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St. Norbert College's art
foundation class is about gaining exposure to a broad variety of media
and in some cases different ways of thinking. Assistant professor of art,
Katherine Ries,
had her students design body extension pieces for the class.
Students had to use secondhand materials and then add motion to the project. To cap
it off, students were required to put together a one- to three-minute
performance in front of their peers.
"There's something really enjoyable, I think, about making something
that you wear, sort of different than making a piece that you put on the wall.
This is kind of like a warm-up maybe to a more elaborate
or conceptually deep performance piece or maybe just thinking about incorporating motion into
your life in a different way." Sophomore Danielle Wendler of Appleton, Wisconsin
is a double major in psychology and art. Her hope is to go into art therapy
which is a mental health profession that uses the creative process of art-making
to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of
individuals
of all ages. "This definitely
could be used my job in the future
where maybe they can create something and show the emotion that they're feeling
through it; maybe, you know, different
arms or different lips or something that they want
to improve that will help them
face their fears." William Farr, of California, is a junior communications
major
and an art minor. He said this class fits nicely with his major
because you have to think that the body is a communicative tool. "Yeah,
when I thought when I was going to take the class I wouldn't be acting
in front of my peers and it was very
interesting; it's a new way to think about your body units
and other non-verbal communication that we were
expressing throughout the performance." Professor Ries says the object of the art foundation
class
is to train students to be contemporary makers by using a full vocabulary of
tools and methods.
"It's kind of a difficult project because not only do you have to make this
thing that can fit on your body --
so you're thinking about how you going to get it on, how you get it off and making it fit -- but then
you have to come up with emotion. I
I think that's probably the most challenging part of this."
I'm Mike Counter reporting for St. Norbert College.