Some thoughts on endings and beginnings: January 4, 2011
This is the time at the beginning of a new year to let go of some things that have met the deadline and renew continuing pursuits and projects- by choice, by necessity, by circumstance. Winding down and deconstructing energy and earned knowledge doesn’t just happen in the mind because of the calendar. Re-construction has to come from that place of building and experience, and reinvigorate in the face of another measured period in our lives. Time moves forward and we assess and reassess our place in it. What is our footing for the future?
There is no question that new technology and the ability to connect globally has changed the way we can search for information on virtually any subject from the mundane and political to the philosophical and the spiritual. Associations have never been more abundant and fluid. Collage is our world in images, text, formulas, equations, and combinations with or without our words or definitions. Where are people in all of this and how do we make sense of it for ourselves and for those around us? Is this where research comes in? Is research about things that have already happened and we are tracking that in established ways? Are the creative art therapies doing work that needs a system to make it more... measurable and therefore, more fundable, more academic, more scientific, more? How can we measure creativity, desire, will, or determination although there is an on-going fascination with trying to explain these human qualities, or are they traits or behaviors? And how do these impact our health, well-being and healing from illness, grief, or trauma? How does one capture the creative process and use it for humankind in positive ways? These are the areas of inquiry that I ponder and where I will be spending my time.
Certainly the computer with so many programs and tools has transformed the graphic world and made it easy to copy, alter and combine images in stills, animation, virtual reality, or sci-fi. I want to utilize more graphics as an artist instead of mainly using word processing. Communication beyond language is now possible with an impact on social and advertising markets. Printmaking, now seems old fashioned and too time consuming as its hand-made values have given into image making that was simply not previously possible. I want to do creative work utilizing the new tools that still need big, commercial machines although advances have made it easy to take work to places that do have them. I then miss the personal choices that are made at that level as the process evolves and ideas come as one goes. Although I have learned a lot about tools, I am still looking for ways that are intuitive to the process. All in all this class has encouraged foraging in many areas to investigate their possible use. I am sure that a lot will be incorporated as the needs arise and the familiarity create ease of use and hopefully ways to connect ideas, data, and images that still are clunky.
In the collaborative investigations, I found my classmates very reasonable and cooperative and each offering different skills, which added to the fun of dealing with frustrating tools. Think we all would agree that it was time consuming and the results were ok, but not a natural to use. Sometimes concerns were with confidentiality as in VoiceThread and Blogs or not serious enough looking and acting as in Prezi. I enjoyed using some of my art work images or photographs of clouds in this new context as metaphors and symbols of networks in space. We still need the originators of ideas and of images even if we have machines. The basics are generated and programmed by humans. I do think web site designing and using is almost a necessity today, so I will pursue that. I would have liked more instruction with Endnote as my two-year program is outmoded and quirky on my Mac although they have improved it on newer versions, which mine won’t update to. Technology changes so often and I constantly update, but finding what works over the long run needs to be consistent when collecting data. I haven’t found a great program for Mac for data and had the unfortunate experience of having Word overload or hide data at a crucial moment. Still that is a mystery and I want to avoid that one again as I will have more data in the future.
All I can say is that it has been interesting and informative and helpful to have others comments and experience to draw on, collaborative and participatory learning has social benefits as well. Also, I find it hard to stop blogging as I am now used to it and may continue this from time to time. I may start one with women artists as well and see who responds!
In closing:
Imprint: 1991, assemblage with steel, bronze and aluminum
Infinite space, infinite possibilities....the interaction enables connections and changes humankind in the process. We are imprinted as we imprint. This sculpture called, Imprint, symbolizes that concept for me at this time and with what I am experiencing in the Internet world, which is expanding instantaneously. I am wondering what is it that we are so desperately searching for? S.
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