Driving Question: How can I create a photo album capturing the true essence of street art in Oaxaca City?
Project Summary: Raf’s personal project is about photography and photo editing. His project aimed to capture the essence of street art in Oaxaca. Due to the fact that Oaxaca has an abundance of incredible street art, Raf felt it was of high importance to capture this beauty using photography and exemplify it using Photoshop. You can see the pictures Raf has taken and edited below, which hopefully provide a sense of Oaxaca’s beauty.
Student Reflection: This project gave me the time to just pause amongst all the craziness in a term. When taking photos, I felt relaxed, and that I was really appreciating Oaxaca for what it was. I learned that if we don’t pay attention to the small details of a given environment, we might miss its beauty.
Driving Question: How can we model a clay sculpture inspired by Mexican beliefs and religious syncretism (the merging of different beliefs) to represent a fusion of our personal beliefs and values?
Project Summary: Bido calls his sculpture “Al Khail,” which means horse in Arabic. It is intended to show a fusion of his values and beliefs. The wings are a symbol of freedom, ambition, and a representation of spirituality. Al Khail is inspired mainly by nature.
Bido’s belief in “Kama Tudeen Tudan,” meaning “Good Karma,” is represented by the birds on the top of the horse and inspired by the Old Man’s Beard plant grown in Oaxaca’s cloud forest.
Both the plant and the tree live together and are kind to each other as part of the mutualistic symbiosis relationship. Similarly, the horse was kind enough to let the birds live on top of him; it turns out the birds feed on the little creatures on the horse’s body, creating a mutually beneficial relationship that started with an act of kindness.
Student Reflection: “I had a limiting belief before starting this module that I’m not very artistic — the first time I experimented with clay I found it very difficult; however, I dedicated time to experimenting with different techniques and used digital art and 3D modeling to help create my sculpture. I learned that just by accepting something and working hard for it, we can really achieve more than we expect.”
Driving Question: How can we model a clay sculpture inspired by Mexican beliefs and religious syncretism (the merging of different beliefs) to represent a fusion of our personal beliefs and values?
Project Summary: Life is seen as a transitory stage towards something greater for many belief systems. “El Camino” – meaning “The Path” – represents a merger between the Zapotec and Catholic belief systems in Oaxaca, and the most important one in the construction of Lucas’s faith, Buddhism.
The upper part of Lucas’s sculpture symbolizes the Zapotec’s way towards Mictlan, a place of eternal peace, which consists of a nine-level journey that takes four years to complete. The cross on the opposite end is an element of the Christian faith that embraces the challenges that ultimately become our passports to sanctification. In the middle, they meet to become one, referencing both the syncretism in Oaxaca and the end of duality – a Buddhist concept of spiritual enlightenment.
Student Reflection: “Over my weeks in Mexico, I could explore in-depth the values of the belief systems that gave birth to Oaxaca’s unique syncretic landscape. As I appreciated the elements of these highly different cultures, I was able to see a multitude of symbols that resembled my own faith everywhere. The final sculpture I constructed is an embracement of both my learnings and some of my most foundational beliefs about life and the universe.”
Driving Question: How can we model a clay sculpture inspired by Mexican beliefs and religious syncretism (the merging of different beliefs) to represent a fusion of our personal beliefs and values?
Project Summary: For her project, Minahil created a sculpture of Qandeel-e-Zeist (Light of Life), which embodies the values and beliefs that guide and enlighten her life.
Minahil’s project blends Zapotec symbolism, the Chinese Yin and Yang, Quranic verses, Urdu poetry, and personal emblems that convey how different cultures, people, and places have shaped the person Minahil is today.
The treasure chest represents her beliefs and values and highlights how the elements in her sculpture are invaluable to her. Leaving the treasure chest open expresses the importance of being open-minded. It further indicates how her values and beliefs are changing.
Student Reflection: “Everyone in the world has a set of values and beliefs that guide and enlighten their lives. Through this module, I learned about my own values and beliefs in-depth, developed a greater understanding and appreciation of the personal values of indigenous cultures in Oaxaca, especially the Zapotecs.”
Art is such a big part of Oaxaca’s culture and its diversity is what makes it so unique. We had the chance to talk to artists who make art for a living, and it has been in their family for 5 generations. We also had the chance to talk to newer artists who may not depend on it for an income. It has been a very interesting experience to take in all the different perspectives of these artists, and learn about how they all coexist in the same place.
-Class of 2024 Student Keetah B..
Driving Question: How might we convey the intersection of local arts and economy through documentary filmmaking?
What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?
During the AyAyAyAyAy module, my goals were to improve my filmography skills while gaining an in-depth understanding of art and economy here in Oaxaca.
Through this module, we were filming and editing for hours at a time, so I improved my filmography skills through constant practice and analyzing what I did wrong and how I could improve it. We also got feedback from local videographers, which was very useful when using Premiere Pro for the first time.
During both the weXplore and back at the main residence, the experiential learning really helped me feel like I understood Oaxacan art. We even got to take part in making the art and talk to the artists. I now have a greater understanding of the relationship between art and economy, art and politics, and art and culture. I feel that I have also learned about how vital artisanship is here and the perspective more modern artists have of artisans.
What new things did you learn about yourself?
I learned more about my filming style and what I can improve on when filming. I also learned that I’m a perfectionist, especially when it comes to editing.
I learned that my perspectives of what art is and the motivations people have for art don’t always align. I also learned how people’s perspectives of art itself might change depending on why they do art.
Driving Question: How might we convey the intersection of local arts and economy through documentary filmmaking?
What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?
To inform others about local artists in Oaxaca relating to art and the economy.
What new things did you learn about yourself?
Throughout this module, we learned multiple different things: From how art and economy in Oaxaca are changing to learning how to edit and film our very own documentary. This module also tested our limits, as it was very demanding no matter how interesting, and we can say that we are very proud of our final result.
What are your big takeaway lessons from this project?
Our biggest takeaway is how the art industry has evolved here and how that impacts the artists here in Oaxaca, and how there is more openness to expressing oneself through art.
One of my favorite sessions was right after our wexplore, visiting Tierra del Sol. It was unbelievable. The place was fantastic and so heart-warming. Everything was so thought out and showed an impressively accurate representation of what a community space should look like. I spent such a great time there and hope to go again. I learned more than I could’ve imagined.
-Class of 2023 Student Mila F.
Driving Question: How might we use our understanding of architecture through time to design a context-informed structure?
Our group designed what we believe is a modern take on a traditional Oaxacan house and gastronomical hub which showcases the Oaxaca’s rich food and drink diversity.
What new things did you learn about yourself?
We learned about the impact of colonialism on Mexican architecture through our experience through seeing the use of traditional European elements that incorporate Mexican structures.
What are your big takeaway lessons from this project?
Our biggest takeaway was the process of the environmental impact analysis as I feel like the process of environmental impact analysis will be very important in any project I want to do that involves construction thinking about input and output I am putting in the environment.
Driving Question: How can I utilize my knowledge of Mayan mythology to create an original piece of Mayan artwork?
Project Description: For this personal project, Noemie set out to demonstrate creativity by creating an art piece inspired by Mayan culture. The piece was based on experiential research Noemie performed during her time in Tulum, Mexico.
Driving Question: How do shutter speed, aperture, and editing affects the final product in portrait photography?
Project Description: This project was about learning how to apply aperture, shutter speed, and editing to the pictures, finding creative backgrounds, and improving my photography skills mainly in portraits.
Student Reflection:
“Mainly, during this project I found how big my passion is for photography. I hadn’t realized how big it was and how much knowledge I was missing. What was challenging was the editing because figuring it out took me a while. It was very exciting to go out and take pictures for the first time with the proper knowledge, but mainly, having the chance to show people my work.”
Driving Question: How can I use the logic of building up a garment using the right techniques to build up a dress from scratch?
Module Overview: For this project, my goal was to create a summer dress that meets my goals and purpose. My goal was to do a dress that is trendy, comfortable, and that suits me well. I did all the process from making the pattern, cutting the fabric, sewing it, assembling it, and adjusting it to fit me best. I didn’t know anything about sewing, so I had to learn the basics to then sew my dress. The final product is a photoshoot of the dress showing it from different angles.
Project Reflection: “This project was challenging and exciting at the same time. I knew nothing about sewing, so I had to learn everything from the basics. The dress that I wanted to do was so complex that I would get frustrated at some points and didn’t know how to continue. After tons of work, I am proud and surprised by the final product; I wasn’t expecting to do such a pretty dress with so little experience.”
