Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Going Headless in #DS106



I just finished a class in Art & Inquiry with MOMA's Learning Education Team.  The class made me realize the importance of imagery and communication.  With that in mind, I enrolled in Digital Storytelling 106, as a catalyst to get my creative juices flowing.  The Fall section of the class is "headless" meaning there are no teachers, no directors.  The class is run by an extremely creative group of volunteers who have already taken the class. 

Our first assignment was to introduce ourselves.  I had just completed a peer review of a lesson plan for  the Poet & the Mouse (lower left image), which was, of course headless. This made me wonder about headless imagery in art.  The image above was the result. Our group is big on making play on words with the "headless" theme, as you can see from this Twitter exchange:


In addition to the class syllabus, there is a "Daily Create." The Daily Create provides a space for regular practice of spontaneous creativity through challenges published every day. Each assignment should take no more than 15-20 minutes. There are no registrations, no prizes, just a community of people producing art daily.  

For these experiments in daily creates, I have been using my iPad in order to become more familiar with the creative apps that are available.  My first attempt was "Impression".  I used FrameArtist (as I did with the Headless image above).

Make an impression: take a picture of an indentation



The best part about DS106 is that I have reconnected with my 'Fraingers,' a group of people who have connected via MOOCs from all over the world.  Their passion for learning and creativity continually inspire me.

My goals for this class are:
  • To improve my MOOC discipline by participating regularly in Daily Creates and adding entries to my blog.
  • To use my iPad as much as possible to learn new apps in the creation of digital artwork.
  • To transform my writing from its clinical style to storytelling by finding my voice.
  • To have fun!!!