Media Arts

CONVERSATIONS:

I always find it difficult to define digital media or digital art as it asks the question - what is Art?  I love playing around with computers and manipulating my photos using layering techniques.  However, listening to the lectures I have realised that digital media includes stop motion and film.  I especially liked the term "cyber-drama" that was used in the reading (Sinclair, Jeanneret, & O'Toole, 2012).  Kirsten

Sinclair, C., Jeanneret, N., & O’Toole, J. (2012). Education in the arts. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.

Like you Kirsten, I originally had trouble defining what digital media actually way.  The text (Sinclair, Jeanneret, & O'Toole, 2012) did clarify how broad this area has become to incorporate all media including television, film video, blogs etc.  So we have actually been engaging in this media all along though our blog and able to incorporate websites, photographs, video and links. Elise

Having worked in as a Marketing Manager for the last twenty years I have been involved with graphic designers and creative directors from the major advertising agencies in Australia.  As such, I was involved in producing television and cinema commercials, promotional videos, radio and magazine advertisements.  Knowing what goes into these large budget productions will help me to teach children to be critically reflective due to the sophistication of advertising. Elise

Photo: Tahune Airwalk K Lawton 2008.

Media Arts seems to encapsulate all of the Arts we have looked at so far with a 21st century twist.   I noticed that at your school Elise there were no computers does that mean there is no digital Art either?  It is interesting that in a strongly Arts orientated school there is a limited space for digital media. 

At my school the children have a specialist IT class where they have explored some digital art techniques, these are not integrated into the everyday curriculum.  When I teach I like to incorporate technology by encouraging children to video record what they are doing or taking photographs.  I would love to hear what your thoughts are on media arts. 

Well done, Kirsten!

No, IT is not incorporated into a Steiner primary school.  I understand this is contentious. Personally I think the art learning students receive during primary school actually equips them to use multimedia in a very educated and perhaps more creatively mature way in high school.  As a mother, I do not see the need for my children to be exposed to social media until they are more cognitively able to process it.  I'm sure there are plenty of arguments against this.  Elise

This unit so far has challenged my idea of what the Arts should look like in the curriculum.  I once thought I was effectively incorporating the Arts into my teaching however I have since realised much of my attempts have been shallow.  I have learnt that the best way to integrate the Arts is through collaboration and seeking knowledge.   The Arts can be expressed through many different forms and this needs to be reflected in the classroom. Kirsten

I wish we had workshop on media arts.  Having read the text and looked on-line I still feel fairly uneducated in this area.  I also strongly feel isolated from the tech-savy younger generation, such as yourself Kirsten.  Elise

I attended a Professional learning seminar by Max Drummy about the incorporation of ICT into classroom curriculum.  For years educators have been saying we need to provide students with skills for the 21st century however we are now well into the 21st century and many are still arguing over what these skills are.  Max talked about what some of these skills are and how technology should be a part of them. This is the link to the website where you can access the LEAP21 project and read the research: LEAP21

This research has changed my perspective and the way I will incorporate ICT into lessons in the same way this unit has changed the way I will include the Arts in my lessons.  Kirsten

RESOURCE TOOLKIT:

Elise, you may be interested in this free software called Microsoft PhotoStory where students can create their own moving, talking picture books.  These are especially effective for spelling strategies and I have seen it used with a buddy class.  Kirsten

Have a look at digital Mona Lisa, a new version of a masterpiece.
http://www.digitalmonalisa.com/

Improve your skills by studying media arts in
photography
http://nowlearning.com.au/photography-courses-in-hobart
video production
http://www.hotcourses.com.au/australia/all-film-video-production-courses-hobart/nq-tas-all/db-a21.5/order-cd-1/kw/hobart/courses.html
computer graphics
http://polycourses.yourchoice.tas.gov.au/Controller;jsessionid=565493CD8B72195E994FDB084884FB41?entity=search&command=view&id=1669

Teach children to direct and create their own films maybe the next George Lucas? - Kirsten
http://mediaed.org.uk/using_film_in_schools/teaching-filmmaking
Or
http://kidsvid.4teachers.org/

ENGAGING IN THE MEDIA:

I engaged in digital media myself this week! The first thing I tried was scanner art which I observed in a school connected with the Artists in Residence program (a program where an artist works with a school to create a whole school piece of Art).  You arrange objects on the computer scanner tray face down a background in placed on top of the items.  Hands can also be arranged into the picture.

Place items on a scanner.

The scanner creates a multidimensional picture similar to a photograph.  The last thing to do is to add a background!


Scanning Art: Bushfire

I used a car shaped eraser and my impressionist picture from the visual art workshop as the background.  The hand is supposed to be reaching out to capture the car in the flames.

Scanning Art: Space

I used a lemon, two spaceship erasers and a blob of Blu-tack as the planet/cloud.  I am going to try these with my class on PE4 and compile their work into a large artwork.  This activity would also be useful to teach picture composition as students have to thnk about the background, middle ground and foreground and how they will arrange their objects.  Kirsten

My second activity I tried was a stop motion powerpoint as stated in the lecture.  It was harder than I thought and very fiddly.

Video of Stopmotion using Microsoft Powerpoint 2007.

Kirsten

Well done Kirsten, I engaged by responding to the artwork of others. Where better than then MONA to discover some controversial contemporary art.  However, I find the museum unsuitable for primary aged children.

The falling water creating random words is a fantastic mixed media artwork.

Spinning motorised lights provoke curiosity

I know just how this woman feels, this is part of a series of filmed scenes. 

I think the digital media works really well is when it is physically interactive, such as the pulsing lights or the computer manipulated artwork.

However, I find some of the work, for example the futuristic film of children killing each other, deeply disturbing.  This may be the combination of sound, visual and theme which is possible through this media.  Elise