Bones, Space & Time: Freeing Creativity
Early in April, I had the chance to present a SoundBody: Bones, Space & Time workshop to the Visual Arts Students at Camosun College over the course of two sessions. The purpose of this workshop was to help students to free their creativity through body awareness and care.
24 students in total participated in the Workshop.
The focus of the workshop was on the intimate connection between the body, and the art forms that we devote ourselves to. When the body opens, breathes, moves and relates to space it affects the state of one’s mind by uplifting it. Possibility comes from that space. When the body opens, it connects more with others and shared experiences turns into community.
The format of the workshop encouraged students to experience a body awareness routine and then to draw.
During the workshop we:
- Moved/responded to the metronome. Moving body parts, connecting body parts, connecting with the space in the room. We moved to fast, medium and slow tempo changes.
- Experience a “space” awareness routine, then drew movement compositions in different levels of space.
- Practiced staying present to yourself, and adjusting comfort levels while drawing.
- Experienced solo massage. Finding and releasing tension in the forearms by stroking the muscles, drawing the bones of the forearms and finding the spaces between the bones.
- Explored using a small ball to find the bones and spaces of the hands
- Made sounds (your art form demands that you breathe in a shallow manner)
- Created tension by holding the steering wheel (the pencil) and the cup too tight. Students experienced making fists of their hands, and how it tightens the neck, jaws and shoulders. We practiced loosening our grip.
- Reviewed how tension affects the way you draw. We explored how drawing felt after each body movement and voice experience.
- Practiced arm rolls, squeezing the muscle bellies (the fleshier parts) and how this feels.
Classes were very different in the way they responded. The first session moved faster into experiencing time and movement compositions. In the second session, more focus was put on body awareness.
All student seemed to enjoy the session and shared how much they had learned about themselves.
Here are some of the works of art created after the workshop.
To see more go to: camosunvisualart.wordpress.com