DISCUSSIONS IN THE ART-TALKERS

Do you like science fiction? Even if you don’t, I’m sure you thought about or heard at least once some scientific predictions about the future of our world and next generations. On November 9, 2007, the Art-talkers trained their imagination and tried to guess what changes are expected in the world, for example, in 200 years, i.e., in the year 2207. This training was designed according to the ATM project of the “Discussion Leader” manual conducted by Olga Pogoryelova. On the meeting, we agreed that, probably, the most important things which the human civilization is worried about are: people’s appearance and abilities (including health, mental and physical abilities); science (e.g., achievements in medicine, electronics, transport, etc); and nature (ecology, natural resources, food, clothes). As we are the Art-Talkers, we also tried to guess what changes are expected in the creative arts Our predictions were based on science fiction movies and predictions of scientists we heard or read in the mass media.

Olga Pogorelova, Art-Talkers TM Club

Does routine kill creativity?

Doesn’t routine bother you much? Every day we should perform our job at our workplace, perform household work including washing dishes, preparing meals, doing the laundry, etc. Are you sure you will be ready to develop your creative skills through painting, reading a pleasant book, self-education, sewing, dancing, etc., after dealing with a lot of routine things? If your everyday job is connected with art, e.g., painting, creation of advertising, webdesign, music, fashion design, etc., is it difficult for you to create something new every day? Is it easy for you to perform a work connected with art according to the instructions of your boss or your client who imposes his/her own tastes and preferences on you? These questions and many other questions concerning ROUTINE AND CREATIVITY were discussed during debate in the Art-Talkers on OCTOBER 27. Two teams practiced their arguing skills: the affirmative team (Ira Zhurakovskaya, Lilia Khalikova, Masha Kalyuzhnaya) argued that routine does kill creativity, while the negative team (Ira Nikolaenko, Masha Kapustyan, Kostya Orekhov) refuted the arguments of their opponents and tried to persuade the audience that routine no way kills creativity. There were a lot of opinions, and both teams shown good level of preparation and performance. The negative team was the winner of the debate, but, as you understand, the question of routine and creativity is still pending ) So… what about your own attitude towards routine and creativity in your life?

Olga Pogoryelova,  Art-Talkers TM Club

LET’S BREAK STEREOTYPES!!!

Probably, you ve heard such statements as “All blondies are silly”, “Women’s logic”, “Men never cry”, “Men are more skilled in technics and science than women”, “If a person works at the same place more than 5 years, there is something wrong with this person”, “All sportsmen are fool”, “All men whose profession connected with art (stylists, fashion designers, etc) are homosexualists”, “Initiative to start relationship must always be taken by a man”, “Woman’s place is always at the kitchen”, “Men prefer bitch women”, “All musicians playing rock or heavy metal, and even those who like such music, wear long hair, use drugs and drink a lot of alcohol”. Do you know how such statements are called? Yes, you are right! These are STEREOTYPES! There are a lot of them in the world, and we all consist of stereotypes at 50 %!!! It is difficult to say for sure whether stereotypes are harmful or useful for us, it all depends on a certain situation. It is also hard to dete rmine who, when and why has created stereotypes and continues creating them. Nevertheless, the stereotypes are an inherent part of our life – that’s the point On OCTOBER 20, Olga Pogoryelova, the ATM speaker, conducted a discussion concerning stereotypes. This discussion was prepared according to the requirements of the ATM manual titled “Discussion Leader”. Thanks to this project, all people present on the meeting had an opportunity to express their opinions!