I was really fortunate to have a passionately and hard-working team to work on the Community Arts Project. Reilly and Gustav had brought in different ideas and again, it was a pleasure to work with them. I decided to combine both arts explorer activities into one blog because both activities relate to one another.

        Our social justice issue we decided to focus on was on Canadian Aboriginal Women and Families in Toronto. It was a difficult issue to focus on because none of us were Canadian Aboriginal so we don't have an emotional attachment towards this issue. However, we treated with respect and feel impartial to it because then we can focus on our goal. Our goal was visibility and sparking conversations toward this Canadian Aboriginal women and families. Through my research, I thought I knew enough to not be ignorant in Aboriginal issues, but I was pretty shocked with what I found.

         According to Williams (1997), "Toronto is Canada's metropolitan centre with the greatest number of inhabitants, including the largest concentration of urban Aboriginals"(p. 95). Also, according to Environics Institute on Urban Aboriginal peoples study (2010), "Aboriginal peoples move to Toronto for work opportunities, education and family, and the amenities and services available" (p.16). I find these two facts show how Canadian Aboriginals make up a significant percentage of population in our urban city. We are so aware of immigration minorities in our cities but not so much of the original inhabitants of Canada. 

         I can sort of relate to the lack of resources to a place when it is highly populated by a certain race. I am an immigrant and I felt like it was difficult to adjust to this place without any sort of help from anyone with the same cultural background. Just as Canadian Aboriginal migrate to the cities, my parents hoped for a better living condition than we did back home. That is how I can relate to the unfortunate condition of lack of resources. That is why we wanted to provide information to our fellow classmates of this issue.

         After some discussion/creating a visual representation of our Big idea, Gustav offered the idea of creating a website of information to this issue. It was brilliant because it was one way a person can have a collective place in which has information and resources about Canadian Aboriginal Women and Families.

Visit Reguro.wikia.com on Canadian Aboriginal Women and Families in Toronto.

           However, other than the website, we also decided that we need to further reach out to the public. We thought of GUERRILLA ART! A most daring arts explorer activity! 

        Before we began our action, Reilly had brought one of her friends, an artist, to help us in our deed. We told her about our big idea and from there, she created the image (see on right). We discussed it and it was a fairly long conversation but we decided upon this image. Personally, I love the artwork and I love the ambiguity of it. Moira, the artist, wanted to relate an Aboriginal concept which is the medicine wheel and have a modern twist to it. It definitely relates to the last art element: balance. Social injustice means that there is a lack of balance in our society. This artwork portrays otherwise. According to Schirrmarcher and Fox (2009), "balance involves how an artist uses positive and negative space" (p. 143). To me, I see this image giving a priority to women and families and then the city of Toronto. It shows a empowering image without making a negative statement. That is why instead of creating a text within the picture, we left it as it is. Because then when people see it, they can interpret it any way! If they start to get curious and want to find out more about it then hopefully it can lead them to our wikia. Overall, I feel like artwork, especially street art should be left for the viewer to interpret it. We don't need an explanation of why it was made or how, just let the public appreciate it and create their own explanation of it. We can express ourselves in various ways and really it up to others on how to absorb it.

Below is a video to show the process of our action:

         Above shows our artwork on a public space. However, it is unfortunate because Reilly went back to the scene of the crime and it wasn't up anymore. The lifetime of our artwork was merely less than 24 hours but it was all worth the experience. It was really nerve-wrecking before we put it up but once the deed is done, it is like whole another level of emotion. Unfortunately, we were unable to get any reactions from the artwork but we hope from our hypothesis that it would result in a spark of conversation toward the issue.

           I work at an engraving place and there are tons of trinkets and anything alike that are inanimate. To add, most of the time I am working by myself. So, you can imagine that if the store/kiosk doesn't get busy with customers wanting to buy gifts, I stare at the abyss. However, I do enjoy it because I am exercising my imagination skills =). I would like to focus on the element of shape. Personally, in my mind, when I think of outrageous scenarios or making a story, it is usually a blur of shapes. Though in this exercise, we were to look at 3Dimensional objects and bring them to life. I still had a vision of their background in 2Dimensional shapes. Shapes are around us, it is up to us to whether be aware of this element or not. To add, shapes are endless when it comes to characteristics and qualities. Thus, we don't just consider the basic shapes, circles, squares, triangles and rectangles but there are irregular shapes as well. According to Schirrmarcher and Fox (2009), shapes can be "simple or complex...active or quiet...clearly defined or vaguely defined...solid, heave, massive; open, light...abstract or realistic" (p. 140). These are just some qualities that shapes are therefore when looking at an inanimate object, we must explore its shape to bring it to life. To give its personalities, we must look beyond the lines.

       I think this activity is perfect for children when learning their basic shapes or simply exploring the shapes they know now. They can look at their surroundings, perhaps draw the shapes but I would like them to be as creative and outrageous as they can be when fulfilling this activity. Consequently, this is the most hands-on learning that they can do with the concept of shapes.

Here is a lonely Pug.

He then found a friend.

Now, they have become best of friends.

       To be honest, I don't do the grocery shopping in my household. I live with my parents so obviously I still live off them (see what I just did there =P). However, sometimes I do visit the grocery store once in a while to buy random snacks or ingredients if I were planning on making or eating something for myself. Anyway, I don't have a certain grocery store that I visit. If I were to go with my mom when she shops for grocery, believe me, its like a mission. She checks for sales at different locations and buys a variety of food that can't be found in the local supermarket. Therefore, I wanted to focus on my grocery adventure at the chinatown in Mississauga! It's small and has a supermarket called "Oriental Market". Below is the video of my adventure.

blog1 from Rose Lugue on Vimeo.

        Excuse my editing skills and the lack of excitement in my video. Also, I would've loved to take more footage but I was asked to stop =(. I didn't get in trouble, thank God. I've always liked Asian supermarkets, it lacks in cleanliness but I feel more comfortable and feel the authenticity of Asia in the store. I love the mysteries of the products they sell, I would buy items only for the pictures or noticing how popular it is from friends or the customers instead of knowing of how it taste. It is either a hit or miss with the taste of those products.

Anyway, from visiting the supermarket I decided to focus on SEAFOOD!

I am not really a meat person. I eat meat but I don't crave for it and if I do want meat, it's usually white meat (chicken or fish). There is a portion of my video where I focus on the different kinds of creatures in the seafood section of the supermarket. It was really interesting to be observing this section because I've never really noticed it. Here are some of the items in the section:

        The word I would like to focus on in this blog post is on texture. Personally, texture is an art element that focuses on the sense of touch and see. We make an observation and determine if what we see if the same as what we feel. In the seafood section, I saw a variety of animals and their textures. Some were slimy and other were rough. I see that the textures each animal possess reflects on their defense mechanism from other species. So, if I were in a classroom and the children and I explore textures of the different species, not only will it expand their knowledge on texture but be able to understand the concept of why they possess this kind of texture.

       But relating to Honigman and Bhavnagri's (1998) article titled, Painting with Scissors: Art Education Beyong Production, I wanted to explore other art medium. The article talked about how they used scissors/cutting paper to make a collage that resulted in a painting-like picture. This blog post was suppose to focus on other "art" verb and though I did not use the most common ones such as glueing, sculpting and etc. I rather focused on other ways that a child or a person can express themselves through art. I went to a school that offered the art program. I was in music but I had friends who were in visual arts, drama and dance. Music had their concerts, visual arts had their shows, drama had their plays and dance had showcases. Each one was impressive but I found dance was the most difficult and impressive form of art. They needed to be physically trained to do the movements, follow along to the song, its melody and rhythm and no matter what I was always blown away by their performance.

         Children are active and they are in the process of mastering their gross motor skills. I don't like it when they are constraint to what physical activities they cant do. For example, when they aren't allowed to run around, climb that tree or etc. I understand the safety concerns and societal rules but I was a child once and I loved climbing trees, jumping from high places and tripping from running (even though I did get some scars, its okay). These activities allow us to be aware of our capabilities. We try it once or twice no matter if we fail or not.

        That is why I wanted to create an activity that would embrace the experimental learning of children and their gross motor skills. It's a simple activity that can happen for part of the day or could just be part of the daily routine. From my previous placements, I had this cd that played the "spiderman" song. There were various movement in the beginning but at the end, the children jump up and yell "spiderman!" It would repeat itself 3 times and each time got faster and faster. The times I brought it in, the children expressed enjoyment and wanted to do it over and over again.

          With that said, I thought a dancing activity would be another way children can express themselves and understand the world around them. I have not thought of specific movement that the children can follow along and I wished I had some crazy computer/dj skills that allow me to cut and compile favourite/exciting parts of different songs into one so I just have a playlist of songs. Below are some suggestions of songs that can be played. Of course if I was working with teachers or parents they can bring in different song ideas that they think the children would enjoy. The playlist has different artists and genres. There are really no popular songs in it but a few old ones that children at this time have never heard before. I want the children to listen to the songs and dance how they would feel. I remember in one of my placements, we were playing music and we were all dancing except one the children was "breakdancing" and yes it was of concern but the teacher immediately stopped the child. I felt bad for him because that is how he wanted to dance. So, this activity needs to be set up on a carpeted floor and must be cautious of the surroundings (keep away from any danger) so the children can express themselves in any way. I can also incorporate this tin heir pretend play or in the drama centre so they relate their emotions to music and understand music and drama together.

 Music Playlist at MixPod.com

From Youtube.

The element of art I would focus on in this blog is design or composition. Just I have designed this activity to be a freedom of expression through dancing, I would like the children to be aware of their process and how it can result to something. If they hear music that's loud with hard rhythm and beats, what emotion would they express? It would be interesting to see what they have designed their dance from the song they are listening to. Schirrmarcher and Fox (2009) says that by talking to children about the elements of design or composition, they are able "to talk about works of art and make children aware of the planning and energy that often accompany the making of art" (p.142).

Reference:

Honigman, J. J., & Bhavnagri, N. P. (1998). Painting with scissors: Art education


     beyond production.Childhood Education, 74(4), 205-212.)