Furry Concert Hall - The Symphony of the Massage

Installation at Hexiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China 

Faux fur, hacked YouTube music, wood, speakers, LED lights, Dimensions Variable

September 15-November 15, 2018

In the fast-paced Internet era where information can be easily searched on computers, The Furry Concert Hall provides a quiet, warm, and protected music lounge for the audience to experience and interact with the work. Furry plush beds as well as moving LED lights are installed inside. Viewers are invited to enter and listen to different pieces of relaxing music from YouTube that is hacked (commissioned to exhibit in China) and played. When positioned in the center of the space, the audience can only hear one kind of synthesized sound. The work symbolizes extreme comfort while also representing the mandatory protection in China that disables usage of the Internet and bans users from many search engines, including Google and Facebook. At the same time, the idea that users have freedom to search for redundant information, data, voice, and multimedia content across the globe is taken for granted. The room invites the audience to relax, meditate, and reflect on issues of freedom and censorship.  

Flipped Strategies

What kinds of flipped strategies could you use in an online course to shift the focus from the instructor to the students; to encourage active participation from students rather than passive observation?

- I would use a welcome video using FlipGrid and introduce myself, then invite all of the students to introduce themselves.
- In a traditional studio art class, I normally introduce the theme of the week by showing a PPT of one artist’s work to inspire the students. For an online class, I would ask the students to do research themselves about an artist of their choice, and write a paragraph on a shared blog or Google+ communities to briefly introduce this artist; also, write another paragraph on the reasons of their choice and how this image relates to the specific theme. Then, they can then respond to another students’ image/response of their choice.
- I would also use a synchronous meeting to facilitate that particular week’s task or “homework” after letting them watch myself videotaping a demo. I would post a couple of related articles/texts to complement the weekly theme; a Youtube video or an instructional video on Lynda.com to show them specific techniques required. After the students are done with the task, if it was not finished in a synchronous class, they could complete it in their own times and post it on the shared discussion board.
- During the synchronous meeting, I would also ask each student to respond/critique to each other’s work, so we’d also get an immediate response, which is valuable and a good training that reflects the real art world.
- For one project, I would ask students to use a social media to create an art work that interacts with the wider public.
- I would also ask each student (candidate teachers) to develop their own blended mini-lesson plan and post their plan online: conduct one 10 minute lesson during one synchronous meeting and create a video for us to watch before hand.
- I would ask the students to write a one paragraph response to a related article they have read during each week. For some modules, they can also choose their own article and give a PPT presentation to all.
- I would provide an online office hour for them to be able to call anytime for any questions. Apart from encouraging them to email me anytime they need for questions, I would also provide my cell phone number and allow students to text/phone me if they have any urgent questions.
- I would try to coordinate with the school to open any media lab/ studio during the weekends and at nights to provide more working time for the students.
- I would encourage collaborative work between the students on certain projects (most probably finals, then ask a volunteer to lead/organize an online exhibition for the whole class. On top of showing his or her work, each student can be assigned a role to build the online exhibition. Roles include: curator, content developer, creative director, and site developer.



Methods & Materials

Methods & Materials: Visual Arts
Online Course Overview

Bird Rescue

Click on How to Care for a Rescued Baby Bird?

Light Wave Installation

Click here to check out my Light Wave Silk Print Installation Project!

7 e-affordances

Bill Cope: What's the Use of Technology? Introducing 7 e-affordances

5: Synchronous or Asynchronous?

Online Week 4 Google+ Discussion Post:

If you were to teach a course online, and you had your choice of delivery modalities, would you pick synchronous (real time) or asynchronous (on demand?) Or, as we do here, would you combine them?

I would definitely choose the blended format. While asynchronous discussion can promote deeper thinking and higher-order processing, Synchronous meeting has a positive impact on social and cognitive presence, perceived learning (Rockingson-Szapkiw, 2009) and immediacy, which are vital aspects of productive learning. For me, an online course’s biggest asset that is different to a traditional one is the possibility of teaching/learning without having the constraints of space and time. However, if there were a magic door where I can go from my home and reach the classroom immediately, I would not choose to teach nor take an online course.

As a home person who does not go to coffee shops to work, I usually prefer a classroom-like quite atmosphere space in the library or study in order to concentrate; unless I am sick or feel idle, I also work on less demanding task such as listening to podcasts, emailing, reading, or editing pictures; but I definitely cannot be in a deep thought mode when am at these more “relaxed” places. Just like the physical classroom or study, the physical posture reflects a mode of being focused and deep concentration. Although the asynchronous only format gives more flexible time for both parties and allows us to conduct teaching/learning anywhere, the importance of the learning atmosphere cannot be stressed. The synchronous format corresponds to a simulation of being in a classroom that promotes an atmosphere of learning, which elevates learning quality, attention and guides students on track during a face-to-face discussion, especially for those who are not used to emailing professors when they have questions. If the students really cannot attend these meetings due to schedule clash—which should be planned/scheduled since the beginning anyway—they can still listen to the recordings in their own time.

As an artist who’s creative work is mostly done alone in a studio, and as an art teacher who facilitates students’ work-in-progress during class, the importance of the immediate facilitation of students’ work in progress can only be achieved through a synchronous meeting. In an art class, it is also important to have regular “crits” that promotes collaborative learning. A “crit” is a gathering of all faculty and student members every once in a while, generally once per month to have one student hang all of their work up onto the wall like an exhibition, and have all members read the work, reflect, discuss and give critiques. It can be a torturing experience for many due to the unrestrained and straightforwardness of faculty responses (many of which are often already established artists); It is an important practice for art students because right after graduation, the reality of the real art world is exactly like that: when one presents a show in a gallery or a space, one meet audiences from everywhere, and they respond to the work right away, sometimes the artist may not like it, but would have to get used to and bear with it. Often times, the audiences come and check out the artwork for the first and the last time, thus it is the first impression and immediate thought/response that is the most valuable.

The artist then would continue to work and strive to breakthrough the old work in order to continue to create new ones. Sometimes the artist gets a review in a magazine or a newspaper, which is more like the asynchronous response. Funnily, in the contemporary art world, sometimes it is good to have “bad” reviews if they raise controversy.

Synchronous meeting parallels improvisation in music and living life spontaneously as human beings. The elimination of it just make me think of the non-humanness that education would become: If the new technological world develops to a point where humans do not need to go anywhere nor move their fingers/bodies anymore to type or go to places, experience, or even don’t need to think in order to think or communicate, human species would end and be controlled by machinery and technology. To the point where machines become higher thinking than humans, and whether human species is superior to machines is another topic to be discussed; but synchronous meetings reflect the human aspect of teaching/learning that in turn brings back our control as humans.

Asynchronous teaching modal provides much support such as participatory and collaborative learning, production of artifacts (Cavana, 2009; Gold, 2001), more contribution on discussion (Light Colbourn & Light, 19970, and more time on homework and reflection (Mayer, 2003), which cannot be ignored. Thus a complementary of both would foster a better quality learning.

5: Student-Instructor Connections

Achieving Student-Instructor Connections

Click here to watch how to Achieve Online Presence on Vimeo!

4: Presence & Connectedness

Morrison (2014) citing Lehman and Conceicao (2011), points out that one of the most important aspects of online teaching is the concept of ‘presence’ . Garrison (2003) provides a framework of presence in three major categories; these are social, cognitive, and instructor presence that overlaps with each other to form the central educational experience (Fig. 1). The Educational Experience are supported by three aspects: Supporting Discourse, which is the merging of of Cognitive and Social Presence; Selecting Content, which is the merging of of Cognitive and Teaching Presence (Structure/Process); and Setting Climate, which is the fusion of Social and Teaching Presence. 

Fig. 1

       Given that learning in an online environment requires a more self-directed way of learning in order to maximize outcomes, self-awareness of the instructor’s role becomes even more critical than traditional classroom settings. Four ways that an instructor can establish presence are: 1) Creating a two-minute welcome video to show and introduce the professor’s profile; 2) Posting a weekly announcement that accompanies with regular communication such as comments on discussion boards and/or upcoming assignments; 3) Give specific, personal feedbacks on assignments; 4) Feedback on Class Discussions. 

Joyner (2014) cites Anderson, Rourke, Garrison and Archer (2001) on teaching presence, which includes “the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive process for the purpose of realizing educationally worthwhile learning outcomes” (p. 437). Three roles that are fulfilled both as a classroom and online teacher are, “(a) designer of an educationally worthwhile educational experience, (b) a facilitator of learning activities, and (c) a subject matter expert” (jones, 2011). She concluded that the instructor should post clear instructions regarding schedules, assignment expectations, due dates, demonstrate respect for the learning process, create quality content, provide supportive/corrective guidance through email rather than public posting, express belief that students will be successful in the online environment, respond specifically to student work, and share workable solutions. Further, students should be encouraged and valued, while being informed to participate in meaningful interactions after deep thoughts. In turn, the instructor should “address appropriate environmental responses” (Joyner, 2014, p. 438) to increase desired student learning outcomes. 

According to the constructivist theory, students bring to their environment “their unique knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs” and build knowledge and meaning through interactions with each other (Joyner, 2014, p.438). In an online classroom, both individualist and social constructivism happens either through their direct experiences or collaboration with others (Almala, 2006).

Through classroom technology and assignments, connection can be achieved through online discussion, podcasts, and synchronous video meetings. The succinctness of the course homepage and weekly reading/audio/video materials, and the use of online journals also affects the degree of connectedness. Connection can also be achieved through students receiving quality and positive feedbacks. Lastly, the ability and creativity of an interactive course managed/designed by the instructor would also assist in coursework and student-instructor connection (Joyner, 2014, p. 442). 

In general, in an online environment, it is imperative for instructors/facilitators to be active participants that bring quality feedbacks. The instructor’s resourcefulness, familiarity, and creativity of the technology, accessibility outside classroom, and providing clarification to major course points are also a primal influence on providing a sense of presence and connection to the students' learning experience.



Joyner, A. Shiela. (2014). The importance of student-instructor connections in graduate level online courses. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 10(3), 436-445.

Ladyshewsky, K. Richard. (2013). Instructor presence in online courses and student
Satisfaction. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 7(1). Article 13, 1-23.

Morrison, Debbie. (2012). Instructor presence in the online class – Key to learner success. Online Learning Insights.
Retrieved from 
https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/instructor-presence-in-the-online-class-key-to-learner-success/

3: Experiential v.s Connectivism

Although there seems to be a great difference between Kolb’s social constructivist view and and Siemens technology oriented, networked learning process, there is a common link that interrelates between them. Siemens suggests learning what is needed for tomorrow; yet we do not know what is going to happen tomorrow, we cannot control nor predict. So learning always happen in the present tense – the now. However, we can acquire the ability to connect with sources and access through new tools in the digital era. The acquisition process thus requires a sense of being in the present. Siemens indicates four implications: The awareness of the diversity of opinions, design of learning environments, real-time informational flow, and personal knowledge management (2005, p. 6) that are all important aspects of learning, and allows learners to keep updated with our time.

Experiential learning, originated from Dewey, Lewin, and Piaget, is a mode of learning that emphasizes on the experience and the process of learning. Kolb’s (1984) article suggests a learning that merges experience, perception, cognition, and behavior. It is suggested that humans can share an experience fully, concretely, and abstractly (p.21). I agree that learning is conceived as a process, not in terms of outcomes.

An informal discussion with a Zen Buddhist monk, Master Guoxing a couple days ago subverted partially my understanding of Dewey’s proposal that knowledge is a result of transaction between objective and subjective experiences. I asked him, “All of my experiences and memories made me who I am now and how I act today, is that right?” He answered, “You’re aware of your past memories and experiences, which don’t exist anymore now.” Although I do believe in learning through actions such as feeling and touching, I had some conflicting ideas when reading the article in sections that describes how “learning transforms the impulses, feelings, and desires of concrete experience into higher-order purposeful action,” when knowing that impulses, feelings, and desires are elements that our consciousness are aware of, but in fact they do not exist. Human beings try to hold onto feelings and memories, because we think they exist and form who we are.

My understanding of the here-and-now experience is that once a word is said or an action is made, it does not exist anymore, so there is no continuity. I also had trouble understanding the concept of “postponement of immediate action” (Dewey, p. 22), since the instant immediate action is being activated, is not there anymore. My idea is that observation itself requires immediacy, and does not have nor require a postponement of action. Seemingly or perceptually, these actions are “symbiotically related process”, but in fact, they are not related: Just as when each thought is generated and another new thought comes up, the old one also die in an instant; they are like one of the thirty frames in a second that appears in a movie - each frame is its own individual, only when we put them together, it seems like its connected, and we think that they are connected.

Like Kolb, I am also doubtful to whether it is true that the concept of continuity of experience grounds human existence, when there occasionally appears to have elements of uncertainty. I agree with Pepper’s (1942) proposition of partial skepticism that provides a guide for inquiry and learning. However, Freire’s idea that the dialectic nature of learning and adaptation is the “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it”, again makes me doubt when knowing that, since the world is the world itself, we are only adding names to the world to give meaning, but my pursue is to find the truth, or the true mind: What is the true world before being added names? Both false and true words are neither true nor false, as they all exist within the world named by human beings.

I’d like to add a note onto Kolb’s learning in terms of knowing how we think and feel, and the fact that we must know when behavior is governed by thought and when by feeling – from Zen's perspective, our behavior is governed by our common intrinsic nature that is conscious of our thoughts and feelings that we think as ourselves, but in fact they are not - Thoughts are thoughts, and feelings are feelings, they are not us. Thus, the best way to learn is to continuously create, think, recreate, transform, and connect - at the present moment.


Kolb, D.A. (1984): Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development

Siemens, G. (2005) Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age

Master Guoxing. (2017), Personal Communication

2: Spark Adobe

MASS MOCA Building 6 Grand Opening

Check this out -> Summer Art Weekend

1: Online Teaching & Learning

2017 SUMMER A

Online Teaching & Learning

My first online learning experience was since high school, when I started to search for information about artists to write papers. I began to search for information more as I get to art colleges after high school, though at that time, I still go to the library to look for information most of the time. I have been studying abroad since college. The process of applying for a visa, checking out schools' websites, looking for places to live, looking for work opportunities, has gradually shifted from going to the place directly to online processes. I also watch movies and TV online. As I get more and more acquainted with searching for things online, I recently begin to buy groceries and daily essentials online. A large percentage of my life is online. I think I have learned to save a lot of traveling time by doing things online, which has made me, someone who does not like outdoor activities already, even more a home-situated person. 

When I was a teenager, I used to search for Zodiac reading tips and online face reading. Later, when I don't know how to use an app, a program, or food medicine, I would learn everything online. On top of daily emailing and blog keeping (10 years ago it was msn blog and hotmail), Wikipedia, Youtube, and Google search are the most engines I use. When I first moved to New York eight years ago from Yale in New Haven, I knew nobody, so I started with Craigslist to look for apartments and jobs. I also search for images on Google search to get inspiration. Recently I use a lot of Instagram by simply skimming through images, filtering out images to look for what I am interested in, what is popular, which artist/ interesting person is doing what, getting ideas, brainstorming through hashtags with simple swipes under my fingers. 

A lot of times, I learn by exploring the mobile app myself, and looking through play store. Sometimes it is through friend recommendation on what apps to get, and what search engines to use. I use google chrome most of the time. I also use google drive, drop box to store, upload, and download photos and files. I tested out about eight video apps and chose Splice to teach my Pre-K 12 art students. When an app is difficult to learn, it is immediately eliminated and not considered. So looking for the right program/app to use and teach takes some research and testing.

I am recently invited to lecture art classes online for distance learning, so this course looks very interesting and useful. 

Furry Chair

LED testing in process - Rest Inside Me (Shelter), 2016

FINAL: Rest Inside Me (Shelter)

Rest Inside Me (Shelter), 2016
Arduino, breadboard, faux fur, metal chain, plastic chair, LED light, speakers
Dimensions variable 


Rest Inside Me (Shelter), a hanging sculptural installation of a concave egg shaped chair designed for audience interaction to touch, sit, meditate and rest inside. The furry chair intends to awaken the audiences’ feelings of visual, haptic and tactile senses through the projection of saturated colors, RGBW moving lights are activated once the audience walk close and remixed music is played once they sit inside. Inspired by the Kitsch, popular culture, and seduction of the materialistic world in the urban life, and inspired by the idea of protection, warmth and shape of a womb, a remix of recorded voices of the artist instructing in a whispering, soft voice, a baby crying, and piano playing, followed by light, therapeutic music is played. The sculpture initiates interaction with the viewers that induces them to fuse with it. The inviting, furry material invites them to go back into the womb, a symbol of rebirth and becoming a baby again. The chair, if installed outdoors, can be served as a shelter for the homeless or anybody passing by who simply needs to take a break from what’s happening in this chaotic world. 

12/2 3D Print ii

1/12 3D Print i

11/1 Laser Cut Box

Laser Cut Acrylic Pencil Box

10/2 Soft Circuitry Lesson Plan

Soft Circuitry Lesson Plan

Goal: (knowledge and understanding)

Students will know:
 - Conductive thread can be used to create a mapping of our neighborhood through basic circuitry sewing  to light up one or more LED(s).

- Practice of abstract thinking by imagining from a bird’s eye view.
 - Problem solving

Objective (task and skill)
 Students will be able to:

 - Make a map of your neighborhood or imagined place with soft circuitry which lights up with a switch.

Component	Description / Guiding Questions	Minutes
Warm-up  Breaks ice and is related to the study	Walk around the classroom and remember your route.	2min
Brainstorming      Accesses prior knowledge, introduces vocabulary and key concepts	What would be the shapes and lines of your neighborhood if you were to look form a bird’s eye view?	3 min
Demo     When appropriate, TA models experimentation in a particular medium, or shares exemplars and related contextual info; Avoid lengthy demos that invite copying or discourage  “research curiosities”	1/ Teaching artist draw a route she just walked on the white board, from one point to another 2/ Teaching artist show how to light up a circuit on white board 3/ TA explains how circuitry works to light up a LED.	7 min
Art Activity Students work individually or collaboratively.  TA provides  individual assistance while encouraging students to take creative risks, revise, refine; identify and solve problems	1/ Students saw conductive thread onto a piece of felt or fabric to show their route.  2/ Try to think of a way to make a switch  3/ Add various shapes and lines around it to make a map by drawing with colored threads or sewing other fabric pieces	25 min
Journal Writing   Encourages individual reflection in words, phrases, sketches, etc.	Write two sentences about your partner’s work, try to guess where is his/her neighborhood	5 min
Turn and Talk Two students share their experiences, developing talking and listening skills	Students talk about each other’s art works.	5-7 min
Group Share     Guided by TA and focuses on wor completed- focuses on choices evident in student artworks. TA evokes description, analysis and interpretation with follow up questions, such as “What makes you say that?	Group discussion and critique	5-7 min
Research, Interests,  Questions and Closure Simple tasks completed at home, motivated by students’ developing interests.	Vocabularies: interlace, interlock, layers, layering, swirl, composition
Wrap-up/Clean-Up Everyone cleans up, rearranges the room, etc.
Materials and Equipment	Conductive thread, scissors, needles, fabric, pencil, paper
Documentation   Photos, recordings, sample written work.	Photos

10/1 Final Project Proposal

Furry swing chair sculpture  s e w i n g   i n   p r o g r e s s

A water drop shaped (approx. 6 feet) sculpture made with sewed fabric and faux fur fabric. The shape has a concave to provide a possibility for people to climb/sit inside it. Once inside, sensors would be triggered, the surrounding LED would light up and sounds would begin to play:

1. “ Relax. Take a deep breath. Feel the texture. Take a rest. Touch me. Do nothing. Just sit. Just look as it is.” approx. 10 seconds.
2. Sounds of baby crying (3-6 seconds). Recorded sounds from everyday life, such as neighbors chatting, piano from next-door, guitar from downstairs, trees from outside the window, wind blowing, sirens, airplane flying, trains passing from far away, rains dropping etc. Approx. 2 minutes.
3. Composed electrical music manipulated from everyday sounds (2 minutes) that is calm and therapeutic. Approx. 1.5-2.5 minutes. 

Total of approx. 3-4 minutes of remix music.

Possible (extended) version of the soft sculpture:

Version 1/ Threads are connected and expanded from the sculpture surrounding it that leads each thread to an object, each object would light up or play sound when a specific sensor is touched inside the sculpture.

Version 2/ Threads are connected from the sculpture to a furry object tied with conductive fabric to provide a possibility for people to touch it, once touched, the sculpture would light up with a different color.

9/1 Invent

Fabric Bacteria Detector

Other possible ideas for invention:

A 'Doraemon' Magic Door where we can go anywhere we wish when we open it.

7/1 Soft Circuitry

Relationship between Awareness, Perception & Eyeball

- Small model for sculptural project

Working Process:

Sketch ideas

              

Saw

           

Flip     

      

Connect conductive thread to buttons (switch)

 Test

 Test 2

Saw eye liner

Done!

Reflection:
More stuffing can be inserted and more sawing could be done on the lashes to give a more polished effect.

7/1 Lovecard

Paper Engineering - pop up love card

I looked for various pop-up cards on Instagram, and found a very interesting bear pop up one, but it did not show how it was made, so I took some time to figure it out myself, changing it to a love theme pop up card. After a couple hours of researching and figuring out, it finally worked! 

Working process: