I thought of a new idea that I am more interested in. I think this is a better idea because it is less risky, I think with my other project, it could fall through really easily. Also, I think my other project could get a little repetitive. This project would have the same type of feel to it, but just surrounding a different topic. 

The questions I would be trying to answer would be, 

How can I represent someone else’s dreams through art?
How do events going on in personal life and the world manifest themselves into one’s dreams? How may certain symbols that appear in dreams give us hints as to what may be going on with a person subconsciously or consciously? What clues about someone’s personal life can give leeway into what certain symbols in their dreams mean?

For this project, I would be exploring the topics of dreams, psychology, and art (another combination of interests). I became interested in dreams and psychology when I took Pat’s psychology class over the summer. In that class, we talked about anxiety, and how it affected our dreams, we also talked about symbols in dreams, and different interpretations using the Book of Symbols. To prepare for my project, I would read a couple of books on dream interpretations, and separately about psychology. I’m thinking of maybe a Freud book, maybe Dream Psychology: Psychoanalysis for beginners. I also may find a book on artists who depict dreams in their work. I think I also want to buy the book of symbols to have handy when interpreting people’s dreams. 

 

For the actual “doing” part of this project, I see myself sending out a google form to the whole school. It would contain prompts such as, 

Explain a dream you had recently. Is this a recurring dream? 

What grade are you in? On average, how many hours of sleep do you get per night? 

Do you tend to remember your dreams? (still thinking of more questions). 

 

This would be an anonymous survey because it could get personal. All of these questions would give me hints as to what the symbols in their dreams mean. With the information that I obtain, I would create a scrapbook/book type thing in a notebook I buy. On the left side, I would include writing, what I interpreted this person’s dreams as, and what I think it means. On the right side, I would curate a collage representation of the dream. I was thinking about different mediums going into this, and I thought that collage would be perfect because I could take found images (magazines, newspapers, stickers, etc.) that seemingly don’t match with each other, and put them together on a piece of paper to represent the person’s dream. I think this is a great project for me because the concept of dreams have always intrigued me. I have always wanted the opportunity to interpret other people’s dreams, and I think this is the perfect time to do that. 

OLD IDEA

How do children (ages 2-7 )express their perception of the world through art? 

In what ways can we interpret children’s artwork from a young adult perspective?

How do current events in the world affect the content of children’s artwork? 

How can we look at symbols, colors, and materials to decipher the child’s current state of mind?

During the summer, I took Pat’s dreams and anxiety, psychology class. This gave me insight into “decoding” dreams and finding hidden symbols (that reveal things about yourself). Even though art isn’t the same, it has a similar feel in the sense that I would be breaking down what children draw and how that may connect to their own life and the world. This project would be a combination of some of my interests, art, psychology, child care. I have a few books handy such as Art as Experience by John Dewey…. Collage and construction in school by Lois Lord and Experience and Art by Nancy R. Smith. I will find other resources though, maybe teachers/child art therapists. 

These questions intrigue me and can benefit me in the future by exploring my current interests. 

I see myself reaching out to different schools around the U.S to gather information from children of all backgrounds. I will ask some teachers if I may be able to sit in on a zoom art class or go into breakout rooms with the children to ask them questions about their art and take some pictures. I can also send out a virtual form to different schools, art, or art therapy organizations around the U.S (to the teachers and parents) asking about a piece of their children’s artwork, and how the child described what they drew. Since this would be online, there is a chance that I wouldn’t get enough pieces of artwork, but I also babysit so I could ask some of the kids. With the information I obtain, I see myself either creating a website or a blog. 

Alternate:

I am really into plants and gardening. Another idea would be to go to as many NYC public parks as I can and write a book about the plants I find, what you can use them for, if they have medicinal qualities, if and how you can eat them. I would track both invasive species and hand-planted plants. The issue with this is that it is winter, and many plants are dying :(((