Project : Echoes – 10.15.10

I have so many fond memories of teaching art to middle school students. Don’t get me wrong…they were a CHALLENGE!  But, all ‘n all, it was a life-changing experience for me. Many times the energy of the kids just simply derailed my best-laid intentions at a lesson plan. It was a good thing I was flexible, and could roll with it.  I just felt strongly that, if they were talking about it, it was important to them…so why not capitalize on an opportunity to meet their needs?

One particular day, I heard the same statement several times…”Mrs. H, he copied me!”  OK, I tried not to laugh, but it did sound rather silly! Especially since in one case someone turned a square piece of paper on the diagonal, and someone else followed suit! The nerve! As if he invented the diagonal orientation! 🙂

Instead, I muffled my urge to chuckle and we talked about it.  Because even though it sounded a little silly, it is indeed a relevant subject in the art and design community.  We ended up having a discussion about licensing, intellectual property and design integrity…and the difference between copying and terms like inspiration, ode and homage. (My final plea to them was to stop with the “bootleg” movies and CDs!)

I am very sensitive to the concept of design integrity. People are always so curious about where artists’ ideas originate. That is what sparked the idea to do this Project : Echoes exercise in the first place. To show how inspiration can bring about something very similar….but new and different.

So what is the term “victory” all about? My 12 year-old-son informed me yesterday, that Nike is the Goddess of Victory…OK, somehow I know I should have already known this, but this fact had escaped me. I am living in a household of athletes and Nike lovers, and I am almost ashamed to admit that I didn’t know that. I had heard that Nike was one of those terms that breaks all the branding rules because no one knows what the heck it means! (So I guess I am not the only one!) 

So this week’s drawing is called “victory” because it is inspired by a Nike t-shirt that I was folding in the laundry the other day.

The shirt has an OpArt feel…an artistic style that I “heart”….

And it was a major happy accident that after my son educated me, I noticed a very distinct “V” shape in the composition! BONUS!