Do Good this Holiday Season

 
   

GoodSearching and GoodShopping this holiday season is the ultimate way to do-good while shopping and searching this holiday season. GoodSearch allows you to support your favorite charity at no cost to you by searching the web or making discounted purchases through GoodShop. We figured these are things you're going to do anyway, why not do it for a good cause?

To get started click the logo above, choose Art as an Agent for Change, and start searching and shopping. That's it. Happy GoodSearching!

Tips and Truths with A.A.C. - Constructive Criticism

By Melissa Cobb

This week's random truth reveals a bit more about the phenomenal Stevie Wonder!

One aspect of being in the field of creative writing that can be frustrating is having your work critiqued because it can be hard to know how people will react. On the other hand, critiquing someone else can be difficult because you want to be able to candidly express how he or she can improve his or her piece, but you don’t want to hurt his or her feelings. To make this a little bit easier, here are a few tips on taking constructive criticism and how to give constructive criticism.

Taking Constructive Criticism:

1. The most important thing to remember when someone is critiquing your piece is that anything they say about the piece does not reflect your worthiness as a person or anything like that. All this person wants to do is help you make this piece the best that it can. Also, it helps to remember that not every piece you write is going to be wonderful at first, nor is every piece going to be horrible.
2. If you disagree with something the person critiquing your work points out, instead of getting angry, ask them to explain why they feel this way and listen to what he or she says. You might get some really good insight.
3. Write down any criticism the person says on your piece so you can look at it later. This will help you get started revising.
4. Thank the person for critiquing your piece when the two of you finish.
5. Leave the piece alone for a few hours or a few days to let the critiques sink in, an then look back at the person’s comments and start revising.

 Giving Constructive Criticism

1. The most important thing to remember when critiquing another person’s work is to be candid about what he or she needs to revise but not to the detriment of the person’s self-esteem. Think of it as you helping this person make their work the best it can be rather than pointing out everything that is wrong with it.
2. Point out what the person needs to revise and why, and be specific and thorough.
3. Point out any strong elements of the piece and why they worked well.
4. Answer any questions the person has for you after you finish critiquing his or her piece.

Random Truth of the Week: It’s common knowledge that singer Stevie Wonder is blind, but it is not as well known that he also cannot smell.

Art Through Technology - Graphics Speak

By Mollie Cohen

As children we were often asked to do creative activities. These may have involved questions like, “If this color could make a sound, what sound would it make?” A Malaysian designer, however, took this idea and amplified it.

'Graphics Speak' is an installation for the Toolkit Festival, an Italian festival which encourages artists to go to workshops and to be inspired by the artists that have been chosen to display their work in the A+A Slovenian Exhibition Centre.

The installation itself is exactly what it sounds like. The artist (Weng Nam Yap) has designed several clear plastic discs that go over the records on record players. The user may choose one of these discs outside of the installation and then walk in.

The installation itself is inside of a darkroom and consists of two record players and an analog television. By broadcasting live video recordings of the discs onto the audio television the electromagnetic waves are translated into sound through a sensor. 

The last piece of musical instrument of is custom made. Instead of being able to place discs on it and manipulate the sound with those it produces a solid sound that comes from the lines that are already on it. The sounds this device makes can be manipulated by turning the crank to the right of the instrument and changing the line that the analog television is reading.

Various musical compositions can be made by mixing different patterns on the turntables. Though unlikely to produce anything truly amazing in the realm of musical genius, the art installation is one that stands on it's own as something that nobody else has been able to do. 

It is also family friendly. Due to the art installation not requiring anything truly special it is easy for children to interact with the exhibition making it a great hit among them.