Lance Parker
Summer, 2015
HM 400 I.S. 6 credits
An Active Aesthetic
A
narrative description of the project, including: study plan, detailed weekly
schedule, learning objectives, and supporting activities.
Over the course of four months (May, June, July, and August) I
will document a summer's worth of bicycling throughout the country.
This Journey will take me from the porch of Dunbar, Craftsbury
Common, Vermont, south on route 100 along the Green Mountains, south to
Bennington, VT. From here I begin my journey west along route 20 taking me from
Bennington, through Syracuse and Rochester, to Buffalo, NY. From Buffalo, I
will bike the entire coast of Lake Erie just past Cleveland, Ohio where I
will cut south slightly to cross Ohio, Indiana and a portion of Illinois. From
Peoria, Illinois, I will bike north, eventually linking into the Badger State
trail which will bring me to Madison, WI. I will spend May 27th –
30th in Madison and leave on May 31st. From Madison
I will go virtually due west across Wisconsin crossing the Mississippi River,
crossing northern Iowa (and the Missouri River), Through the plains of Southern
South Dakota, through the Badlands, and the Black hills, and into Wyoming, to
the Big Horn Mountains, WY.
After getting to Wyoming in mid-June, I will participate in a
100 mile foot race through the Big Horn Mountains on June 19th and
June 20th.
After recovering from this race I will continue on my bicycle.
This leg of the trip may vary in length and route depending on what I feel is
most suitable at the time. The 3 major routes are: most ambitious: to the west
coast and back (~3500 miles), the least likely route being a straight shot back
to Wisconsin. The most likely route will be an exploration of Yellowstone, and
the Tetons, over to Idaho, south through Utah into Arizona to the Grand Canyon.
From the canyon, I will head east through New Mexico, north through Colorado
through the Rockies. From Colorado, I will shoot straight back through Nebraska
and Iowa to Wisconsin. None the less, the end of the trip, no matter which
route I take, I will be landing in Madison, Wisconsin in August.
The mission of the
course is to explore, through a creative and artistic lens, the idea of what it
means to be on the road, and develop a variety of skills in order to more
effectively communicate and share this experience with others.
I will use multiple
avenues to broaden my view of how I can relate to place. These avenues will
include but are not limited to the following:
-Photography
(digital point and shoot):
As someone who has
not had much formal photography lessons, I will take what I have learned and
apply it with some theories of visual aesthetics such as the rule of thirds,
balancing the picture, leading lines, view point, background, framing, and
depth.
I will focus on a progression of these skills in order to have a
clear sense of growth in my capability to effectively convey messages through
photos.
-End product: A
series / multiple series of themed photographs from my trip.
I will set out on a
sort of “quest” to tell the story of my summer through photographs.
I will explore some
nature photographers such as Ansel Adams and Patrick Zephyr in order frame my
ideas around what makes a photograph appealing.
-Creative writing
& Introspective journaling:
I have had some practice and work in the realm of journaling as a tool for
reflection and creative writing as a form of sharing ideas and passion. I will
practice working these together into a single piece of work that will be both a
reflective tool as well as a form of expression.
On as daily of a basis as I can, I will practice the art of travel diary. This
work will include prose and short-form poetry such as haiku, translating my
journey from experience into accessible reading material for an audience.
I will use Basho’s
Journey as a tool to help me understand how someone uses the practice
of Haibun (Prose and haiku) specifically in autobiographical format to share
with an audience their journey. In doing so, I will share my journey.
Writers to refer to:
-Basho: Basho’s
Journey
-Mary Oliver
-Various forms of
place based arts:
I am only somewhat familiar with place based specific arts. I have practice in
basic two dimensional arts and the art of wood carving. I find value and power
in the idea of using what is around me to create the art that I will be
creating though, so I will explore this.
In an attempt keep me grounded and focused on the landscape that I am in, I
will rely on what I bring with me on my bike, and what I find, to make art.
From the use of pigmented materials to create two dimensional arts, to carving
wooden tools that may be of use for me. When time is present enough, I will
create art within the world I am in, photograph it and leave it for the next
adventurer to enjoy or for mother-nature to take down.
Andy Goldsworthy may be of some inspiration for this project. I will explore
some of the work he has done and attempt to apply the practice to my bicycle
trip.
Learning objectives
are as follows;
-To broaden how I
choose to connect with the world around me while on a solo bicycle
trip: honing skills to observe, interpret, and translate my experience
that I may not have otherwise taken advantage of.
-To develop a
greater capacity to capture a moment both in words and in picture, as Jody
put it: “Intentionally develop my perception”
-To develop a
spectrum of skills that will help allow me to remain present
-Deep thinking / reflection
-Feeling
-Awareness
-To create
a collection of creations that help illustrate what my solo trip was
like: documentation and preservation of an experience into static
artifacts for safekeeping, future reference and sharing.
I will be covering
roughly 550 miles a weeks on my bike, excluding weeks that include
lengthy visits to certain places, such as a 4 day stay in Madison, WI, a 2 week
stay in the Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming, and some later in the summer. Throughout
these days I plan to address these avenues of translation most days, in
order to keep documentation of my trip. I will float between different avenues
depending on what I’m being inspired by and how I am being
inspired. Naturally there will be many days that I choose to address
multiple avenues. And there will most likely be days where I can't find
the passion to pursue any of them; these days I may focus my energy on
becoming more present, I will explore the work of Andrea Olsen to
learn some exercises that she offers for practicing development of self and
place.
Resources
to be used
The open road:
Much of my
inspiration will come from the people, places, and life that I see around me.
To provide context for my experiences, I will attempt to relate them to my
audience through other peoples’ works and through accessible means of
translating.
Peoples’
work that I will use:
-Basho: Basho’s Journey
-Andrea Olsen: Body & Earth
-Andy Goldsworthy
-Mary Oliver
-Ansel Adams
-Patrick Zephyr
Specific
products of the study
Journaling: 75(+)
days of journaling: Introspective stories, prose, Haiku, etc… Culminating with
a polished Travel Diary that illustrates to a reader my
journey throughout the summer: this will be available for the Sterling College
community to read
Photograph
documentation: 3-5 organized and clear series of themed photos. These will be
independent of one another and may follow the themes of specific types of buildings
(such as a series of photographs of the countries churches), road themes,
people, trees, etc… Each theme will have a clear and identifiable theme with a
write up about the themes and the process of documenting. The theme will
represent a full spectrum of environments that I travel through.
Art work: Pieces of
art work will follow the themes of the photo documentation. 3-5 series of
supporting art work that furthers the audiences understanding of the places I
see and the experience I will have.
At the end of my
journey, in August, I will collect my thoughts and synthesize my experience of
documenting my trip in this way and will provide access to my work to the
Sterling community. This will also be shared with the greater public, through
an online platform such as Flickr or another social media base.
In conjunction with
my Senior Project, I will be searching for an appropriate place to present to
an outside organization (outside of Craftsbury), and give a presentation to
that audience. The goal behind this presentation and blog will be to bring
other people to a place of understanding how mindfulness has affected my human
experience of travelling.
Method
of evaluation and assessment
The mission of the
course is to explore, through a creative and artistic lens, the idea of what it
means to be on the road, and develop a variety of skills in order to more
effectively communicate and share this experience with others.
The following is
criteria for grade “A” work. Anything short of these standards will be
downgraded upon narrative explanation from Advisor.
30%- Photography:
40%: Good habits of
record keeping
A. Meets or exceeds criteria for quantity: 3-5 series of
photographs that represent the entire trip and not just portions (e.g. the
story can be told through what I produce). Other non-series related photos are
relevant.
40%: Progression of
skill development
A. There is a clear, noticeable progression in the work or a
clear explanation for why the progression is not noticeable. The progression should
be visible through a chronological view of the work. Use of the basic rules of
photography are explored and reflected on. Capacity to convey messages through
photos improved throughout the trip.
20%: Distribution of
materials/ communication with advisor
A. Advisor has a very clear understanding of when, why and
how, they will be receiving work from me. Materials are organized in delivery.
There is a clear strong effort for timeliness.
30%- Creative writing &
Introspective journaling:
40%: Good habits of
record keeping
A. Meets or exceeds criteria: 75 journal entries, finished
and polished collection of stories, represents the entire trip and not just
portions (e.g. the story can be told through what I produce)
40%: Progression of
skill development
A. There is a clear, noticeable progression in the work or a
clear explanation for why the progression is not noticeable. The progression
should be visible through a chronological view of the work. Effort has been put
forth consistently to produce high quality work.
20%: Distribution of
materials/ communication with advisor: blog and mail
A. Advisor has a very clear understanding of when, why and
how, they will be receiving work from me. Materials are organized in delivery.
There is a clear strong effort for timeliness.
25%- Place based arts
& other creations:
40%: Good habits of
record keeping
A. Meets or exceeds criteria: 3 – 5 themes. Finished and
polished collection of pieces. Representative of the entire trip and not just
portions (e.g. the story can be told through what I produce)
40%: Progression of
skill development
A. There is a clear, noticeable progression in the work or a
clear explanation for why the progression is not noticeable. The progression
should be visible through a chronological view of the work. Effort has been put
forth consistently to produce high quality work.
20%: Distribution of
materials/ communication with advisor: blog and mail
A. Advisor has a very clear understanding of when, why and
how, they will be receiving work from me. Materials are organized in delivery.
There is a clear strong effort for timeliness.
15%- Presentation of
project
A. Accessible and thorough sharing of work: photos and
stories will be added to the blog when possible. Posts are productive in
updating and thoughtful in display. Final products will be fully available for
Sterling eyes.
Plan for keeping
the advisor informed of progress *
Some email, phone,
mailing work in.
Description
of how the Independent Study fits into an overall degree plan
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