PLEASE GIVE YOUR COMPUTER TIME TO LOAD THIS BLOG- It is filled with images, videos and other resources that may take a moment to load on slower systems. Bridgette Mongeon is a writer/sculptor/speaker/and educator. Her blog, Creative Endeavors documents her work in progress. Ms. Mongeon has several other blogs/websites/and journals. The links can be found on the left margin of this blog.
CONTACT
Ms. Mongeon phone number and e-mail are found on her fine art web site Creativesculpture.com.
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Friday, March 12, 2010
Pedagogical Philosophy of Bridgette Mongeon
It was recently brought to my attention that I needed to have a pedagogical philosophy. At the time, I was not sure I had one. But after some thought I discovered that not only did I have one, I was quite passionate about it. And so, I am sharing it here.
My next personal assignment- a pedagogical philosophy as it pertains to teaching technology.
Pedagogical Philosophy of Bridgette Mongeon
Having myself experienced the wonderful learning engrained in Dewey pedagogy at both Vermont College and Goddard College it is a given that this educational experience would affect how I teach.But experiential education was a part of my own personal, perpetual learning experiences long before undergraduate or graduate work.It has propelled me into my many advancements including that of the title of Master Sculptor.
Passion and Experiential Learning
Assisting an individual to take charge of their own learning through ongoing dialogue, empowering them with knowledge and resources, and helping them to find opportunities that will enhance their life long learning while encouraging professional advancements means tapping into the passion of the individual. Tap that passion and an undying enthusiasm for learning will develop.Even though I am teaching a subject or a discipline of art or writing even helping other with their career goals, as creative individuals it is this personal passion that I am hoping to ignite.
Life is Interdisciplinary A creative life and education is inherently interdisciplinary.It is rare that you will meet a gifted individual who is single minded in their creative practice. The individual and their creativity are usually extremely complex.The key is to encourage and celebrate the interdisciplinary excitement and exploration of the creative individual while also encouraging focus.This means that an instructor is more than just teaching a subject or a discipline, but they are helping a student to explore
Communication and Differences
Communication is essential, between students and instructor as well as between instructor, coworkers and administration.It is also necessary to understand that individuals work differently when it comes to accepting and retaining information.
Understanding the diverse array of students, their cultural backgrounds as well as their experiential backgrounds and tailoring or tweaking the teaching style also helps with this clear communication.Finding the perfect dialogue that will fit each individual’s learning style and diversity, and being sure of clear communication with students, coworkers and administration is at times a challenge, but a challenge that I find continues to be my own welcomed exploration of the study of the psychology of learning and behavior.
Creative Angst
As an artist, writer, musician and business owner I understand the diverse nature of creativity and am intimately familiar with the struggles that students can have as they push through the creative process for either in individual projects, a semester, or in just trying to find their own voice. Understanding this internal war of art and sharing my own experiences, and by showing respect for the student and the process, while being transparent enough to allow the student to know their struggle gives us a rapport.
Size of Classes Small- Large- Challenged
Throughout my long career as a creative person and educator I have developed educational programs to assist individuals in tapping into their creativity. These have been presented to children, adults and those who suffer from emotional and psychological disabilities. I have taught sculpting, writing, art, and the business of art along with other subjects one on one, in small groups and at large lectures. In all of these instructional venues I strive for the personal connection to each individual through sharing and exploration. Education is a collaborative effort as one stands on the shoulders of those who have gone before or shares information for research and makes advances.
Teaching is more than a job; it actually offers a way for me to fill the unquenchable need to pass on information. To help those who are struggling through areas that I have come through, and to ignite self esteem.
My research and involvement in the art community continues. I look forward to sharing these resources and opportunities with my students. Through this education I will find ways for them to ignite their self-assurance and to apply their newfound knowledge, while realizing that, “Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.” John Dewey.
First Art and Technology podcast complete- we are on our way!
Yesterday I conducted my new podcast that I have created as a part of my research into "Bridging the gap between the traditional sculpture studio and new technology." It will be located on my blog and our new website ( not up yet) Digitalsculpting.net. This site should be up by May along with the podcasts. It will be a community of artists offering a vast amount of resources on this subject. It was prompted by our publisher Elsevier and the new book on Digital Sculpting with Mudbox.
My first interview was with digital sculpting pioneer Robert Michael Smith. Monday I will interview Joris Debo from Materialise. My hit list for others in this podcast of Art and Technology are both artists, those in research and those providing the technologies for artists. I'm espeically interested in things that are near and dear to my heart. All aspects of technology that help to create figurative sculpture, methods that will assist in creating a new type of foundry and bronzes, clay and the history of digital art, as well as the mix of math, science and art.
I am continually reminded how much this bridge is needed, by both the vendors and by those working and passionate about creating and the technology. As Robert Michael Smith said in our interview.
"I'm glad to see people like you are picking this up and doing it on your own now. This stuff really should be financed from a single source. There should be a single hub of information. "
Carl Bass CEO of Autodesk and a sculptor and involved with the Digital Stone Exhibition
Synappsys Digital Services along with Shan Gray on the new process Data Direct To Mold used to create The American
Christiane Paul Who wrote these articles about digital technology and sculpture. The were written 10 years ago. This is how I was introduced to Robert Michael Smith. I would also like to interview the other artists in this group who were working in this digital sculpting 10 years ago they are:
Someone from Solheim Laboratories at the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Washington about their digitally printing of clay and glass. I would love to cover one of their other collaborators with them. Perhaps Ron Rael @UC Berekely who asks in this post "Are we the first in the world to 3d print translucent Porcelain?" It does not take long to float through this blog and find another 6-10 people that I want to interview. and I must say I want to be able to print 3d ceramics in my studio!
Robert Michael Smith also gave me an extended hit list. Please, if you know anyone who is interested in being a part, and of course those wanting to sponsor the site, send them my way!
A class mate at Goddard understood what I was saying about the power of slow and shared with me SlowDance By David Michalek. I'm sorry I can't post the videos but the links are incredible. "Sculpting Time."
There is such power and expression in the slowness.
What is it about slow motion? As a sculptor of something that is stationary I wonder, "why am I intrigued with slow motion, especially of animals or the human form." I think that it might be that while viewing slow motion we are privy to the different nuances of emotion and movement. Slowing things down makes me think, "Ah there, if I could capture it right there, then a few second later," I say, "and that movement, oh isn’t that beautiful, if I could capture that right there." Of course, to be specific, it would be better if I could see the slow motion from different angels, all at the same time. That is what a sculptor does. The movement of a piece needs to look good from all sides, all directions, though one angle is probably the strongest or the most seen depending on the placement of the sculpture.
On another note, there is the anatomy. My heart skips a beat when I see the dog jump. Look at the power in the feet. I think, “Do I know this power because I have seen the frames before this action and the frames after the action? Would it be possible to have that same feeling if you saw that motion captured as a sculpture, and at which stage would I have to capture it to present that power?”
I think I should like to do a study. A study of slow motion as it pertains to art. How? My sculpting process is slow, meticulous. What if you combined slow and fast? What if I sculpted extremely fast, as sketches, which is a great practice, by the way, but interestingly enough, I never find I have the time to sculpt fast. What if I quickly sculpted different stills of movement as they are slowed and captured? Again I would need cameras from different angels to study the movement.
...interestingly enough, I never find I have the time to sculpt fast.
So look at this video not just as a commercial, but look at it for the emotion, the power, as a study of form and movement.
WANT YOUR WORK IN A MUDBOX BOOK? Please pass this on and twitter, need art quickly
PLEASE REPLY QUICKLY, PASS ON THIS INFORMATION AND POST We are looking for artwork created in Mudbox for a gallery for our new book. Deadline is this weekend. If you are interested in possibly participating please e mail me directly at Bridgette (the at sign) creativesculpture.com. There is no monetary compensation but we will give you credit in the book. You can use other software in conjunction with this creation as long as Mudbox was used as part of your work flow.
Please contact me by this weekend (March 5-6) and let me know your interest, if you have your work posted on the internet send a link and then I will ask you to send an image via e mail once I check with my coauthor. Then we will send you a release form. WE ARE ON A TIGHT DEADLINE. ALL ARTWORK MUST BE IN ALONG WITH RELEASE FORMS BY TUESDAY the 9th of March. Thanks in advance for your interest.
I am intrigued with the notion that somehow art can help us to understand hidden concepts that math and science cannot.I was first introduced to this idea when I happened upon weaver Nathalie Miebach in my first semester graduate studies at Goddard College.In this presentation of “Weaving Science Into Sculpture” for theCambridge Science Festival, Nathalie talks about how she takes data that she has collected and weaves the data.The results are somewhat strange, but I cannot help but look at the artwork more closely, differently than I do just ordinary art. I feel Nathalie unknowingly weaved some secret here.
I wonder, can art be an additional source of exploration for things such as math and science?Then of course, still in my first semester at Goddard, I was introduced to the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).There are several videos on this site. They explore this very concept or art depicting science and math. Together MOMA, artists and scientists found through SEED magazine, worked together to create this exhibit.Again I am intrigued. What does the artwork say, that until the point of viewing the “data” in this way, could not be understood?
This semester my intrigue continues as my professor sends me this link and the work of “Margaret Wertheim and her sister Christine on the beautiful math of coral.” She explores the hyperbolic geometry involved in creating coral reefs and the idea that up until this expressive form of art- crochet, mathematicians have not had a way to model the structure.
“Through this sort of modality, crochet, other plastic forms of play, people can be engaged with the most abstract, high powered theoretical ideas. The kind of ideas that normally you have to go to universities departments to study in higher mathematics.” “ But you can do it through playing with material objects.” States, Margaret. Surprisingly there has been an evolution of crochet species created by deviating from the algorithmic code.
In the video Margaret talks about how Chicago Cultural Center was filled with a crochet version of coral reef. The crocheting of coral reefs has become a movement of people spanning 3 continents.It is not only a way to link art and science but also a link between, “marine biology, feminine handicraft and environmental activism,” states MargaretMargaret and Christine have developed The Institute For Figuring. “The Institute For Figuring is an organization dedicated to the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of science, mathematics and the technical arts.”
My fascination and research continue. It is a bit different than what my original study is. Although I am studying art and technology, I am also extremely intrigued with how math and science plays into arts. The study has been, up to this point, about bridging the gap between technology and the traditional art studio. I’m focusing on digital printing and milling and scanning, and the creation of my new book,“Digital Sculpting in Mudbox.”Though I must say, this off shoot of my study has me enthralled. I’m not sure what I will do with it besides, look at the artwork and the marriage of science, math and art a bit closer, but then, my study is just beginning, who knows where this will lead. At a College like Goddard you are free to explore, and encouraged to engage in things that you might never have seen yourself explore and engage.For me, it is the best fit and an adventure in education.
As part of my study, this semester I have committed to interviewing others on art and technology in an online podcast. I look forward to beginning this creative endeavor.My initial thought was that perhaps it would be interviews with those who deal with digital sculpting, 3d printing, milling and 3d scanning, but I can see the possibilities for the podcast growing.More on this in up-and-coming posts, our first podcasts are scheduled for recording this month and available online soon.
Citations
"Weaving Science into Sculpture." Forum-Network. Web. 22 Oct 2009. .
"Weaving Science into Sculpture." Forum-Network. Web. 22 Oct 2009. .
“Design and the Elastic Mind: Introduction.” Museum of Modern Art. 10 Nov 2009. http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/12/123 .
“Design and the Elastic Mind: Nanodesign.” Museum of Modern Art. 10 Nov 2009. http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/12/124 .
“Design and the Elastic Mind:Organic Design.” Museum of Modern Art. 10 Nov 2009. http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/12/125
“Design and the elastic mind: 3d-Sketch.” Museum of Modern Art. 10 Nov 2009. http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/12/126.
“Design and the elastic mind: visualization.” Museum of Modern Art. 10 Nov 2009. http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/12.
"- The Institute For Figuring -." Web. 4 Mar. 2010 .
"Margaret Wertheim on the beautiful math of coral. “ TED. Web. 4 Mar. 2010 .
I love the illustrations of Max Klinger a German artist who usesa glove to represent a fetish a romantic yearning. These are great. 1881-1898 also known as "Paraphrase on the Finding of a Glove."
Between graduate studies, writing the book, and commissions, along with aiding elderly parents, I'm not quite sure where I find the time to do this, but I have been teaching a class through City Artworks for the past year. City Artworks is an art program that has recently teamed up with the Museum of Fine Arts ( MFA) to provide quality after school art classes to young people based on the collections at MFA. This semesters study is the works of John Singer Sargent. They have both paying classes in schools and grant schools. I am in a grant school, which I prefer. I have been working the Highland Heights just around the corner from my own studio. At first I think it was that I missed children. I wanted to be around kids. My children are all grown and grandchildren are a ways off. I also feel it is a great way to give back to my community and I love the creative individuals that I have met through the program. This school may be losing their grant money for the program, so if there are any philanthropical indiviuals who would like to be sure this stays alive at Highland Heights please contact City Artworks.
By the way if there are artists in Houston who want to be a part of shaping young minds City Artworks is looking for more instructors. But call quickly as classes start in a week or so. Give Rolando a call 713-681-1365. Oh yes, and if your child would like to participate in a City Artworks program be sure to give them a call to see if one is in your school!
Gin at 9:00 a.m.? Just show up and see what happens.
Gin at 9:00 am? Just show up and see what happens.
I have, for a long time, wondered at and marveled at the creative process. I love listening to others discuss and discover the process, the nuances. If I could study any part of the human psyche it would be the creative process, and all that surrounds it. In fact I have. It is a hobby of mine. Helping others come to terms with their creativity and encouraging others in their creative journey is something that I have enjoyed doing through lectures and workshop. Today I happened upon Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray Love” on a TED video. I loved hearing her talk about the angst. I loved her quote about “just showing up.” Because often we as artists are so afraid of failure, we just don’t show up. Heck if you don’t try you won’t do.
I encourage each of you to show up and know you have done your part.
Your brain may explode! TED may be coming to your area! Introducing TEDx
I have long been a fan of TED. If you are looking for a wonderful and enlightening experience you must check out their website and give a listen to the speakers.
TED is a conference that brings together minds in technology, design and entertainment. Of course the TED talks video site is a frequent for me.
I can't imagine attending a TED conference held in Long Beach . With conference memberships costing $6,000. a year and selling out a year in advance, I doubt I will ever have that experience. 50 speakers speaking at 18 minute slots. TED is interdisciplinary the web site says it is a four day "brain spa."
"At some point in the next 4 days your brain may explode, by then you won't even care," states curator Chris Anderson.
Below is a short preview of the introduction to TED
Now TEDx is coming to Houston 6/12/2010. And that is not all, apparently TEDx is spreading. There may be one coming to your area.
And according to the TEDx guidelines it may be free or very low cost.
If you can't get excited about TED Coming to your area then think what will soon be available online as the TED lectures are made available. Inconceivable! I think I feel my brain swelling already!
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