Severo Covian

Visual Language 2

Lana Caplan

SOURCE STATEMENT

My source this semester has been about ambient noise. For my final project I’d like to create a statement that is in regards to children and the effects that ambient noise has on them in the learning process. Since I work with kids in an afterschool program I have witnessed the effects that environmental and ambient noise has on them in the classroom. I would like to be constructive in this project, because as a teacher my goal is to build for them clear guidance and direction, to assist them in understanding the ways of the world and their community and their relationship to their surroundings.

3 IDEAS

I will explore three different possibilities – all encompassing potential for an installation; be it a functional or conceptual form.

The first is to take some of the teaching methods described in the above paragraph and show those characteristics in built form. This type of installation will require some sketches and development of form through bah reliefs. Material of choice for the model(s) will be in some type of wood, perhaps foam core, and other architectural modeling materials. The installation will presumably be built within the walls of an outdoor space. The space is approximately 50ft. depth, and 100ft length.

Another possibility is to build a tree house/fort for kids in a neighborhood in Davis Square, Somerville, MA. In effort to provide creative activities to a family who is often busy, maximizing their outdoor space for three kids and three dogs is a must. The flowerbeds are already dead! I will most likely only use wood material and metal joints as needed. As building this structure may incur a great deal of bureaucracy, this may be mostly a model.

The third choice is to volunteer at a veteran’s shelter. I would solely take their stories and transform/morph them into some type of built form. Materials aren’t of great concerns as they can be threads, wood, glass, metal, etc.

Title: AMBIENT NOISE

I teach both as a guide and an observer, with an effort to intervene less and less as the student develops, and to build an atmosphere of calm, order and joy in the classroom. I hope to foster an environment for kids that is stimulating but without unnecessary distraction.

In my research on the topic of ambient noise and its’ effects on children’s learning I found astounding information: that kids who are raised in crowded neighborhoods and near noisy sites like airports and highways have higher levels or the stress hormone cortisol and have poorer concentration, leading to lower classroom performance.

In my final project I will create something that incorporates my source throughout the semester and combine it with something that I feel passionate about, children and education. My piece will reflect this relationship.