18 November 2011

out of the box

Today a representative from the Rhode Island School of Design came to talk to people who wanted to apply there. And so I went. Plus, it was during math, which was totally OK with me.
So he was talking about the school and what they do there, and since this was the first art school I had been at an information session for, I didn't know what to expect. But he said that for starters they are looking for creative people. Which might seem obvious.
You can make a badger out of pinestraw and people would say it's creative. But there is also creativity in solving problems, coming up with alterations, and approaching art-making.
He was explaining some of the projects he had to do when he was at RISD. One of them was a team project where they had to build a boat out of cardboard, plastic, and duct tape. And then it had to float. Another project was to make a violin out of cardboard - without using glue or tape or staples, and it all had to be unfoldable into one piece. Another was drawing - in the shower. And my favorite one: doing a self-portrait and drawing what you feel - you touch your face and draw what you feel. Crazy!
It's so cool that they do that because it forces you to do things in an unconventional and different way. It's like opening a jar. What if you tried with your feet? Or you made a contraption to open it? It's just a different way of looking at life.

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