Michael Avila's TMA 457 Blog

Creating with Words: Blackout Poetry This form of poetry would be exciting to implement into a unit about script analysis. After performing a thorough reading and analysis of a play, the students choose a page of the script to do blackout poetry that illustrates a main theme of the play Creating with Images: Emoji Story An emoji story could be used to assess if students understand the plot to a play we read in class. Additionally, it can be used when rehearsing monologues to show which tactics or actions the student will use with each sentence. Creating with Sounds: Song Catching During a unit on devising, the students research songs by asking their peers outside of class what songs they think of when given a specific theme or emotion. For example, if the devised piece is about over-use of technology, they could ask their friends what songs they think about when they hear the word "FOMO" "anxiety" "techno" or "overwhelming." And then th...

Photo from  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52267/jacob-bastian Photographed here is my great-great-great-great-great grandfather Jacob Bastian. He was arrested for being a polygamist during the time the Church was practicing polygamy. As often as we try to explain as members of the church that we no longer practice polygamy, I think it is important to recognize that it still affects many of the members of the church today. I decided to add to this photograph to bring it into the present and provide context of why it is significant today. I thought it would be interesting to focus on the perspective of how polygamy benefited my family. Personally, I do not agree with that form of lifestyle, but I have to accept that I would not have been born into this family if polygamy did not exist. I thought that this was a really interesting assignment. It caused me to analyze my different identities and decide how I could bring it into my art. The constraints of the assignment invi...

https://soundcloud.com/michael-avila-111233190/new-recording This was an interesting process because I do not usually use sound recordings, especially as art. I've used audio recording on my phone to help me practice songs or monologues, but this experience has made me excited to use audio as a source of creation and inspiration. I decided to record the process of walking to my car and starting to drive because it is something I do everyday and do not think much about. When I listened to the recording, I was surprised by how musical it sounded. The rhythm of the walking sounded like a drum beat: my Sunday shoes created a more resonate sound than my usual sneakers. The content of this creation stressed the importance of beauty of being in the moment and recognizing the things around you. Like Barney, I love authentic art. I think this is an authentic piece of art because it is from this moment of time and it cannot be recreated in a natural setting. I was inspired by Jan Yager...

In 5 minutes, in class today and by yourself, you will create 3 tableaus (frozen images) based off of the last text you sent and utilize one unique object from you backpack and use it in each of your tableaus: the object has to be used abstractly (do not use it like you would use it in reality).

For this assignment, I used an app called "Drawing Desk" from the Apple App Store. I used my iPhone and drew with my finger. I started by exploring the app, determining its functions and capabilities. Most of the content was locked and required purchase to access the full app. In the sketching portion of the app, I discovered that I could use a variety of drawing tools like pen, pencil, crayon, marker, and paint brush. I was also able to select colors from a color wheel and save the hue I wanted: I could adjust the tone, intensity, and value of the colors. Finally, I could use a ruler or stencils to create circles or straight lines. These affordances allowed me to choose multiple colors to create contrast and depth to a drawing. I decided to start with a base color and then layer warm colors to add texture. Then I used cool colors and circle stencils. This media showcases the specific color choices and different drawing tools that are available. One of the paintbrush sty...