Circle Ideas

IDEAS

IN A CIRCLE

Arts In Education
In A Circle
BRAINSTORMING:
View intermedia artwork and explore themes and ideas.
Explore metaphors and symbols that pertain to being "in a circle"?
Explore aspects of collaboration.
Use technology to create in intermedia artwork. (computers, projectors and musical instuments)
Use software to create and present art. (Photoshop, PowerPoint, Soundforge, Hyperstudio)
Explore curricular connections that come out of studying an artwork.

QUESTIONS:
What does it mean to be in a circle?
What are the attributes of collabortive learning?

ARTWORK UNDER STUDY:
"In A Circle", 1997, John Toth, John Bacon, Don Metz, Mike Calquhoun
"NY Seeings", 1994, John Toth

ACTIVITY: # 1
View artwork, "In A Circle"
Make a list of themes and ideas that the art work illicits.
Review your portfolio of art work that was created during the school year.
Briefly describe the themes and ideas that you see in your artwork.
Briefly describe the themes and ideas that you see in their artwork.
Create a circle of friends in teams of five.
Briefly describe the themes and ideas that you see in the team artworks.
Create a new theme that represents the group.
Sequence the series of artworks to tell a story that says something about your collaboration "in a circle".

ACTIVITY: # 2
Begin scanning images or take digital photos of art images and post on web page. Digital photographs of artwork will become backdrops for a performance.
Students were asked to consider the interaction between their own art works and the lives of other of people who influence and effect them.

ACTIVITY: # 3
Visual arts teams review and share their works with music teams.
All teams should discuss the connections they see between their works.
Visual arts groups team with music groups to create an inter media collaboration.
Begin Powerpoint presentation of group images.

ACTIVITY: # 4
Students created a two minute inter media presentation that used the artworks in a performance presentation.
Video tape presentation
Begin to assemble images into a PowerPoint presentation.
Visual arts teams should use PowerPoint transitions to respond to qualities of music.

ACTIVITY: # 5
Finish PowerPoint presentation





John Toth	In Buffalo
345 Kingsland Avenue	663 Auburn
Brooklyn, New York 11222-1907	882-7498
http://www.InnerEye.Net
toth@pipeline.com
718 389-7659

NOTES FROM OCTOBER FORUM

This project is about combining visual art and music into a kind of music video.

In an intermedia collaboration everyone comes together with an art work that has something to do with an agreed idea. This could be a cause or social situation or in our case it is In A Circle.

Your groups themes and ideas will be presented in a sequence that tells a story. The presentation of this art should consider the larger theme of ideas on circles.

Artists with a lot of artworks can usually find a theme that repeats in a series of works over a period of time.

New artworks could be created that look for circles in the world around you. (photos or paintings)

Images could include interiors and ceremonial places.

Review your portfolio of art work and ask other group members what they see. Do you hear similar reponses that suggest recurring ideas or themes.

Visual artists working in small groups will listen to students in music and vica-versa. Each group will have to decide how the visuals and music work together.

Your groups themes and ideas will be presented in a sequence that tells a story. The presentation of this art should consider the larger theme of ideas on circles. This presentation can be assembled in Powerpoint or Hyperstudio and projected into a fabric backdrop. Students should use their artworks to perform the group theme or idea.

This is similar to the frames in a cartoon stip or animation.

	IN A CIRCLE John Bacon & John Toth
I.	Introducing Circles
a.	What does the title In A Circle suggest to you? Where do you find circular patterns in nature? Who uses circles in paintings? How does music use circles? Why do video and television images use whirling circles? What does it mean for a poem to be circular?
b.	What does it mean to have a circular idea?
c.	How are cirles used in dance, marching bands, synchronized swimming, basketball, plays, children's games, people at parties, prayer, board meetings, fans at a sporting event? What effect does a circle have on these events?
II.	Today's In A Circle
a.	What activities did you work with today? How did your work today relate to the theme In A Circle? How successful were you in communicating the theme? What is the next step in your work?
c.	How would you describe other students work on this theme? What ideas did their work express about circle? What are some differences or similiarities in the ideas of your work compared to your fellow collaborators?
d.	Do you feel inspiration or influence from anyone else with regard to your interpretaion of the theme In A Circle? Describe the nature of your collaboration. Is the influence encouraging, discouraging, overwhelming...? Is the inspiration visually or aurally evident in some way? Can you regognize any direct influences in any of the other students work? How do you feel about the influence that others have on your art work? How do you thinkl when you recognize the influence of an artist in someone else's work?
III.	Open Forum
a.	Do you feel that this project is successful thus far? Do you believe that you will be able to complete the project in a satisfying manner?
b.	Do you have suggestions to improve the workings of this project?
c.	Do you have additional comments or questions?

THE ELEMENTS: IN CYBER SPACE
		IDEAS	IMAGES	MUSIC	HISTORY	GALLERY
	ETHER
	AIR
	FIRE
	WATER
	EARTH

INNER EYE
ARCHITECTURE	ART	ARTISTS	DANCE	FASHION
FORUM	GALLERIES	INSTALLATION	EDUCATION	MUSEUMS
MUSIC	PERFORMANCE	PHOTOGRAPHY	PROJECTS	TECHNOLOGY
WRITING	YOGA	VIDEO	VRML
Ars Bellum				copyright 1998