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1. Food- Sharing food and eating together was really enjoyable. Everyone is happy when they are eating good food and it was nice to have that experience with everyone. Eating together is a cultural experience.
2. Making connections with the outside world (like things I already knew and other classes I was taking). I felt like I was in a constant state of amazement because I could see many of the things I was learning/discussing/thinking about in the world around me (particularly classroom settings). It confirmed the fact that what we were learning about was truly relevant. The guest speakers were also beneficial.
3. The welcoming learning community- I felt comfortable asking questions, revealing my own ignorance in some places, and sharing what I knew because it was a friendly and supportive environment.
4. Blog presentations- it gave me the chance to nerd out about things I love nerding out about infront of the class. It also gave me a good excuse to research things I had always been interested in but never found the chance to give a lot of time to, particularly architecture in Colombia.
5. Skill sharing workshops- Helped shake up the dynamic of the classroom and helped me see how much of a beautiful thing diversity of knowledge is.
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Such a great class, I’ll miss you all!
1. I loved going to Lil street. I really enjoyed doing the pottery and especially loved gathering on the rooftop. That place is such an amazing resource to have in the city and Im glad to have been able to go!
2. loved the cooking/eating night. The food was delicious and everyone did an awesome job sharing a bit of themselves with us, it just added to the dynamic of the class to have everyone share some of their culture.
3. I was glad to have been able to show you all some Irish dancing, and learn a bit of other types as well.
4. Drea, I learned a lot from you and I enjoyed hearing you lecture. It was interesting for everyone in the class to be able to contribute so much each week but I wish we could have heard more from your wealth of knowledge and heard more about your experiences.
5. I think sharing all of our favorite resources was a really key part of the class. Even if we don’t use them all right away, its so great to be able to come back, use the blog, and tap into those resources when we need them!
1. Dancing…it was really great gettinga chance to share something about me that I never really get to show people at SAIC. I’m also pretty sure that most of the class was unaware of what I presented. It was a great experience.
2. Cardboard smoker/DIY…I really thought this stuff was great. The smoker is such a great idea…I can’t use it in a classroom but I’ll definitely use it at my next bbq. 
3. Casting…I’ve never been fishing but clearly I am good at it, as far as alley casting goes. It was such a cool experience.
4. Printmaking/Bookmaking…I really got into that. I made up at least three lesson plans from those demos. I can’t wait to try these techniques with the youth.
5. Lesson plan ideas/animation…I like that we gave possible ideas for lessons after presentations the process was helpful in thinking about the art/artist in a specific context. Plans and activities also helpesd to remind me that the whole point of the blog was to use it as a resource. I liked the animation demo that Zoey gave. It was so cool…I never really was that interested in animation but like most things the action of doing it had me interested for awhile.
Hmm….Writing a recipe is a little tricky since I don’t really work with one. I will provide an ingredient list of the stuff I brought in that night. Variations in stuffing are up to you, be creative! Rice and seaweed (Kim) complement most foods quite well.
Kitchen tools needed: Bamboo rolling mat, rice cooker (optional), bowl (to season rice in), spoon (to help spread the rice), bowl of water (to keep your hands wet so the rice doesn’t stick to you)
Ingredients used the Food Night:
Kim- Dried seaweed sheets. The thick kind so it will hold the roll together, also known as Nori (Japanese word)
Short grain sticky rice- I used Korean rice, Japanese sushi rice will work, too..but I think that’s more expensive (I also seasoned the rice with brown rice vinegar, crushed sushi flakes, sesame seeds and a bit of sesame oil…how you decide to season is again up to you)
Pickeld Daikon- Remember that bright yellow radish?
Pickeld Burdock- The brown stuff
Fish Sausage (you can put in ground beef, raw fish for sushi, chicken, pork, crab stick…basically a meat of your choice)
Eggs
The traditonal kim bap is made of:
Egg
Carrots
Spinach
Bulgogi (think slices of beef, marinated Korean style)
Pickeld Daikon and Burdock root.
Other stuffers:
Cucumber
Ohdang- Fish cakes
Canned tuna
Cheese
etc. etc. etc.
All of these ingredient can be found at the Korean market on Kimball called Joog-bu Market or out in the burbs at H Mart (a large Korean grocery chain)
Happy Rolling!
1. Student involvements- I like the idea of students teaching the class. It creates opportunities for students to participate and its like a bonding time. It also allows for “power” students to feel at home.
2. Varieties of knowledge- this links with the first fav. Sharing is generous act, and I think we all have been very generous to each other this semester. I really like the different skills and knowledge everyone had to offer.
3. Community- this one gears more toward the presentations we did. I enjoyed hearing things happening in different places, esp things that are “green” and “creative”. It’s inspiring and it opens up lesson ideas.
4. Off campus- I think the evening we spent at Erin’s and Lillstreet was really fun. The classroom we have is a windowless depressing box, so I really enjoy going to new places for class. Too bad the weather was never nice enough for us to have class outside.
5. Toolbox- Last but not least, I like the blog we have put together. It’s something that we can go back to later and get ideas from, either for our own art or classroom lessons!
Thank you for a fun (and educational) semester.
5 Favorites!
(my all time favorite part of this class was Drea)
Fishing: I had never thought about how to approach a lesson on something like fishing, which is odd since my whole teaching philosophy is that you can make any topic into an art lesson. Not only was the practice of fishing fun (even though I sucked at it) so was Chloe, the dead fish. She was beautiful, and learning how to fillet her was somehow fascinating, until the gushy parts started coming out. The thing that I got most out of this workshop is that it really drove home the point that if you love something, you can teach it well and pique other people’s interest. I had never had any interest in fishing before, but because of the enthusiasm of the teacher and the different layers of the lesson (lures, knots, weights, alley, casting, fish, knife, and finally eating a little fish) I can honestly say that fishing ROCKS. I think that if I ever had a particularly hard lesson to teach, I would try to remind myself why I thought it was awesome or important, and teach from that perspective alone. You know- back to the real stuff of education, not the state required stuff.
Embroidery!!! damn those french knots are HOT! I think this is awesome because we learned many different techniques and stitches, and every one of those had the potential to be awesome, and I could imagine many lessons and projects that would focus on one stitch alone. And I think its important, as a teacher, to remember to simplify lessons sometimes. I forget that I don’t have to teach how to embroider a crazy detailed pillow, I can start with the basics and let the students take it from there. I guess this workshop really reminded me to let go of some control.
Personally, the french knot was everything I’d ever wanted.
Friedensenreich Hundertwasser. Can I say AWESOME? So, I’m not so into architecture and stuff, but I liked the fact that Kris introduced me to a completely new style of architecture, and the concept of leaving a living space for nature- for example, designing rooms for trees that are not for humans. I love the idea of potentially teaching students that it is OK to designate space for something other than a human being or the audience. A lesson to leave space for a concept is something I would apply to a lot of abstract movements in art history. Quite simply, this architect and Kris put into words something I had always thought about but couldn’t quite verbalize.
Rammed Earth. OK, I love it when the simplest, most basic and fundamental materials are used to their full potential. There is an entire history of people who used adobe, earth, mud, poo and hay to make their homes, and now in the ‘modern’ world, we are doing it again- because it works. Because it makes sense. Because we figured out how to do it maybe just a little bit better. Dirt has a long-ass history in the arts, social movements, wars, and the survival of mankind. But people don’t really think about dirt like that, that it isn’t just a tract of land to be fought over or dug through- it is, itself malleable and useful- just like it has always been. We just forget these things, and we forget to teach them.
Kim-Chi. It wasn’t necessarily part of the lesson, which was about design, but that had to be the most exciting class ever. We must have talked about that for at least an hour. Not just the kim-chi, but the customs and history of Korea. This was an example of one of my favorite things: when a lesson explodes into so much more than it started out as. I meant to tell our teacher for the day that 2 weeks after that lesson I had dinner with Jiyoung Yin, who served me 2 kinds of kim-chi and homemade plum wine! I even showed her the designer that Christine had posted on the blog, and she just thought it was brilliant. She has promised to help me make my own kim-chi jar/stool.
One of the things about this lesson is that Christine wasn’t afraid to use her personal history and experiences for the lesson. I felt like I was prying at times, but she never made me feel rude about it and definitely let the class know when things were getting too personal. That is the kind of teacher I want to be, the kind that is accessible and open, but focused on the lesson at hand.
With that I say goodbye! This was my favorite class in all of grad school. This is my apple pie recipe! Enjoy!!!
kat
Kat’s No-Fail APPLE PIE!
step 1: get a pie crust or make your own. Peel 4 apples and thinly slice them into the pie crust. (best if you use a granny smith, a Washington or Fuji, a golden delicious, and a red apple)
step 2: in a cup mix 1/3 cup of white sugar and a tsp of cinnamon. Sprinkle this mixture over the apples in the pie crust.
Step 3: in a separate bowl, mix ¾ cups of flour, ¼ cup of butter, and ¼ cup of sugar together until you get a doughy crumble. Break this crumble over everything in the pie crust and try to cover all the apple bits.
Bake at 400′ for 45ish minutes.
- if you want a little somethin special, add nutmeg and a little pumpkin seasoning to step 2.
- add a little brown sugar to step 3.
- add pears or blueberries to your apples!
Hey All,
I can’t believe that today is the last day of class and, that I may never see some of you again! I do want to say though that this class has been so amazing and that you have all left a little mark on my life <3. My top 5 favorite thing/parts about our class are as follows, in no particular order.
Fishing in the ally
-The last time I went fishing was at Ocean City Beach, MD when I was six years old. All I remember is that when I cast, the hook got caught on my arm, pain and blood. I’ve never given fishing much thought until recently and I’m glad that it was introduced in a non-threatening environment (i.e. no hook). Thanks for teaching us that kick-ass knot that of course I vaguely remember ^___^
Lill Street
-Yay for fieldtrips The Cinco De Mayo limeade was awesome, as was working with clay.
The Artists Resources presentations/list
-This was so helpful, I had never heard of a lot of the resources that you guys brought in and shared. Thanks again!
Animation workshop
-I have never worked with animation before, and it was so neat to work together as a class to make a short film…on film! I am defintely keeping animation in the back of my mind for future lesson plans.
Food night
-Just because we got to eat and hang out.
1. Basil night is alllll right. What can I say? This lesson was a reminder that planting your own food is accessible.
2. Christine’s approach to bookbinding. This was fantastic for me! You all might have gathered I like books, too, but listening to Christine talk about her bookbinding process was refreshing. I love variety and feel that I am a more balanced person when I have multiple sources and interpretations to consider.
3. Dancing night! I never thought I’d say this, but I loved dancing around with my peers. It’s one thing to talk the talk, it’s another thing to share the moves. I was especially taken by the variety of dances that were covered.
4. Casting in the alley. Wow. I used to go fishing all the time, being from the Land of
10, 000 Lakes (aka Minnesota). Fishing isn’t news to me. The alley, though? Way to re-contextualize and laugh while doing it!
5. Animation! I have always had an interest in animation, but not the patience. Zoey’s workshop showed me that animation can be done quickly and is actually not that profoundly technical.
We’ve done a lot of things this semester, but these are the things I appreciated the most.
1. Lillstreet Magical Banana Bread Muffins.
Lillstreet would be first, but fresh baked muffins are delicious! Plus the recipie is right on the blog
2. Lillstreet
Getting out into an art studio, and exploring hands on a resource that is here in chicago, was one of the definate highlights of the class, plus I learned how to throw and apparently did a pretty good job. Oh, did I mention Pie? Lillstreet had Pie.
3. Fishing
I’ve been fishing before, but it was nice to have a reminder, plus nobody taught me how to clean a fish when I was younger. Now I won’t ever starve if I only have a fishing pole, a body of water, bait, and enough time to wait for interested fish to inquire about being my dinner…
4. Dancing!
No, this one has nothing to do with food. Despite having several left feet, I can think of worse ways to anger a nearby thesis class than spending an evening learning how to dance several different ways, then putting an embarassing video up on Facebook so that everyone that any one of us knows can look and comment on it. Definately a highlight of the class, both for loosening people out of our shells, but for sharing such rich histories outside the kinds of arts usually seen at SAIC.
5. The One Laptop
What was meant as project to take a quick look at, became a rather heated discussion on everything from technology to the real motives of non-profit organizations, despite all this, we still can’t get it to network with the school’s draconian security software!
Relating historical architecture to modern in:
New Caledonia
Based on cultural center in New Caledonia designed by Renzo Piano
Centre Culturel Tjibaou (Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center)
The identity of the Kanak is not only reinforced through the form of the building but also through its relationship with the natural landscape. Located on a peninsula between the storm-tossed Pacific Ocean and a calm lagoon the design of Renzo Piano takes advantage of the prevailing winds from the ocean side through its system of natural ventilation.
The sound and feel of the wind is something that can only be experienced by being there and seems to transcend any kind of technological terms or mechanisms. It is a feeling of being inside, yet outside at the same time; of being protected yet still close to nature.
The ideas that inspired the architecture derive from the cultural huts on this island.
The Cultural Center is composed of three ‘villages’ made up of ten ‘Great Houses’ of varying sizes and functions (exhibition spaces, multimedia library, cafeteria, conference and lecture rooms). The ‘Great Houses’ are linked by a long, gently curving enclosed walkway, reminiscent of the ceremonial alley of the traditional Kanak village.
