Day 2 Take Away

On day two of Seeing Sideways we talked about our egg and coloring book experiments.  Like our last class we formed a circle and then each of us explained our projects.  I've seen some impressive egg experiments.  One guy video taped himself eating a raw egg.  It was suppose to represent trying new things in life.  I found it kind of disgusting and he said that it was disgusting.  Another person colored his egg with three different colors.  He colored it in a way in which you only could see one color at the time.  It was suppose to represent to see things in a new perspective.

I don't remember much from the coloring books because we did not talk about them as much.  Our instructor, though, asked us why she wants us to get and use the coloring books.  I think she told us to get coloring books so that we could use our inner child and practice our creativity.

Coloring Book Experiment

My other experiment is to color a page in a coloring book that would show what I like the world to be. Like the egg experiment I was also a little frustrated about this coloring book project as well.  It was not as bad to come up with something because having an idea for the egg project made it easier in a way for me.  I also thought to myself that I could do whatever I want with these projects.  Within reason of course.  So instead of being frustrated, I shifted into thinking that this is an opportunity.  I get to challenge myself and see how creative I could be.

Anyway, for my coloring book experiment I chose a page with dinosaurs in it with mountains in the background.  For the actually coloring I colored one of mountains brown and the other a variety of colors.  The thought behind this was that I like to imagine different worlds.  Worlds that are more interesting than our world.  That is one reason I picked the dinosaurs because somewhat out of this world type of thing. I think this is why I am drawn to games, books, and movies that have different worlds filled with interesting creatures and people.

Egg Experiment

My first experiment is to do something creative with an egg. I had a tough time trying to figure out what to do for my egg project.  I some ideas about breaking and using the pieces of the shell to make an image.  I quickly dismissed that idea because I am not the best with arts and crafts.  I was also afraid that I did not have pieces to do.

Fortunately, I got another idea.  I've decided to draw crack-like marks on the egg.  The thoughts behind the cracks are frustration and fear.   I was a bit overwhelmed when the instructor gave us this assignment, or experiments is what she likes to call them.  At school I usually know what to do right away because my teacher or instructor told me almost exactly what to do.  In this instance, though, I don’t have guidelines except for one.  Which is just to do something creative with the egg.  I don’t have a problem being creative, in fact I enjoy being creative.  But an egg!!!  Weirdest project I ever had so far.

So instead of throwing the egg or smashing it, I decide to draw the cracks.  It symbolizes that I am afraid.  I never done this type of project before and I’m afraid how people would think about it.  The other thing is frustration.  I was frustrated when I first got the egg and I had no idea what to do.  My idea did not come up until a week later.  Anyway, I thought this was an interesting project and look forward to whatever our instructor will throw in our direction.

Day 1 of Seeing Sideways

One of the things that stuck out the most to me about Seeing Sideways is that this is not your ordinary class.  From the start we were told to sit in a circle and basically have a discussion. It kind of reminded me of counseling a bit. I know that is not the point of the class it just looked like that.  It was interesting because it takes us out of the normal classroom setting.

Another thing that stuck out to me is the break that we had half-way through class.  We were told to leave the classroom but we had to stay in our chairs.  We were sitting on wheel chairs by the way.  It was an interesting experience.  We get some experience of what it is like if you are unable to walk.  We couldn't use the stairs. Actually, we could use the stairs but that won't be a good idea.  Luckily, the buttons of the elevators were low enough for us to push.

The last thing was our first assignment or experiment. Our instructor had us take an egg and told us to do something creative with it.  That is all she said to us. I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed with that.  Most of my school career I was told what to do with steps to help me.  There was one class that I took that is similar to this class.  In my photography class we were given a topic and then the teacher told us to do something based on the topic.  That was more narrow, though, when it comes to creativity but the same idea.  This class will help me because I know that I won't always will be told what to do.  I might get some help but not a whole lot.  So this will help me become less dependent on others and help me with my critical thinking.