Quantity Breeds Quality

This morning I asked everyone to stand up. As recently reported, sitting all day is the leading cause of many diseases that plague modern society (bowel cancer? Bowel cancer!). While standing, I then asked everyone if they thought they were an artist.

"Are you an artist?"

"Um, maybe."

"I guess."

"Not yet."

Nearly the entire class did not identify as being an artist. One student, did however, immediately identify as being an artist and the crux of his argument for doing so is that he is not intimidated by those who are "above" him in the hierarchy of his field. The rest of the class still needed more, so I picked on one student to get out their iphone and look up two definitions. 

1. Art - noun - the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aestheticprinciples, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinarysignificance.

2. Artist - –noun - a person who produces works in any of the arts  that are primarilysubject to aesthetic criteria.

Then, I asked each student about what they are producing in the world. Are their bedrooms arranged just so? Did you artfully craft your outfit this morning? Think about the design work that you aspire to and imagine that moment that you step away from it, finished, and think, Ahh. That is a work of art. 

Roger Ebert recently (finally) won the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest. What I love most about this is that the editor of the New Yorker cartoons section called Roger out for his tenacity, citing the productivity theory. According to creativity expert, Keith Sawyer, 

cartoon contest winners usually generate lots of captions. Studies of creativity have shown that quantity breeds quality—what I call the productivity theory, because high productivity corresponds to high creativity.

While quantity does not guarantee quality, it sure does bring you a whole heck of a lot closer. Here's Roger's winning cartoon (though personally, I much liked his NSFW submission a lot better). 

The Final Project: an exercise in being meta for the sake of being meta

So we have spent the semester reflecting, and thinking, and learning, and thinking, and imagining, and reflecting, and so on. The final project this semester is to create a personal blog using Blogger that is an online representation of yourself as artist, student, and art student.

But wait... why blog?

Blogging is the first step towards self-branding. Also, blogging in real-time is the best (and only) way to be able to look back and see your progress as an ever-evolving artist. Post your thoughts, your rants, your reviews, and most of all - post your artwork!

Here is the assignment description:

Final Project: Onward and Outward

The final project will be a culmination of everything learned in this class. Taking the skills we have learned and the artistic outlets we have explored, your final project will be a public representation of yourself as a student and artist. 


Blog, Bio, and Business cards.:


Blog: Your final project will be the publishing of a blog with several entries (no less than 7) dedicated to your field of study, your interests, and other goings-on in the world around you. In order to qualify as a blog, you must link to another website within each post. It is a good idea to start by looking at other blogs relevant to your own fields (Design Sojourn, Style Rookie, etc.) and go from there.


You biography will be featured on your blog. It is not a resume, but instead a creative and short description of all that is important and great about you. This is the perfect opportunity to showcase your talents, your interests, and your sense of humor. Bios should be between 100 minimum and 200 words maximum.


Business cards: On the last day of class, you will present to the class a sample of your finished business card. This business card should include a personalized design and/or logo which will also be featured on your blog.


Last semester, one student's blog stood out among the rest. Christine Nath blogged about her work, her passions, what she liked about new and hot designs. Christine really flourished in the blogging environment and has kept up with her blog well past the semester's end. Take a look at her blog to see the level of quality that I am looking for in your projects this semester: Nath, d Christine. 

Fashion Illustration - second semester

A second-semester student (let's just call him K) created the below composition within an hour's time. The details on the dancers' dresses is dyed ostrich feather. Critique this piece:

Before diving into your critique* in the comments section, review the rules of critique we came up with in class a few weeks ago:
1. Civility, civility, civility. The golden rule is golden for a reason.
2. Start with your overall experience of the piece. What is your subjective reaction to it?
3. Praise - What do you like? What is working?
4. Polish - What isn't working for you? What is a missed opportunity? Try to avoid prescriptive advice.
5. Questions - What questions do you have for the artist? What is left unanswered by the piece itself?


*This framework for critique was adapted from James Sidel's Advanced Fiction Writing class, Fall 2010.

Inspiration Boards

One of the first projects assigned this semester was the inspiration board project. Here is the assignment description:

Create and inspiration Board - a visual collage of at least 6 things that motivate or inspire you. It can include photo cut-outs from magazines or other sources, words or phrases (but not large blocks of text), photographs that you have taken, or even artwork by yourself or others. The content of the board is entirely up to you, but it needs to consist of things that motivate and/or inspire you. Be prepared to present to the class next week.

This year's quality of Inspiration Boards was simply astounding. Take a look at the students holding their boards.

Welcome!

The mission and vision of LA 151, the Freshman Seminar for Success is simple: make of this what you will.

Success in college is just like winning a game - you've got to know the rules, devise strategy for the short and long-term, and put your head and heart into it.

This blog will showcase the work that students in this class section are doing, how their definitions of success, motivation, and goals change over the course of an intensive semester, and also pave the way for future students of this class to get a head start on tackling some of the biggest barriers to academic success.

So, welcome.