Hallway Sounds

In my attempt to develop a portrait of Hempstead. I decided to roam around the halls during the morning, after school, and sometimes in between classes. While I wondered around the various hallways and corridors I recorded the mixture of sounds. My plan is to some how make these sounds into a visual portrait of Hempstead High School.

What projects would I like to explore and research?

I am constantly observant of the people and places that I interact with in my life, but no group of people or place influences my art more then my students and the school I teach at. I can see some of the great things that make up my school, but I can also see some of the things that could help improve it. There are always consistent problems that I feel need attention. A few years ago I decided to approach some of these problems by starting an after school art group called, "The Hempstead Community Art Group." This was a group of 8 to 9 students that met once a week to discuss the issues of bulling, discrimination, and harassment within our Hempstead community. It was through this I started to realize that there were other themes that I needed to research further. Through our discussions we talked about the existence of cliques at Hempstead High School. It was this discussion the got me thinking about my own high school experience. Did I belong to any cliques? Through this reflection I found out that I was more of a nomad. I didn't really belong to a specific group, but intermingled between groups. I hung out with some jocks, drama and speech students, nerds, popular, smart kids, band geeks, hicks, art students (although there wasn't very many), and other nomads like me. I didn't really hangout too much with the motor heads although I kind of wish I did. It was when I compared the cliques at my high school to the one I teach at that I saw some differences. There are some of the same cliques, but there are some new ones. Some mix with others. Some despise others. Some are created because the school has made them that way. There are nomads. But there are also some students who are disconnected and don't belong to any clique. This is where I wish to start my research. I want to try to create a portrait of my school by identifying the different cliques. It is through this research I hope that I can solve any connection issues that this cliques have. I also hope that it can help our school come together better as a community and a family. I would hope that it would create more school pride. This is another thing I feel our school is truly missing. PRIDE. I listen to our pep-rallies, sporting events, and other school functions. When a student or group of students make a great achievement it is barley noticed. I believe if I can some how bring these cliques together, then some how mustang pride will grow.

How is what I do research? How does research create my art?

My methods of research in art can and sometimes moves in two different directions. When creating my art sometimes I feel it is necessary to dive right into the material. It is through the process of manipulation, construction, addition, subtraction and multiplication that helps me learn to understand the material I am working with. I refer to this as research through the material, but there is another road of research that I take. Sometimes the idea comes from a specific need that is still unsatisfied. It is through journals, blogging, and web-searching, socializing, observing, theorizing, and teaching that some of my ideas develop further. Whichever method of research I work with, I have discovered that there really is no end to that research, nor to that artistic idea, but it only provides the next step in my research and creation of art.