Permission to Experiment, Sir!

I recently read in a newsletter that I receive about an experiment in which they gave children a new toy to play with and then filmed them, keeping an account of how long they played and how many ways they found to use the strange new toy. Some of the children were shown in advance about several things the toy could do, while others were just given the toy ("Look at this! How cool is this?") and told to play.

The results? Those children who were NOT told how to use the toy played with it longer and found more ways to play with it than those who WERE told.

When I teach I have found that there are always a few students who will take what I show them and use it as a springboard to expand on the idea and loose their creativity. But, most people seem reluctant to experiment and need my permission to try something unusual. I suppose this is a trait we acquire as we are growing up and is usually a good idea when it comes to self preservation (experimenting with fire when you are very young is one example of something that could have tragic results). So, we often must relearn that trait of inquisitiveness and inventiveness.

So I am giving you permission to experiment, to play, and if what you try doesn't work out.....whose to know? You are not being graded and the only consequence will be that next time you will know what NOT to do.

Have fun!!

Kennesaw Pair

Here's a little experiment where I violated some of the rules of composition, just to see what would happen, and you are seeing it here because it worked (if it hadn't it, it would be in the garbage never to be seen again). Instead of placing the two trees in a standard way on the canvas, I chopped off the bottoms making them more of a visual barrier that you must get around before you can enter the picture.

Not standard, but it works.