How to find the right project topic?
First Year students in Integrative Studio & Seminar 2 are invited to develop their own projects during the Spring semester. While the freedom of deciding for oneself can be thrilling, it is sometimes hard to know when a topic makes for an interesting “research and making” project in an Art and Design school.
To refine the concepts they identified at the beginning of the semester, students created prototypes based on a first series of ideation sessions. These minimalistic 3D prototypes reflect a mix of the main concepts that interest each students and are discussed in class: How is the idea embedded in the created item? Is the material chosen translating the targeted idea? How can scale generate a critical comment on consumerism, beauty, or social values? What role can the tactile or olfactory stimuli play in our experience of an object or art work? Through them, students learn to materialize their ideas and confront themselves to the audience’s feedback.
Ranging from visual art, video, object design or sound installation, students try out their ideas through their prototypes in order to improve their understanding of design and art principles.
Photos by Emmanuel Cohen and Clemente Gonzaga (Real Italian Coppola)