It has been a bit over two weeks since I left Ottawa due to university closure for COVID-19. Since then, I have been at my home in Cornwall. It was somewhat overwhelming to get used to the changes this brought to my school work, particularly for this class. A few days after I left, we held another team meeting, and decided what we would do going forward. We came to the conclusion that our project would still be able to be done without using any of the school workshops or labs, so we would keep working on it. Because all my other team-mates live in Ottawa, they were still able to meet and work on the project a few times. I was worried initially that I wouldn’t be able to contribute to the final piece since I am away, and that this would cause tension, but by taking on a larger share of the work that could be done on the computer (project write-ups and teach-a-skill editing), I made up for whatever I couldn’t do in person.
As of now, we have completed the final version of our project. It is set up in one of my teammate’s dining room, on a wall. A few changes were made since I had last seen it: we have now added a light underneath the blobs, and there are vine-like wires connecting them. There are also shapes made of resin now. The sounds have been updated, too. I haven’t heard them yet, but from what I’m aware of, they modified the pitch of sounds to sound higher, lower, and creepier. They also reversed some of the sounds.
I had a great time working on this project. At the start, I was unsure of what I’d end up doing in this class, as I don’t have much knowledge of engineering, or making art that actually does things. I’d say that we managed to create exactly what we wanted, though. Our team’s plan was to make something cool, creepy, interactive, moving, and overall not too complicated in theme. The way the piece turned out, I think that we were able to accomplish that.
An interesting part of this process has been navigating the different ways of thinking everyone has in regards to creating a product. While artists are taught to think about what they want to convey, and how to set limits on themselves to express their thoughts, engineers seem to be taught to think about how to work with already-set limitations, and how to create their work with others in mind. There have been a few instances where members of my team have shown these different ways of thinking, and we have had to discuss what would be the best way of moving forward. As this is a combination course, I tried at times to allow myself to think more “like an engineer”, and to worry less about symbolism and emotional connection with this piece. Other times, I would advise my teammates on how an artist is taught to view things, and how it might affect how our work is experienced. For example, at one point one of my engineering classmates suggested making multiple shapes instead of just one, to better display the breathing motion. I ended up explaining that, while it would make the motion more noticeable, changing the scale of the project would also change the way it is being experienced. While it ended up working for our theme, having multiple shapes reads much differently than having only one shape, so we had to think about that before committing to the idea.
For the class itself, the schedule was somewhat daunting. We didn’t end up finding a client because of university closure, but that was definitely the most intimidating part of the course. I would have liked to have had a bit more guidance in terms of what we were meant to do to find a client, or what the exact requirements were, as those were somewhat unclear. I can’t speak for the engineers, but in our art program we have never been taught how to do this, so it was kind of overwhelming. Another thing that wasn’t ideal for me was having class on Fridays, and then having something due on the Sunday, only two days later. While it separated those assignments from the work we’d be doing on weekdays, it meant that our weekend would have to be spent on those projects, leaving us with not much of a break. I also found that having to choose our group and make a group contract within the span of three days were really overwhelming. I was lucky enough to form a team quickly, and to get the emails of everyone so that we could start working, but I think it might have been better if people had a bit more time to get to know each other, or at least not have to start working until the next week. It would have also have been cool to spend less time on lectures, and spend more time doing hands-on work or experiencing interesting things from both fields.
What I did like was when we went to the museum, when we did the LEGO activity, and when we had our group presentations. Having a guest critique our project was very helpful, and seeing the work of other groups allowed us to see the ways people think, and provide suggestions we might not have thought of. The LEGO activity was really fun, and it was something I had never done before. Although it seemed tough at the beginning, I really appreciated that our workload seemed to cool down by the end of the semester, and that the professors were willing to listen to our opinions and suggestions.
I have said this many times before, but the best part of this class had to have been my team. I was really fortunate to have a team where everyone was dedicated to the project, but not so much that they didn’t care about anything else. They were all amazing, funny people who made the experience a great time. If I had another team, even if my project turned out absolutely incredible, I don’t think I would have enjoyed this class as much as I did with my own team. This class has allowed me to make friends with people I probably wouldn’t have under normal circumstances. I learned so many things about engineering, sound design, software, and music too! Every member of my team plays musical instruments, and that was one of the things that brought us all together.
This class has allowed me to have so many fun experiences, and learn so many things that I hope will be useful to me in my art practice moving forward. I am grateful that I had the chance to participate in an inter-disciplinary environment such as this.
A Journey Through STEAM 