        1011 okcu1. Looking back on what I have done and said I can see a certain growth in my approach to assignments, and my perspective on what has been done and what is yet to be done. I think in the beginning I took hold of assignments and pumped them out, and afterwards I simply looked forward to what was next. It was with time that I eventually began looking back on past things as a true foundation, and really began thinking in the ways that I previously thought for new assignments. im sure certain outcomes would have been different if I had the mindset then that I have now. 2. Aside from simple artistic techniques that I have learned, I think the most valuable thing that I will take away from 1011 and will carry over to 1012 is the mindset I have gained and the methods of working and thinking that I have learned. I will always think about what I have done, and how it relates to what I am working on. I plan to look for connections or similarities between 1012 exercises and 1011 exercises as I work, and try to build upon the foundations that already exist. 3. The instructor is a helping mind, aiding us with our learning and explorations. They teach us tools to use and translate exercises that might otherwise be hard for us to understand so that we can achieve success in them. I wouldn't say that tell us what to do, but rather what we should aim for and suggest ways to get there. The exercises and projects are frameworks of study and work that lead our thinking and thoughts towards certain ideas and realizations. Bolstering our understanding of these things by allowing us to discover them by our own hands. Aside from being good experience in presentation and “selling” your ideas, the review process also keeps us considering other perspectives by exposing us to others opinions. Additionally having to present our ideas keeps us considering how to represent what we wish to show. Inquiry books teach us methods of documentation and keeping track of our thought processes so that others or ourselves may go back and gain the same perspective that we had upon any point of the project. Our peers help us in many ways, such as adding some level of competition to push us to work harder, providing advice, providing criticism, offering different views, and simply being comrades in our work enviroment. The studio is a place of work and focus. It eliminates hinderances that we might encounter if trying to do the work we have to do elsewhere. We often need a lot of space or a certain kind of space, and the studio provides that and allows us to focus purely on our work. The studio experience is unique and different from other enviroments in that it does not require that we focus on one source of information or statically asorb this information. The studio is a dynamic place, constantly alive and in motion, doing work in a studio is more of an organic process than a mechanical, going through the motions. The most important aspect of studio as far as our focus is that we focus on ourselves and stay on task. 4. Exercise one, I think, was tools development. Here we learned ways of representation and analysis in addition to learning how to manipulate media to do so. In exercise two we used these tools to explore an object with the goal of seeing that all its aspects have a design in mind, a concept, or a system behind them. We explored the relations of these ideas and elements and how they worked within our object. In exercise three we explored the concepts themselves and the development of design ideas and possibilities. The whole progression in a way was a move from the micro to the macro, staring with technique and moving all the way out to concept. Of all the exercises I enjoyed the third the most. The reason I liked this one was because it gae me the freedom and the task of developing ideas and designs. It was the closest thing to real design work that we did, and it is that which I enjoy. Michael McCorkle 1: Mainly in exercise 1, the ideas I learned then are still crucial for other aspects within studio. For example, sustained looking went beyond drawing scenery. In exercise 2 we had to use the discipline for measurements and seeing within an object much more than we usually would. It is also interesting to note how important line weight was, but then in exercise 2 and 3, the significance of it fell because we mainly worked on presenting information. Drawings could not be too light, and rarely did work require differing line weights. Transparencies did play a small roll on computer work, though. The main pattern that occurred between exercises was trying to decipher why each exercise was being completed. It usually took a significant amount of time before I was enlightened. My drawing skills have improved, or perhaps I believe in my drawing skills more now. Breaking my wrist forced me to focus a lot harder on drawing pure lines, not sketchy lines. I have also learned that with by verbalizing my ideas, I have an easier time understanding tasks and inspiring thoughts for myself. A huge change in my perception of work is between aesthetically pleasing work and good quality work. The thought that goes into work is what makes it spectacular. For architecture, I thought that good-looking buildings had better architecture than others. Now I know there is a reason for why everything is placed and made. Many aspects are put into work before aesthetics come into mind. My mind has also become attune to creating questions that help inquire and analyze things. These questions also go into presentations, such as diptychs. I must understand why I do things, because if I do not, I will get asked at review and get torn apart. 2: I anticipate that the work in 1012 will become more architecture oriented. Thus work will explore more 3-deminsional drawings as well as drafting. We will learn how to use our line weights in a consistent manner. I will also be learning how Building Construction will use the information gained in 1012. For 1012, I want to be sure I always understand why I am doing work. Especially in Exercise 2, I found myself doing work because the instructor told us to, but I did not understand why. Thus, I ultimately did not use the work for my review because I never discovered anything that I wanted to know. 3: The instructor guides the student’s direction. They layout guidelines and requirements. When students become lost or their work becomes off-track, they help illuminate ways of improvement. They should not instill their ideas within their student’s work; it is the student’s work and the student’s ideas that should come forth within the work. The handouts keep a physical guideline for students to go by. It also keeps the different classes generally in line with one-another. The pin-ups help show the weaknesses a student has in their work or presentation and also show the strengths and where the student glows. Sometimes review is when students get a shock that will get them inline for the class. The inquiry book should illustrate the thought and work process of a student. The best work will be emphasized. Fellow students are a source of inspiration and relief from all the work. Seeing other work really helps when in a rut. They also have opinions that can be expressed about others’ work. The studio is a good spot to work on models and drawings. For computer purposes, it is not the best. However, the tables provide a large area to work, and the slider is great for cutting and drawing straight lines. The studio is very laid-back, almost too social at times. Lecture halls are better for getting an idea about information. Whereas a classroom you can go into depth for information. The studio allows time to explore material, like a lab, and better understand it. Eventually the skills and knowledge gained in studio will be applied to the workplace. 4: Exercise one was establishing needed artistic skills. It also started the process of this new type of thinking and observing. Exercise two applied these observation skills to a specific object. Then the work made was presented in a comprehensive manner. The last exercise took one idea gained from the observations of exercise two and started making more abstract relations. This abstraction took thinking to a new dimension; it took our work outside of the recognizable objects of our world. Then through diptych strategies, an extension of presentation skills from exercise two, our work was presented in a manner that had meaning to support the work’s meaning. My favorite was exercise one. It possessed the most core work that I can relate to my life and future career. It also opened my thinking enough that eventually I could progress to ideas more related to exercise two and three. Kelly Fay Jones One Of the reflections that I did read, most people seemed to say pretty much the same things that everyone did, for every single reflection. On the first one, everyone talked about line weight, perspectives, increasing knowledge from blind contours, and so on. With the second group of reflections, people seemed to focus on how important PhotoShop, InDesign, and Illustrator are. They also talked about how teamwork helped them to bring their second example group work together with combined ideas and projects. For the third set of reflections, people tended to reflect heavily on the time spent on this project, and the amount of riffing they had to do. Most of them also reported being greatly confused by the project. But what really strikes me as worth noting is that even though we all agreed on the same importances of certain elements from each section of work, we all still ended up doing work that was very different from each other, even though they followed the same basis of characteristics that made them up. The pattern here was quite noticeable, which I pretty much already mentioned, but once again, everyone seemed to say the same thing about each exercise, in one way or another. We all seemed to know exactly what each exercise was trying to get at, and mentioned that in each of our reflections. Patterns that occurred in the exercises though was the repeating of previously learned materials. We first learned blind contours, and as time progressed, we continued to use blind contours to further our studies. Line weight, depth, detail, as soon as we learned it we continued to repeat each aspect over and over in each new exercise while adding new aspects to learn along the way, while continuing to improve on the past lessons. I would believe that I gained a lot of confidence in my abilities in this time, and I mean a lot. At the beginning, I didn’t know what I was doing with the blind contours, and actually would look at other peoples drawings and try to copy them. I had no belief in my ability to do the work, but then as I started to just draw it as best I could, I realized that I was actually somewhat decent. This boosted my confidence and allowed me to better do my work throughout the remainder of the semester and actually feel good about it. My skills also grew, I grew more patient with my drawings, took more time, learned to do my work more efficiently while also learning to implement all of the various characteristics of drawing into my work. My understanding did grow some, but not as much as I wish it would have. I still have trouble understanding some of the reasons behind some of the exercises we had to execute. Before I ever entered this building, I have to admit I never thought about the drawings, models, representations, processes, formulations, ideas, analysis, inquires, or designs of anything. But as time went on, I soon discovered the whole process of making the drawings. Before you could pick up the pencil, you had to think about what you were going to put down first, you had to make a process. Sometimes you even had to make models first to help give you ideas of what to draw. The change in my thinking was how will this help me? How will this drawing explain to me the function/role/abilities/shape of the object? How will this model help me further explore the layout of the object? The process went from just doing it, to actually thinking about how it will work, what it will show, and how it will further expand upon previous ideas. The inquiry went form basic pages in a book, to actual pictures in a book that served as an actual inquiry. Finally, though, in the end, I went from simply copying the original context to designing the new context. I learned to think about how it was created that way, why it was created that way, was there another reason for making it that way other than for its primary function? Questioning all of these things in new ways was probably the biggest change from pre to post 1011 for me. Two Learning that I gained from 1011 that I will carry on will most definitely be close observing of objects, and carrying out experiments with different ideas, views, models, and drawings before making any final proposals or ideas. I will also carry on my new found drawing abilities form my learning of being patient and use of different materials and elements, helping to make everything neat and more effective. I’m not sure what I’m going to pay special attention too in 1012, mainly because I don’t know what 1012 is going to throw at me. But I’m sure I’ll pay special attention to time, details, neatness, and good ideas. Three The instructor has one of the most important roles. They are the creator. We are the clay. They help mold us by teaching us the steps necessary to do our work and understand the concepts behind everything. Of course, though, they don’t create us by themselves, as we must also push ourselves to do well and understand the concepts too. Without the, we would be lost, confused, and helpless. And very stupid looking. The project or brief is a very basic sheet. Not. It contains much text that is hard to understand and get the meaning of without truly trying to understand it. Its role in the studio is to give the students an idea of what they are going to be doing next, helping get our feet wet with the skills we will be learning, the process we should take, the requirements for the final pin up of that section, and hints as to how to carry out the assignment. The pinup is one of the most important parts of the studio. It has a huge impact on the shaping of each student, for better and for worse. Its role is to help each student learn what they did wrong, what they need to improve on next time, what skills they need to better master, and such. It also helps by boosting their confidence, by adding remarks that build us up, that are supportive of our work and like what we did. This part of the process helps us with future projects, allowing us to always be improving our processes of work and thinking. The inquiry book has a slight role of keeping all of our work together. It helps us to look back and see what we did, how we can do it better, what can be done better, and keep track of our progress. It is like a sign that you are progressing, as it gets larger each time you open it, adding more and more old work to it. This booklet helps us to always know how we are progressing and how far we have come, a big thing in boosting our confidence. The students that I work with are probably some of the best people ever. They are insightful, helpful, and caring. When you are lost, not sure what to do, they can always help you to understand the material better. Late at night, when you can’t talk to your studio teacher, they are there to offer tips and ideas to you to better your project, making it better overall. The best is when they offer you ideas that you can use, or at least build upon, which can always come in handy when you are brain dead. The studio space is another key element of the architecture program. It is where you can walk around and see other works, getting ideas and inspiration for your own work. It also allows you to see what other people are doing, so you can try and push yourself to do just as good. It is filled with others just like you, where you can make friends, have fun, hold dance parties, and just goof off when you need that stress relief. The role of this place is to make us all one big community that can share ideas, have fun, and learn together. The studio is more personal than the class, seminar, lab, or workshop. You actually get to know your teachers and classmates here, whereas the other places no one cares who you are or what you like. The tutorial is one on one like studio in a way, but you still don’t have that personal connection with the instructor. As for the internship and job, they are very much like studio. You get to know your coworkers on a personal relationship, you get to have fun with them, joke around, and feed off of each other. They hold many things in common with each other. Four The three exercises seemed to each have its own focus. The first one worked on your drawing skills, your ability to think things through, and train your eye not to deceive you with the object. The second one focused on precision, analogs, making sense of the functions and usage of each object and learning to decipher each one. The final exercise seemed to focus on your models, ability to carry out design processes, and use all of the computer programs to distort your riffs. Why did they unfold this way? I think that would be because we needed the earlier skills to be able to complete the later examples and projects. You needed to train your eye in the first section to be able to do precise looking and detail, so that in the second one you could focus more on design and distortion than the skills you already learned, and the same for the third exercise, you needed to have all the skills learned before so that you could focus on riffing and proposals than spending time on things that we already learned to use. For the first section, I thought the pedagogical goal was to master the basic elements of drawing, seeing, and looking. Also here we were to learn depth, line weight, and other such things that would help us learn to draw better and portray our ideas more effectively. The second section had goals of teaching precision and the ability to correctly portray all the details of everything, while also learning to think of the objects as other things, analogs. This came in this place so that we had already learned the basics of drawing and eye training so we would have more time to spend on the new skills we were to be learning in this section. The same goes for the third section as in terms of why we learned it this way, though the goals for the third section was to take any object and discover things about it that you had never thought about before and portray them in new ways that you hadn’t thought of either. My favorite thing was the light studies with the water. It was fun to get to play around and experiment with different angles of light, different sides of intersection, different brightnesses, and other things. The shadows and effects cast by these studies were really cool and fun to draw, and it was neat to look at everyone else’s work and see how they did theirs. Ryan Sager 1011 Exit Reflection One: The thing that strikes me most after rereading the reflections is how much I have actually learned. I think it was really subtle because most of the time I was trying to keep myself afloat during the whole semester. I feel more confident about my ability to succeed because I know the things I have done thus far have been mostly self motivated – we received limited direction and then it was all up to us. That makes me feel better because I know that no matter what if I just try and keep going at it I can get a job done, and well. The most significant pattern in each exercise I believe is the introduction of new concepts and then allowing us to further develop how to approach things. I feel that aside from teaching us how to see things – Exercise One: letting our eyes do the seeing and not our minds, Exercise Two: allowing us to construct connections within the creative process, and Exercise Three: Taking the previous to concepts and constructing abstractions from rich riffing – we learned how to rely on ourselves to develop our own products through creativity and insightful thinking. Pre-1011 I was concerned with making beautiful things. That was my passion but, now I see that behind the beauty should lay so many other things. A) In doing drawings, models, and representations, I now try to make them insightful and I understand that even the simplest of these can contain many insights. B) The process of looking and formulating ideas evolves from different perspectives, as seen in Exercise Two where we were in the shoes of the designers and thought about the form and fabrication, in the shoes of the user and focused on operation. It is taking a look at the end and the before and trying to find the best way to get to the former. C)Analysis and inquiry has changed for me because I take in regard all these perspectives and my perspective and analyze what I should do in both the process and for the end result. I know that it is all about our questions and how in depth we go in our question is how interesting our product will be. D) Design has evolved because I know that these questions must be first thoroughly explored for an optimum design. We have to address many questions and understand that those questions have to formulate answers that will satisfy the need derived from the initial point. Two I think the learning that was most important and that will benefit me in 1012 is the new insightful ways of seeing consequential of all three exercising in 1011. I think that was the purpose of doing these explorations, to broaden our minds and to use a cliché, “step out of the box.” During 1012, I plan to primarily, take the seeing techniques and intertwine them into the new concepts taught in the next semester. I also want to use my time more efficiently and avoid late nights before my reviews. I think that is one of the most important lessons learned because if I can finish earlier there is more time to fine tune my final product. Three During the three exercises • The instructor introduces the exercise and slightly directs us. • The project or exercise brief/handout clearly defines the process and is a reference if we get off track or lost. • The review process shows us if our efforts were successful and shows us what we can do better for the next exercise. • The inquiry book lets us explore our thoughts and the process on paper. • Other students provide a fresh opinion and insightful suggestions • The studio space itself provides an environment that encourages work. The studio learning experience I think is more interactive than any classroom, seminar, lab, workshop, tutorial, internship, or job because we create, learn, and receive feedback more intensively in studio than any of the other learning environments. It’s at once a cooperative place and an independent place which is very unique. Moreover, I believe that it is very metamorphic and responds to the students’ needs. Four Exercise one introduced the most basic and fundamental way of seeing, seeing with our eyes instead of predisposed thought seeing. That led into exercise two which took the new way of seeing and involved different perspectives. Exercise three allowed us to put our own touch into the design process and abstract fundamental parts of exercise two, parts that were particularly interesting to ourselves. The pedagogical goals were to show us the evolution of interpreting things, seeing things exactly as they are, then how other people see them, and then finally, how with consideration of the previous two main points how we can see them. My favorite was exercise three because I found that I can do this. I felt so lost in my process and I had an epiphany and things just fell into place. I felt I made a very successful diptych with a good layout, rich riffing, and an interesting final proposal. Angie V. Cano-Flores 1. Looking back at the reflections and the previous exercises I can tell that overall everyone’s knowledge has grown a great deal. The skills that we learned in exercise 1 carried us all the way through exercise 3. Sure I may not have done many hand drawings, but the way I thought about the objects in exercise 2 and 3 and the detail I was able to extract from them all came from the 1st. I came into this semester with very little artistic drawing abilities and after exercise 1 I felt that this program was trying to turn me into one, but soon realized that it was about the tools and how they would come in handy for us in the future. Coming in after 2 years of mechanical engineering I feel so much more comfortable in this major because of the skills learned here, and the 2 years of graphic design in high school. Graphically in Indesign or Illustrator my skills did not change much, but it was how I organized my material which improved greatly. My creativity skills increased a lot. Looking back in the reflections even how I wrote them improved greatly in how I described what we did. 2. Going into 1012 I hope to use all the skills I learned in 1011 especially the careful seeing. The tools learned in the 1st exercise not only included an introduction to various medium, but how was think about objects. For 1012 I hope to combine all the skills learned this semester and use them in one exercise. I also want to make sure that I understand what I am doing and the purpose so I don’t get too frustrated with my work. 3. The instructors role in the exercises was too guide us and give us proper direction in the assignments. They were supposed to be communicate the material effectively and if we were not doing they work correctly they are our guidance to correct and adjust the work. The handouts were the template to the exercises and to help us when the instructor was not around or to make sure we were within the boundaries. They were also what the judges would go by. The pinups were where we got critiqued on our work. These were to help us with our strengths and weaknesses and were we could improve our work. These were supposed to help us and keep us on track. The review jury was who we showed our final products to. They then critique us based on if they understood what we did or if we were in line. The inquiry book was sort of like a visual reflection of the exercise. They are supposed to tell a story of our thought process thought the assignment using our work as images was little text. Our peers were there to give us input or with help in figuring out something. Our peers were the most helpful and first line we usually went to if we needed help or an opinion. The studio itself is very chill and relaxing at times and other times like the wee hours of the morning before the review it isn’t, but compared to a lecture hall or classroom it is much more exciting. The studio environment itself stimulates creativity easier due to the nature of being around so many people. A lecture hall is more centered on you and gathering information from the professor. In the real world you will have unlimited resources and that’s what the studio feels like. 4. Exercise 1 was an intro to thinking creatively, careful seeing and our drawing tools. The object study used all the skills in exercise 1 to gather info about our object. It then added the element of modeling and digital imaging. Towards the end of this exercise we starting thinking more abstractly and branching away from the narrowness exercise 1 and 2. Exercise 3 then used the abstract nature along with our creative thinking. My favorite exercise was the end of 2 and most of 3 mainly because I am not an artist drawing wise, but I think more in terms of models and computer imaging. I had fun doing those and pushing abstract skills and engineering into models. Will Van Gelderen One: One thing I find interesting is that though we all went through the same exercises as CFY students, we all got something different from each. It helps broaden my viewpoint on the exercises when I discover what other people learned in the exercises as well. In each of the exercises, I found that I start off very timidly. However, as the exercises progressed, I found myself to be more comfortable and therefore, more productive of creative, thoughtful work. I am able to look back on my work from the course of a semester and see a drastic change in my drawings. Each seems to show my confidence more as I began to understand how to effectively represent an idea through the drawing process. I feel that 1011 has completely revolutionized the way I see the world around me. I have discovered new ways of modeling ideas, how to abstract objects in a more thoughtful manner, and broadened my design horizons through different ways of seeing and representation. Two: One of the main aspects of learning in 1011 was how you looked at your world. As I move on to 1012, I will carry the knowledge that everything isn’t always what it appears to be. Objects can be transformed into a completely different product, drawings can be brought to life through different mediums; one of the most important things I learned in 1011 was the idea of questioning things and their purpose. In 1012, I want to try and expand even more on the idea of seeing thing through different lenses. This is such an imperative mind frame in today’s design world. Three: The instructor guided us in our decisions and helped us expand on our raw ideas. The project handouts gave us a starting block to build our project on. The review process was an imperative aspect in the learning process, through which constructive criticism helped us learn how to become thoughtful presenters. The inquiry book helped me thing through my processes of the project and allowed me to see how I can better communicate my thoughts to other people. Working with my fellow students gave the projects an atmosphere of collaborative effort where you can feed off of each other’s creativity. The studio itself is a plain space, in which there is always activity, making it a prime location to create thoughtful work through interaction with the space. Compared to previous learning experiences, such as those held in a classroom or lab, I found studio to be much more interactive. Instead of learning something and applying it later, we were able to learn through application. Four: Exercise One was an introduction exercise. No necessarily an introduction to the course, but an introduction to a new way of looking. This exercise also concentrated on the introduction of various mediums useful in representing this newly-found way of looking. Exercise Two brought in two elements found in the design world, collaboration and creativity within limits. This exercise allowed us to work in groups but also gave us more freedom than allowed in the previous exercise to represent our ideas in a personal way. Exercise Three was a class of its own. This exercise forced us to take an all-to-familiar object and look at it in a completely different context. This exercise was designed to put the ball in our court and allow us to use the skills we had gained over the course of the semester to create something all our own. Christy Seerley Studio is a lot of work. It’s not overly difficult, but it is demanding. It takes a good deal of creativity and time. Personally speaking, my father is an architect who was a student here. He never talks about his work with me or about his collegiate experiences other than that he failed Calculus the first go-around and that school was demanding. My whole life he has worked 10-14 hour days on a regular basis, and weekends about once a month. His profession is very demanding and so with that respect, studio helps you right from the get-go for the real world. Reading some of the reflections, it does seem that a lot of people truly had paradigm shifts thanks to studio, however at the same time I read a lot of BS too. Even now I’m struggling with whether I should write what I think I’m supposed to write or what I actually hold to be true. Well, I wouldn’t BS my friends or my parents, so I’ll treat this response with the same honesty. I feel that 1011 was just a glorified art class. I don’t like drawing, doodling, or anything of the like. If I have a free Saturday, I will choose to stay home and watch college football rather than go to the High Museum of Art every time. Without carrying on too much, this course presented a serious personal conflict. On the other hand, it is not fair to give up on a course before it begins. Again, in all honesty, I don’t see how this class will help me with my major too much. Every experience teaches something, but some are more effective than others. If I wanted to figure out how to draw or do problem-solving, I could go to arts and crafts night at YMCA or buy a self-help book. Talking with second-year students my classes, they say that studio was just a big, superfluous course that pretty much serves the architecture and ID students. After one semester, I find it hard to disagree. Most everything we do here tailors to the interests that caused them to choose the major that they did in the first place. I think it’s interesting how many students change majors to BC in order to avoid the additional studio time. That says a lot right there. I don’t think it’s because they’re lazy or lack motivation, but it’s because of the negative experience they have during CFY. OK, with that off of my chest, I can talk about the actual exercises. With exercises 1 and 2, it seems like I got the gist of the exercises. I could specifically pinpoint what I was going for, even if I didn’t necessarily accomplish my goal. Most of the times during exercise 3, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, and even less what to expect. Exercise 1 was full of separate exercises that required us to learn a new concept every time, and then integrate them at the end. The second exercise seemed like just an escalation of expression. About half way through, I began to grow tired of the monotony. The third exercise went a little abstract for me. I felt like I could keep up with everyone until we started the exercises that required us to use software. This is when others who were already familiar could shine. They could worry about their art, as opposed to me who had to worry about how to use the programs. It didn’t help that our instructor tended to favor aesthetics over function. This really deflated any confidence I had gained during the semester. My pre to post 1011 process is a noted change. The careful seeing during the first exercise allowed me to systematically draw and organize a system whereby I could express what I wanted to. I don’t think that 1011 has really changed my thought process too much. I can honestly say that I’ve never referenced a 1011 exercise in my mind in order to help me with some real world application. The only way studio has affected me is in how I express myself. Basically studio gave me a crash course in Illustrator and Photoshop. It also allowed me to convey my ideas through different media while drawing. During 1011 we were asked to examine things from many angles in many dimensions. Thinking out of the box is a hackneyed, trite turn of phrase, yet is very appropriate for what was required for most of the exercises. There were no right answers to be had. Each student was expected to produce something new and completely different from everyone else’s work. I don’t expect that that will change for next semester. Learning in and of itself is an individual process and the effectiveness thereof depends on each student. 1012 will undoubtedly push us to the edge and require a greater part of us than we have given previously. As to the actual practices we have learned so far in the exercises, I can only imagine that they were not done for naught, and that we will apply some aspects of them in the future. In 1012, reading the assignments beforehand I imagine will help tremendously with the learning process and to know what is expected of us, granted the TA has it posted. Two questions about the studio process could be: How can the student communicate better through the media given? or How can the object/concept be manipulated to discover a new truth? The instructor’s role is to guide the students so that they have an accurate idea of what is expected of them and how to systematically go about accomplishing that; to instruct, in a nutshell. The handouts served as a concrete reminder of what was expected, how the process is derived, precedents, and examples. The instructors can talk all day, but without examples to supplement those instructions, it is to no avail. The review process was put in place to step back and see whether or not the students actually grasped the tasks at hand, and also to see the growth within the individual students. If we work all day without seeing the fruits of our labors, we lose motivation. It seems like the juries themselves were there to help us see our works critically by getting a third party view, and to hurt our feelings. The inquiry books were made in order to summarize our best work and the purpose of the exercise at a glance. It puts everything done within the unit in a neat, organized booklet. Aside from the mandatory teamwork that was required, the fellow students provided support and levity in an atmosphere where it was easy to become frustrated. Also, they provided added inspiration through their criticisms and works. The studio space made me depressed. I did as much work as possible in my apartment. I felt like I was stuck in a cubicle, or in sweatshop, or a big social group when I had to work in studio. I simply couldn’t concentrate in the downstairs CFY room. I don’t think that it was very conducive of the creative process at all. Writing this essay, I realized that I like things that are standardized. Studio is anything but. In most classes, you memorize a litany of words or processes that everyone must do. In studio you are given guidelines, not rules. Exercise one served to teach various exercises that would help us communicate our ideas better. Exercise two challenged us to express the object as many different ways as possible in order to better inform us about the object itself. Exercise three demanded that we explore the possibilities of our ideas and how one thing leads to another. All of the exercises were cumulative with respect to the learning process. Things became more and more abstract so that we could make discoveries that we otherwise could no do on our own. Every exercise allowed us to bring all of the individual units together in the end to make some great display of the skills we acquired. My personal favorite was exercise one because the object our designs was to make our drawings as close to the actual object or thing at hand with the media given. You could look at the object and then look at the drawing to determine if you were on track. If they looked similar, you were doing you job. It was that simple. When the work became more abstract, it became harder to do quality checks. Plus I am pretty proud of some of my drawings. Cameron Stewart 1. As I re-read my previous three exercises’ reflections, I realized that all the skills that I have acquired throughout this semester, I have used at least a little bit of every skill on moving onto the next exercise. I learned that my experience had built up gradually without me realizing the speed of the information going through my brain. Despite the tedious work we had to go through, it was worth every minute because it later allowed me to use that skill in other practices. Each exercise had its unique style. No doubt about it, we were to use the skills from the previous exercise in portraying our ideas on the following exercise. Learning the new skills that were required for the exercise seemed to be literally our main goal. At first, I thought drawing, modeling, presenting, and other representations we had to do were simple and fairly easy. However, I had learned that each drawing, modeling, ideas, and whatnot took a lot of effort and time in order to come up with a striking idea. Because of the long painstaking process, I am sure that my drawings, my point of view on objects, buildings, and other stuff has improved. 2. I would definitely like to carry my “taking time and effort” to my 1012 class. Since I tend to rush through more compared to taking all my time and doing a better job, I would like to be more patient and put more effort into my work compared to this 1011 class. Moreover, since our next 1012 class is more architectural, having a stable hand and consistent line weight would be quite essential. My focus would be oriented in understanding my goals in each exercise as I tried to do for 1011 class. Learning the goals and concept of each exercise has definitely taught me great lessons on what is important and what is worth skimming over. 3. The instructor was necessary in a sense that s/he needed to guide the students from the unknown to a path where they could just get on their foot and start walking. The instructor had a role of giving a good push in the process to enhance students to start on their own. The handouts and the small briefs at the beginning of each exercise as well as in the middle of the exercise was basically a small “guide” for the students to stay on track rather than having to consult with the instructor every time it seems to be going out of track. Although the review process was quite long, it gave each one of us a good feedback on what could have improved and what was done right. The criticism was beneficial in understanding the mistakes that should not happen in other exercises. As for the inquiry book, I believe it is also a tool for feedback, portraying the best work that the student has done for each exercise. This tool allows other students and instructors to go through the pages and even learn from the unique ideas that could be helpful for that individual. My fellow students are just the same as whom I am in CFY. Learning from the instructor as well as criticizing peer student’s work for the benefit of each other. Without my fellow students it would not have been a win-win situation but rather a lose-lose situation. The studio space allowed us to work, interact, and consult with our instructors with the progress of our projects. However, majority of the times, I try to avoid the studio as it is not the right environment to brainstorm since people become too social and lose focus very easily. For learning, I would recommend a classroom or a lecture hall rather than the studio itself. Since there are no restrictions, studio is not the best condition for education but rather a slow-progressing working environment. 4. Exercise one mainly concentrated on our observing and drawing skills. Learning new techniques of drawing and different means of drawing widened our possibilities of drawing. The second exercise was also observation but rather concentrated to one specific object and digging more into it, being much more comprehensive. The final exercise was thinking in the most abstract mind and producing a very unique idea. I would say my favorite exercise was exercise two because it required us to draw something definite and required a lot of drawings. I would say the exercises were played out this way because the previous exercise reflected on the next exercise which was beneficial in learning and reflecting back on our previous works. Inbeom Lee My reflections for all the exercise seem very focused on the subject that they were offered. All of the reflections are lost in their own exercises, because I didn’t know what was to come in the future exercises. Something I noted in all of them was the experience that I seemed to gain. Each of my reflections references something that I learned or accomplished in that time period, something that seems almost second nature to me know, but was alien just a few months ago. The pattern seems to be the same in each reflection, starting off almost confused on what was expected, and flowing through a series of events that lead to consciousness of how to go about completing the exercise. As my reflections progress through the year, they build upon one another. Terms and ideas that I seem to struggle with, in an attempt to wrap my mind around the new material, seem coherent and fluid in following exercises. Each exercise almost seems to create building blocks, so that I could stumble on to the next exercise, only to find that it made another block to another exercise. All of my thoughts from pre to post 1011 can be characterized by drastic change. Drawings and modeling used to seem like art to me, but now I see them as forms of representation. Exploring and inquiring seemed like ideas that were meant for astronauts and physicist, and not work that could lead to insightful discoveries about how the world interacts and the intricate details of everyday things. Designing probably changed the most, as I though that someone just sat down, drew something, and than it was designed. From 1011, I learned that designing is repetition and patience, ideas and reformulated ideas, again and again. Design is time, a lot of time spent to create an effective product. Learning in 1011 is many things. Learning to understand what is expected of a confusing assignment, and than producing results, or learning how to manage a class that requires almost three times as much work or more outside of class compared to in class. Mostly however, learning is learning, absorbing new techniques, and than applying them to create a new and wonderful idea. This above all I plan to carry forward to 1012, the experience of learning new things and applying them, so that I can learn as many possible ways to express myself and my ideas. In 1012, I plan to focus more on observing the hidden details of things, learning what hides beneath the facades of things, and than taking those ideas and playing with them to see what I can learn. There are many roles in studio. The instructor is like a trail guide, someone to show you the path that is laid before you, but not one who will tell you how to walk along the path. Handouts in studio are supposed to be like maps, in case the trail guide (instructor) gets lost, and you have to find your own way, but many times these maps seem to be almost written in another language (and sometimes are… phenomenological?). Reviews serve as way marks, as a point to reflect and look back at where you’ve come from, and than try to explain why you came the way that you did. Inquiry books are journals to document the travels along a path, so that other people can see how you traversed the path. Other students serve as companionship, sometimes offering a light in darkness to find the way, or other times leading you off a cliff. Most of all, the other students are support, as they are stuck trudging along the same path. Finally, the studio workspace are like the shoes that someone would walk along a path in, it is the means of getting from point A to point b in the journey that is studio. The studio experience is a hands on, jump in and get wet way of learning. Book smarts won’t help much, as creativity and self reflection do the most to help the journey go smoother. The three exercises of 1011 were teaching routines. Exercise one was focused on honing the artistic and visual abilities of the entire CFY, while at the same time focusing observation skills and getting the idea of focus ingrained into the studio process. Throughout exercise two, we learned to investigate, in every possible way, by being given something that would seem self explanatory, like a tape measure, and than analyzing it under a myriad of different lenses. This exercise taught the focus and intensity of design, and how intricate and layered the process can be. Finally, exercise three taught us to take what we learned, and flip it on its head, repeatedly, and than make sense of it all. The entire process was to learn how to represent, figure out what to represent and represent it, and than take that representation and re present it in a variety of different ways, each task being dependent on the preceding ones. Exercise two was most enjoyable for me, as it challenged me to explore in my own way, but at the same time keeping a loose structure of exploration to follow. In exercise two, I learned in the most amount of ways, through hands on, being taught, and through simple experience. This exercise offered the most variety of things to do, and had a group member to learn with too. Patrick O'Connor ONE As I re-read them, the most striking thing is that this semester was full with work and actually I had gone trough all of those and done it all. This semester had been such an improvement. Through out this year, I’ve got to learn so many things, and studio helped me to understand better about my interests and how I should pursue and evolve that interest. Starting from the blind contours and charcoal drawings and ending at exercise 3 before and after panel is amazing improvement. Plus it’s striking because it actually relates all together. It was interesting to see the notes I wrote from back then. Before I took this course, I was more artistic. More comfortable with paintings and drawings; expressing my feelings with all those skills I have. After this course I become more of a thinker than a drawer or painter. Not expressing feelings but analyzing or wondering all the time about certain object or phenomenon. I think it is a great change and a growth. Now I can express myself and my feelings and also my thoughts on the paper. I learned how to clarify my ideas on a paper so that others can understand. The work I made is not just for me, but for others to understand too. I learned to manage time wisely also with all those busy works from other courses plus studio. I have learned that drawings and models have to represent something, some idea that I have. That made me think and explore a lot about the object that I was dealing with. It was the first time I ever got to analysis and inquiry things that I drew, and the designs around me, anything around me brought more interest and had me get new visions. TWO From 1011 I learned the basic thinking process, how to be creative and rich with ideas, along with the skills to express them. I think 1012 would be the extension for all those. I want to focus more and more about ID, even though I think it’ll be more about architecture from now on. Also whatever it could be, I want to focus on the human interaction with the object/space. THREE The role of the instructor was to lead us. Guide us and push us to the next level without giving specific ideas. They were there to give us clear instruction when we get lost or get faced with problems. They were there for us to encourage and criticize. The project or exercise brief/handouts were there to give us clear direction and instruction whenever it gets unclear. It was like the note that we keep for ourselves to not get lost or get misdirected throughout the exercise. The review process was to make us think more about the exercise. Make us see others work and criticize my work and others work to get better feedback after the review. It also cleared out the ideas that I had. The inquiry book was for us to reflect back about our work and question/organize the work we have. My fellow students are there to cheer and criticize each other and be the competitor. The studio space itself gave us motivation to work on studio. The learning experience in studio was very different from other classes. It was more freedom with more responsibilities. It seems free with 4 and half hours, but it becomes tense if I procrastinate more and more. It made me think fast, manage time well, and keep looking back and check up to the works from past because it all relates to each other. FOUR Exercise one brought a good starting point, making us really look at the object instead of imagining them. It built up the skills we need for later exercises, be the firm base and fundamental for not only this semester but till graduation. Exercise two made me concentrate on one object, make me be the expert on that object. Explore and think about just one object and make many different studies out of it. Exercise Three made the extension for all those works. It brought us further than all those exercises beforehand. I liked the exercise one because of the firm base that it gave us to build upon it. It was maybe less interesting than other exercises, but I think it was most important exercise. Ju Chung 1011 Reflection ONE To help you take stock, please review your reflection postings for exercises 1, 2, and 3. Re-read yours (and others' as well, if you want) in one sitting. Then respond to the following: As you re-read them now – with the advantage of distance, experience, and hindsight – what strikes you as worth noting and commenting upon? I find it interesting how the observation skills learned in exercise 1 and the technical skills learned in exercise 2 contributed so definitively to the final product in exercise 3. I also note many points in exercise 1 and 2 where I had trouble generating my own ideas, but after completing exercise 3 the decision-making I experienced in the earlier exercises now seem trivial. Are there any patterns that you can discern in the learning that occurred in each exercise? In each new exercise I began to incorporate and build upon the skills and techniques that I learned and developed in the previous exercise. Do you discern a cumulative growth in learning (in confidence, in skills, in understanding etc.), in yourself? Absolutely! Over the semester I have become more confident, more comfortable and developed with my skills, and more thoughtful with my decision-making. Can you characterize the change, from pre 1011 to post-1011, that has occurred in the way you think/thought about: a) Drawings, modeling and other types of representations: I have been introduced to a variety of new materials, tools, and techniques that allow me to communicate my ideas more clearly and precisely. Before the class I had no confidence in my drawing abilities and only limited confidence in my model making skills. After completing this semester I feel much more comfortable when presented with an assignment. b) The process of formulating and exploring ideas: When I began this course, I had extensive trouble formulating ideas. As the semester progressed and I began to feel more comfortable with my abilities, I was able to generate more detailed ideas and thoughtful explorations. c) Analysis and inquiry: Before 1011 I would not have even considered the detail with which I have looked at a stapler. I have also acquired the vocabulary to discuss and describe a variety of objects and situations. d) Designing: Although I had some previous design experience, 1011 has exposed me to new mediums and has allowed me a chance to develop my graphic layout skills. TWO In order to encourage you to play an active part in your own learning, we would like you to think about and respond to the following: Identify the 'learning' in 1011 that you think you will carry forward to 1012 The “learning” that will carry over to 1012 will be the model making skills, the methods of observation that I have developed, and the ability to look past the object and discover its DNA. What do you plan to pay special attention to in 1012? I will pay attention for introductions to new ways of looking at objects, space, and concepts. I will also pay attention to new technique’s that will assist me in raising the quality of my work. THREE Two questions about the studio workshop process. Think back through the 3 exercises and tell us what are the 'roles' of EACH of the following in the studio process: -The instructor: To provide assistance when we have difficulties and to guide us through the assignment. - The project or exercise brief/handout: To explain the assignments procedures, reasons, and information. -The review process (pinup, final jury): To provide feedback on the condition of our work and to offer constructive criticism to encourage improvement. - The inquiry book: To give us an area to collect and organize our work in a way we would like it to be viewed by others. -Your fellow students: To provide encouragement, support, feedback, ideas, friendly competition, and keep us company during the long nights of studio. - The studio space itself: To provide a well-equipped area conducive to work and communication. How would you describe the studio learning experience compared to other learning situations and experiences: for example the classroom, the seminar, the lab, the workshop, the tutorial, the internship, and the job. I think that the studio is highly beneficial. It provides interaction between students of multiple classes and allows ideas to flow throughout the room. The open environment allows us to see what others are working on and to easily request feedback and assistance from those nearby. FOUR We would like you to reflect back over the semester and see if you can make sense of the three exercises and the sequence in which they unfolded. Briefly characterize what you think were the pedagogical goals for each and why they played out in the sequence that they did. Then tell us which was your favorite and why. I think that the purpose of exercise 1 was to provide us with an introduction to materials, drawing styles, different ways of looking at our environment, and to present our instructors with some idea of our initial skill level. Exercise 2 was meant to be our introduction to creative thinking, working as a team, model making, and most importantly, looking at and breaking down a single everyday object into its different aspects of existence. The purpose of exercise 3 was to present to our instructors, and ourselves, what caliber of work, thinking, analysis, and investigation we, as individuals, were capable of. I feel that the reason for the order of these assignments was that exercise 1 spurred us to begin thinking differently and to build confidence, exercise 2 gave us the opportunity to develop our new found skills and to encourage our thinking process, and exercise 3 allowed us to push the skills and knowledge we gained from the previous exercises further and use them in a real world application, the competition. Noah Posner 1011 Exit Reflection 1. a. Looking back on what I wrote before for my earlier reflections, I found that I used what I thought I had learned and so much more in the following exercises b. Not really. I think I picked up new things every time, some building on old things I had learned and other new things were completely unrelated to earlier discoveries. c. I feel that I am able to take a few steps further out on the ledge of thought and ideas than before. I feel more confident in my ideas while slightly taken back on how meager my skills seem when compared to other people of greater and more varied calibers. d. Yes: Pre-1011, I thought I could take over the world with my drawings, but now I realize that ideas can be conveyed in so many other fashions rather than drawing. Additionally, I found that drawing is just the beginning to becoming a good designer/planner, although extremely integral, my skills need to expand. My thoughts and ideas have developed a confidence of their own, which will allow me to do greater and more variable things. My analysis skills have developed in many ways, I look at things from a new perspective. This new perspective will then allow me to design things from the opposing perspective later down the road. 2. a. All the new skills I have discovered with the help of 1011 will carry over to 1012, along with the new spirit of perseverance that I was forced to attain through 1011 and my other classes combined. b. I would love to continue my journey of learning while allowing myself the time to completely explore every possibility that 1012 will offer me. 3. a. The instructors were integral to our understanding of this different way of thinking and doing that 1011 had to offer us. Without the instructors to softly guide us through the exercises, I don’t believe that our learning experience would have been so vast. b. The handouts were much like the instructors except the handout left us where the instructor picked up. The handouts gave us a vague idea of what we were to do and learn in order for us to gain as much as possible. c. The review process allowed for our journey to be displayed and knowledgeable direction and critics were given in order for us to learn some more. d. The inquiry book gave us a capstone to our personal learning and telling of our journey. The book helped to show us what we have done and allow us to learn from our whole journey. e. Fellow students gave us support and critical awareness as we journeyed through the exercises. Fellow students were able to share with others what they picked up in order for some people to continue along the process when they were burnt up, confused or out of ideas. f. The studio space was a torture chamber… Well it was pretty bad being in their a lot, but it was also where we learned and experienced 1011 thus prompting old thoughts and ideas to reoccur as we continue our journey. 4. a. Exercise 1: Gave us an intro to the skills that we needed and allowed for students to catch up and understand the pace at which 1011 traveled. I believe this exercise’s main goal was to equip us with the tools that we would need for the rest of our learning experience. b. Exercise 2: Allowed us to push our thought processes from that of a consumer to that of a designer. This exercise helped to derail our everyday style of thinking in order for us to get back on track as the designers and developers we one-day hope to be. c. Exercise 3: Took everything we learned in exercises 1 & 2 and forced us to truly become the problem solvers and designers that we need to be. I believe this exercise forced us out of our comfort zones and made us make discoveries and correlations that we would have otherwise overlooked. Ashton Austin ONE I had no idea what I was doing. That is the only thing I can say about myself. It is so weird to think of those drawing techniques as “complicated” now that I have been using them for so long. It is interesting to me that I struggled so much with some of the techniques. I definitely improved with each step and learned from my mistakes. a) instead of saying I am going to studio to “draw” I go to studio to “design”. When I first entered this college I believed studio to be full of drawing a much of stuff, but now I think of it as designing products. b) Exploration was alien to me. I thought that we would be given a set of strict requirements that we had to abide by, I was obviously very wrong. We were given free range to explore every aspect of…everything! c) Analyzing and inquiring was the hardest thing for me, and still is. I do not think I have the correct mind set to “inquire’ yet; therefore, I am still going to be working on that next semester. d) This has a lot to do with what I was saying on a). I guess I could now consider myself a designer because I have dug into the mind of a designer multiple times now. TWO I will carry forward everything I have learned about displaying my ideas. Earlier this semester I do not think my drawings could speak for themselves, but at the conclusion of exercise 3 I think I finally gained this ability. I plan to pay special attention to inquiry since as I mentioned above, I severely struggle with this still. THREE Instructor-to teach us the initial design process then guide us through the conclusion Project handout-to set boundaries on the requirements of the project. Give us something to strive for Review-to learn from our mistakes Inquiry book-to explain our thought process Fellow students-to critic us from a learning view Studio-to give us a location to focus all our efforts It was much more challenging than any job I have ever had or any other classroom experience I have participated in. There was much more free range in how we wanted to do things and explore things. FOUR Ex.1- teach us the basics in drawing, getting our ideas on paper Ex.2- taking in one step forward by introducing us to design and how designers think Ex.3- taking it the final step and throwing us in the designers chair Exercise 2 was my favorite because I really liked working with my partner and I feel that we were able to learn a lot more because of the ideas that we both brought to the table. Amy Wilson ONE 1. I realize that I have learned so much this semester. I was taught to think more critically, to interpret things more intensely, and to be open to new ways of thinking. 2. When I started each exercise, I had my knowledge from the previous exercises (or in the case of exercise 1, my knowledge from previous classes) and that was it. As each exercise progressed, however, I took in more knowledge and was able to apply it to the exercise, previous exercises, and my everyday life. 3. Yes! I would not be able to think the way that I do if each exercise had not forced me to recall things I had learned earlier and apply them to whatever we were doing at the time. Now I will be able to remember all of those things as I continue my education because they were drilled into my head so well. 4. a. I can think more creatively and represent those thoughts more clearly. b. I am able to think between the lines and outside the box in order to incorporate my ideas as well as outside knowledge to each assignment. c. I can ask questions that are backed by better observations as well as more intriguing facts. d. I think more creatively on my own, but I am also more open to others’ opinions. TWO 1. I will remember all of the observation techniques, the tips for interpretation, and the creative methods I was taught in 1011. I will use all three of these details and more to approach the 1012 assignments with more knowledge and anticipation. 2. I will pay attention to the methods for observation introduced in each exercise because I feel that the understanding of the exercise at the beginning will help me be the most successful until the end. I will also listen to the opinions of other because collecting different ways of thinking will help me to be more creative when completing each assignment. THREE 1. a. She gave me ideas and instruction on the best way to go about the assignments and represent my ideas. b. The exercise introduced new ways of thinking, forced me to explore new areas of design, and opened my mind to new things. c. The criticism of others helped me to analyze my own work more critically and gave me ideas on how to improve in the future. d. The inquiry book helped me look back at the end of the exercise and analyze each assignment and remember all of the concepts and ideas I collected. e. My classmates helped me to deal with the pressures of studio and also helped me to improve my work through criticism and/or praise. f. The studio gave me a place to gather my ideas in an environment where others were doing the same kind of thinking. 2. This studio experience will obviously form the foundation for all of the other situations listed. Without this basic knowledge of design, I would not be able to succeed in the future. Even though I think this situation is more stressful than most of the ones to follow, I will look back at it in a few years and be happy that it was offered to me and that I did my best to learn from it. FOUR Exercise one forced us to look at the details of a space or an object with much more intensity than we had before. By doing this, our minds were opened to new ideas and our creative juices were able to flow more freely. Exercise two then used those creative juices to observe a specific object with amazing detail. By understanding the qualities of one object, but being able to use the knowledge from exercise one to apply those qualities to everything else, we were taught to design based on many different categories. Finally, exercise three built on the first two exercises even more because it forced us to even go beyond what was learned in one and two. With creative thought and careful observation, exercise three helped us understand the underlying characteristics of our object as well as any other object or situation we will come in contact with. My favorite exercise was exercise two because I am very analytical and willing to investigate the technical details of something, such as measurements and process. Sara Frederick Link to this Page
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