As an undergraduate I enjoyed studying both art and science. When I look back on what could be added to the iPad that could have enriched my experience I have a few ideas. Two of them center around studying art at a university that is focused on science.
The first would be an app that puts researchers and students/artists in touch with each other allowing students more opportunities to see what is going on in the community as well as correspond and get feedback from researchers and have a greater exchange of ideas. Something that is like a hybrid of yammer, LinkedIn, and possibly something else entirely.
My second and more developed idea is an app called “critiQue”. I recently had the opportunity to participate as a reviewer in an art show for students about ready to graduate high school and enter college most likely to pursue arts. For many of them it was the first time someone other than their teacher, friends, and family had given them feedback. This made me reflect on my experiences and what could be done to help students broaden their ability to receive crucial feedback. One thing I would have like to see would be a social media app that allows others to critique your work and provide you with constructive criticism. Though the critiquing process is sometimes harsh there is no better way to develop your work than by hearing criticism from others. For students especially those at a university like Stony Brook there would be many benefits to this type of app. Most apps are geared to social posting and comments are often from people outside the field who either “like” it or have some other generic “it’s pretty” comment that does not add any valuable discourse. While it is nice to hear people like your work, it does not help someone improve their work. Why is it good or bad? Why do you like it? How could I improve? These are all questions that are asked in isolated classrooms. Why not take this to the larger student artist community rather than waiting for the slim chance of an exhibition where you might have your work displayed and may get a few helpful comments ? It is very important to be able to see your work against the larger community discussion taking place in art across this campus as well as other campuses. In such an app, you could post your work in progress and hear feed back from other art students, faculty and professionals. Constructive comments could be rated to show which ones are most valuable and how many people agree. The initial amount of works you may share would be a small standard amount but would increase as you give feedback to others fostering a discussion between students.

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