Reflections on our Cabinet of Wonder

We reached an agreement to pursue the cabinet of wonder project through a wiki website. The idea is to create a virtual MJT and some people will concentrate on making or collecting objects while others concentrate on interpretation. This solution offers good opportunities for everyone. The people who are searching for a tangible project can focus on making or finding objects that elicit wonder and uploading those objects to the site. People who are more interested in writing can focus their efforts on interpretation. The wiki will allow for a fluid collaborative process and ideally everyone will do a little making and a little interpreting. Most important everyone will experiment with an open collaborative structure that has the potential to reach a wide audience.

Some questions to think about.

What to include in the cabinet of wonder?

How do we identify objects for the collection?

How do we edit the collection?

What are we trying to say with the collection?

What is the nature of the relationship between text and object in the collection?
Are there new opportunities for teaching and learning with a group creative project such as our wiki cabinet of wonder?

Side notes.

Those folks might also pursue an exhibition of the objects (time permitting) in the craft department showcase or a suitcase presentation.

Some students might work on documenting the collection with a blurb book—perhaps for donation to special collections.

Wesch Student Collaborative Video

I wanted to share another Michael Wesch video.  This is a collaborative project from one of Michael Wesch's classes that was organized through the web.  Perhaps this will inspire some ideas for craf690?

Final Project

WOW!  A great discussion about the terrific possibilities for the final project.  Perhaps the wiki will work—check this out!  

On Questions

Last week we watched a video about the artist Robert Irwin and spent time talking about his questioning process. Irwin used a method of self-questioning to propel his work forward and to probe the effect and meaning of the work that he was creating. His big question in my mind is what to make and this lead him to an exploration of perception. But how does this question relate to anyone else but Irwin. In all likelihood it doesn't, but the process of questioning—not the individual question is a process that is relevant for all artists. Everyone must find the questions that are appropriate for their search—as Irwin said for his Getty Garden project-"always changing, never twice the same"

Martin Puryear

This is a enigmatic image from the Martin Puryear exhibition.  What does it refer to...bird or  tool...a little slippery, the image moves from one interpretation to the next.  The piece is haunting.

The test

OK.  So it is time to think about art and wonder.  How are the two ideas connected. I will try to think about this over the next several weeks.  Really, I am interested in curiosity—what makes me want to think, look, or respond.  Is it the natural world, or a product of human intervention.  Does art create wonder for viewers and does an artist's wonderings create art?  Let's see now.