Ariel Aravot
A Student Work in an Art/Craft Studio From “Interlace” to “Contain” Introduction This article presents the course of study in a glass studio as experienced in one course by one student. The studio is a core component of craft and design education. While there is much discussion of studio teaching, there seems to be less information about the learning experience in the studio. A student’s point of view can shed light on connections between the learning experience and other simultaneous experiences, between theoretical teaching materials, practical work and relation to the context. This article presents such a student experience evidence. It is structured as a diary, with titles indicating the contents of key stages throughout the course, including: Patterns of interlacing, Interlacing as topic, A studio research question, Glass precedents, First test in glass, Between the object and myself as maker, Interlacing as metaphor in Ersilia, Images of Ersilia, ‘Inter’ as being with others (Gehl), Meanings of ‘interlacing’, Association to Merleau-Ponty, Kiln work and hot blowing work, Learning from a glass master, The site for my site-specific installation, The site-specific installation: Contain. The article is concluded by a short reflective text as summary. The studio is the most common core component in higher education of design, craft and art. (e.g. Crowther, 2013; Salama, 2016) For many decades now the boundaries between these three domains have become liquid, unstable, context-dependent and virtually irrelevant (e.g. Sennet, 1997; Adamson, 2010), and in general their studios have acquired similar pedagogical structure and scope (Schön, 1987; Wang, 2010). The studio is characterized, among other things, by teaching through guidance by professionals or artists, self-work of students and mutual learning of students from each other. It is regarded as a highly effective educational framework of many pedagogical advantages (e.g. Dutton, 1987; Carpenter, 2013; Grant Long, 2012; Salama & Wilkinson, 2007). It joins practical and theoretical study and promotes the student’s skill and creativity as a combination of know-how and concepts. “…the design studio [is]… the backbone of that education and the main forum for creative exploration and interaction...” (Salama, 2016).
152
