Artists Solve Problems
When the artist solve problems unit was first introduced, I struggled with coming up with ideas. Our first task of the unit was to brainstorm and come up with a functional way to change the way people do things. With the example of piano stairs, I came up with a table that lights up different colors if there is no trash on it at the end of the day. Who wants a non-glowing table right? I really learned how to come up with different ideas, take aspects from each, and combine them together to make a pretty wicked final idea.
The next thing I did in this unit was make a marble-drop-like creation. The criteria was having to use all free materials. This was definitely my hardest challenge in the artist solve problems unit. It took a day or two of experimenting to perfect the flow of the water. My plan was instead of dropping a marble, you pour water into it! I found a cardboard box, rocks, water bottles, and a larger bottle to use. Originally I wanted to have the water flow out the bottom, but then I thought it would be cool if the water could be stored in a container underneath, so that the water-drop could be used anywhere. The final result had grass and more rocks added to it (not pictured yet).
My final and fun project was my chosen limitation. I chose to use no paintbrushes to create a cool, modern form of art (mono-printing) with paint. After trying many different ways of applying paint (dripping, spraying, wiping, finger painting, etc.) I found something I liked. I dripped paint onto palate paper and then folded the palate paper in half. I placed a sheet of paper on top and got an awesome print that I really liked. I added three more and ended up with a series of four.
I honestly don't like the idea of doing art while having a limitation, simply because I don't like being limited! I did, however, think it was an interesting concept to try. My final project isn't something I would typically do, so I guess this project was successful in making me try new things.