Frottage Collage

Among the aesthetic experimental courses for primary school pupils, Frottage Collage was developed and implemented by Prof. Hong Su, who has a background in landscape and architecture as well as specialized in education and design. Through haptic experiences, the course intended to help students to observe textures and patterns in the environment.

 

It was a three-stage session. The first stage was an introductory lecture in the classroom, which gave students a primary understanding of the process and techniques. Secondly, teachers and students would leave the classroom and carry copying and rubbing tools such as cloth and carbon paper, instead of digital recording devices like mobile phones and laptops. Opening their eyes and searching for textures and patterns around them, the students then used their skins and bodies to identify their sensory feelings and integrated them with their previous visual experiences. It took a lot of strength for the students to squat and lean on the floor, to press and to rub the textures. The tactile process, therefore, gave them a strong impression. After getting the imprints on paper, they compared the frottage imprints with the original textures and surprisingly found an interesting relationship between the two.

 

The result of frottage was not merely the reproduction of the original materials. Back to the classroom stepping into the third stage, the students used the electronic devices to do scanning, image matting, cropping and coloring to extend the imprints to digital formats. The tactile textures were resized, collaged, overlayed and finally turned into visual patterns as new materials for students to create their images and narratives. The image montage broke the limits of the textures and generated new possibilities during the process.

How we appreciate our life shapes our aesthetics.

 

Aesthetics needs to be cultivated, but it is not like a tree, of which growth can be measured by physical appearance. The concept is abstract so people mostly tend to focus on the forms and works of aesthetics. However, the process, which is worth more attention, is often overlooked.

 

Aesthetics doesn’t merely show in paintings and statues; it could be simply found on the sidewalk and at your door. Therefore, rather than how to draw a beautiful painting or how to write an elaborated article, we should care more about our everyday life.

 

Curriculum Reform Initiative Taskforce: Agenda for Art and Design Education (CRIT-AADE) wishes to bring aesthetic impacts on not only students but also teachers. As teachers bring the materials from life to the class, which can echo the experiences of students, it is more possible for aesthetics to be related and realized in real life. Teaching in class is only the approach, and practicing in life is our ultimate goal and the outcome we expect. When teachers and students can appreciate and experience life with all sensory perceptions, it is a way to boost aesthetic education.

 

We have pondered on what would be the legacies of this program. We understand the importance of formative assessment in the teaching process, and therefore understand that lesson plans and students’ work cannot be viewed as the only outcomes. To sustain the impact of aesthetic education, CRIT-AADE is determined to build up a website as an official database to save every effort and resource from all the developers. Moreover, with assistance from Life Scenery Film, we are glad to document the wonderful moments of aesthetic courses taking place in different schools on this beautiful island.

The Anne Times is a newspaper especially designed for kids and has launched 3 volumes and 17 issues. The topics cover astronomy, science, humanities, design thinking, gender equality, etc. attempting to represent as diverse perspectives as possible. It is an authentic teaching material for elementary, middle and high school teachers to promote newspaper reading in class. Since being published in 2020, The Anne Times has received many awards at home and abroad, such as the 2020 Good Design Award of Japan, the Golden Pin Design Award of Taiwan and the《Future Education Taiwan 100》Award selection, and the DFA Design for Asia Awards.

 

Combined with excellent illustrations and layout design, perfectly merged the aesthetic concepts: colors, texture, proportions, composition, construction and structure into the editing of visual contents, and covered international news, contemporary issues, knowledge and stories, the newspaper itself is the wonderful outcome of interdisciplinary cooperation. Through turning the pages, touching the texture of the paper, and reading the printed words and pictures, the perception experiences stimulate kids to explore both the intellectual and aesthetic ends of knowledge and expand their international horizons. The Anne Times aims at a novel education approach for future generations. It could be applied as a teaching aid for primary and secondary school teachers to provide integrated authentic materials in different classes like language, science and social studies to motivate the interests of students. Moreover, it could be a medium to connect different fields of learning to develop interdisciplinary courses to encourage the exploration of various subjects. In addition, the newspaper cooperates with cultural institutions to expand the age range of readers, and encourage parents and children to read and enjoy interactive educational games and hands-on practices together.

Digital Decoupage was the second aesthetic experimental course promoted by CRIT-AADE, and it was developed by Prof. Jen-Hwang Ho, Professor at Graduate Institute of Architecture, NYCU. It is another three-stage session course, from observation, digital image manipulation to creative interpretation.

 

In the first stage, the students took a look at the plants on the campus, observed the patterns of flowers, leaves, veins and branches, and recorded their discoveries with photos, sketches or frottage imprints, which showed their observation of natural science and geometric logics. Next, the students learned to use digital modeling and visual programming software, Rhino 3D and Grasshopper. With simple preset procedures, they could generate solid geometric forms like polygons, pyramids and spheres on the interface, literally see the mathematical order within the natural forms, and realize that with the basics of algorithms, it is possible to create abundant organic forms. Eventually, the results could be compared with the records collected in the first stage. They could also use laser cutting, 3D printing and other technologies to manufacture real products in the digital environment.

 

A typical course for environment familiarity often starts with introducing the names of objects in a specific environment for identification. However, mostly the perception stayed there and could not be developed further. In the course, Digital Decoupage, we attempted to guide the students to dig more deeply into the meanings underlying names. Whether you know the name of the plant or not, you could still observe its geometric composition and organic order. These “filters” for observation brought some possibilities for aesthetic perception more than identification, which stimulated derivative manipulation and interpretation.