- To have a more concrete understanding of new medias beyond video and sound art.
- To feel more comfortable incorporating a new media into my own practice.
- To become a more educated and conscious consumer of new technologies through research and self-reflection
In looking back at this semester and how I have addressed my goals, I certainly feel an increased comfort with production of art in new medias. Of course, as predicted, video and sound art are my personal preference and I have really enjoyed exploring these, specifically sound art, in depth. I am really excited about my final project in sound and feel that it addresses certain goals that I had for myself. I wanted to not just have a surface level understanding of new medias, but learn how to think around them in order to lead to more meaningful outcomes. By this, I should say that I was challenged by the "trendy" aspect of new medias, that they needed to be used carefully in order to not just be a fun gimmick in the art classroom. While I still have concerns about this, I feel increasingly comfortable with my ability to isolate potential meaningful learning for children in a variety of new medias.
This was certainly a challenging course for me as I will be the first to admit that I am highly skeptical of my perceived "hype" for new medias in the art classroom. I have looked critically at readings on the subject, but have also truly engaged myself to be open to introducing these mediums to children. Honestly, I really enjoyed and felt fully engaged in making in many of the media we covered and how unfair would it be if I didn't introduce something I enjoyed to children? I certainly feel an imperative to do so in my own classroom going forward. This may sound like a small change, though this is really a significant shift in my way of thinking about teaching art. I feel that many new medias can be put in service of basic, traditional mediums and vis versa, creating a beautiful dialogue in the classroom and more interdisciplinary modes of making. For example, I created a sound art lesson that focuses on listening closely to sounds in order to influence drawing. Also, working with physical circuitry within a collage incorporates a more traditional medium with a new one. LilyPads may serve to extend the possibilities of fiber arts. These are three of many opportunities to extend learning in traditional materials through the inclusion of new medias in the art classroom. Again, while I may still feel certain reservations about the entire switch of the art studio into a purely digital maker space, I am interested in infusing my art curriculum with new medias in order for children to experience the delight I did throughout this semester.
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