I did some research on the author Keri Smith, she is an illustrator and Guerrilla artist. She also wrote another really fun book called wreck this journal. Which I’d really like to see and think would make a really good lesson for students who don’t like sketchbooks.
The opening of the book is very exciting because you see garish colors and a list of 59 explorations along with an exciting mission statement telling you that: “You Are An Explorer your mission is to document and observe the world around you as if you’ve never seen it before. Take notes. Collect things you find on your travels. Document your findings. Notice patterns. Copy. Trace. Focus on one thing at a time. Record what you are drawn to.” I’m going to discuss three of the explorations because the book as a whole is a treasure hunt of awesome and really helped me not just explore the world but be a better artist. Exploration # 1: Write ten things about where you are sitting right now that you hadn’t noticed when you sat down. Use your senses. Do it quickly. Do not censor. Okay, begin. I feel like Smith is allowing people to be artist without them realizing it. It just seems fun and exciting. They don’t feel intimidated or overwhelmed at the idea of being an Artist. I did this exercises and it really opened me up to being present I feel like usually I’m distracted by emails, homework, phone calls and texts I’m rarely looking at my space or being mentally present in the space I’m currently occupying. I feel like all of these explorations would make awesome assignments for early finishers or students claiming artist blocks. Exploration # 22: Sit in a public location and document people you see for one hour. Take detailed notes. Make sketches of one item that stands out most about each person. When I read this exploration I knew that Smith understood people, especially young people. We all spend our time watching each other and trying to find out who we are by observing what we see around ourselves. Exploration # 49: Found Words using the experience log, document an overheard conversation. Alternate: collect words you find interesting. I laughed out loud when I thought about doing this. This book really got me inspired about my own work and Lessons I could create. I can’t believe how excited and inspired I felt after doing these exercises.
1 Comment
Mark Graham
10/1/2018 10:09:05 am
good analysis, with examples!
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Myleka Bevans
Classwork for Art 450 Archives
December 2018
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