POLYGON BLOOMS

3/8/10

HEARTS & MINDS

Students created orthogonal perspective drawings over a digital print of Raphael's painting, "The School of Athens".

On the left students drew their Geo-Emblem drawings vanishing at Plato's chest. These drawings visualize the students' idea of an ideal geometric design.

On the right students drew their Contextual-Coordinate drawing vanishing at Aristotle's head. These drawings visualize the students' experiential relation to the observable world (ie Philadelphia).

RESEARCH II : PLATO & ARISTOTLE

Raphael's School of Athens from Beth Harris on Vimeo.

RESEARCH I : ON POINT

smARThistory discusses Leonardo's Last Supper from Beth Harris on Vimeo.

2/1/10

RELATIONAL GEOMETRY

Students traded finished drawings with each other to create collaborative forms.

"Commerce, trading, the market, is a much more important metaphor for art than we like to believe. For my part, I tend to think well of metaphors of commerce and trading. In early civilization, the trader or the merchant was always bringing things from outside culture, from other cultures, into the market at the center of the city. Traders disrupted things, they brought disharmony, difference, new objects and ideas." Nicolas Bourriaud

From Public Relations - Nicolas Bourriaud - ArtForum Interview

ReTHINKING CARTOGRAPHY: CHARLES AND RAY EAMES

Powers of Ten from Heinz Legler on Vimeo.

1/29/10

CONTEXTUAL COORDINATES 2

Thick Sharpie markers were used to create finished drawings.

1/22/10

ReTHINKING CARTOGRAPHY: WILLIAM POPE L.

In his colorfully drawn map, William Pope. L - who has literally crawled the streets of Manhattan - identifies the location of safe houses in downtown Manhattan, identifying the transitory spaces in the city used by people with an estranged relationship with legality. (From New Museum Website)

"Like the African shaman who chews his pepper seeds and spits seven times into the air, I believe art re-ritualizes the everyday to reveal something fresh about our lives. This revelation is a vitality and it is a power to change the world." WILLIAM POPE L.

Interview

1/16/10

CONTEXTUAL COORDINATES 1

Students worked over a map of Philadelphia, PA.

Students placed a dot to mark locations that they have lived, played, or experienced as a visitor.

Students connected their dots to create unique geometric forms.

The geometric shapes created were determined by contextual experience.

1/15/10

ReTHINKING CARTOGRAPHY: Francis Alÿs

“Sometimes Doing Something Poetic Can Become Political, and Sometimes Doing Something Political Can Become Poetic” Francis Alÿs

http://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibitions/127/

“Sometimes Making Something Leads to Nothing” Francis Alÿs

1/5/10

GEO-EMBLEMS --> COORDINATE TRANSFERS

Students created a geometric emblem over a simple X,Y coordinate grid on 8.5" x 11" paper. This emblem was transferred to a larger grid measuring 13" x 19". A final color design was transferred onto a large sheet of tracing paper.

ReTHINKING GEOMETRY: ODILI DONALD ODITA

“What is most interesting to me is a fusion between cultures where things that seem faraway and disparate have the ability to function within an almost seamless flow. The fusion I seek is one that can represent a type of living within a world of difference. No matter the discord, I believe through art there is a way to weave the different parts into an existent whole, and where metaphorically, the notion of a common humanity can be understood as a real choice.” Odili Donald Odita