Monday, July 30, 2007

Inquiry heats up under the summer sun

Summer days are drawing too quickly to a close at my house and I’m working to focus my research question. Cooler mornings have even spurred me to work in the studio. I must admit I included an image here only to try and entice you into reading this entry, and perhaps lure you to my blog where I’ve posted my questions and included the responses I came up with when I completed the activity. Rebecca has already found a few chinks that I completely overlooked (thanks for that!) and I’d be very grateful to have another set of professional eyes looking things over.

As far as the image, it’s the “rough draft” of a visual narrative. Each figure a paragraph expressing one idea, the narrative not complete until all seven figures are finished and in place. The work is very much like the formal critique I want my students to complete – there is a purpose for each component and they all work together. Like good writing each separate sculpture needs to be a strong statement that can stand alone (like a good paragraph), but together the idea coalesces into an idea larger than the sum of the parts.

Just some “food for thought.”

4 comments:

Cindy O-A said...

Hi, Natalie!
I'm talking about blogging at the Inside Inquiry institute right this minute and showing them your beautiful blog.
- Cindy

Cindy O-A said...

Me again, Natalie. I'm between visitors, so I thought I'd actually respond to your post. I love the visual metaphor and was curious: Are these your sculptures? They are beautiful.

I'll be eager to hear how your work is progressing, so I'll be visiting your blog soon. But now here come so more visitors...See ya!

Anonymous said...

Yes, these sculptures are my work. As I said, keep in mind they are rough drafts, "in progress" works. One of the things I like about the format and necessary connection to English teachers, is that it does encourage me to think about the connection between art and writing Thanks for the lovely words.

Jason Clarke said...

I love this visual metaphor, Natalie, it definitely relates to the ideas of coherence and cohesion in an essay. The trick to writing often is to make connections between what are really separate creative acts (sculptures or paragraphs) and to make them feel like one complete idea. Let us see the entire piece when it is completed too!