OPPOSITES ATTRACT:

COLLABORATIVE PAIRS CREATIVE PROJECT ASSIGNMENT

(NOTE: Please DO NOT use glitter on your project!!!)
You might like to visit this creative thinking website to get your juices flowing!
And this youtube video seeks to rekindle your creative urge.

· Partner up and decide on a project that works as a whole, but each of you will take one side of a pair of opposite ideas or things, such as heaven and hell, order and chaos, male and female, old and new, beautiful and ugly, good and evil, etc.

· Create a collaborative work of art that expresses unity; however, each of you will select one of the opposing elements to develop and be responsible for articulating visually.

· You may use any art form you choose and any media you'd like.

· Remember that art is the playground of free expression, but almost all works of art are driven by a unifying concept and have an idea or message that the artist is trying to get across..

· As an artist, your job is to express some idea or communicate certain feelings, and your art work is the vehicle for your idea or concept, insight or emotion.

· Be conscious of the overall effect you hope to achieve and the dominant impression you wish to impart.

· Emphasis is important and can be expressed in a variety of ways using a variety of techniques. Be conscious of the effective use/application of elements and principles of art/design and use them intentionally and consciously.

· Consider your use of color or size or juxtaposition or repetition or texture and how you might best emphasize your idea or theme.

· Visual art is music to the eyes, so make it dance. Think about how you might provide a rhythm to the work through the use of positive and negative space as well as size and color. How do the lines work? What shapes are created? How does one thing interrelate with another? How have you organized the overall composition?

· Ultimately, only you can tell how to best express your concept.

· Make your art dance to the beat of your own drum and be sure that your half of the artwork represents your oppositional element.

· For multimedia or performance creative projects, you have a time limit of 5 minutes plus 3 minutes for your oral presentation (see below for details).

Ask yourself:

Ø How culturally biased is my perception of these opposing forces?

Ø Are these oppositional elements balanced contraries (The Daoist concept of yin and yang as well as William Blake's poems "The Tiger" and "The Lamb" are examples of this symmetry of opposing forces in nature) that harmonize and balance or are they locked in a power dynamic seeking the destruction of the other?

Ø What effect does this opposition have on you personally, (y)our culture or time period, or the world at large?

Ø What words and images come to mind in association with these opposing elements/forces?

Ø How have people, experiences, and places shaped your ideas about these opposing forces?

Ø What symbols/icons best represent each side?

Planning the composition:

v Ask several people who know you well and whom you trust to give you 5 words they associate with each of the pair of opposites & weave these into your composition/design either figuratively or literally.

v Get philosophical & surrender to the creative process.

v Apply composition and design principles.

v Unity: does your half hold its own and do both halves work together ?

v Color: dominance, balance, blending, contrast, complementary, etc.

v Texture: implied or literal (mixing media adds texture)

v Shape/form: overall and compartmental: 2-d (length + width), 3-d (length + width + depth) , 4-d (length + width + depth + movement/time)?

v Line: used to create rhythm and express emotion (Typically, a grid provides stability whereas a diagonal line implies slippage or uncertainty; a spiral intimates dynamic flow and seems to move both inward and outward simultaneously.)

v Rhythm: established through patterns and the interplay of compositional elements.

v Positive/Negative space: Does the background provide context or contrast? What is emphasized as the subject matter of the work?

Written Component : When you present your collaborative artwork to the class, and each of you must also submit to me a 200-300 word paper describing your concept and explaining the subtext. (Include word count.)

NOTE: Please type this paper on a separate sheet of paper (& don't affix it to the project itself). This way, I can read it as I peruse your artwork during the grading process.

1. Include a discussion of what are you trying to express and the 10 words you've woven into the artwork.

2. Provide a succinct yet thorough explanation of how you applied the elements of composition and principles of design to visually express your ideas, your theme, your use of symbolism, etc.

3. Explain what you hope the viewer will come to understand about you by looking at your creation.

4. Explore the creative process and what you learned from the experience of creating this collaborative work. What problems did you encounter? How hard was it to express your ideas to your partner and then to your actual art piece? What challenges did you encounter and how did you approach accomplishing or resolving them?

Presentation:

[ 2-3 minute oral presentation of your work of art with an additional 3-4 minutes for your creative component should you choose to go for the creativity bonus points (see below for details).

[ You may earn up to 5 bonus points by adding a creative performance element to your presentation: write/recite a poem (simply reading someone else's poem will not earn you any points), play an instrument, dance, etc.

[ What you include in this oral presentation should focus on form & process (how you achieved your finished composition, how you applied the elements of composition and design, how you used symbols, humor, irony, etc.) rather than content (what pictures and words you used).

[ Explain what message(s) you were trying to convey and how you played out your concept.

[ Address how you used the elements of composition and design.

Grading: Click here to see grading rubric for this project

[ Work presented on the due date will automatically receive a 50 or higher.

[ You will be graded on various criteria:

1. originality

2. expression of your concept visually, orally, and in your written explication of your work

3. time expenditure

4. use of elements of composition and principles of design

5. how well you expressed your theme and concept

[ Your creative project must be submitted at the beginning of the designated class period, and late projects will NOT be accepted. "Get out of jail free cards" can NOT be used for this assignment unless otherwise granted permission due to mitigating circumstances that would constitute an excused absence (see syllabus for details).

[ Up to 5 bonus points will be awarded for added creativity in presentation, i.e. playing guitar or singing, dancing or reciting poetry, etc.