nihilistartstudent-blog

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Journal #7

Last Friday I completed my fieldwork placement with Darren Van Dyke. We were scheduled to facilitate a tour of the AGO’s Canadian Collection to a group of grade 12 students from Monsignor Fraser College. Upon the group’s arrival, we learnt that the class was focusing on Indigenous studies and decolonisation, so Darren had to refocus his tour and gear it towards different artworks than he had intended. 

Fortunately, I had planned to discuss a mixed media painting by Anishinaabe artist Carl Beam titled Small Fates (1989). The piece fits in really well with the class’s curriculum, and I was able to present my work without having to change my focus to dramatically. I discussed both the visual and formal aspects of the piece and tried to get the students to think about how Small Fates could be interpreted through a postcolonial lens. I asked them questions to try and reinforce their learning, but they were a really quiet group so I had a hard time getting them to engage with me. 

During my internship, nobody ever really told us how to approach teaching grade 12s. Our primary focus seemed to be on educating young children, and I had a hard time interpreting how much information the students were able to retain. Although Darren said I did well, I wish I could have done more to get the students visibly excited about the work.

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Journal #6

I’ve had a good time shadowing the AGO’s educational officers over the last couple of months. They often provide their interns with a lot of flexibility in terms of how “hands on” they want to be with visiting students, and are very knowledgeable when it comes to approaching students and getting them to participate in activities. In the learning zone, my EO allowed me to interact with different kids and get up close and personal with them. I spent over an hour playing with toy dinosaurs and blocks with a couple of the visiting children.

Shadowing EO’s during workshop sessions has probably been my most beneficial experience. In particular, Darren Van Dyk has taught me a lot about planning and executing lesson plans and demonstrated to me how to improvise during a lesson and re-facilitate content in order to optimise student learning. During a watercolour painting workshop, we recently completed with grade 8’s a number of students had trouble meeting the time constraints of our activity. Fortunately, Darren’s flexible lesson requirements allowed for every student to come away with a positive experience despite some of them not completing their assignment.

Up until now my internship hasn’t required me to do any research, although this week I’m going to be facilitating a portion of Darren’s Canadian Collections tour with grade 12 students. I’ve decided to introduce the students’ Carl Beam’s Small Fates, a mixed media painting that acknowledges dual historical perspectives. I already know quite a lot about the piece, so am focusing my research towards how to engage the students and what kinds of questions I can ask them to reinforce their learning. 

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Journal Entry#5

The AGO provided us with a variety of pedagogical exercises this semester, which I feel have had a profound effect on my understanding of early child development and behaviour. Each workshop addressed different ways to engage and interact with children of various age groups, with each approach necessitating different needs.

In a workshop session that took place in late February, we participated into a painting tutorial that taught us the fundamentals of structuring a class. Starting with paper, toothpicks, and tin foil we created various brushes which were used to produce our own ink paintings. After sharing our initial paintings with the class we proceeded to reflect and produce a second print using our newly acquired skills. This class taught me the importance of learning on the go and teaching students fundamental skills that can be later applied to larger projects.

This along with the various other pedagogical workshops have given me a deeper appreciation for the structuring of classes and time/energy that goes into creating an educational activity. Prior to participating in these workshops, I’d never really thought about how teachers optimise their classes in order to necessitate the learning habits of various age groups. Another skill I learnt was a teacher’s ability to be flexible. On a couple of occasions, our instructor was forced to deviate from her planned class due to unforeseen circumstances, think on the spot, and come up with a new approach to teaching the class.

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Journal Entry #4

Building off of my second journal entry, I would like to take this opportunity to explore another initiative that facilitates art education - the artist-run centre. Although the term “artist-run” is often thrown around far to casually these days (most artist-run centres are not actually run by artists, answer to a board of directors, receive federal funding, and operate under strict guidelines) there are still many independently operated ventures whose sole aim is to accommodate the growth and development of local artists.

Bunker 2 is a self-identified “contemporary art centre” that operates out of a refurbished shipping container in Toronto’s west end. Under the artistic direction OCAD alumni Matthew Kyba, the centre takes a collaborative approach to realising exhibitions by inviting artists to approach the space and create an “intervention”. Bunker 2 emphasises artistic agency and actively facilitates creative autonomy and experimental research.

Like Terry Finnigan’s Tell us About It project, Bunker 2 offers participants an open-ended concept that allows for subjective interpretation, contemplation, and execution. The nature of the Bunker 2’s mandate allows for artists to pursue work of a personal significance, with little to no boundaries there to determine their course of action.

Alternative spaces like Bunker 2 also benefit participating spectators by creating a positive atmosphere for community development and presenting new and often critical artworks. Because artists are invited to create site-specific interventions, the work they produce is unique to the space. Artist-run centres and alternative spaces provide artists and spectators with a unique opportunity to create and experience new, exciting, and boundaryless art.

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A sign indicating the location of Bunker 2

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#kapwanikiwanga

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Journal Entry #3

Over the reading week I decided to visit the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery. Generally abbreviated to “the Power Plant”, this gallery specialises in presenting both national and international contemporary artists to Toronto’s artistic community and the general public. I’ve decided to focus on one of four current exhibitions being presented at the Power Plant, Kapwani Kiwanga’s A Wall is Just a Wall. This show is curated by Carolin Kochling, and appears upstairs on the Power Plant’s second floor.

A Wall is Just a Wall consists of two artworks which appear in two separate rooms (separated by a partitioning wall), one an installation and the other a video. Kiwanga has divided the first room into two areas, a blue area and a pink area. Both areas are painted in their respected colours and have corresponding coloured lights installed overhead. After travelling through the first multicoloured room, visitors are encouraged to turn around a corner and into a dark room where Kiwanga’s A Primer (2017) is being projected onto an adjacent wall. Despite the deceptive simplicity of the show, Kiwanga work actually encapsulates a lot of subtleties in terms of critical discourse.

Kochling has done a great job in curating an exhibition that is both aesthetically pleasing and academically engaging. The exhibitions blue and pink room is a fantastic selfie opportunity for people looking to share their gallery experience with their friend online (#KapwaniKiwanga), while A Primer’s technically brilliant cinematography and encompassing discourse (in which Kiwanga “deconstructs the physical and physiological qualities of different built environments” (Powerplant, 8) satisfies the curious art student. What could make the exhibition stronger? Nothing. A range of pedagogical didactics (wall vinyl, programs, a map, gallery sitters) are available for anybody seeking additional information about the show, while the otherwise blank exhibition space keep visitors from being distracted - and allows them to appreciate the artwork on display for what it is.

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Journal Entry #2

I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the importance of workshops for members of the artistic community.

One of my favourite things about working for InterAccess is being a part of an organisation that’s dedicated to facilitating a wide range of on-site workshops. Our educational coordinator works tirelessly in order to produce year-round programming that focuses on a wide variety of artistic skills: machining, electronics, communication technologies, 3D printing etc.

Different workshops tend to attract different artists, and a general assumption may be that artists come in, learn a skill, leave, and apply it to their own art. This assessment is technically true but doesn’t take into consideration the broader social benefits of facilitating and developing artistic communities.

By accommodating a constant schedule of workshops in a comfortable environment (InterAccess’s workshop), InterAccess has managed to develop a community of like-minded artists who regularly meet to develop and exchange information and ideas. These workshops have turned into a much more important long-term community development program that accommodates the technical and creative needs of participants; the facilitation of such a community creates a free flowing network of ideas that inevitably leads to collaboration, group exhibitions, and creative partnerships.

It’s important to recognise workshops as more than just an opportunity for artists (or students) to learn new skills under the guidance of an instructor. By following up with participants, inviting them back for opportunities to socialise, encouraging them to stay connected, and encouraging the exchanging of ideas/information, workshops can act as initiation points for broader long-term educational opportunities.

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Journal Entry #1

Terry Finnigan’s “Tell Us About It” is a thought-provoking article that addresses some key issues within the UK’s educational system, issues which also resonate within North America. The claim that international students are often perceived as “other” or assumed as “problems” is particularly of great concern to me, however, this problem stems far beyond the realms of higher learning and isn’t exclusive to Western Europe. Racism and cultural bias are heavily entrenched within our greater societal structural and often reinforced by a range of geopolitical factors.

There were a number of points that stuck out to me in this reading: the importance of knowing students’ stories to enhance their learning experience (Finnigan, 3), the success of Tell Us About It being contingent on a complete openness about how the students could respond (which brought a certain freedom of expression to the process) (Finnigan, 4), and the notion that it was very important for students to be able to explore their own identity in their creative artwork through their course (Finnigan, 7).

I want to be more mindful of these points in the future, and establish a better understanding of the individuals I’m working with rather than just assume how they may think or feel about a topic. I should try to create open-ended assignments that accommodate each student’s subjective vision, and allow students to create personal work that is meaningful to them. Students should be able to explore and allow their identity to flourish in their work – assignments that are open to interpretation allow students to become self-invested!