Exquisite Corpse Drawing (Section Three: Shoulders)

     I believe that our bodies in their original and natural forms are purely physical, however, our personal choices in how we present ourselves with our physical forms can be political, whether consciously or subconsciously. Some people intend to project politicized ideas using their physical body and actions as canvas and vehicle for those expressions, anticipating particular external interpretations of their physical body. Others, however, may be the object of external interpretations based off their physical body (whether or not those perceptions are actually accurate). Physical bodies have specific constraints; a person can’t readily modify their physical characteristics or abilities with as much flexibility and fluidity as avatars. People can abandon their physical bodies and create an avatar that can take any form to become a fully-controlled visual representation of themselves. While there may be various constraints and option limitations depending on the program, avatars are a result of personal, self-aware choices. There are reasons behind each option selection and rejection. While most avatars are digital, I believe that they can take any form where any representation of self is created. From a self intentionally or unintentionally being projected into artworks, writings, expectations, etc. to within one’s imagination, where they are invisible to the outside world…avatars are a part of our lives even beyond the digital world. I feel that children naturally explore and create avatars through play. They reimagine themselves or parts of themselves by changing physical forms and characteristics, personality traits, abilities, etc. They maintain the parts of themselves they want, while modifying other parts to create an imaginary representation of themselves in a new form. People that choose to play or create their own characters, in whatever form, are the same. I feel that these mental avatars are just as relevant as digital avatars, because the intent behind the design process and representation of self (whether true to oneself or desired) is just as important. The avatar process always starts in the mind…the digital world has just provided us with ways to bring those mental avatars to visual and physical point of being.
     In my Lino Selfie, I used a photo of myself showing the front side of a shirt I had to design for myself as part of the women’s faculty football team for the Powder Puff Homecoming game events. It reads, “Bad Art is Better than No Art” on the front, and on the back is my last name (Geiple) with my room number (155) as my player number, with a painted paintbrush made to look like it was painting the numbers on. It was taken in my classroom and included an incomplete magazine collage of two pears in the background because I felt it went along with the saying on my shirt. Also, Leonardo da Vinci’s quote, “Art is never finished, only abandoned,” resonates strongly with me because I feel like I start so many pieces, yet few ever feel complete. I feel like blues, greens, and turquoises are fresh, welcomingly cheerful colors together, so I coordinated the frame to accent those colors in the collage. I searched for copyright-free images to use to create a border symbolizing myself. Through the images, I represent: my addiction to Double Stuf Oreos, my love of art (naturally, haha), my marriage to my husband Eric (we met at my first job when I was fifteen…got married ten years later…and now been married for five), my position as Green Club advisor, my love of earth/nature, my love for France and the French language (I spent a semester in Aix-en-Provence, France and am also certified to teach French K-12), my need for lists to keep myself straight and organized, another semester abroad in Canterbury, England, and my current teaching position (high school ceramics). I continue with Florida and Disney because my husband and I moved to Lakeland, FL for my first teaching job where we bought a house & lived there for three years before returning to PA, my position as softball pitcher and third baseman throughout high school (plus rec softball in college, summer leagues, and coaching girl’s softball in FL), playing volleyball in high school (and again rec volleyball in college, then coaching girl’s volleyball in FL), our hometown’s being in Pennsylvania and returning home and buying a PA house after FL, my dedication to budgets and money-management (…$120,000 in student loans since my parents couldn’t pay for college…but now down to $12,000! It is NOT impossible with hard work…and multiple jobs, haha. Can NOT wait until I can FINALLY put all that debt behind me!), my undergrad at the University of South Carolina, our ‘brown dog’ adopted mutt Zia, our fluffy Craig’s List adopted cat Sawyer, and our Siamese cat Bailey (strangely the only Siamese kitten in a farm cat litter…he was the last one who needed a home!). I do like visual unity, so my image selections were intentionally selected as black and white contour images 🙂
      All of the pieces I included in my Lino Selfie influence how I see myself as an art educator now, and my future. I have never liked to waste or abuse resources, so I encourage my students to develop creative ways to use otherwise discarded materials in their works. My classroom is full of examples of reusing resources in new ways; students and other teachers point out how much they like coming into my room and seeing what new solutions I’ve come up with. I genuinely feel that in our toss-away society, NOT abusing our resources is an important lesson to impart on students, especially when their futures rely so heavily on how our resources are used today…so that creeps into my classroom in many ways. My French backgrounds allow me to incorporate additional resources and knowledge into my lessons, and art and French are so naturally connected anyway, so it is an easy way to enrich my program with cultural and linguistic pieces. My studies and travels expose me to more cultures and first-hand artistic experiences that are also passed on to my classes; many students never considered studying abroad in college, but simply the exposure to that option peaks their interest to try something they hadn’t considered. My friends and educational connections in England, France, Florida, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania all provide me with ongoing and fresh conversations, resources, and approaches that have helped shape me to be the teacher I am today…and my current educational experiences here also add to that mix! Many school districts have been faced with struggles of supporting art education budgets, but my ability to stretch limited resources without compromising the quality of learning makes me feel more confident about conquering the challenges that any additional budget cuts that the future may hold. In turn, I greatly appreciate any funds that I am allotted because my past teaching experiences in Title I schools gave me a much different perspective on budgets and teaching challenges than those who have never had those experiences. Regardless of my situation, I know that there are always areas that I can improve upon in terms of myself and my environment, and I love the challenges of solving any problems that come my way, which is probably why I have always been attracted to art: unlimited challenges and solutions! I genuinely try to leave whatever I can better than I found it (or make myself better than I was when I came in), and I know that, along with all the landmarks that help define who I am as both a person and an educator, will be key contributors to how my teaching will continue to evolve in the future.

Ceramics Course: 2036. *My district has been actively exploring the potential changes that technology will have on the classrooms in the future, so this narrative will be a reimagined extension of the directions that my district seems to be interested in pursuing in the next five or so years.

     Students are now enrolled in hybrid art courses, which only require their physical presence for the parts of the semester when they are working in the school’s clay studio. In the past, the ceramics studio enrollment was limited to twenty students due to the physical limitations of the studio space. However, with new technologies, students are able to have a digital presence that does not interfere with the studio space, so class sizes are doubled to forty students: twenty will be physically present while the other twenty will be digitally present, and physical and digital attendance will alternate on a bi-weekly basis. The school issues each student basic Hololens technologies and softwares to use throughout the course of their high school career. The course prides itself in integrating modern and contemporary technologies in artistic research and design processes as well as maintaining the more traditional, physical hands-on creativity and problem-solving skills that naturally accompany the creation of ceramic artworks.
     When the bell rings to signal the end of the second period, the digital avatars that my digital students have created to represent themselves begin to disappear from my digital lens view as they sign out of the classroom (either from the comfort of their own home, or the school’s on-campus media and technology center). Students had to create these avatar specifically for this course, introducing students to the digital design technology and processes that would be used in the classroom. They had to be personal and original sculptural forms, representative of themselves. Students printed their avatar sculptures on the 3D printer, and those miniature sculptures were used to create an artwork installation in the art wing.
     Although you would think that the school’s investments in robotic technologies to help maintain a clean and safe ceramic studio would make clean-up less of a hassle than it was in the past, my physically present students are still somehow scrambling to finish cleaning up on time. Students in charge of the floors are frantically trying to chase down and catch our classroom floor and wedging station Roombas so they can dump the clay dusts collected throughout the period. Despite plastic bags to preserve projects being a long-forgotten struggle, trying to reorganize their clay projects and adjust the settings of their individual humidity-controlled storage cabinets proves to be an equal challenge for them. One wrong move, and a project they wish to keep plastic will be bone dry by tomorrow! Or a project they wish to reach leather hard will be reduced to a puddle of mush! Within a few minutes, most students have cleared out, grabbing their Hololens cases (which have replaced backpacks) on their way out the door (which digitally logs their room exit time in my attendance book as well), making room for my third period students to enter.
     My physically-present third period students enter the room, get out their clay projects, and quickly scan and upload the forms onto their devices. Using their Hololens, they develop a daily plan through digital manipulation of their physical project. They experiment with various approaches they could take that day, altering form and surfaces digitally before making a final decision and continuing their work for the day. Students are required to complete parts of the project using the Hololens as a guide to keep their construction on track by transmitting the imagery of the completed form around the physical form, but there are also parts of the project where they must work without technological assistance and use only their personal judgement and hands to complete the process.
     Meanwhile, my digitally-present students are starting to pop up on my lens. Their attendance is automatically logged through the software, and I am able to control what I see: digital-students only, physical students only, or both. For my digital students, I can choose to see their presence only through avatars, limited views through their Hololens (for a quick glance at what everyone is working on), or I can select students individually and immerse myself completely in their Hololens projection. All students have a home-screen projection that outlines their instructions for the day; it is their responsibility to view and read them daily. One of my limited views of a student’s Hololens raises suspicion, and closer inspection reveals that while they are ‘signed in’ to the class, they are off-task and participating in a group game. I override their school-issued Hololens, block the game for the class period, and send the course instructions directly to their screen. I try my best to be discreet when monitoring my digital students, because although a majority of my physically-present students are well-behaved, some try to take advantage of my temporary digital distractions.
     My digitally present students have a variety of tasks to choose from. However, for today’s starting bell work, they are required to visit an art museum of their choice through their Hololens. Students that are trustworthy may use their Avatars to join a fellow classmate and explore together. Their assignment is to find a non-objective sculptural work that seems to express an idea, study the artwork closely from all angles, record a brief video evaluation defending their point, then use a variety of resources to research the artwork/artist to determine if their original evaluation was sound or if the artist may have intended a different response. Thanks so Hololens technology, students are able to digitally ‘pick up’ the artworks, turn them, look closer, etc. They are also able to make a copy of the three-dimensional digital artwork and apply their own alterations/modifications to the pre-existing form, or experiment by copying textures, surfaces, etc. and using them in future artworks.
     Once my assignment box for my digital students shows that bell works have been successfully submitted, students are to continue the design process for a digitally printed project. I am able to group them up and have them provide each other with feedback as they sketch and create three-dimensional digital models of their ideas. They have a digital inspiration board/toolbox where they are able to pull textures, forms, colors, etc. that they have pulled from digital museum visits, nature, life, artworks, etc. and apply them to their projects in new ways. Students are able to ‘pass’ digital copies of their artworks to a classmate, and that classmate can provide feedback and suggestions by manipulating their three-dimensional digital copy. Once a student is done refining their idea, they make a 3D print of their project, which is submitted for a grade. The same planning process is used for planning clay projects, however, they craft their product by hand rather than through a computer. If there are textures, templates, tools, or other features they wish to use, they are able to design and print those pieces on the 3D printer for hands-on use of their clay project (i.e. molds, texture wraps, stamps, templates, supports, specifically-designed tools, etc.)…so they are combining traditional clay production with technologically-created elements.
Meanwhile, I am circulating around the room with my physically-present students. They are already in the process of creating their forms. Many are using tools they designed and printed with the 3D printer. There is a bin in the room where students can place any of their 3D printed materials for others to use. When a tool breaks or seems to be in high demand, it is easy for students to print another. Many student tool designs are shared in a digital toolbox, so individual students can make personal modifications based on their needs. However, each student-designed tool is stamped and logged with the original creator’s name and must have the student’s approval for others to use and modify. Any modifications made by other students are also logged. Students are constantly reminded about artistic and academic integrity, so they recognize the importance of acknowledging everyone’s work and ensuring that their own work is original and properly documented. Students must be careful with their inspirations. With so many resources available to them, it is more difficult to defend an original idea. Even if the idea was original, a similar existing idea in the digital world could be used against them, so emphasis on proper documentation and development of original ideas is important to protect students and their works.
     Students are also able to communicate interact with each other, whether physically or digitally present. Students are able to share ideas with each other within and outside the classroom, as if they are right next to each other. They can invite others to check out an artwork located in a museum halfway around the world, and sit in on gallery openings or art discussions anywhere they would like. We work with other high school art studios around the world, sharing our works, ideas, and techniques with long-distance students as if we all shared the same classroom. The physical world is no longer a restriction with education, or with the world in generation. At this point, many artists and artistic careers have opened up their studios to the digital world for at least a few hours each week, and depending on each artist’s interactive-level settings (ranging from observation only to live-time interactions), students are able to see first-hand how contemporary artists and creative careers function on a daily basis. In turn, boundaries are becoming less defined. Everyone, in some way, shape, or form, is becoming a participant in the world around them. Feedback is available from a wider variety of sources, and final products (whether artistic, consumer, experiential, etc.) can become more participatory and less finalized. The digital world is all about constant change and improvement, and providing unlimited information and knowledge to anyone who seeks it.
     With so much learning available outside of an institution, schools will have to undergo some dramatic changes. Information that is covered in the classroom can be learned independently. However, schools will still be necessary for guiding students and teaching them how to properly use the tools and resources technology now offers. Teachers will no longer be responsible for providing students with structured information, but for showing students how to best obtain useful and reliable information and apply what they learn in meaningful and progressive ways within each subject area. The art classrooms will undergo some inevitable technological advances and adaptations in the future, and new forms of art and processes will develop, but the foundations of art will always remain the same because art has always been about creating and embracing possibilities, in any form.