ARTBEAT Issue 01 October 2016

ARTBEAT
Issue 01- 2016
MAGAZINE
Why Drama?
Drama comes to AIC
!
New Look at Visual Arts
Jamie Lowe talks about the
Art Department’s makeover
!
In The House - John Knauss
A profile of an actor and an artist
!
Onward Art Journeys
Our recent Dp2 students on taking on Art School
ISSUE ONE a first release by
Page 17
Page 26
Page 5
The Faculty of Arts at AIC
FOCUS and how
you can achieve it
This issues’ choice
of cool Apps
Get ready to greet
the Dead!

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE 2
ARTBEATNICKS
Edited by
Jamie Lowe and John Knauss,
the Faculty of Arts Team
Feature Contributors
John Knauss
Chrys Hill
Photography
Jamie Lowe
Contributions by:
Graduating students:
Amy Lee
Jean Zhang
Libby Wu
Visual Arts Diploma students:
Aye Khumthong
Haroun Bentarka
Jasmine Xie
Jeff Park
Grade 10 Drama students:
Betty Yin
Artbeat IT Expert
Brandon Chansavang
Cover photo:
Jamie Lowe
ARTBEATNOTES
!
Artbeat is an online digest
showcasing the life and work
of the IB Visual Arts and the
IB Theatre Arts departments
at:
Alcanta International College
Guangzhou, China.
Follow Our Beat at:
First Issue Features
Why Drama?………………………………………………………..……4
Chrys Hill explains why Alcanta International College needs Drama.
In The House: John Knauss……………………………………….22
We discover who the man behind the Drama is and why he says:
“Drama is Conflict”?
Whats New in Visual Arts? …………………………………………8
Jamie Lowe shows off the new Art studios
Street Art From Brazil…………………………………………..……9
The pulse of Street Art from the streets of an Olympic city.
FOCUS and why you should do it….. .. ………………………………17
John Knauss writes on the benefits of staying focused for maximum
engagement in activities.
Storm Chasing……………….…………………………………..….18
Diploma Visual Arts students share insight into finding a way forward
to communicate a message through their Art
Onward Art Journeys…..……………………………………………13
www.aicib.org
aicibvsualarts.tumblr.com
www.facebook.com/
AlcantaInternationalCollege
!
Life after IB Visual Art. Our graduating students tell us how life is -
Art School and beyond

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE 3
CONNECTING YOU TO ALL
THE ARTS
AT AIC
Welcome to our first
issue of ARTBEAT
ARTBEAT seeks to build COMMUNITY
John and I decided that we would like
to create an online magazine which
would bring our AIC community
together and engage more with
students, their parents and the staff.
With each year as AIC develops as a
school, new goals are set for its
improvement and progress towards
being an International IBO school of
choice in China and the world. One of
Top: Ne vel fuisset intellegam referrentur,
ex pri audiam vivendo splendide
the ways that we are successful at AIC
is by being small and select.
Currently we are enjoying hearing
about the progress of our graduates
from all over the world. Not only is
this satisfying but it is exciting to think
that our community has a BIG
network with even more to offer and
learn from as the connections keep
expanding beyond our small start.
Welcome! We hope that you will ‘follow our beat’ and find the content engaging in many ways.
1 EDUCATIONAL
2 PERSONAL
3 ENTERTAINING
This issue deals with a rationale for
Theatre Arts. On how: “focus”
correlates with productivity and the
general satisfaction of achievement.
We see strategies outlined for
generating ideas to create personal
projects in Art and to develop a
clear “message” in your work.
We meet our new Drama teacher
and showcase highlights of our
student’s activities. In this issue we
look at exemplar Art from the DP
course and gain insight from our Art
graduates about Art School. We also
hear about what feels like to
perform in Drama.
You can look forward to the debut of
our ARTBEAT comic strips, play
some interactive games and try out
some of the recommended “Apps of
the Month”, (picked for you so that
you can take your Arts to the next
level).

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE 4
Why Drama?
You may be wondering why AIC has adopted this new subject in its curriculum and
what exactly it is good for? Chrys Hill, Director of Academics at AIC, explains.
As AIC expands so too does
the curriculum and the
subjects we offer. This year
AIC has introduced two new
subjects: Psychology and
Theater Arts/Drama. I want
to take this opportunity to
explain why the latter was
added to our curriculum. To
make things easier I will
refer to it simply as Drama.
The reasons for introducing Drama into the
curriculum are many and it is difficult to know
where to begin. It is not just about students with
“talent” but offers much more across the full range
of our community. The most obvious benefit Drama
has for an AIC student is the support it offers in the
development of English. A Student doing Drama is
involved in speaking English in a bold and
confident manner. Students learn how to overcome
their nervousness and initial fear of speaking
English in a safe and supportive environment.
At the center of Drama is always communication.
Drama allows students to communicate with and
understand others in new ways. Drama offers
development in the very practical aspects of
communication so necessary in today's
information-centered world. Students who have
done Drama activities are more confident speaking
in public and will be more convincing in their
communications, both written and oral. As well as
being more confidence and having a positive
!
self-image they will be better able to relate to others
and to work collaboratively. Drama challenges
student’s perceptions and involves them in very
practical problem solving exercises.
I have observed Drama in action at AIC and been very
encouraged that the benefits mentioned above are
being met. I also believe that these benefits are being
carried across into other subjects and teachers report
on improved focus across the curriculum. Learning in
an IB school is not just a matter of sitting at a desk
and taking notes. We are trying to involve students in a
wide range of active learning styles and methods.
Drama fits this aim by its very nature, it is a learning
style that is not only about doing but also about
working together and becoming aware of the feelings
of others.
Drama at AIC is enriching the students experience of
school as it combines several goals at once. It is a
wonderful addition to our school and I look forward to
seeing not just the growth of the Dramatic Arts but
also the growth of the students themselves.
It is the intention that in the next school year Theatre
Arts will join to our list of subjects offered for the IB
Diploma. I am sure it will be a popular IB subject with
our students.

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
5
Festivals
Feature
Curse of the Floral Skull and
How Dia de los Muertos
came to AlC
by Jamie Lowe
It would be difficult not to notice the giant
flowery effigy of a human skull parked outside
of the Art Department on the 4th Floor of AIC.
Grinning, is perhaps the wrong word to use
when describing it’s expression, for it is quite
hard to discern any expression at all beneath the
blooms which carpet it. Yet there is something
about its general demeanor which suggests a
cheeky, impish quality; as if it were inwardly
enjoying a private joke beneath its abundant
coating of bright flowers.
Amy Lee, a DP2 student from last year, who was
the creator of this “Floral Skull” sculpture,
remembers this particular piece with fondness.
The days spent wrestling with giant sheets of
laminated styrofoam and the subsequent carving
of it (transforming her share of the DP2 Studio
into the what seemed like the inside of a shaken
snow-globe), followed by wading through a sea
of artificial roses for days. From this ambitious
undertaking, emerged a sculpture that is at
once (uncomfortably) cute and appealing and
quite sinister in its “memento mori” message. It
is after all a huge, candy-coated reminder of
death.
Not surprisingly then, has our “floral bogeyman”
become the harbinger of superstition, creepy
stories, rumors and myths whispered in the
corridors of AIC. For it is said that the most
terrible luck befalls those who dare to touch or
meddle with it’s flowers. Those who are
foolhardy enough to do this and worse; by
removing said flowers- have been sure to fall
upon hard times and the worst kinds of fortune.
By desecrating the “Floral Skull”, the miscreant
is immediately “cursed” by the dead, they say.
And what curses it espouses! The very nature of
these curses is as floral as the macabre head
which issues them. Daily, it’s utterances are
posted upon a small notice alongside it, which
serves a clear warning to the unwary. It
threatens such tragedies as: being cursed “to
forever smell like a Guangzhou bus driver’s
underwear”, or: “to witness a kitten dying
horribly in your neighborhood", if you are so
foolish as to touch its blooms. Lately, there is a
curious suggestion that this eccentric effigy has
Mexican sympathies, for it has recently cursed
it’s victims to: “bear children who look like
Donald Trump (but who are less charismatic and
very poor)”*.
A Mexican connection, indeed? We consulted
Amy Lee about this and sure enough, she had in
fact been inspired by the folk art produced
during a popular Mexican festival when creating
this piece. Could she be alluding to our skull
being linked with a very important Mexican
festival : “Dia De Los Muertos" (The Day Of
The Dead)? Coincidentally, Mexico has been
much-maligned by the very Republican
Presidential candidate who is mentioned by our
skull in the curse. Creepy? We at Artbeat think
so!
(Continued on Page 7)
*For more calaveraic curses turn to the back of Artbeat to the “Fun Section”.

ARTBEAT LOREM MAGAZINE 6
Floral Skull, by Amy Lee. AIC Private Collection. Carved Polystyrene and Artificial Flowers, 80x105 x75 cm, February 2016
“Touch my flowers and I
will curse you to forever
look like a chihuahua
licking vomit from a
cactus…”

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
7
Continued from Page 5 : How Dia de los Muertos Came to AIC
Dia de los Muertos - The Day of the
Dead, is a lively Mexican holiday
which honors the dead and is
celebrated throughout Mexico on 1
November. It features in other Latin
American countries too but it is
particularly relevant to Mexico.
The Day of the Dead Festival mixes
Aztec ritual with Catholicism, brought
to the region by Spanish
conquistadores. (Dia de los Muertos is
celebrated on All Saints Day and All
Souls Day, minor holidays in the
Catholic calendar.)
What we know of as
“Halloween” (celebrated the night of
31st October) is an equivalent festival,
now observed worldwide but originally
important in North America and
throughout Europe. Halloween has a
similar link to ancient pagan rituals
and beliefs with the attempt for it to
be also “Christianised" by a church
holiday: All Hallows Eve.
The Dia de los Muertos celebration
features in the memorable opening
scenes of the 2015 James Bond film:
“Spectre”. These scenes depict street
parties and parades in Mexico City
with people dressed as skeletons, and
wearing elaborate, highly decorated
colorful costumes, face paints, masks
and flowers. There is a carnival
atmosphere with live music and
processions and it is hard to imagine
that this event has anything to do with
death.
Assured that the dead would be
insulted by mourning or sadness, Dia
de los Muertos celebrates the lives of
the deceased with food, drink, parties,
and activities the dead enjoyed in life.
Dia de los Muertos recognizes death as
a natural part of the human
experience, a continuum with birth,
childhood, and growing up to become
a contributing member of the
community. On Dia de los Muertos,
the dead are also a part of the
community, awakened from their
eternal sleep to share celebrations.
People go to the gravesides of their
passed loved ones to enjoy a family
picnic with homemade treats and chat
by candlelight at night time.
The most familiar symbol of Dia de los
Muertos may be the calacas and
calaveras (skeletons and skulls), which
appear everywhere during the holiday:
in candied sweets, as parade masks, as
dolls. Calacas and calaveras are almost
always portrayed as enjoying life, often
in fancy clothes and entertaining
Can you hear the Floral Skull cursing? Some say that they can!
(especially as we draw closer to Dia de los Muertos).
If you can hear it, then send us what you have heard the skull saying.
The best entries will be published in future issues of Artbeat. For
goodness sake, whatever you do, do not touch its flowers!
E-mail your entries, labelled : Toucha Ma Flowers I Smasha Ya Face to : jlowe@aicib.org

!
ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
8
What’s New in Visual Arts ?
by Jamie
Lowe
New Flexible Studio Space
for Diploma Students
You may have noticed that this year
the whole of the fourth floor of AIC
has become essentially an ‘Arts” floor.
The conversion and renovations of
Rooms: A4.6 and A 4.7 (so that they
form a co-joined space) have a created
a unique flexible facility for our
Diploma students to use.
One of the most beneficial things
about taking IB Visual Arts Diploma at
AIC is that you get your own studio
space in both DP1 and DP2. A luxury
that is rarely found in many
international schools.
Since the subject has gained
popularity from when the school
began six years ago, we are getting
three times the numbers of students
opting to take Art. This would have
made for a very tight squeeze for the
DP students had the existing studios
remained as they were, However with
the conversion of A4.7 a spill -over
studio has been created and is already
being used to our advantage.
Our recent “Chinese Folk Art” project
with DP1, which involves a study of
traditional and modern Chinese folk
painting as well as studying figure
drawing. A model dressed in Chinese
traditional dress was posed in an
archetypal Chinese setting, We were
able to use that space like a proper
drawing studio.
An Arts I.T. Office
Finally, what used to be referred to as
“The Room of Doom” and what was
little more than a dump for a variety of
found objects, off-cuts of metal and
wood, fabric and textile scraps and
discarded packaging saved for projects
(like the Rauschenberg project) has
become transformed into a really
useful facility. Now Diploma students
can access a space where they can scan
their artwork straight to one of a pair
of iMacs and then print their
documents at a dedicated printer
copier machine from the same
computers all in “a one stop shop”.
This means that the creation of
“Since the subject has gained popularity from when
the school began six years ago, we are getting three
times the numbers of students opting to take Art.”
Process Portfolios and Comparative
Studies can be streamlined as well as
providing a quieter study space for
students who need to get down to
some research or written work. There
is a bookshelf / resource area holding
texts and Art books which may be of
use to DP2 students engaging in
Personal Projects. Since the 4th floor
is now an all - Arts floor, it also means
that students from the fledgling Drama
department can utilise this quiet
haven too.
As AIC evolves and develops - the
more specialised self access study
opportunities like this which we can
provide for our students - the better.

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
9
STREET ART
FROM BRAZIL
On the pulse of Street Art from
the Olympic City, Rio de Janeiro
by Jamie Lowe
ARTBEAT looks at the amazing work of Rodrigo Izolag Armeidah
and partner Ananda Nahu, who have taken Street Art from the
favela to Olympic Rio de Janeiro, to the streets of New York City.
Rodrigo Izolag, was born in 1983 in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He grew up in
Ipiaú in the South of Bahia and
started to study art in Salvador. He
quickly abandoned his formal Art
training as he became increasingly
drawn to Street Art. Clearly he was in
love with this medium and it was
through working in this method (with
a spray can and a stencil )where he
discovered and defined his style and
was best able to share his message.
Rodrigo Izolag and Ananda Nahu met
each other in 2006 and painted a great
many walls in the urban landscapes of
Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio de
Janeiro. Today, the couple are a
reference ! in the “stencil art” genre of
Street Art and their artwork can be
found in the pages of the book:
“Stencil History X”, along with other
famous names of Street Art like:
Shephard Fairey, aka ‘OBEY’ and
‘Banksy’.
"Izolag's work is revolutionary and
breaks down the barriers between mural,
stenciling and grafitti.” Ricky Flores,
Photographer.
Both Izolag and Ananda Nahu use
stencils, working through elaborately
cut card templates created from
digitally altered photographs. These
carefully created portraits become
elements of larger compositions which
include a mix of graffiti text and
pattern. Both artists combine stencil,
spray, paste-up and hand painting in
their mixed-media work. Blurring
boundaries between media and going
between street children, ordinary
people from the neighborhood and
icons of popular culture as subjects in
their work which seems fresh, colorful

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
10
Below: examples of work by Ananda Nahu
A Tale of Two
Stencil Artists
Ananda Nahu comes from the small
countryside town of Juazeiro, in Bahia.
She has painted her intricate, vibrant
art on walls all over the state of Bahia
before moving to Rio de Janeiro where
she gained nationwide recognition.
Ananda was set for higher ground still
as she embarked on a two month
residency in New York where she
painted her art all over Brooklyn’s
walls in her Brazilian style. She was
also recently commissioned to create a
special artwork for the “NIKE” store in
Leblon, Rio de Janeiro during the
recent 2016 Rio Olympic games.
“I was a kid who loved to draw, as far
as I can remember, I was always
drawing. It was a natural thing for me
to want to study art. I moved from my
hometown, Juazeiro, to Salvador in
2001 and started attending the College
of Design and in 2004 I began to study
at the Fine Arts School from the
Federal University of Bahia.”
“At this point, I was really interested in
studying photography, Fine Arts
Paintings and engravings, specially
lithography, Serigraphs, metal
engraving. It wasn’t in the plans
working with street art.”
Yes, it was something that happened
later in my life, when I met my
husband (artist Rodrigo Izolag). Being
a woman, you know, it was hard to go
to the streets to paint on my own, and
he introduced me to this world, and I
got instantly hooked. And we started
working in partnership.”
“In 2005, I began using stencil to
create wall arts, one of the oldest type
of engraving, that is leaked into the
mold to obtain shapes and pictures. “

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
11
“I started painting all over Bahia, from
small cities to bigger ones and my
name started to get recognition.
“I love portraying women. Strong
women, is a subject that is very dear to
me. Plus I’ve always been very close to
the hip hop culture and that is
something that shows as well in my
work. I love working with stencils for
the portraits and then adding unique
free hand paintings on the
backgrounds for each art piece.”
“I will have to say the artistic residency
I spent doing in NY. My husband and I
did a very productive partnership with
U.S.A. based photographer Rick
Flores, and used his portraits to create
stencils representing people from the
Bronx and Brooklyn area. We stayed
there painting walls and working close
with the communities for a month and
it was a very immersive experience.”
Bronx photojournalist Ricky Flores
teamed up with the world-renowned
Brazilian artists Ananda Nahú and
Izolag Armeidah to paint large-scale
murals at three NYCHA playgrounds:
Betances, Mitchel and Mott Haven.
These murals, inspired by Flores’
photographs, were part of a project
promoting a healthy lifestyle and
active living called “Faces from the
Block.”
This eight-year collaboration was born
by happenstance when the Brazilian
artists found Flores’s images on Flickr,
an online social media photo sharing
site, in 2008. They quickly became
fascinated with his work and began
incorporating some of the images in a
series of paintings representing
cultures from around the world. It was
during this period of time that a
partnership was developed, with the
goal of creating a joint exhibition and
murals on the streets of the South
Bronx.
“I love portraying
women! Strong
women is always a
subject that is very
dear to me.”
Top: Ananda Nahu, Rodrigo Izolag Armeidah and Ricky Flores in new Yor,k June 2016.
Below: examples of murals by Izolag from the New York residency and-following page:
examples of Izolag’s earlier signature work.

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
12
Izolag’s Street Art is a great
example of a mixed media
approach as he blurs the
boundary between abstract
expressionist painting, graphic
design and graffiti in his multi
-layered portraits.
Works vary in scale from
“conventional gallery-sized”
panels to the entire sides of
buildings.

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
Onward Journeys in Art
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 4
Completion of secondary school.
Completion of secondary school plus a vocational course or apprenticeship.
Completion of IB exams or equivalent with apprenticeship training.
Completion of a university training to Bachelor of Arts level.

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
14
WHAT CAN I DO WITH A DEGREE IN ART?
Click on the text headings below for useful links
Design Careers
!
Do you want to be responsible
for creating just about anything
new that other people will use?
!
Business and Education
Careers
!
Do you want to use management
and people skills in combination
!
Beauty industry Careers
!
Do you want to be involved with
the Fashion, TV, media and
advertising industry?
!
Alternative Careers
!
Do you want to use and share
your knowledge of Art to guide
communicate with, educate and
heal others?
• Graphic designer.
• Multi media designer.
• Photographer.
• Advertising. TV, Magazine, etc
• Artist.
• Craftsperson.
• Furniture designer.
• Gallery Director.
• Gallery Assistant.
• Illustrator.
• Interior Designer.
• Teacher
• Interactive Media.
• Printer.
• Screen Printer.
• Public Relations.
• Museum work.
• Digital creative artist
• Architect.
• Set, Display and Exhibit Designer.
• Art Therapist.
• Cartoonist.
• Town planner
• Animator.
• Movie and Television Director
• Museum Technician.
• Hairdresser.
Careers in Digital Art
!
Do you like to use computers, lens
based media and digital tools to
create new visual products?
!
For a really long list click here*

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
15
Our 2016 AIC graduates share some of their
early experiences
The workload of Architecture program in CUHK is even more
overwhelming than I expected. In this program more value is placed on
design than technology or sciences. With the aim of encouraging
imagination and creation, some projects and assignments are quite
interesting. To my surprise, although challenging, this program shares
quite a few similarities with my previous IB Visual Arts course, making
me less unfamiliar with my present major courses. Now I spend almost
all day except for sleeping in the Architecture studio everyday drawing
and making models, which I hope would not undermine my
determination to study architecture.
Libby has begun her Architecture course at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong
I remember the first day in Goldsmith’s was novel.
My life suddenly filled with new people and cultures.
My university is basically a mixture of old fashioned
and modern buildings and sometimes it is really hard
to believe that they belong to a university. Our new
studios are huge and easily accommodate the Fine Art
33 students. I am just beginning my classes and I’m
really excited about it. Although London is cold at the
moment - Im enjoying it here.
Amy is beginning her Fine Art course at
Goldsmith’s University, London

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
16
Here in university I’m finding out that History of Art is
really a discipline that requires true passion for Art. I have
always known that History of Art was not an easy subject
but the complexity of the course has gone beyond my
imagination. For example, in my school we are not really
studying works of Art yet. Instead, for the first year, we are
studying a whole system of human sciences; mainly history
and philosophy - indicating that in order to understand the
Art of the past - we need first to understand “the past”!
Jean is getting started with her History of Art
course at Sorbonne University, Paris
If you have a tale to tell about life beyond the IB Diploma course at AIC
Please do share with us by contacting ARTBEAT and we will publish your
experiences.

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
17
FOCUS and why you should do it
by John Knauss
In Drama class at AIC, we define focus as “directing one’s awareness.” In
many meditative practices (such as Buddhism), focus is essential in that it
gives the practitioner conscious control over their actions, rather than
being at the mercy of unconscious habits and patterns.
Our everyday lives are often run on “auto-pilot,” with our thoughts and
actions simply happening without our awareness of them. If you have ever
lost focus in class or life, forgetting what you are doing for seconds or
minutes at a time as your mind wanders and your body follows, you have
experienced such running on “auto-pilot”.
The importance of a strong (or deep) focus for the actor is great. Every
actor who performs live is required to focus 100% of the time they are
onstage. This is what the audience has paid money to see, and this is what
the play requires. Actors rehearse for many, many hours to discover and
refine the words and actions of the play in the same way that musicians
practice music. When it comes time to perform the play, the actor will then
simply focus on acting out the part in “real-time” with a live audience and
their fellow performers. This is the main distinction between theatre and
film or television. Theatre allows an audience to witness and participate in
something that is always potentially alive, occurring moment to moment.
For this reason, no two live performances are exactly alike.
Focus is also very important in life. In fact, focus IS life. If a student asks
me “How do I know if I am focused?” I will reply, “Can you hear the sounds
outside the window? Can you see the different patterns of light on my face?
Can you feel the floor against your feet or the temperature of the room?”
This is simply how we know, and coincidentally is the same test for how we
know we are physically alive with all of our physical senses working!
Our modern life is increasingly virtual in that communication and
experience is more and more often happening through text messages, video
games, movies, etc. This is not bad or wrong, but if we lose a direct
experience of life, communication, and one another in real-time (The sight of
a real sunset, the ability to listen to others, the confident use of our own
voices and bodies, etc.) we have lost some essential to being human and
fully alive.
For these reasons, focus is the starting point for all performers, as well as
for everyone else. Choosing to direct our awareness, words, and actions is
what makes us more than animals, and opens us up to the richness of our
lives in this complex and beautiful world in which we find ourselves at this
moment in history.

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
18
STORM-CHASING
On how brainstorming ideas helps us to catch the creative lightening
Are you one of those people who find yourself unconsciously making marks, scribbling elaborate
doodles or writing down (then illustrating or decorating) notes on whatever surface is to hand when
you are supposed to be doing something else? Perhaps you always being told off for not paying
complete attention in class as you doodle out your visions or decorate the page(s) before you ? Then do
not worry because this is not a bad thing!
There is a word for it and its called: “brainstorming” and it’s a skill that we can really begin to enhance
and develop to our advantage with a bit of direction. Perhaps the best way to describe “brainstorming”
is simply by using an image of how it may work:
By the time you read this, our current DP2 students will have been brewing-up brainstorms of their
own in order to: firstly generate the right conditions for the “lightening” of an idea and then to convert
those flashes of creative energy and direct them into meaningful Process Portfolio work. The best thing
about using this brainstorming process is that more often than not the brainstorm itself also counts
towards your Process Portfolio. We look at how certain students from our DP2 studio are getting ready
to bring the thunder. . . .

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
19
Napawon Khumthong (Aye)
My ideas-generation has brought me to consider what
impressions complete strangers make of us upon first
meeting and how our identities may be judged unfairly
or inaccurately. The tendency for us to “label” people is
something which I would like to consider.
Jeff Park
My new ideas come from an appreciation of the work of
abstract artists such as Piet Mondrian and Richard Pousette
Dart. I am interested in how I might combine representing
my interest in architecture by using abstract expressionist
techniques to depict it. I have already explored some of
these techniques in my recent portrait works.

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE 20
Jasmine Xie
My new ideas are related to my Extended Essay which is on
Feminism in Chinese Contemporary Art. I am also
interested in the role of the individual in a collectivist
society. My influences (following on from Francis Bacon) are
Lin Tianmiao, Cui Xiuwen and Lucien Freud.
Haroun Bentarka
My new ideas come from the depersonalisation of people in
our contemporary world; which seems increasingly to be
heading towards a “New World Order” with whole
populations treated like numbers or commodities instead of
human beings.

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21
STORM-CHASING
One of the reasons why the IB
Visual Arts Diploma course is a
superior course of study, is
because it reflects the practice
of real artists and designers.
The Process Portfolio element
of the course (which in this
piece we are referring
metaphorically to as “the
storm” )- is where the young
artist demonstrates his or her
ability to share with us the
build-up to their ideas for a
piece of artwork. To visually
communicate that storm of
little bits and pieces of ideas,
influences and inspiration
which gradually become
concentrated and refined and
modified towards a final
product. Just about every
person involved in the Arts will
understand and be familiar
with this process when it
comes to realising their work.
At AIC students are
encouraged to brainstorm and
process their ideas. To use a
sketchbook - to pin drawings
and sheets of imagery to a
creative wall - to communicate
their ideas thoughts and
feelings and to generally
surround themselves with a
storm of inspiration and
creative energy with which to
refine their Art from.
Above, Furniture
Designer’s drawings
on display in
La Triennale Di
Milano
!
Left:Sketchbook
belonging to Eugene
Delcroix ,1837

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE 22
John Knauss in the House
An interview with AIC’s new Drama Teacher
Betty Yin from Grade 10 interviewed John Knauss, AIC’s Drama Man.
She asked him about his life and his views on Drama.
!
BY Hi John, why did you come to our IB school to teach Drama?
JK I think that teaching Drama at our school was of interest for Bob and Chrys (our Directors) because:
number one it helps strengthen the English ability of our students. which is important so that their
listening , their speaking and even their reading - also it helps the students become more creative. Finally it
helps them to express themselves.
BY Did you have another job before you became a Drama teacher?
JK Before I was a Drama teacher? Well I also teachArt but before I was teacher (I’ve been teaching now for
seven years) I had a theatre in New York - I was an Actor. I was also a writer and an illustrator which is
something I still do whenever I have time.
BY Thank you. Wow, that must be interesting. The next question that I would like to ask is why you have
come to China?

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JK Ah yes, so I thought it would be a very interesting time to live and work in China because the students
that I would be teaching are going to effect China in the future, right? Perhaps even the rest of the world.
So sharing some of the things that I think are important and valuable seemed like a really interesting
thing to do.
BY What is the core value of Drama?
JK Like what is the most important thing about Drama? Well you know because were doing it in a class
right now - where we've been working on our focus. I think the core thing about Drama and live
performance (which is different than working with film or television) is that everything happens in real
time. It happens right now, though are ability to focus on the present\- what we call the “present moment”
is a very powerful thing on stage and in a performance and it also allows you to experience life fully and I
think that in itself is probably the most important thing about Drama.
BY Did Drama change your life?
JK Yes!
BY Can you say how?
JK Well, just like what I just said before - the idea of being able to live your life in a way that is truly
yours because you take responsibility for each moment and your choices and your ability to be fully aware
and fully alive in that moment, I think is a very big thing. And when I learned that you could use that on
stage and create powerful things for other people. So; if you have a very good play that you're performing
and you perform it in a very powerful way you can change the world in small ways. . .
BY Thank you, I am very interested in Drama and often go to the theatre in Guangzhou to watch plays- its
been a pleasure to interview you.
JK Thank you very much Betty, you are most welcome.
_______________________________________________________
Clearly, we have a lot to look forward to when we are scheduled for Drama classes with John.
At school, there's an emphasis on student’s learning to read and write in English and rightly so, as these are
fundamental skills. But where's the interest in how well a student is communicating and how clearly and confidently
they are speaking? If you consider how much we communicate orally, interacting with friends, family, colleagues
and strangers, then it seems odd that more emphasis isn't put on this in schools.
Good communication skills are an essential life skill, helping us make friends, get the most out of school, land the
dream job, succeed in that dream job. Indeed, you'd be wracking your brains to think of a job that doesn't demand
good communication skills.
That's why drama is so good for students: it teaches them not only how to speak clearly, loudly and with confidence,
but many other communication skills as well which are beyond being pertinent to the English language learner but
general life skills.
Click for 79 Reasons why Drama is good for you!

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
24
FUN SECTION Cartoon Pages
!

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FUN SECTION Cartoon Pages

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26
FUN SECTION - APP-ROVAL by Brandon Chansavang
Ahoy Animators! If you have been doing Jamie and William’s
Animation CAS, then you may already know about this cool
App which helps you create animated cartoons.
Folioscope is a great app for creating terrific hand
drawn animations in no time!
You can use simple yet powerful tools to draw your
animations with your finger on the iPhone or iPad screen.
Then you can share your best creations with the community.
Participate in themed contests to improve yourself and
become a master animator
iMotion is an iPhone app the uses the iPhone camera to
capture up to 500 pictures and turn those into stopmotion.
animation.
The app requires you to have the latest 3.1 software and
preferably the iPhone 3GS for optimal performance. You can
use it to either capture photos manually, or automatically
using time-lapse to create your very own animations.
Jamie and his CAS Animator’s have tried and tested it and
found it produces great results.
Adobe Photoshop Sketch (for tablets) is a
free app that provides users with a set of expressive drawing
tools. Users can choose from utilities that mimic a graphite
pencil, ink pen or marker. The app supports a variety of
Bluetooth styluses on the market such as Adobe Ink, Pencil,
and others by Wacom and Adonit. Sketch aims to replicate
the analog drawing experience, augmented with a few digital
flourishes such as a color picker and an undo history. Users
can import in assets from other Creative Cloud tools such as
custom brushes and colors, and your creations can also be
exported into Creative Cloud as layered PSDs to Photoshop,
or flat images for Illustrator.

ARTBEAT MAGAZINE
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Interested in Dia De Los Muertos and all things Mexican ?
Why not research the graphic works of Jose Guadalupe Posada?
Or the compelling paintings of Frida Khalo or Diego Riviera?
Perhaps you like the Folk Arts of Mexico?
Maybe you are interested in the artifacts from Aztec Culture?
Just want to see more cool skulls?
(Click on the underlined links)
What that Cursing Floral Skull has had to say so far :
If you touch my flowers you will forever smell like a bus driver’s underwear!
If you pick my flowers your head will swell up and eventually explode!
If you touch my flowers your new dorm roommate will be the girl from “The Ring”!
If you touch my flowers your hands will turn into tiny spoons (with holes in them)!
Touch my flowers and you and your friends will have to do three hours more of
evening study!
Touch my flowers and I will make sure that you never have a wifi signal in school!
(actually, I think that curse may have come true already)

ARTBEAT