Throughout the semester you have been describing and analyzing other people’s work and practicing self-expression through right-brain exercises in your creative journal. Now is the time to take what you have learned in this class to create your personal piece, your Magnum Opus, to express what is important and significant to you. Your first task in developing your project is to decide on and define the issue, experience, message, or problem you want to address in your big expressive piece.
Lesson Objectives
- recognize the criteria for an acceptable topic in this course
- describe a selected topic for the final project
- select a creative medium to address the topic
- evaluate other student topics in a peer review
Your Topic
Your topic can be related to any issue, problem, experience, or message that is important to you. You can personalize any of the themes covered in this class such as Identity, Truth, Power, Representation, etc. or you can address themes that were not presented in the course. Feel free to build on any research you conducted for a previous activity in this class or explore a completely new topic. Regardless of the topic, your Magnum Opus represents what you have to say, what you think, and/or how you feel about a topic, issue, problem, or experience of your choice. Go back to the Identity lesson and consider the core concepts of universally shared aspects of the human experience. Use this as an opportunity to share your truth and perspective , communicate your dreams and fantasies, and enjoy the power to create your own representation to deliver your message. Watch the documentary trailer, The Creative Brain, below and consider how you can be creative in the field you are most passionate and contemplate how you can tie your Magnum Opus to your professional, academic or personal goals.
You should select something that you are personally passionate about or what you can connect with. It is important to refrain from speaking on behalf of others. Talk about what you know. Contemplate your theme, the message, the meaning that you want convey to the person engaging with your expressive piece. Since you will be developing your research project over time, it is not unusual for a topic to evolve as new information is acquired through research. This makes it a good idea to begin with a general topic (such as ‘systemic racism’) and then narrow it down to a more specific focus (education inequality). Once you become knowledgeable after more research, you may need to modify or completely change your topic.
The Medium
You may use any creative medium to address your topic. Many students choose to stick with traditional mediums in the humanities (produce a song, perform a dance, create an oil painting, etc.), while other branch into digital worlds, embark on public performances, or invent and innovate new products. The medium is entirely up to you, yet it is a good idea to select a medium you are either already comfortable working with or something you would like to learn or become more familiar with.
Some examples of creative mediums:
- a children’s song about racial equality
- an interpretive dance to express the process of overcoming negative body image
- an oil painting representing the experience of an anxiety attack
- a local food phone app to address access to products from local farms
- a coloring book to address LGBT issues
- a meditation video for empowerment
- a short film about the cultural significance of the Santa Fe river
- a graffiti piece about a local political issue (must be legal)
- a poem about an estranged parent
- a stand-up comedy routine about pressure from parents
- a photo collage of people on their phones to show disconnection to nature
- a logo and business plan to repurpose e-waste into jewelry to address pollution
- integrating Norse mythology with haiku and haiga to express a mixed Scandinavian and Asian identity
The sky is the limit, but be sure to select medium that you will enjoy working with. And just a reminder, this is NOT an art class – so do not worry about how your piece will turn out. Your expressive piece will be evaluated according to the intention and purpose in the medium you selected and the way you used the medium to communicate your ideas. I will use your written statement, particularly paragraphs two and three, to evaluate your expression. This makes it a very good idea to jump ahead and read the criteria for the Written Statement now so you know what lies ahead.
For Discussion in Canvas
Write an approximately 150-word description of your selected issue, message, or experience. Be specific. For example, if you are going to address a personal issue such as ‘finding beauty in darkness,’ explain what type of darkness you are referring to: (ie depression, bad relationship, losing a loved one, etc.); describe the beauty that can be found (developing confidence, appreciation, etc.); and explain how it is found (ie connecting with friends, meditation, self acceptance, etc.) If you plan to address a larger issue, such as a problem like hunger in Florida or wetland degradation, provide some useful statistics to better describe the issue.
In addition to your topic, briefly describe the medium you plan to use to express your topic (painting, music, film, app, etc.) and why you chose it.
For credit, you must provide constructive criticism to at least two other student topics:
- Is their topic description clear and concise, or it is vague?
- Does their selective medium seem appropriate for the message they want to communicate?
- Are there spelling and grammatical errors?
- Can you provide references or recommendations on research or sources of information?
For Your Creative Journal
You will eventually need to symbolically communicate your selected topic for your final project. In your sketchbook, create a mash-up of symbols that come to mind when you contemplate the issue, problem, experience, or message you plan to address. Think of colors, words, images, sounds, people, stories, etc. Fill a page in your sketchbook with symbolic ideas and try to blend them together. You are not required to use them in your final project, this is just an exercise to get the process going.