Methods of Innovation

Methods of Innovation

The Process of Gaining Inspiration from the Other Side

Are you interested in talking about your ideas with people outside your field of study?  Are you seeking practice in presentation and defense of your research?  Would you like to meet other CGU students and learn what they are studying?  Are you interested in exploring the ways that transdiciplinary approaches to learning can affect ingenuity, innovation, and creativity in your research?  Are you inspired, but not sure how to apply that inspiration to your scholastic work?

A Call for a Meeting of the Minds

We are seeking interested persons (faculty, staff, and students) FROM ALL FIELDS OF STUDY to participate in a reading/research group here at CGU.  We believe that transdisciplinary exploration is a tried and true method for innovation, creation, and successfully inspiring the thought process.  Participants will have the opportunity to share their research and gain feedback from other disciplines, make friends and “resources” in other complimentary fields of study, learn new ways of approaching research by observing methods of others, and ultimately have conversations that brighten your light bulb!

For more information, please contact Jackie Bell (MFA ’13) at:

jacqueline.bell@cgu.edu or 909-438-1811

Ramblings

I had a great conversation today, with my friend and classmate.  She is doing some work that talks about the empathy and lack of empathy for others, even those that you really have no way to relate to.  This got me to thinking (oh, no!) about how empathy is an instinctual part of the human psyche.  It serves as a crucial survival mechanism not for the individual but for the species.  Empathy and sympathy can cause the individual to slow down, to stop and help someone, putting themselves at risk in a threatening situation, but it promotes the "sticking together" mentality and strategy during threats to the species, or to large groups of humans threatened by animals, disease, or even zombies (hey, it's almost Halloween).

Another aspect of the empathize idea is the popularity of such things as film, Television, and even music (specifically vocal).  These are art forms that express the human experience, but these art forms specifically can be more relatable to the masses because of the visual and oral presence of humans, and human emotion.  There is a base level of understanding that the person on screen is happy or sad, regardless of language, due to the visual nature of the medium.  Or, in the case of music, you are compelled to respond to the voice you hear singing.  You don't just hear notes and language, but the emotion expressed.  This is especially true currently, as most music genres have taken on an emotional trend with the vocals, to the point of over emphasizing emotion conveyed by the voice.  As a listener or viewer, you respond in kind by empathy.

Copper Sacs

These (collectively) are the first official piece made in grad school.  Really rough, larger than my previous works, and the first in a long time to lack an architectural/industrial structure to them.  When formally displayed, they will be suspended from the ceiling with monofilament (clear fishing line), staggered at eye level (give or take 5 feet from the ground).  I am considering adding another element to them, but for now this is it.  In two weeks CGU will have a show representing all the first year students called 27+3.  This is my piece for the show.

The piece references an organic fragility.  While made of metal, the forms are light, airy, and delicate like egg shells.  They will be patina'ed black and sanded lightly to reveal shiny copper highlighting the bumps and wrinkles in the metal.  Construction techniques include raising, forging, and soldering.

Paper Vessels Installation

So I am in this gender studies class, and one of the projects is an Exquisite Corpse.  Equisite Corpse is a method of collaboration used commonly in classroom settings to provoke and encourage outside the box thinking.  In this case we are starting with an empty room and each student in the class gets the room for an entire week to create anything they want on the theme of gender/sex/sexuality.  I chose to go first which means a blank slate (save for a few words written on the walls from our professor during the first class.

I thought about this for a few days and the recurring thing for me was the notion of women as vessels.  I'm more of a tomboy than anything and experiencing pregnancy over the summer was a strange thing.  Dresses and makeup have not been a part of my definition of womanhood or being female, but pregnancy and giving birth is.  A lot of people mentioned to me "women having been giving birth for thousands of years..." and it made me think about the birthright of being female.  I decided to make a bunch of paper forms.  The forms are reminiscent of cups or bowls, flowers, and the female body.  Each one is a little different in shape, size, and color.  I stacked them in the room given to us to work with, and drew lines on the floor leading to them.  The lines are alluding to sperm and men in general, as they are a part of this "woman becoming vessel" process.

New sculpture

 I made these copper grass pieces and this morning ran out at dawn to install them and take photos.  This is a piece of private property right on Rt. 66, that only ever gets used for the sale of Christmas trees in the winter.

The idea was to make industrial grass, and have it growing in an industrial environment.  It's kind of a joke to me... real grass can't grow here so lets grow fake grass.  I think my next move is to do this again in a place that has no plant life whatsoever.  I'm also thinking of painting the grass so hideous industrial color like neon green.  I want to do everything I can before painting, because once the paints on, it's not coming off.

New Designs...

So I made these flower rings and one pendant, but can't seem to come up with a name for the design.  I'm pretty happy with it, though I did try putting stones in the center.  I thought they looked too busy.  The last photo is the pendant.  Would love some comments...

Sylas Studios featured on Indie Junction

Indie Junction is an online "guild" of DIY crafters who sell their wares.  I joined IJ a few months ago when I found out about them on the etsy forums.  They do a weekly "artist of the week" feature which is awesome, and showcases a few members every week.  I was lucky enough to be included in this weeks feature.  Check it out here: http://indiejunction.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/indie-junction-featured-artisans-for-the-week-of-august-1st/