To navigate profound experiences and feelings in a complex world, we need to be moving, to be flexible, and reflective. How do we shift from one form of expression to another without losing our own identity?
This post-disciplinary course explored translations and transitions between art forms: a phone photograph to a poem, an overheard phrase to a textile, a gesture to an installation. We adopted the metaphor of water—always moving, changing, and flowing—to foster flexibility and adaptivity in developing our own creative methods.
Participants explored accessible, open-source, and affordable media and tools, finding what suits them best or easily switching between them. We touched upon such artists as Claudia Rankine, Koo Jeong A, Tony Cokes, Robert Frank, etc., who navigate feelings through the use of multiple forms (paper, fabric, text, photography). We then practiced the use of different materials ourselves to help us in times of shifting and moving between contexts and environments.
The course took place online via the New York Institute platform. NYI is a biannual online summer and winter school in cultural and linguistic studies from Stony Brook University in Long Island, NY.
The course was designed to assist each participant in developing their individual method, an approach to art-making that feels natural and sustainable. We culminated by designing a shared online publication, which participants then presented to the community.
As always for Morley House, one of the major learning objectives was to create a supportive, non-judgmental, and safe space where peers can connect, experiment, and grow.
We believe that fostering an environment of mutual encouragement is crucial for developing the resilience and adaptability needed to thrive as an artist in today's fast-paced social world.