To Build A Classroom

To kick off the school year, at Student Orientation we travelled as a school to the Sonic Pavilion Festival at Millennium Park. The objective of the Field Experience was to familiarize new students with Internal and External Investigations for Action Projects. As a school we explored the question, 'What makes a classroom?' In small cohorts we discussed what we believed makes a good classroom and how they have evolved since the 2000 BCE in the Sumerian era to now.

The piece I chose to analyze was Sonorous Admittings by the composer Kioto Aoki. I was drawn to this sound because of the bold and fierce taiko drums beats. I enjoyed this piece because it reminded me of the time my zia's boyfriend took my family and I to see his friend's taiko drum group play at the Museum of Contemporary Art. I believe Aoki's objective was to display a powerful instrument in Japanese culture and display this dynamic instrument. Hearing the taiko drum is different from the drums we are used to; hearing they carry a compelling range. It is made up of one drum compared to the sets we usually see and yet they create these broad pieces. During the exhibition, I found myself visualizing the entrance of a powerful ruler just based on the deep, heavy drumming. 

I enjoyed this Action Project, as a classroom, because we got to experience a diverse range of music and sound. Also we got to outside and actually feel the music and vibrations based on how the pavilion is set up. I feel the main difference between taking classroom outside versus keeping it indoors is that you can see what you are learning in real time. One challenge is that there were children in the area of my group and I were sitting and it got distracting because they were loud. However they're children, so that is to be expected. Overall, I enjoyed being at the festival and getting to go outside and understand more that anywhere can be a classroom. 

Along Dusk by Natalie Cham

Video by KE