RECYCLING STORIES THROUGH ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Creative Phase Activities
Techniques & Tutorials
COLLECTIVE MAP
Objectives
1. Unlock creativity
2. Express emotions
3. Communicate beyond words
4. Calm the mind creating a visual flow
5. Facilitate encounters
6. Facilitate group sharing
7. Enhance visual education
8. Increase self-esteem
9. Training problem solving and space negotiation
10. Facilitate storytelling
11. Facilitate drawing by collective doodling
Material needed
Trace Cards, one per participant (any newspaper clip depicting parts of objects or other visual traces in black and white is fine)
Large sheets of white roll paper or single sheets of about 70X100;
Double-tipped black markers
Time frame
10 people/60 minutes
The more time you have, the more the map can be worked on and become interesting,
creating textures and combinations of lines and signs to cover all the white spaces of the
sheet
Tips
This activity is ideal for large groups or for square activities for all ages, as long as you have many tables available. The conductor, in the case of large groups, can also place. written instructions on each table, so that the participants can carry out the graphic action independently. To stimulate the active participation,it is important to start to draw with some line: the facilitator has to begin to draw from 2 different positions...the participant will begin to do the same without any instructions!
The activity is graphic-expressive and aims to create a collective map starting from image fragments, connecting and transforming the lines and shapes of the objects to create and visualise new encounters. Each map is the unique representation of a new place created by the people involved in the activity.
Notan (濃淡) is a Japanese term which means "dark/light". It is a concept of art and design, which consists in reducing an image to a combination of black and white shapes.
Preparation:
Take large sheets of white paper and preferably black markers.
On a sheet of 70cmx100cm can work a maximum of 4 participants: the larger the white surface, the more
you can involve people and create a huge collective map.
1. Select images that are “fragments of objects”. In our case we have selected some cards called “Trace Cards” from the deck of a board game named MemorAbilia, but you can also cut out from magazines some images of objects or other visual cues, such as letters of the alphabet or other signs. It’s important to choose large images in black and white (if in color, photocopy them) and that each “Trace Card” does not represent a complete object or figure, but only a part of it.
2. Arrange the cards or cutouts randomly on the white surface of the paper.
Each participant freely chooses the card that intrigues him the most and places himself in that spot on the table.
3. Once all the participants have chosen a starting point/trace, it is possible to start the graphic activity.
With a black marker each participant continues the image of the cutout in front of him by expanding it on the sheet: the aim is to continue the lines of the trace until you meet the lines of the other participants. Participants do no t have to draw out one figure or to complete the figure, but the should feel free to extend the track in a totally abstract and imaginative way, creating textures and geometries. Participants can change positions during the activity to fill and characterize other parts of the sheet and better blend the graphic lines or fill in areas not yet marked.
4. As soon as the collective map is finished, it is nice to admire it together and look like all of the tracks have been connected. Small moments of narration can also be conducted, trying to imagine and describe, for example, fantastic places, imaginary islands and their inhabitants.
