Stipple Reflections
What do they think of me? Where do I fit in? How can I stand out?
In high school, like in adulthood, identity is fluid. The answer to the question “who am I?” can change from day to day, and from one context to another. The person I am as daughter at home is different from my role as best friend on the phone, competitor on the soccer field, or outsider in the lunchroom.
Many young adults choose to manage these changing identities through new technologies. They use social networking sites like Facebook, cell phones, even television shows and movies – “which character am I?” – to articulate and understand their own identities and those of their peers. For most students, these high-tech tools will continue to be a force in their lives as they grapple with notions of identity throughout adulthood.
While learning the technique of stippling to articulate value and form without lines, this project encourages students to reflect on the role of technology on their changing identities. Students will create a stipple drawing of their reflection in a “screen” – be it a school computer or television, some personal technology like a cell phone or music player, or a new high-tech tool of their own imagining. Students will ask: “in what ways is this reflection true, and how might it be altered or skewed?”