KI professor is artist-in-residence in New Brunswick

KI professor Rob Gorbet recently had some interesting experiences during his time in New Brunswick:

Project LEO

Project LEO is helping students at Riverview High School in New Brunswick to combine science, technology, and art through a series of suspended interactive light sculptures for the atrium of their school. 

Students have learned design skills, laser cutting, soldering, electronics, and considered creative and artistic representation of emotion using light patterns in time. Students involved mention the feeling of empowerment they get from making a thing and putting it out in the world, and have talked about seeing themselves and their interests differently after being involved in the project. 

LEO currently comprises 3 columnar sculptures and will eventually have 6 columns that are all interconnected and communicating with each other, mirroring the 6 primary stars in the constellation Leo. Project LEO is a partnership between Living Architecture Systems Group (LASG), teacher Ian Fogarty, and Riverview students, and is driving R&D forward for the LASG while training the next generation of thinkers to be more interdisciplinary.  

Read more about Rob's work on this project in this article: Integrative teaching in high school

Art, Engineering, and Collaboration: Building Sustainable Communities

Rob gave a public artist talk in the town of Alma, NB, on the Bay of Fundy. Weaving stories from his experience designing and installing interactive technology-mediated art around the world, attendees considered the question of whether the interpretation of non-representational art provides a low-stakes environment for teaching and practising valuing others’ perspectives. Could structured conversations around art make citizens better able to engage in dialogue with others who think differently than they do? 

Integrative Teaching Using Muscle Wire

Rob spent a day with a dozen high school teachers from both arts and sciences discussing integrative teaching. Participants engaged in hands-on creative activities using shape memory alloys supported by Dynalloy, Brilliant Labs, and the New Brunswick Teachers Association, and discussed the difference between sketching for representation vs. communication, creativity exercises, and blending disciplines in the classroom.  They also created some pretty cool inventions using their shape memory alloys!  Much fun was had.