Winter exhibition

Hi! Today I am going to talk about how the winter exhibition went and the project that I showed at the winter exhibition.

Radical Innovations

The project I have been working on in Humanities (and sometimes even Maker), was called Radical Innovations. It is all about the Renaissance, its impacts, some of which can still be felt centuries later, and the people who lived in the Renaissance era.

To learn about the Renaissance period, as I did with the Medieval times, I made a piece of art work. Here is what it looks like:

My art demonstrates what my worldview would look like if I lived in the Medieval times, and how I can learn to be a better person by avoiding past mistakes. Quite a few of the images within my artwork represent aspects of science. I chose to do this because science is a big part of my worldview. The first image that represents science is the microscope. This is very literal, as I love using my microscope.

The second element of my art is the clock. I see time as mechanical, and measure time scientifically. The bird shows both my general appreciation for engineering, as well as my love of ornithology. The bird is based off of Leonardo DaVinci’s “Mechanical Wing”. Leonardo DaVinci is well-known for both his works of art, and his scientific achievements. This is why the bird represents both my love of birds and science.

The last element I am going to discuss is the piece of paper in the mid-to-upper right hand corner of the clock. It represents communication. Communication is important to me, as it is essential in today’s world. Even though there are many different elements in my artwork, they are all important to both me today and people in the renaissance period.

I did many other things to learn about the Renaissance period. Unfortunately, this blog post is not long enough for me to put everything in here, and so I will have to be content with only putting my favorite parts of the project in here. Anyways, the final product of the project was the triptych and the tableau that my group and I created together. We all presented our tableaux to all of our parents, family, and friends, at our winter exhibition.

Wait! What is the Winter Exhibition?

The winter exhibition is essentially a day in which parents, family, and friends come to see all of the work that everyone in PLP has done. As a student, it’s a chance for me to really show off all of the work that I’ve done that year, and everything that I’m proud of. It’s a chance to display your work, reflect on what you’ve done, and learn about what you can improve for next time. The exhibition was stressful, chaotic, and disorganized, but in the end, it was worth it. I got to demonstrate all of the work that I did throughout the term, and the blood, sweat and tears that my group and I went through, in order to write, create, and present both a tableau and a triptych.

My awesome group

I did not do all of this on my own. I was in a group of five people. My group was composed of Brooklyn, Maggie, Keira, Oliver, and myself. Unfortunately, Oliver was on vacation at the time of the winter exhibition, and so the rest of us had to present without him. Please take the time to have a look at my group members blogs as well!

What I learned

I learned a lot from his experience. Collaborating with a group of five people in order to make scripts, have props, costumes, and many other things has really taught me a lot about collaboration, communication and how to designate work out.

Why did we do this project?

We entered this project with the driving question of “What can we learn for the past, and why does that matter to us today?” At the start of the project, I assumed that by the end I would have one answer to that question. Now that I am done, I realize this is not the case. Everyone can learn from the past, in many different ways. Different people will experience or learn about the same event in different ways. Learning from the past is important because it is a good way to recognize mistakes that were made in the past, to fix those mistakes, and avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future.

Triptych

In the end, my group and I had 3 tableaux and a triptych.  Here is my group’s triptych:

For the three tableaux, our group focused on the Medieval period, Renaissance era, and current times. This was actually a lot more fun than I originally anticipated! For the Medieval times, I got to be the speaker! This means that I would create a diversion, I mean, talk to the audience, while the rest of my group got ready to perform. For the Renaissance period, I portrayed a queen who represented how important the role of the monarchy was at the time. Finally, for the current times, I was in a freighter looking at an Apple Watch. This might seem a little odd, but the boat represents how travel and transportation have changed and evolved. The Apple Watch shows how time is mainly perceived in a mechanical or technological manner.

Tableau 1: (Medieval Era)

Tableau 2: (Renaissance era)

Tableau 3: (Current times)

Next, I will describe the process in detail of creating the current times tableau.

First, my group and I go through the process of coming up with the idea, taking some notes, and just generally brainstorming what we should do. Then, we come up with a rough sketch, a kind of first draft. For this tableau, Brooklyn drew the sketch. Here is what this looked like:

As you can see, this is still a first draft. The next part is the props. Kiera made them. Once we have all of the props, we can finally begin to practice, and practice, and practice…

Give Me the Power

I have a second blog post about the work that lead up to the winter exhibition. You can check out that one here. This project essentially just built on the one that we already did. For instance, in the first project that we did, PowerPlay and how it started, we learned all about the medieval period, and then made a piece of art, putting our face in a painting with objects representing our worldview all around it. In this project, we learned about the renaissance, made a piece of art, put our face in a painting, with objects representing our worldview all around it. Sounds similar, right?

The Video

My group and I recorded the renaissance period tableau. (Which just so happens to be my favorite!) I hope you enjoy!

IMG_3983

Goodbye!

As always, I hope you enjoyed learning about what I have been working on in school for the last couple months as I have had working on it! Please feel free to comment what which tableau was your favorite!