Theater 101 - Creative Color

This course is an introduction to design for performance, with an emphasis on color. Color and design are an important part of how we experience and also impact the world around us, and how we express ourselves. Thinking about design and color develops an observational acuity necessary not just for interpreting our world as an artist or as an empirical scientist, but also for communicating with it in pictures, since sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. For a direct experience of color in performance design, we will attend three live shows presented by the Fine Arts Center, as well as have group and individual site visits in the surrounding area where we can observe color ?performance? and envision some of our own. Driven by the desire to understand color better, we will learn from extraordinary practitioners by examining pieces of visual art, designs for stage and film, and examples of visual communication in the less poetic contexts of meteorology and financial charts. We will consider different artistic styles and genres without losing sight of the context of their cultural histories and traditions and how that context has influenced the creators? relationship to color. Students will have opportunities to express and practice their learning during discussions, through pieces of written visual analysis and by creating original compositions. Our active and creative investigation of color in performance design will be enhanced by some use of technology such as Photoshop and the creation of original compositions using paper collage. (Gen. Ed. AT)