Form and Analysis
Shapes of Things: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Teaching Form and Analysis
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tom Baker
The purpose of this paper is to recalibrate the topic of FORM, from its traditional role as an advanced music-theory class in a typical undergraduate curriculum (most often called Form and Analysis) to a generative, unifying, and transdisciplinary concept. The central focus of this recalibration is a class called The Shapes of Things, currently being offered in its second iteration at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle Washington. While most traditional “form” classes focus on a limited amount of classical repertoire from the common-practice period, and concentrate on an understanding of classical forms, The Shapes of Things proposes a new approach to "Form and Analysis,” tasking the students to synthesize their intuitive, critical thinking with a paradigm of reverse-engineering that allows them to seek the "big idea" of a piece. The paper will outline the learning outcomes and curriculum for this new class, show student work (including analysis of architecture, painting, cinema, and poetry), posit possible transdisciplinary approaches to formal analysis, and bring forward one potential pathway out of the stagnant curricular roundabout in which music programs in colleges and universities find themselves, and into the realm of creativity, integration, and diversity.
Aviary: Knowing Birds through Scientific Drawing
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Carolina Rojas
Using pedagogical approaches, this project explores scientific drawing and its relevance as a medium to communicate the variety of emblematic bird species in some natural history museums in Colombia. By examining the realistic style and explicit communicative purpose of ornithological drawing, a set of rules is established between ornithological information, scientific illustration, and creative and didactic elements that generate decisive research and artistic material. Ornithological illustration is particularly challenging because the representation of the subject must be accurate and the drawing must also possess artistic integrity. The artist must observe, replicate, and create through a careful combination of specimens, prior knowledge, and analog and digital tools, ultimately producing images that transfer critical scientific information. These practices deserve to be studied and disseminated due to their scientific, historical, and aesthetic value. This project therefore aims to shed light on a previously understudied field and highlight the importance of bird collections and their preservation through the eyes of illustration.
Science and Art Interactions
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jennifer Rock
Science and art interactions are booming. They are diverse and enriching but also criticised for maintaining cultural silos. ArtScience has emerged as authentic inter- or trans-disciplinary practice, but it remains rare and often harnessed to driving technological innovation. What can its other forms look like? Examples include where arts practice done within science informs basic research in conceptual and methodological approaches. They include where "democratisation of art" through social arts practice around issues of applied conservation management can transition us away from science vs. society consultation-style interaction. Instead, through community art as practice, social object, and instrument for documentation and analysis, we can construct a co-created understanding of place and environmental values, community-driven visual ethnography, and joint future planning.
