Yesterday, I talked about gesture in music: understanding the score not so much as the object of musicological/music-theoretical study, but as a document of the initial human actions required to create specific sounds, and a prompt for others to reproduce those actions (sounds) in the future. We did some conducting and played air piano.
Today, Terry Morrow, who teaches drawing classes at TTU, talked about the gesture and involvement of the body in painting and, by extension, drawing. Using Jackson Pollock as an example, we talked about how what's on the canvas is a reflection of the gestures (and tools) used to create the painting:
We spent the remainder of the class drawing a live model, who changed poses every ten seconds or so. The idea was to empathize with the model and create our lines appropriately, using gestures that reflected how we felt (or, more accurately, how we think the model felt). We were instructed to draw using circles, S-curves, our non-dominant hand, and a piece of chalk on the end of a stick.
Professor Morrow had us stand while drawing--he insisted that good drawing, like a good three-point short in basketball, comes from the feet and is a whole body activity. It was interesting to hear him say this, because I feel the same way about bass playing. In orchestra, for purely practical reasons, I sit on a stool. Often when practicing at home, and always when playing solo, I choose to stand. I feel more connected to the instrument when I do, and I'm more able to move with it. I'm able to initiate gestures from my legs and feet if need be.
On Monday, Genevieve is going to talk about artifacts in dance, and lead us through some movement exercises.
The students have their first paper due on Wednesday, and the guidelines are as follows:
We've developed a grading rubric that will average all four of our grades on the papers (imagine that--the faculty are collaborating on a class about collaboration!)
Today, Terry Morrow, who teaches drawing classes at TTU, talked about the gesture and involvement of the body in painting and, by extension, drawing. Using Jackson Pollock as an example, we talked about how what's on the canvas is a reflection of the gestures (and tools) used to create the painting:
We spent the remainder of the class drawing a live model, who changed poses every ten seconds or so. The idea was to empathize with the model and create our lines appropriately, using gestures that reflected how we felt (or, more accurately, how we think the model felt). We were instructed to draw using circles, S-curves, our non-dominant hand, and a piece of chalk on the end of a stick.
Professor Morrow had us stand while drawing--he insisted that good drawing, like a good three-point short in basketball, comes from the feet and is a whole body activity. It was interesting to hear him say this, because I feel the same way about bass playing. In orchestra, for purely practical reasons, I sit on a stool. Often when practicing at home, and always when playing solo, I choose to stand. I feel more connected to the instrument when I do, and I'm more able to move with it. I'm able to initiate gestures from my legs and feet if need be.
On Monday, Genevieve is going to talk about artifacts in dance, and lead us through some movement exercises.
The students have their first paper due on Wednesday, and the guidelines are as follows:
For your first (and possibly only) paper, you are to discuss the manifestation of one of the concepts we've covered in class (i.e., harmony, line, gesture, variation) in an artform that is not your own. The idea behind this is to get you thinking comfortably outside of your discipline--a sort of artistic empathy. We don't expect meticulous footnotes and ground-breaking insights; rather, we want you to reexamine a familiar concept that you most likely take for granted. You are welcome to draw comparisons to your artform where appropriate, but it should not be the foundation of your paper. You are welcome to use outside sources of any kind, but they must be cited appropriately. Examples to support your arguments are encouraged.
Papers should be 4-6 pages long (graduate students, please aim for six pages), double-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins, etc. and should be submitted electronically to all of us by noon on Wednesday, May 25.
We've developed a grading rubric that will average all four of our grades on the papers (imagine that--the faculty are collaborating on a class about collaboration!)