for different exhibits to our peers. I feel that this was an enjoyable and fun way of exploring the museum. The theme that I decided upon was unity. I thought that everything in the museum is connected and so decided very quickly on this particular theme. While exploring the museum, I took photographs of some of the pieces of art and models from different exhibitions and parts of the museum that I felt connected to my theme of unity.

This first photograph is probably one of the most photographed parts of the museum and I felt that it connected to my theme perfectly. The models show different emotions and feelings however they all must come together in order to make one person. Therefore, conveying unity.

This next photograph shows a model of a father and daughter. Family are all connected and so I thought that this model followed my theme of unity well. Family often have a close bond with each other and from this model, it is clear that this father and daughter share a strong connection.

 

 

The next photograph shows animals who have sadly been killed. The exhibition portrays animal hunting and different animals and their origins. This photograph shows that all of the animals have been through the same experience and now all stand together in unity.

 

 

 

An experience and outcome that I feel relates to my experience at Kelvingrove museum and art gallery is as follows:

Through observing and recording from my experiences across the curriculum, I can create images and objects which show my awareness and recognition of detail. EXA 2-04a

In the future, I would love to be able to bring my class to Kelvingrove to participate in some of the many workshops and activities that they have to offer.It is a fantastic way for young people to learn more about expressive arts and other areas of the curriculum while having fun in a new environment.  It was a great experience to visit the art gallery and museum and I will be sure to visit Kelvingrove more frequently to see new and existing exhibits.

References

Education Scotland (2004) – Curriculum for Excellence; Experiences and Outcomes [Online] https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/Experiences%20and%20outcomes [Accessed on 7th February 2019]

During today’s Expressive Arts and Culture workshop we had the opportunity to work within the art studio and create a model of our evocative objects.

We were asked to prepare a concrete poem using 62 words that related to our evocative objects and bring them along to today’s session. This was going to help us with part of our model of our evocative objects. Some of the words that I included within my poem were as follows: family, special, memory and precious. All of the words that were used within the concrete poem must be related to our own specific evocative objects. My concrete poem was drawn in the shape of my Vivienne Westwood necklace which is my evocative object. I decided to write my poem in this shape because I felt it would be the most effective way of achieving a realistic model of my evocative object. It also allowed me to fit all of my 62 words within my poem into the model which helped to portray all of the feelings and emotions that surrounds my evocative object. To create my artwork I used paper, pencil, a fine black liner, grey string and coil. These gave me a simple yet effective model of my necklace and allowed me to portray it how I wished. The model turned out great and I am extremely proud of the work that I put into it. It allowed me to get a sense of how much this object means to me and all of the emotions and connotations of it.

I feel that today’s activity was very insightful and enjoyable. I would love to be able to trial this lesson with young people and evaluate how the lesson could progress into other areas of the curriculum perhaps using different forms of technology to make the models as well as different art materials.

An experience and outcome that relates to the activity carried out during today’s lesson is as follows:

I can create and present work using the visual elements of line, shape, form, colour, tone, pattern and texture. EXA 1-03a

 

 

References

Education Scotland (2004) – Curriculum for Excellence; Experiences and Outcomes [Online] https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/Experiences%20and%20outcomes [Accessed on 7th February 2019]

This week in Expressive Arts and Culture we were located in the music studio to allow us to explore different types of instruments. The focus of this week’s workshop was graphic soundscapes.

We were firstly introduced to a graphic soundscape and how they are used. It describes an image being represented by a sound or instrument on a grid. The images are represented in a table and are followed from left to right. The table is followed to create a piece of music by following the images and playing the instruments or sounds that each image represents. The class were able to participate in an example of a graphic soundscape and the song we used as background music was “Firework” by Katy Perry. Due to the background music, we selected instruments and sounds that we felt tied in well with the music selected. For example, we used instruments to create different sound effects for bangs and sounds that you are most likely to hear during a firework display. This was our graphic soundscape that we followed for our example as a whole class.

 

 

Following on from this, we separated into smaller groups to create our own graphic soundscape. My group and I decided to create a graphic soundscape that related to a tropical rainforest. We had the opportunity to select the instruments that we wished to use to create our own rainforest and work together to create our own graphic soundscape to follow. Every group had around half an hour to create their pieces and we all had the opportunity to perform this to the rest of the class.

This activity was extremely enjoyable and it allowed us all to work in teams. We also had the chance to perform in front of the class. This activity allowed music to be integrated with visual arts to create a key and images to follow through a graphic soundscape. I would encourage that others use an activity similar to this for enjoyment and learning and I will be sure to take this experience into my teaching practice. An experience and outcome that relates to the activities carried out during today’s workshop is as follows:

Inspired by a range of stimuli, and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities. EXA 0-18a / EXA 1-18a / EXA 2-18a

References

Education Scotland (2004) – Curriculum for Excellence; Experiences and Outcomes [Online] https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/Experiences%20and%20outcomes [Accessed on 7th February 2019]

 

 

 

During this week’s Expressive Arts and Culture input we were located in the music studio. We continued to explore music relating to our evocative objects and we also had the opportunity to look at how different pieces of music can make us feel.

The task for today’s workshop was to bring two pieces of music along to the input. One piece of music that related to our evocative objects and one that was a contrast and did not have any connection to the object at all. I decided to select the song “Someone Like You” by Adele as the song that related closely to my evocative object. This song is deeply emotional and a song that I can connect with. I felt that it linked to my evocative object as I connect with my object a lot and it has a lot of different emotions surrounding it. The contrasting piece of music that I selected was the song “Sunshine” by Tieks. This piece of music is extremely upbeat and reminds me of summer. Although, this song connotes happy memories and experiences. It does not remind me of my parents or family and it does not have any emotion connected to it. During the workshop, we all had the opportunity to share the songs that we had selected with the rest of the class. We were able to share our reasons for selecting the songs or we had the choice to let the class guess our reasons for selecting the two different pieces of music. I decided to share my reasons for selecting the songs with the rest of the class. Fleming, M. (2012) describes the importance of music being used in classes through looking at different feelings and emotions that is portrayed in different pieces of music. We achieved this throughout today’s workshop.

Following on from this, we had the opportunity to watch videos that explained the impact that music had on different motion pictures. This described how different motion pictures often have music to allow the audience to feel the emotions and story that they are portraying throughout the motion picture. Before today, I had not given this much thought. But now, I am sure that I will be looking and listening more closely to what music has been selected in different motion pictures and the reasoning behind it.

References

• Fleming, M. (2012). The Arts in Education: An introduction to aesthetics, theory and pedagogy. London: Routledge.

 

During this week’s Expressive Arts and Culture workshop, we continued to explore the theme of evocative objects. However, this week we were focusing on music.

Our task this week was to find a piece of already existing music that we felt related to our evocative object, or to create our own short piece of music using GarageBand or a similar application to relate to our evocative object.

I decided to select two songs that I felt related to my evocative object. The first song that I chose was “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele. I selected this song because it is one of my mum’s favourite songs and I therefore think of her whenever I hear it. I also love this particular song because it has a lot of emotion behind it. I can relate this to my evocative object because it brings a lot of emotion out in me when I am wearing my necklace or when I think back to receiving it on my birthday. The second song that I decided to select is “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls. This is one of my favourite songs and it also reminds me a lot of my childhood when I hear it because my dad would listen to it often. This song reminds me of my dad and all of the amazing memories we have made together as a family. This relates to my evocative object because we are a strong family unit and my necklace represents that. Fleming, M. (2012) describes the importance of music being used in classes through looking at different feelings and emotions that is portrayed in different pieces of music. This would encourage children and young people to talk about their feelings more openly. I extremely enjoyed this task during today’s workshop and I would love to try this throughout my teaching practice. I will encourage my learner’s to create their own short piece of music to describe their feelings to evaluate the effectiveness of this activity.

References

• Fleming, M. (2012). The Arts in Education: An introduction to aesthetics, theory and pedagogy. London: Routledge.

This was the first input of the Expressive Arts and Culture module. I decided to choose this module because I have always shown an interest in the arts throughout my life. Although, I carried music through to secondary school and studied it at National 5 level, I did not continue to study art. I was interested in having a little more of an insight into the expressive arts and looking more in depth at art in particular. I have participated in dance and drama since my early childhood and still love it today. I was very excited to see what this module had to offer and hopefully it would allow me to experience the expressive arts more closely.

As an introduction to the Expressive Arts and Culture module we were all asked to come to the first input with an object that was significant to us for a specific reason. This is also known as an evocative object. We started off the workshop with an introduction to the module and an explanation of the assessment and expectations of the module. We followed on from this by reading “What makes an object evocative?” as a class. From reading this, it was now clear to me what an evocative object is and how objects that are important to us can bring out different feelings and emotions that we have. Although, a particular object is of significance to you, someone else does not portray it in the same way. Thus, highlighting how special a particular object can be. “The meaning of even such objects shifts with time, place, and differences among individuals.” (Turkle, 2007, p.307).” This explains that the object can be of more significance if a relative passes or a tragic life event occurs for example.

After reading the document as a class, we went around the room in a circle to allow everyone to explain the object that they had chosen and explained why they felt it was evocative to them. My object is a Vivienne Westwood necklace that was kindly gifted to me on my 18th birthday by my mum and dad. This necklace is extremely important to me and I wear it almost everyday. My necklace is very important to me as it was a gift from people that I am extremely close to. When I wear it, I feel that my parents are always with me even though I am so fortunate to still have them around me most of the time. While I was explaining my evocative object to the rest of the class, I felt a lot of different emotions which highlights how an object that is important to you can bring out your personal feelings. It was also clear that majority of the class were also feeling similar emotions while explaining their own object. I can see how an activity similar to this could be used in a classroom setting and I will be sure to try a similar activity throughout my teaching practice.

References

Turkle, S. (2007) Evocative objects: things we think with. Mit Press.