I would like to share with colleagues in education, aspects of a design model that has been implemented into our programme, beyond the traditions of commercial and client directed designing. This model examples a process, that is collective in nature, and where the practice is collaborated across many disciplines, with other researchers, artists, undergraduate/graduate students and external communities.

projects in progress.

• Public art as Social Intervention
- a fine arts teaching tool web site

• Courses:

pk langshaw

the two hundred levels classes will provide the ground work for 300 and 400 level related studies in the design art programme such as;

the built and natural environments [sustainable and renewable resources, conservation of materials, assembly for disassembly, recycling]; ethics and societal issues referenced by historical and current perspectives [professional designers and movements in design and the fine arts], the consequence of design on individuals and societies [local and global].

students will be introduced to collaborative working in preparation for dart 310-group projects in design art. to identify and relate to students how design reaches out to other disciplines and bodies of knowledge and that this diverse information provides the enrichment of the creative process.
these related and interrelated skill/studies will provide the student in the design art programme with a well rounded formation for future innovative design practices.

p.k. langshaw
dart200 eggers @ framing and housing
assignment numbered five

social design: when designers are responsible for their production, in the understanding of design impact and consequence on society. how this practice relates to the realities of homelessness.

students will study humans in a state of need or of fragility.homelessness is being without shelter/protection from the elements/without comforts of the home- addresslessness.

the complex nature of homelessness- who is involved [governments, activists, architecture, those who experience homelessness to those who observe it].

what are the myths/realities of being in this 'place'. why, how, when, where does this condition occur [history, geography, social structures, economics] and do we as designers/artists/persons have influence to influence change.

your solutions may be about the dissemination of information in the form of posters.

 

1. students will work individually or with partners.
2. the assignment is divisible by three;

research- bibliography
and written report. formal.
exploration as in observation, photographing, films, discussions. informal research.

process- formation of concepts,
problem solving and development of
ideas.

realization- construction,
image making, object making and/or
[combination/multi media] presentation.

i want you to have as much time as possible to think about this assignment. this is an enormous subject to handle. weekly critiques will help. talking to other students. observe montreal streets and associations in the city working with youth, the elderly, mentally ill, shelters etc.
find a manageable solution that will mean something to you.
the end.

dart 310/3
collaborative projects in design art [research coordination]

this course will be structured around 'social' or ‘progressive’ design which implicates the individual to the social, built and natural environments. progressive design mandates that the critique and analysis of design research and production must come from within the discipline itself and by its own practitioners. it is important for students to be [visually] literate through historical perspectives, current design/art trends and multidisciplinary discourse [ex. anthropology, languages, biology, economics, global communication, computer technologies].

students will learn to identify their personal space and interests in designing so that they can enter with confidence into the larger collective. as students understand and engage with existing communities, they will begin to know how to construct future environments.

dart 310- the group construct will be detailed, explored, and experienced concurrent and relational to projects that will be assigned throughout the year.
how the group is formed and how it will function after formation is part of the diverse nature of collaborations. social structures require dialogue, optimism and commitment in order to succeed and the student must learn to think and act independently while acknowledging, and cooperating with, the group.
the dynamics of a group, the democratic decision making is difficult and complex under the best of conditions but perhaps one could surmise as a point of positive departure; what activity does one do in total isolation or void of the influence of others in our lives.

students will work in partnerships, groups of three to four persons and as a class. we will explore various ways of assembling the group through random choice, by similar research interests within the class, location of residence and availability for meeting outside of class hours and by student choice to work with their peers.

top

april 1999 Fadia Fayad and Natalia Zieba - artist bookwork and research on eco design-
recycled paper, tin cans, mixed mediums.

 

a design art studio course in which innovative concepts, techniques, tools and the language of image making are investigated and developed.for aesthetic and research referencing, the content of dart 422, experimental image is intended to direct a journey of inquiry informed by [visual] literacy, and flexible theoretical structures that acknowledge experiences of difference in changeable environments.

 

Assignment numbered 3. online research and documentary book project. november 1999.

3 student groups from classes, dart 310 and 422 have chosen to review the web site and to attend the symposium both named- 'public art as social intervention'.

under the technical guidance of filmmaker and graduate student min bae sung, the groups will photograph, sound record, draw and/or videotape [aspects of] the symposium events.

they will record, write about, visually describe fragments of their experience and interpret the nature and narration of those recorded events.

visual abstracts. commentary. descriptors.

one group will create a handmade, hard copy 'journal' work with original texts and treated images layered onto transluscent papers. the format and form of the book will alter as process necessitates or guides the production.

the two other groups will render digital collage productions for the web site.

predicted posting date of these assignments on web. january 5, 2ooo.

top

1998 project,
a miranda

is a course designed for third year students
to develop a personal body of work that combines traditional and digital
mediums in the expression of their image making.
students learn to assess the content, direction and consequence of their work to all stages of process, from ideation through to production.

this studio course
includes 5 major assignments,
student/instructor presentations, field
trips and group critiques.

students will align their production to the influences compiled from other practitioners, the discourse of interrelated disciplines, and societal considerations.

each medium [with]holds its own language

and it is the designer who renders the expression of this language through the process and production of the artworks.