English and Creative Writing Professor Mandy Gutmann-Gonzalez and Visual and Performing Arts Professor Jan Johnson teach Text & Image, an interdisciplinary and collaborative course that blurs boundaries between the visual and the verbal, asking students to create original projects by experimenting with writing, sewing, printing, drawing, and direct animation filmmaking techniques.
Students created accordion books as individuals; embroidered fiber books in pairs by jointly researching and brainstorming conceptual angles; and as an entire class, made a cameraless experimental film together, dividing into three teams devoted to film production, text and sound, and installation. To make embroidered books, the class spent a full day researching at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester.
“Many of these students had never threaded a needle before this class, yet by the end of the semester, they had created gorgeous and conceptually exciting fiber books, embroidering images and text,” says Gutmann-Gonzalez.
“The class drew students who were excited to try something equal parts wacky and rigorous.”
professor mandy gutmann-gonzalez
“They brought a great visual translation of learning into a tactile materiality,” says Johnson. “We wanted the handmade and handwritten to be part of their learning, like an embodiment of the creative research and a feeling of being embedded in the community of the class, and they really built it.”
“The interdisciplinary nature of the course meant that it drew some students from a writing background and others from a visual art background, and the energy created through these intellectual collisions was very exciting to witness,” says Gutmann-Gonzalez. “It meant that everyone at some point was an expert and everyone at some point was a complete beginner (including the two professors), and this movement between authority and vulnerability created a radically horizontal way of learning.”
“The way that students showed up for each other through spontaneous knowledge sharing was really cool to see. I don’t think any of us knew what was going to happen when we mixed all of these elements together — the class was an experiment, and the result surpassed my wildest dreams.”
Professor mandy gutmann-gonzalez
“Those little stitches add up to pieces that are really cool and beautiful and meaningful. It’s just a pleasure to work with these Clarkies and the energy they bring.”
professor jan johnson
“So often, out of a bit a chaos comes these amazing works, highly individual, quirky and just lovely. It’s a treat to share their work, and we want more people to see all the thought and care that went into making it.”
professor jan johnson
Frida Jackson ’27 was the peer learning assistant for Text & Image and enjoyed the archival research at the American Antiquarian Society.
“I enjoyed showing up to open the print-making studio before class to prepare any materials we needed for the day, and then be able to participate in class as a student and collaborate with my peers. It felt like I had a special experience as both someone who contributed to the logistical functioning of the class and the conversations and art-making that happened during class.”
Frida Jackson ’27
