artway of thinking�

Syllabus for Art on Location: artway of thinking

Winter Interim course at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

 

 

 

Before course starts:

Reading material (see bibliography)

 

 

January 2, 2008

Mary Jane introduces aims of the course (1/2 day, afternoon only)

 

 

January 3 and 4

January 3: artway of thinking introduces their past projects; students do self introductions

January 4: process of undertaking the workshop, organization of fieldwork and installation in subsequent phases.

 

 

 

 

January 7, 8, and 9

Workshop Co/Operare

Background Concept:

The strength of creation that a group has, when it works in a synergic way, is bigger than the whole capabilities of the single members. Think how an orchestra plays music.

To work in a group, to create together following a common direction, is not always simple and spontaneous. It needs group consciousness, knowledge of practice and tools, trust as a whole, and will and tenacity in overcoming egocentric attitudes.

 

All of us have had the experience of sitting around a table, enthusiastic to begin to work together for a common project, and then dealing with the loss of that initial enthusiasm. Working together is a fantastic experience, if the rules of the game are known. Governing the creative process of a group, identifying the roles that add value to talents and competences; recognizing the contribution of roles without prejudicial hierarchy; identifying personal and collective objectives; knowing the available resources in terms of time, know-how, material, and relational resources are some of the themes to consider for working together harmoniously.

 

Starting from qualities, the group allows us to systematize resources and abilities in order to realize great works without great economy.

 

 

 

Workshop Concept:

Co/Operare (to cooperate) is the beginning of our journey that will lead to building a relational map of the Chicago�s artists' community. Students from SAIC, along with colleagues from Chicago�s organizations and art spaces, will experiment with collaborative strategies and group dynamics that can lead to realizing new visions through collective creative processes.

 

Developed through the methodology learning by doing, the workshop explores the �C factor.� This is the capacity to be together, to be part of a group (as the Chilean economist Luis Razeto said) especially in regard to creativity.  This is the capacity to Create together, to Cooperate.

 

The workshop takes as its premise that creativity is an �energy that we all have.� It is directed towards the conscious and responsible application of energy, while at the same time maintaining harmony among personalities, the group, and the physical and social context. In giving value to creativity, Co/Operare intends to transform actions into a collective creation in which it is �useless to distinguish contributions because the masterpiece consist just in the whole.�

 

In the workshop personal resources, talents, and competences will be identified, while acquiring strategies to define roles and identify shared goals.

 

Foundation concepts which we will learn:

�            The mechanism of �good governance� for a working team

�            Phases of a creative process

�            Tools for a creative process that is directed towards the public environment.

 

Formative areas which we will seek to develop:

�            The capacity to create and the dynamics of creation, moving from the individual to the group

�            The artist in the public context, using relational ways of working

�            The observation of the context, understanding where we operate

�            Collective creative action, actually realizing a work together

 

Focal points which we will work to bring about:

�           Consciousness in being a creator

�           Group consciousness--understanding its characteristics, limits, and potentiality and envisioning your capabilities, values, and roles in contributing to the whole

�           Consciousness in the collective creative process and the tools needed to work in a group

 

 

 

 

 

 

Program for Workshop Co/Operare

first day

Consciousness in being a creator

 

Every creation is the creator�s reflex:

�            The body awakening

�            The functioning of the �human machine.� Four dimensions of the human being: intellectual, emotional, kinesthetic (physical), and energetic. How to build a harmonious affinity between the four parts of the being.

 

Our own reality is just a point of view:

�            Awakening the center of primordial perceptions

�            Changing point of views

�            Functioning of the human brain (neuroscience)

�            Intuition and a sense of belonging in an expanded consciousness. How to access the data bank of universal consciousness (quantum physics)

 

 

second day

Group consciousness—understanding its characteristics, limits, and potentiality and envisioning your capabilities, values, and roles in contributing to the whole

 

To create relationships is natural:

�The first group is yourself

�The second group is male/female (the functioning of the male and female brain)

�The third group brings in three principal ways to relate to each other

�Natural attitudes, talents, acquired capacity, the personal value of becoming part of a group

�The problem of resources, revealing the dark side of group dynamics (stress, incomprehension and incommunicability, fixed visions, silences, aggressions, hierarchy, manipulations, etc).

 

 

third day

Consciousness in the collective creative process and

Group working tools

 

The construction of a harmonious system moves from the individual to the group and from the group to the context, through a collective creative process:

�            From the personal dream to the collective dream: the mission of the group

�            The sustainability of actions: the resource of time, and personal, relational, and material ones

�            Principal phases of the collective creative process: observation/vision; relation/creative development; action/innovation

�            The working tools of the group: the observer�s role, the coordinator�s role, the communicator�s role

�            Observations on the broad context: systemic practice

�The group in action: realization of a simulation (we exercise so the group can have an experience)

January 10-16

Head out to the field: Context Observation

 

The ability to create is integrally connected to knowledge: the more information we have, the greater the possibility to develop new visions.

In this phase of the course, we will work on the themes of observing and listening.

In the creative process, as in scientific research, the way to answer a question, such as the one we ask ourselves here: �How do you envision yourself outside art school in the city?�

We begin by observing the context. Only through observation and listening can we find answers to our questions. In this case, the context is a complexity of subjects: ourselves, the artist�s role, the school, the colleagues working in the art and culture field, the city.

To know how to observe, to listen, to perceive, and to investigate is the basis of each act of personal and social responsible transformation. The aim of observation is the random collection of what exists; the final goal is to find new regenerative possibilities, new visions. The task is the collection of point of views: point of views from different perspectives inside the situation and external point of views (subjects outside the specified context).

 

Our preconceptions limit the gathering of other points of view: good observation not only produces an image of an actual situation, but also delineates the unexpressed potential of the system at work there. How do we gather point of views? How do I read the world? How do we select the world�s information?

 

In this phase we experiment tools for perceptive/relational observation and disciplinary/statistic observation. We�ll take in consideration different methodological tools of investigation: holistic, majestic, hermeneutic, and systemic. We�ll activate relation with the territory through meeting with colleagues that, after leaving the school, are working in the art and cultural field.

 

We will talk about communication as a relational tool, which we will exercise as dialogue and interviews. What is the difference between dialogue and interview? How do I relate to others? What is the difference between information and communication?

 

We will build together and we�ll show you strategies that will allow you to go out in the field and collect the necessary information, at the same time building an invisible network of relations and knowledge helpful for creating Chicago�s map of artist�s community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 19-23

Make a show!  Implementing a Collective Action

 

With the objective to translate the acquired information from our field research and put it into a system, we�ll give form to the invisible. The developmental phase is the heart of the process: the moment when a new vision is born and strategy is determined that can give shape to the vitality and context of the information and impressions received.

 

Through the creative action, the group�s vision will take concrete form: through the creative process act the group�s vision will enter the collective imaginary. For an innovative process, it is important to keep the form open: the form needs a time for integration (for the individual and the collective) and to become rich in its potential and deep in meaning. Only then can a creative work be made.

 

If the creation (the work created) is the mirror or reflection of the creator, then the more the group is in balance, working as a harmonious whole free from individual egos, the more we will be able to achieve a greater level of innovation and beauty, and a deeper consciousness.

 

Two principal values will underline our methodology in this process:

1.     Awareness that each person is a complex being embodying multiple resources. If we consider all the potential resources that each student has, then we�ll have an incredible resource of capital to incorporate.  A sustainable enterprise/project starts from the organization of all these potential resources.

2.     Awareness that the task is an opportunity to value ourselves, to put our talents and multiple capacities to work, to create wellness in each member of the group, fostering their autonomy rather than dependency.

 

In this phase we will experiment with methodologies and tools for the group�s development and action; we will put to work talents, competences, and roles; we�ll capitalize on existing resources; we�ll find new ones; and we�ll be mindful of both ethic and aesthetic values as we communicate with each other and undertake action strategies.

 

In giving concrete form to Chicago�s map of artist�s community, we will think of it like a useful tool for ourselves, for the SAIC community and the wider Chicago arts community. So we will also carefully consider all the information acquired through the dialogue in the field: the dreams, needs, and knowledge of the persons and organizations contacted and interviewed. We will seek their participation in the development of this new vision, beginning with the presence of representatives for these organizations in the Workshop Co/operare.