Digital Museum of Things
︎ Introduction
My name is Jade, and I am a second-year fine arts student at the University of the West of England. I call myself a Fine artist, which means within my work I use multiple creative avenues to express my creativity. The thing I do is Fine Art. Fine art has given me the tools to express myself every day, which gives me the thinking space to think outside the box. The beauty of art is remembering that whatever is in your mind can be passed through into your fingertips in the name of art. There is no right or wrong way to create art, creativity flows in the innocence of consistency. I really enjoy the endless possibilities here at UWE. The amount of resources to achieve your artist creations is limitless, the tutors are always happy to help and guide you through your visions and ideas. No question is silly or small, no question is stupid! I find the most pleasure within art when I am given a material or object to work with. when I am given a boring object, I try and think of ways of making the object move, walk, talk and blink. I also think about what emotions the character has due to its space and form. Creating life and personalities from said boring objects, is what I do!
Have you ever been to a museum? You might think museums are boring, but everything in a museum has its story. So now we are going to make our own museum! During this project, my aim with you folks is to expand your thinking. To question without fear, and to use your imagination of how you can bring objects to life. It's just all about how you look at it. So, let's get making!
︎Exploring character
Hopefully your teacher told you to bring in an object, if not grab your shoe, or grab a pen. I have bought a mug to experiment with.
As you can see this mug is a shade of yellow. A mug is a type of cup typically used for drinking hot drinks such as coffee, hot chocolate, or tea. Mugs usually have handles and hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cups. So how can we bring this object to life? How can we add a creative element to this object? Well how about you and I give our objects superpowers? I wonder what name I would give my object! I wonder how my object would talk! I wonder how my object would get around. I wonder if this object would have any weaknesses. How about I help you out and apply the questions I just said to my object? So, I would call my mug ‘handle-ella!’ Why? It’s because its handle is already like a superhero stance. If my mug could talk, I would say my mug would talk backwards! Why? Because we must remember that language is not universal, and not everyone in the world will understand what you're saying and that's okay! In terms of getting around the city to save somebody, my object wouldn't walk because that's too slow, but instead my object would fly! Why you ask? Why not? I've never flown before and it seems pretty cool! What is my object's superpower? Well, it can give you any drink you want anytime, anywhere! And finally what is my object’s weakness? Well, this mug in particular is made from a type of clay called terracotta, meaning that the clay is red and naturally found just below the earth's crust.
It also means that this object is easily breakable, so one super power that my object could have is to change material, so it is not easily breakable! My object’s a shapeshifter! Wow! Now I’m going to give you some time to talk about your objects with your partner, and remember imagination is limitless!
︎Writing a story
Now let's write our object ideas into a story! Here's my pen and here's my paper. I enjoy writing as it captures my thoughts and ideas, I am going to try and remember what I just said and get it down in 100 words! If you can't remember what you said don't worry about it, now is your time to write something new.
︎ Drawing your object
Wow! You've written your 100 words! And so have I. And now we are going to draw our object, drawing is another great way of capturing your thoughts and ideas I'm going to show you, 2 different ways that you can draw to capture your thoughts and ideas. The first one is drawing for 15 seconds with your eyes open. So grab a pen, and grab a paper and let's get drawing. Drawing for 15 seconds is a great way to ignore the idea of perfect when it comes to creating. So now we’re going to draw with our eyes closed.
Remember to grab your object, close your eyes for 15 seconds, and feel your object as you’re drawing. Drawing with your eyes closed is a great way of understanding the object.
︎ Outro
Well done you've completed all the tasks! And now you're super ready to put your text and images into digital museum. Why not visit your local museum to find a new story? My favorite object in the Bristol Museum is natural shiny mineral rocks, because I am so shocked at how something so beautiful and unique is found from the ground that we walk on! Next time you're at the museum look at the objects around you and ask yourself. How are they found? Where are they from? How could they move? I hope this project has inspired you to think creatively to explore the objects around you. So keep on making and keep on smiling!
