The School of Making Thinking offers year round classes designed to bring rigorous thinking and making into conversation with experimental pedagogy.
FLUID FORMS
BETWEEN FASHION AND CULTURE
Florencia Escudero
Mondays 7-PM EST Cycle 2 : Oct 19 – Nov 18 changed to cycle 2 |
FOUND SOUND
AUTHORSHIP AND APPROPRIATION
Geng
Tuesdays 7-PM EST Cycle 1: Sept 14 – Oct 12th |
SO EMOTIONAL
STRATEGIES FOR MINING YOUR PERSONAL LIFE
Jordan Wong
Wednesdays 7-9PM EST Cycle 1: Sept 14 – Oct 12th |
DANCE AND FILMA PAS DE DEUX FOR BLACK DANCE ARTISTS
Wendy Powell & Iman Louis-Jeune
Mondays 7-PM EST Cycle 2: Oct 19 – Nov 18 |
URBAN DATASCAPES
[RE]BUILDING THE CITY
James Piacentini
Tuesdays 7-PM EST Cycle 2: Oct 19 – Nov 18 |
NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOU
GENERATING CONFLICT IN SOLO WRITING & PERFORMANCE
Kurt Chiang
Wednesdays 7-PM EST Cycle 2: Oct 19 – Nov 18 |
INSTRUCTORFlorencia Escudero is an artist working at the intersection of sculpture, photography and digital imagery. Her works deal with questions of the body and the representation of desire in relationship to consumer culture. She was born in Singapore in 1987 and grew up in Argentina. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Escudero received an MFA in Sculpture from the Yale University School of Art in 2012 and a BFA in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in 2010. Her works have been exhibited at Kristen Lorello, Petzel Gallery, Anita Schwartz, Instituto Cervantes and The Steuben Gallery, Pratt Institute, among other venues. Escudero has presented lectures at the NYU latinx project, Moma PS1, The School of Visual Arts, Purchase and Smack Mellon. She was also a 2019 Arts mentor for the Smack Mellon Art Ready program that pairs artists with New York city students. She was a 2016 year-long Artist in Residence at the Loisaida Center, New York, NY, and has also completed residencies at Art Farm, Marquette, NE, and Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, WA. Works by Escudero have been discussed in Editorial Magazine, Aether Magazine, The Art Newspaper, Hyperal- lergic, The American Reader, Cultured Magazine and the Brooklyn Rail. She is an editor and founder of Precog Magazine.
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FLUID FORMS: BETWEEN FASHION AND SCULPTURE
This class will be a series of lectures and short workshops that examine the overlaps between art and fashion, through examining soft sculpture and wearables as a eco- friendly and creative strategy for repurposing textiles while also fostering joy and community.
Because of the current global pandemic the production of clothing and the destructive hyper-accelerationism that ruled the fashion market suddenly stopped. Given this interruption in usual shopping habits and routine, consumers have been given an opportunity to stop and examine their participation in this system. This course would give students the role to consider fashion and soft sculpture in light of these systems of fabrication and exchange. The class will introduce the work of artists and designers: Jeffrey Gibson, Louise Bourgeois, Ros- ie Lee Tompkins, Nicole L, Pat Olezko, Kansai Yamamoto, Gaultier, and others who incorporate materiality and popular imagery to both invoke and critique commodities and systems of power. Each week we will look at different ways of repurposing and reusing textiles found in the home through learning about patches, dying techniques, sewing and patternmaking. The class will meet weekly via zoom and each session will be split into two, with a presentation of ideas and work first and hands-on workshop to follow. Sep 14 – Oct 12
5 Sessions Mondays 7-9PM $125 |
INSTRUCTORGeng, a New York City resident since birth, is a sonic explorer, wordsmith, archivist, published essayist, and scholar - active in the city's underground community before the day of high-speed Internet. In 2009, he founded PTP (Purple Tape Pedigree), a musical collective existing as “purveyors of weaponized media.” Currently, Geng writes/produces/shares physical space as King Vision Ultra – alongside a handful of collaborative projects. Live, his practice has been reviewed as “for catharsis, not escapism” (Washington City Paper), exploring themes of empowerment, trauma, memory, sleep paralysis, aquaphobia, and the communication bridge between self-actualized identity and spirit. In Spring 2019, he scored/performed a movement of Jonathan Gonzalez’s Lucifer Landing II at Abrons Arts Center. In Fall 2018, he - alongside Salome Asega - co-produced/performed in Revision Suite for Abrons Arts Center. He's been a featured performer at Park Avenue Armory, Issue Project Room, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, MoMA PS1, New Forms Festival (Vancouver, BC), Transference Fest (Chicago, IL), Sonic Acts Festival (Amsterdam), 3HD Festival (Berlin) and has hosted panels on the prison industrial complex and abolition, as well as guest lectured Pace University, Parsons School of Design, and the International Center of Photography.
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FOUND SOUND: AUTHORSHIP AND APPROPRIATION
We live in a world which is endlessly flowing with sound, as well as technological advancements. Now, anyone can become a musician with just a smartphone. This course will examine the modern day practices of sampling and field recording, plus different mediums, used to “collect” the pre-existing in order to create a new piece of music. We will challenge industry traditions and discuss authorship, as in who owns a sound, while acknowledging that many forms of music have deep roots in cultures which may be distant from ones own – and think about creative freedoms and boundaries. The end goal is to further cultivate a deeper respect for cultural lineage and experience as we all navigate the playground that is this world of sound – both as listeners and potential creators. Each class will present audio examples of found sound in the forms of Hip Hop and other experimental, electronic music. I encourage conversation rather than a traditional lecture type style of schooling. Format-wise, the classes will take place on either Zoom with a shared Google Drive for audio examples, OR via Twitch where music can be streamed directly to the “classroom.”
Sep 15 – Oct 13
5 Sessions Tuesdays 7-9PM $125 |
INSTRUCTORJordan Wong A collector of souvenir state spoons and overpriced Uni Alpha Gel lead pencils, Jordan Wong is a Los Angeles based Chinese-American experimental animator and nonfiction filmmaker driven by emotional honesty and hands-on processes. His artistic practice He received a BFA in Film/Animation/Video from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2014 and an MFA in Experimental Animation from California Institute of the Arts in 2020. His films have screened internationally, including DOK Leipzig, NewFest, Animafest Zagreb, Japan Media Arts Festival, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival, where he was awarded the Tom Berman Award for Most Promising Filmmaker for the film “Mom’s Clothes”.
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SO EMOTIONAL: STRATEGIES FOR MINING YOUR PERSONAL LIFESo Emotional is a pre-production and conceptual development course focused on the genre of the autobiographical and biographical—particularly around intangible topics such as identity, gender, and sexuality—in art, film, and animation. Is it possible to map these unmappable intimately personal concepts in a manner that is socially responsible while also aesthetically pleasing? Through thematically structured weekly readings, discussions, screenings, in-class exercises, and homework assignments, this class seeks to resolve that question. When dealing with vulnerable or difficult subject matters, it’s all too easy to get lost, overwhelmed, and paralyzed by the very thing you’re attempting to define. Together on Zoom, we will investigate practical systems of organizing information and research—particularly ones that help to create a formal distance from the creator and the subject—as potential creative tools that allow us to make these unmappable notions mappable. Fast paced, in-class exercises will be introduced every class to jumpstart creative processes that tap into individualistic intuition and subconscious. Assignments will center on the material fabrication of unconventional storyboards that could potentially be used to construct a film, a written piece, or installation work. Filmmaking/Animation basics can be provided based on needs of the class.
Sep 16 – Oct 14
5 Sessions Wednesdays 7-9PM $125 |
INSTRUCTORS
Wendy Ann Powell (she/her/hers) is an African American woman and an only child was born in Brooklyn, NY and is the daughter of Colombian-born father Yecid Oviedo Gutierrez and America-born mother Amelia Delphine Martin. Wendy attended Public Schools and studied dance at Brooklyn College. Upon leaving Brooklyn College she studied and performed with Dance June Lewis & Company. In addition, Wendy was an original member of Ayitia la Dance Company, Dance Danamaria and has performed with Alden Moves Dance Theater in an immersive version of the Nutcracker. Over the years Wendy has performed for elected officials, religious institutions, hospitals, schools, cultural institutions and senior citizen centers. As a Girl Scout co-leader she has taught dance workshops to Daisies and Brownies. In the past, she has also conducted workshops for Girl Scout Cadets and mentored various Girl Scout dance projects. Moreover, in 2015, she was invited to perform by National Teaching Artist, Margaret Elaine Plaza of Omega Dance Company. Ms. Powell is also a 2016 Brooklyn Arts Council Grant recipient for the project, Beat the Drum for Haiti. She is a graduate of the City College Theatre Department and has joined ZCO/DANCEPROJECT, a disability dance company.
Iman Rose Louis-Jeune (she/her/hers) is an interdisciplinary artist, working through movement, lens-based media, graphic design and publications, stagecraft and technical production, and political activism. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY to parents from Haiti, Bajan and Colombian descent with a diverse religious upbringing. Pulling from personal and familial experiences, her work in the past has explored mental illness, racial inequities, and correct political events, in the forms of: textile and garment designs examining diseases brought on by colonization, dance films protesting gun violence, photo collage print and cyanotype series delving into the intersection of Black Mental Health and Resilience. In 2017, she received a BFA in Studio for Interrelated Media from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Recently, Iman has been working on a letter exchange campaign for political prisoners with publishing company, Everlasting Time. |
DANCE AND FILM: A PAS DE DEUX FOR BLACK DANCE ARTISTS
In this course, we will explore African, Haitian, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Modern Dance and how these forms have influenced one another. We will also touch upon ballet as a guide that has now influenced the forms and techniques of all dance. While many dancers have danced and been studying these forms their entire life, they have not always been considered on par with the world of ballet. So some time will be spent recognizing Black Artists and Artists of Color that have contributed to the field of dance and transformed the way we now view dance.
The history of African and Haitian Dance has been a direct influence on Jazz, Hip–Hop and Modern. From the use of rhythms of the feet and hips, undulations of the spine and isolations we can see a very clear timeline. Within the timeline is the narrative of how each form began to take shape and mold itself according to the social economic circumstances of its time. The first two weeks will be an introduction to each form and technique of dance and will draw upon choreographers, readings, and video excerpts. We’ll delve into various pioneers of Modern Dance from the 20th and 21st centuries, including (but not limited to): Martha Graham, Pearl Primus, Katherine Dunham, political works by Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Black Iris Project, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, as well as the intersection between technology and choreography for film by filmmakers: Ngozi Onwurah, Maya Deren, and more. In weeks three and four, we will use movement to investigate how and where the influences emerged and how they continue to evolve. The final week will be used as an improvisational session to create a social justice work using all the forms of dance that have been covered in class. Oct 19 – Nov 16
5 Sessions Mondays 7-9PM EST $125 |
INSTRUCTORS
James Piacentini is a spatial designer, urban planner, and geo-spatial data analyst. He has worked professionally in architectural design, urban data visualization and analysis, and real estate development. With experience in both front- and back-end design, he has implemented numerous interactive, user-controllable web-based visualizations and platforms. These include a 2D and 3D cartographic visualization of West African climate migration built to work as an advocacy and educational tool, an ESRI dashboard tracking instances of police brutality in the US, an interactive web- tool for simulating future flood damage to the New York City subway system, and a narrative-driven web visualization exploring architectural opportunities for the implementation of mass-timber construction. His work focuses primarily on architectural, urban, and geo-spatial experiences, and their inherent relationships to collective and individual engagement with civic experiences. His interest lies in exploring methods to articulate these experiences both digitally and physically across multiple scales. He recently received dual-Master’s degrees in Architecture and Urban Planning at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, where he was awarded the all-school Visualization Prize for his innovative use of computational technologies in spatial data and urban representations, including interactive, web-based visualizations and Augmented Reality [AR] projections.
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URBAN DATASCAPES: [RE]BUILDING THE CITY
The divide between our physical and digital experiences has become increasingly slim, and in many cases, has ceased entirely. Big Data has simultaneously become the most abundant and most valuable commodity on earth. Geospatial data has the power to reveal truths about ourselves and our societies, and to act as a tool to educate and advocate for social change. This creative workshop-based course will explore methods and practices of engaging with urban spatial datasets, and challenge students to propose, design, and implement simple data visualizations either static or interactive that reveal the spatial and experiential relationships between individuals and communities for a given topic of their choice. We will use freely available software, and host our ideas, discussions, and experimentations on Medium. Students are encouraged to come to class with one or two topics to propose based on their personal interests. The goal of this course is to explore the potential that urban datascapes have as tools to visualize and reveal the patterns and relationships that tie us together. While previous design, mapping, or visualization experience will be beneficial, it is not required to succeed in this class. Anyone, regardless of experience or ability, is encouraged to join.
Oct 20 – Nov 17
5 Sessions Tuesdays 7-9PM EST $125 |
INSTRUCTORS
Kurt Chiang is an ensemble member and former Artistic Director of The Neo-Futurist Theater. He joined the company in 2008 and is a regular contributor to The Infinite Wrench. He is the creator of Analog (2013), and co-creator of The Arrow, a show that subjects written essays and live performance to spontaneous acts of inquiry and disruption, in collaboration with Lily Mooney. He is a company member with Playmaker’s Laboratory, teaching in writing residencies at Chicago Public Schools and performing in That’s Weird Grandma. As an educator, he has taught writing and Neo-Futurism at many organizations, including: School of the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Chicago, North Park University, Lake Forest College, National High School Institute at Northwestern University, Louder Than a Bomb, Afterschool Matters, with residencies at the Theater Performance Magnet at Lee High School in Huntsville, AL, and the NEXT/NOW Festival at the University of Maryland-College Park. For two years, Kurt was a Teaching Artist at Snow City Arts, providing bedside art & creativity workshops for youth admitted to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
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NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOU: GENERATING CONFLICT IN SOLO WRITING AND PERFORMANCE
Tension and conflict between characters is a fundamental ingredient to any narrative drama or story. But what if the only character onstage is you? And what if you’re not really playing a character, but just yourself? What are you up against? The audience? That seems dangerous.
This class takes this predicament of solo performance and the solitary narrator and offers it up to group experimentation. As a class ensemble, our goal is to freely experiment with imperatives of self, truth, authority and reliability, when the only voice is yourself. Things that make up who we are (personal narratives, social identity, physical habits and mannerisms) will be bounced around and torn apart, used as materials to create writing and performance that is earnest and complex, and that defies an audience’s expectations. Creative choices will come in the form of bold attempts at making something happen and saying something honest, regardless of our preconceived and self-prescribed aesthetics. Class exercises and activities will consist of drafting a redrafting one solo monologue, as well as in-class critique and discussions Oct 21 – Nov 18
5 Sessions Wednesdays 7-9PM EST $125 |