FALL at NewONE: Landbased learning, art/science workshop, hacking and more

Students and New College and U of T community members participating in a workshop at the William Doo Auditorium.

This fall, the NewONE: Learning without Borders program has offered rich and enriching activities for our students such as workshops on social determinants of health; landbased workshops on Indigenous knowledge at Ziibing and at High Park; a workshop on hacking everyday tools and old electronics to create video game controllers by New York based artist Jonah Brucker Cohen; visits to the exhibitions Labour & Otherworld at The Art Museum, and engagements with the ROM collections; a special guest from the Luminous Bodies artist residencies of Gibraltar point.

The NewONE started offering events in the evening. The first one was a special screening of the experimental film Liberating Land from Ecocide: “An Island and One Night” which is currently touring North America at the William Doo Auditorium.

Among the inspiring events offered to our students, on September 22, we welcomed Daniel Jay, a Professor of Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology at Tufts University, committed to combine scientific knowledge and artistic expression to explore and raise awareness about issues pertaining to social justice.

During a workshop titled “Archemy” we turned the William Doo Auditorium into a giant art studio. Students of NewONE and other members of the University of Toronto were invited to use the components of gunpowder, charcoal (black), sulfur (yellow) and potassium nitrate (white beads) to make artwork. The goal was to use the process of making art collectively to initiate difficult dialogues and discussions about gun violence, police brutality and world conflict. When mixed together, the elements of gunpowder are explosive but in this case, they were kept separated and mixed with clear acrylic. Students received kits containing the three colours and a set of paint brushes and were instructed to work in groups. The result was a variety of artworks and site-specific interventions which were then presented to the rest of the participants. Impressions on the experience from some students ranged from “healing” to “eye-opening”. Importantly, students could engage in unstructured, yet critical dialogues while doing and collaborating on a common project. This activity was particularly meaningful as our event occurred on course week two, an important time for students to bond and make alliances.

The final artworks have been saved and will be exhibited to the community at large during the NewONE Knowledge Fair which will take place on November 28, 2024 at the William Doo Auditorium – stay tuned for more details.

Images credit: Supplied by NewOne