Digital Dispatch
Each month I organize a collaborative session called Portfolio Play Date. In months past, we would transform our classroom into a creative sandbox and encourage students from other classes and other degree programs to come play.
But now that all of our campus classes have moved online, I was invited to consider what virtual Portfolio Play Date might look like.
Years ago I regularly hosted a workshop called Copy Caturday where the students and I would analyze a piece of media/art and attempt to recreate/remix it in the 3 hour session. The goal was not to create an exact copy of the highlighted work, but to gain a better understanding of the creative and technical process inherent in such a piece.
I wondered if it would be possible to foster a similar kind of interactive experience on a Zoom call? The cool thing about previous Portfolio Play Dates was that we were exploring our creativity in the same place. I think Zoom is an amazing tool and certainly one that can help keep us connected during this time. But technology isn’t the answer, togetherness is.
And so for 3 hours my students and I hopped on a Zoom call and analyzed a mixed media self-portrait created by a 2nd grader. We dissected the collage into its component parts, then created our own with supplies we each had on hand at home. One student didn’t have any paper, so he grabbed a paper plate to paint on!
We approached the creative challenge in steps, segmented into 15-20 minutes of autonomous work. I kept my camera and mic on the whole time as I worked just in case someone got stuck and needed a demo.
The experience was fun, but surreal. At so many points I felt like I was just talking into a void. Without eye contact, body language, and verbal cues it was hard to know if anyone was following along.
And yet, at the end of 3 hours, the 20 attendees who started the project, finished the project. This is what we created.
