Haiku and the Teaching of Digital Imaging to Non- Art and Design Students

Cameron ROSE
2006 Conference

The techniques of digital imaging are no longer exclusively the realm of graphic designers and artists. These skills are required in many fields and have become a common tool for communication. Digital imaging techniques are used to combine media from a variety of sources (e.g. print, video, web) into a document or presentation that must then be distributed into a number of different distribution formats (e.g. pdfs, PowerPoint presentations, online delivery). Consequently, digital imaging classes at a University level are becoming popular as an elective for students outside the art and design disciplines. The challenge presented is that though these students may be computer literate their visual literacy is often limited.

This paper will examine how the Japanese form haiku can provide an aesthetic framework for non-art-and-design students to explore digital imaging. It will consider: * various techniques utilised in the writing of haiku * how these techniques enhance creative thinking and visual literacy * how these techniques can be applied to the teaching of digital imaging.

It is argued that the techniques of haiku are more easily grasped by the usually text-oriented non-art-and-design students, and that the abbreviated and abstracted nature of the haiku translates effectively into digital imaging such that images and text can be combined in unusual and interesting compositions.

About the author

Cameron Rose is a filmmaker, digital media artist and lecturer in multimedia at the School of Visual Art & Design, La Trobe University. He is also an MFA candidate at Monash University.