MARTA NEGRE

Seeing the sounds

Proposal summary

In [dik’θjon], Marta Negre (Consorci de Museus, 2019, p. 204) proposes an audiovisual experiment that combines graphic and sound elements, as well as body representation. In our proposal, we incorporate all three elements. Specifically, students experiment with two ways of representing sound: with different graphics and with their own body. Colour, pressure, and writing in the first case, and body language in the second, are the tools used by students to reflect on the possibilities of representing phonetics through art.

Materials and preparation

material_negre_a
Material-negre_b
  • List of chosen words (school vocabulary in English). One sound is selected for each word.
  • Videos with pronunciation of the chosen words.
  • White sheets and pencils for sketches.white sheets and pencils)
  • Black sheets or thin cardboards
  • White roll paper as a background during recording.
  • Yellow and white watercolour pencils.
  • One mirror per group.
  • An iPad/video camera.

 

Before starting the project, prepare the words to work on. 

In our proposal, we chose a group of words that, on one hand, contain sounds which are not present in Catalan and Spanish, in order to reinforce the work on English phonetics; and on the other hand, they are related to Visual Arts Education

The words are recorded in close up to reinforce mouth movement (one of the elements students can focus on later, to think about how to represent it graphically). 

Prepare two different spaces: one where children will work on graphics and rehearse the body movements they want to record. Another space will have the camera placed in front of a white surface where gestures or movements will be recorded.

Proposal development

This is a generic description of the proposal, which can be adapted to different levels, according to the grade and characteristics of the class. The described phases are divided into several sessions (usually between two and three). In the following section (What do we work on with this piece?), you have a detailed list of the proposal’s connections with the basic competences of Arts Education (AE), English, and CLIL methodology.

At this initial moment, the work and the author are contextualised, linking them with students’ previous knowledge and experience. Furthermore, comprehension is the main language skill involved, though the teacher always seeks interaction with the students.
The teachers involved in the project prepared materials that can be used for this purpose.
MATERIAL 1

It is interesting that students focus on the relationship established among oral language, specifically sounds, and written text, the actor's body expression, and modulations of his voice (see Aesthetic qualities of [dik’θjon]). In the proposal’s implementations, it was observed that students connected with the piece because of the humor it exudes. This connection triggers their interest.

AESTHETIC QUALITIES OF
  1. Materials presentation and steps to follow. At this point, oral comprehension and interaction are fostered. 
    2.  
  2. Words of the predefined list are placed inside a bag or envelope and each group takes one out. For the project, the chosen words were (highlighted, the sounds to focus on):
    • rubber
    • paintbrush
    • watercolours
    • book
    • soft
    • thin
  3. Viewing of the video (recorded by the teacher) where the 5 or 6 chosen words are pronounced (1 per group). After listening to each word, students can practice reproducing what they hear, reinforcing specific English phonetics, thus practicing sounds they are not too familiar with. 
    4.  
  4. Each group is divided into two subgroups: one will represent the sound graphically and the other, with their bodies 
    5.  
  5. The subgroup representing the sound graphically must highlight the specific sound that is being worked on. They can focus on the sound itself or also on mouth movements observed in the video. To do this, each member of the subgroup can experiment with pencils on sheets of paper. The final version must also be represented by each member of the subgroup using yellow and white watercolours on black sheets. The products must meet a series of criteria:
    1. Occupy the entire paper with the word. 
    2. Find a personal code by playing with
      • Colour
      • Pressure
      • Writing: size, type of font (uppercase/lowercase, shape)
      • Other elements: adding lines of any shape, dots.
    3. Drawings or symbols (such as arrows, +, -, &, hearts, stars, etc.) cannot be used. 
    6.  
  6. The subgroup working on the sound with their bodies must represent it with their hands while pronouncing the word. They can use the mirror to practice hand movements until they choose one. In this phase, the teacher and the classmates themselves must check that the agreed criteria are followed (see at the end of this section). The final version, where the word is pronounced while the gesture is made, will be recorded by each member of the subgroup while the rest of the class observes in silence. 

    The teacher or the rest of the students belonging to the subgroup can take care of the recordings. The products must meet a series of criteria:
    1. Not representing the meaning of the word.
    2. Not drawing letters in the air.
    3. Thinking about the movement the mouth makes to reproduce the sound or what the sound being produced evokes.
   

When all groups have finished the graphic representations and recordings, an exhibition is prepared in an appropriate spot in the classroom or school that includes the original piece, videos with body representations, and cardboards with graphic representations of the words. This way, a visual dialogue is generated between both proposal

The format of the exhibition can be modified. A multimodal document can be presented on an interactive screen with links to each of the videos, next to cardboards with corresponding graphic representations. 

A document (ppt, word, pdf) containing links to each of the clips can also be projected onto a white wall, with cardboards pasted around the projection. 

The teacher reflects with the students on the connections between pronunciation, emphasizing sonority, which is new for students, and gestures. The reflection links back to Marta Negre's piece, reiterates the criteria, and focuses on

  1. how limiting possibilities of action activates creativity, as the set parameters require finding solutions that adapt to them. 
  2. the cognitive process of artistic creation is reinforced by avoiding the use of icons that are often reproduced automatically, such as stars or hearts.
  3. grouping individual or pair creations seen as a whole leads to the creation of a collective work that is coherent in itse

What do we work on with this piece?

The work of each proposal is competency-based, but materializes through specific aspects inspired by the original piece. Specifically, [dik’θjon] by Marta Negre leads us to focus on synesthesia, specifically on the artistic possibilities of representing a sound graphically and bodily, with:

  • Colour
  • Pressure
  • Writing: size, type of font (uppercase/lowercase, shape)
  • Other elements: adding lines of any shape, dots.
  • Body movement / expression
  • Sonority of the voice

Click the button to download a more detailed description of how to link the proposal with specific AE competencies.

Relationship with specific EA competencies

The proposal aims to make a contextualised use of language, fostering the development of language skills. This is carried out through a communicative approach highlighting action-oriented learning in which the exchange of artistic and linguistic codes is encouraged. 

Within this competency-based work, each step of the proposal constitutes one or several communication situations that act as a meaningful context for the use of more specific knowledge, which each teacher can select according to their objectives. Among others, the characteristics of the original piece and the proposal derived from it can be conducive to work on sound and accent patterns and some spelling conventions specific to the English language. Additionally, the project enables the use of basic digital tools for oral and multimodal co-production and for co-evaluation and the application of conversational conventions and strategies to ask for and give instructions, ask for and give clarifications and explanations. Click the button to download a more detailed description of how to link the proposal with specific foreign language competences.

Click the button to download a more detailed description of how to link the proposal with specific foreign language competencies.

 

Relationship with specific foreign language skills

The CLIL approach was conceived to be applicable in any area of knowledge, but each area has well-defined characteristics. One of the objectives of this project has been to identify the specificities of AE that, on the one hand, can strengthen the CLIL approach and, on the other hand, can benefit from applying this approach. The work among teachers, researchers, and students has allowed us to design a CLIL proposal specific to AE. Click the button to download it.

 

Relationship with AICLE methodology

Students’ creations

Project funded in the 2019 call for the Universitat Jaume I Research Promotion Plan (UJI-A2019-25)
All the images are the authorship of the following members of the project: Maria Avariento, Anna Marzà, Paloma Palau and Paola Ruiz.

CONTACT
artsenguji@gmail.com

Avís legal | Política de privacitat
Corporate identity design Enric Redón | Web design and programming joanrojeski creative studio