Batik with Glue

Batik is a traditional way to dye fabric, usually using hot wax to draw out a design and then dying it over. The wax is a resist for the dye, and when it is removed, it leaves a white or a light colored design. For the above example, the white part of the design is what was covered up initially. For kids, you can just use gel glue to get similar results without the burns!

Example:

Tutorials online:

http://thatartistwoman.blogspot.com/2008/07/kid-friendly-batik.html

http://fabricdyeing101.blogspot.com/2006/11/how-to-make-batik-like-fabrics-with.html

A drawback to this technique is that it takes overnight for the glue to dry before you can paint/dye on top of it, so there definitely isn't much instant gratification.

Episode: Dance!

I was going to save this for our meeting tomorrow, but then I wrote it out and I mean why bother.

For the Dance episode, I was thinking that we could arrive at Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie, where the lines and blocks of the painting are dancing and changing color all around the characters like some sort of crazy colorful city that was constantly rearranging itself. Mondrian, all blockliney, comes and shows the imaginauts how to dance with the city. Maybe we invite him to our imagirave later?

I like the idea of bridging different forms of art together, blurring the lines of genre until we see nothing but the act of creation. Dancing>painting. Stage lighting>Caravaggio? A writer of historical fiction visits a museum to better understand the mindset of itinerant nobles at the height of the rococo, and ends up imagining themselves into the paintings? That one might not work so well.

Still! Chase down those elusive Hyper-Lynx, guys!

Here are some words that Lynda Barry said and I read:

"What if drawing was a way to get to a certain state of mind that was very good for us? And what if this certain state of mind was more important than the drawing itself?

I believe making lines and shapes and coloring them in can still help us in the way it helped us when we were kids. When we used paper as if it were a mere place rather than a thing. A place where something alive can happen through motion. The motion of our bare hands--the original digital devices; wireless; bio fueled; completely ours."

*jonathan*

Notes from an early brainstorming session!

A while ago, Jonathan and I got together and talked about some stuff...

Here are the notes I took!

List of Episode Ideas:

- Filmmaking

- Exploring

- Music

- Cooking

- Dance

- Architecture

- Painting

- Journalism

- Animation

- Typography

- Printing/Engraving

- Color and Light

- Theater

First Episode:

- Imaginauts graduate from the Imaginaut Academy

- Head of the Academy (David--like the sculpture) calls them into his office and tells them that levels on the Imagimometer are dangerously low, and that he needs them to begin inspiring immediately

- There will be some sort of explanation of what the Imaginauts do, and then a normal episode will follow

I'm not sure if anything we came up with for that first episode still applies, but it was in my notes, so I included it. We'll figure it out next time we meet :)

1/17 Ideas

-       We need pins or vests or sashes or badges or t-shirts or aprons or hats or rings or something! We could even show making them as our first craft???

-       Maybe we could write Linda Berry and ask for her support and quote permission?

Show Composition

Each Show

- Composed of 8 or 9 basic parts:

- Theme/Intro

- Introduction of client character and problem

- Off to help! World 1

- World 2

- Check-up on client character

- World 3

- Return and Inspire!/Resolution

- Closing theme/credits

- Optional: craft/quote of the day!

- Composed of 8 or 9 work elements:

- Choose and research a topic

- Choose specific artists/subject matter to deal with in the show

- Determine specific necessary works of art

- Cite those pieces

- Write the script

- Make the necessary new characters and set

- Shoot video/animate

- Record sounds and voiceovers

- Edit

- Publish/produce

- Burn to a dvd

- Eventually release on online accounts

1/17 Questions

-       Where are the copyright lines drawn? How much of an image can we use/how much do we have to disguise it? Are our repoductions of actual images infringement?

-       Can we get a video camera plz?

-       Public Access channels? Can we use tv studio equip??

1/17 Worldly

World:

-       the imaginauts interact with other imaginary characters in ImagiNation

-       The Imaginauts never interact directly with the subject/character they’re helping. “Secret Muses”

-       “Surprise technology” – things that just work, with no explanation or introduction. Ex: ‘Where are we?’ ‘Oh hold on I’ll check.’ Pulls out a seed, plants it, a compass rose springs up. ‘Aha! Thataway!’

-       Imagimometer – main and handheld.

-   Main: large complex towering device topped with a weathervane – keeps track of the world’s imaginative flow

-   Handheld: shows us a picture of the episode’s client character, with a dial going from bored/frustrated to inspired – icons for those states change with each show.

-       there is no anonymous 3^rd person narrator ever – we always know the person talking

Episode Brainstorming

Topics:
1. Television episode
2. Videogames
3. Comics
4. Imaginauts are given assignments that are the reverse of their specialty
5. Postmodernism
6. Performance art
7. Sound art
8. Video

Specific Problems:
1. Supermarket dissatisfaction
2. Cooking conundrums with a chef

Also, given that our first episode is basically our pilot, we decided that we would need to fit a typical Imaginauts episode in alongside exposition with all The Imaginauts knitty gritty. It should probably be double length to accommodate all of the things we want to fit inside of it.

The basic outline of the pilot:
1. Exposition of academy/Imaginauts
2. Problem
3. Assignment
4. Pan through a kaleidoscopic view of all the painting worlds (perhaps even sneak peaks of worlds to come in the next episodes!)
5. The first painting world they visit
6. The second painting world they visit
7. Resolution

The Sounds of the Imaginauts

We need to be aware of how we use sound in our show. Dead silence and lack of background noise can be as distracting as too much sound.

Musical moments in our show:
1. Our major theme song, which would occur at the beginning of each episode
2. Mini themes, which occur when certain actions happen, e.g. traveling in the tower always occurs with the same/similar music
3. Specific musical styles appropriate for each painting world we visit. Techno for futurism?

In addition to music, we can also incorporate ambient background noise.

Craft Segment

We've decided that we should have a do-it-yourself-with-our-help craft segment for our show. It would occur at the end of the show after the plot has been resolved, and each show would possibly incorporate each craft we teach within the set/puppets/etc. Teaching with applications!

Post all your ideas about interesting and easy crafts that our viewers would appreciate, plus directions or links to more info!

Already on the list:
1. Kites
2. Batik with glue
3. Origami
4. Marbled paper (and paper treatments in general)
5. Sock monkeys (copyrighted?)