STAR-POST (Art) January 2019 Jan. 2019 | Page 76

artworks and encourage them to critically review their choice of media in artmaking. Why is it important for teachers to have the opportunity to learn from practising artists and/or develop our own art practise? Top: Sketching our ideas during the workshop. Bottom: Presenting our work to our peers. 76 Learning from the SPREAD Design Duo was a rare and valuable opportunity for us to create art with contemporary artists. Such first-hand learning added value to ourselves as art practitioners and in turn, we could also share the insights gained with our students. Students sometimes look at contemporary art in galleries and question the simplicity and the value pegged to the artwork. We could leverage upon this experience of learning and working with the artists to better inform and guide our students. Hearing the thoughts directly from the artists and listening to the comments from other participants helped us see how contemporary art can indeed be meaningful despite taking on a very simplified form of presentation. Throughout the week, the critique and feedback received on our work also helped us to think about ways to improve and to refine our aesthetics judgement. It was a period of dedicated time to be immersed in our artmaking, to step out of our comfort zone to experiment and play with a new kind of material! 77