This past year was a whirlwind of activity – my first year at the University of Cincinnati has completed (for the most part). Studying Fine Arts is an intensely-paced and emotionally demanding program, and I have learned a few things about contemporary art and professional practices that have changed my academic and personal outlooks on life.

 

One of the first significant things I learned this year was the existence of Social Practice Art. This art form was introduced to me through a foundations lecture, Introduction to Contemporary Art, and has opened my mind to new possibilities within the arts. Social Practice Art can be briefly defined as “an art medium that focuses on engagement through human interaction and social discourse,” however; many will provide varying definitions based on their own interpretations. Like other art mediums throughout history Social Practice Art has defined qualifications – the art must be socially engaged in some way – but the most elusive aspect of this art form is that it does not require any physical manifestations of art.

 

Unlike painting, sculpture, or even temporal installation, all of which have some sort of physical objective component, Social Practice Art only asks for social engagement and human interaction.

 

Therefore, one must pose the question: where does the art occur?

 

is served really flourished this past year through the studying of Social Practice Art, as well as my personal exploration communityThe task of answering this question inspired me to re-think how I define artistic practice, especially in relation to my own life experience. I have always been keen to community engagement whether it be through volunteer service, artistic or musical outreach. My interest in how a within this art form.

 

This past academic year I have chosen to engage myself in opportunities where I could share, teach, and most importantly engage with communities I was and was not already familiar with. I have involved myself with DAAP Alliance, DAAP Ambassadors, MyCincinnati, the University of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and finally FieldTrip, a student-led art forum. I am sure there are other, smaller experiences that have been part of my first year – but these stand out to me as the most influential thus far into my academic career. I have been able to mentor design learning, teach music, teach art, perform as a musician, write and express my ideas, and most importantly share my learning in real time with the communities I engage with.

 

Looking back, these cumulative experiences I joined with the purposes of broadening my learning and with the hope of narrowing down exactly what I will pursue during my time at the University of Cincinnati. For me, the pattern that emerges out of these combined experiences is that of a multi-disciplinary individual. I am writing the word multi-disciplinary here because, for me, it has been the first step in identifying who I am as a creative individual and intellectual. For a long time the idea of the ‘Renaissance man” fascinated me, as a young person committed to too many things with seemingly no connection: classical music, visual arts study, 4-H agriculture, and youth development, a passion for travel, the list could go on.

 

However, I would not like to be just a multi-disciplinary individual, I would like to be an interdisciplinary individual.

 

Through the process of experiential investigation, I will admit that I probably bit off more than I could chew at times, but the collective experience I gained has told me more about myself than I ever would have thought. Before I came to the University of Cincinnati, I unfortunately felt dismayed at committing myself to just the study of fine arts. I had thought that the separation of art forms – visual arts and music – was necessary for advancing in my learning, but I have since learned that the limiting of opportunities was a notion that I had made up. I learned in my very first exposure to contemporary art that there are options for interdisciplinary practice I had never thought of, and consequentially that I would be fascinated to learn. Now informed, I plan to explore sound, light, video, and social practice art at DAAP in the future.

 

For the next year, I have personally committed to further explore opportunities in Education experience, as well as learning theory behind teaching and interdisciplinary education. I also am interested in how to be involved with research opportunities. So much of art is active creation – even with the need for conceptual basis – and I would like to take the time to rather research and observe without the intention for creative output.

 

Finally, I will continue to involve myself in community-oriented efforts as I have discovered through reflection that they are the most consistent endeavor I have taken. I will use my skills in art, music, and teaching to better the life and learning of communities around me.