Generative Topic

Immersive Environments and Eheir Effects On Art:

Physical Space (comfort vs. discomfort)

Many aspects affect the way a piece of artwork is created. The background noise in the room, the mood of the artist, the weather, the light...they all have and influence on the outcome of each creation. The artist has control over some of these factors, but can only do so much with a one bedroom basement apartment. Imagine immersing yourself in a small, dark room using only candles as a light source while painting. Sounds uncomfortable to me! It is inevitable that this dismal studio space will present itself in the final artwork. People have been studying this idea of a comfortable space for years, creating an art out of the arrangement and design of rooms known as feng shui. Wray Herbert, a writer for the Scientific American explored this art form further in his article "Arranging for Serenity: How Physical Space and Emotion Intersect." Herbert mentions two Yale psychologists, Lawrence E. Williams and John A. Bargh who ran experiments dealing with a similar subject: they created an unconscious sensation of congestion and found that those people who were not exposed to the "crowded attitude" experienced a psychological freedom that the congested volunteers did not. (You can read further at : http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=arranging-for-serenity )

If I were to use this generative topic in a classroom, I would require the students to do experiment with their own boundaries of comfort in a studio setting. I would ask them to experience both confined and non-confined spaces while creating artwork and investigate each piece for any subtle or drastic difference. I would also ask them to write how they felt during each practice; emotionally, physically, mentally... For a more interesting discussion, the art should not be labeled, so students can guess which piece came from which setting. I think it would be an awesome lesson, and fun for students at a high school level.