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The Wicked Arts Project
This three-part project invited students to explore creativity through unconventional challenges adapted from Wicked Arts Assignments, a book of prompts created by contemporary artists and educators.
Phase 1: Collaborate. Students teamed up in pairs or small groups to tackle a prompt from the book’s Storytelling chapter. Over three weeks, they learned to interpret open-ended directions, co-create a shared piece, and navigate the messy, rewarding dynamics of group work. After presenting their creations, students wrote reflections on what they learned about storytelling, collaboration, and their own creative process.
Phase 2: Work Solo. Each student selected a new prompt from any chapter and developed a personal response over the next three weeks. Using Trello to plan and manage their timelines, students engaged in critique rounds to revise and refine their work. They capped this phase with a second reflection focused on independence, iteration, and creative risk-taking.
Phase 3: Make a Video. For the final phase, students formed groups of any size and chose a new prompt with one key constraint: the final product had to be a video. This pushed them to combine storytelling, design, and production into a time-based format.
Final products ranged widely—from performances and visual pieces to installations and experimental short films. While the outcomes were diverse, the goal remained constant: to give students space to take creative risks, build confidence in their ideas, and experience the real work of making art.
9th Grade Humanities
Spring 2024
High Tech High
Main Texts
Wicked Arts Assignments by Emiel Heijnen and Melissa Bremer
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
Student Work
Phase 1: Collaborate
Wicked Arts Assignment
Made in XIn response to the “Made in X” prompt, where students fabricated artifacts from imagined civilizations, one student created a haunting archival-style video documenting a fictional society’s descent into collapse. Through distorted audio, glitch effects, and cryptic language, the piece evoked themes of censorship, surveillance, and the fragility of recorded history—blurring the line between artifact and art.Wicked Arts Assignment
Made in XIn response to the “Made in X” prompt, where students fabricated artifacts from imagined civilizations, one student created a haunting archival-style video documenting a fictional society’s descent into collapse. Through distorted audio, glitch effects, and cryptic language, the piece evoked themes of censorship, surveillance, and the fragility of recorded history—blurring the line between artifact and art.Wicked Arts Assignment
Made in XIn response to the “Made in X” prompt, where students fabricated artifacts from imagined civilizations, one student created a haunting archival-style video documenting a fictional society’s descent into collapse. Through distorted audio, glitch effects, and cryptic language, the piece evoked themes of censorship, surveillance, and the fragility of recorded history—blurring the line between artifact and art.Wicked Arts Assignment
Made in XIn response to the “Made in X” prompt, where students fabricated artifacts from imagined civilizations, one student created a haunting archival-style video documenting a fictional society’s descent into collapse. Through distorted audio, glitch effects, and cryptic language, the piece evoked themes of censorship, surveillance, and the fragility of recorded history—blurring the line between artifact and art.
Phase 2: Work Solo
Wicked Arts Assignment
Made in XIn response to the “Made in X” prompt, where students fabricated artifacts from imagined civilizations, one student created a haunting archival-style video documenting a fictional society’s descent into collapse. Through distorted audio, glitch effects, and cryptic language, the piece evoked themes of censorship, surveillance, and the fragility of recorded history—blurring the line between artifact and art.Wicked Arts Assignment
Made in XIn response to the “Made in X” prompt, where students fabricated artifacts from imagined civilizations, one student created a haunting archival-style video documenting a fictional society’s descent into collapse. Through distorted audio, glitch effects, and cryptic language, the piece evoked themes of censorship, surveillance, and the fragility of recorded history—blurring the line between artifact and art.Wicked Arts Assignment
Made in XIn response to the “Made in X” prompt, where students fabricated artifacts from imagined civilizations, one student created a haunting archival-style video documenting a fictional society’s descent into collapse. Through distorted audio, glitch effects, and cryptic language, the piece evoked themes of censorship, surveillance, and the fragility of recorded history—blurring the line between artifact and art.Wicked Arts Assignment
Made in XIn response to the “Made in X” prompt, where students fabricated artifacts from imagined civilizations, one student created a haunting archival-style video documenting a fictional society’s descent into collapse. Through distorted audio, glitch effects, and cryptic language, the piece evoked themes of censorship, surveillance, and the fragility of recorded history—blurring the line between artifact and art.
Phase 3: Make a Video
Wicked Arts Assignment
Made in X
In response to the “Made in X” prompt, where students fabricated artifacts from imagined civilizations, one student created a haunting archival-style video documenting a fictional society’s descent into collapse. Through distorted audio, glitch effects, and cryptic language, the piece evoked themes of censorship, surveillance, and the fragility of recorded history—blurring the line between artifact and art.
Wicked Arts Assignment
Made in X
As part of the “Made in X” assignment, students imagined entirely fictional civilizations and then created historical artifacts from those societies—ranging from tools to propaganda to rituals. One student produced a surreal, satirical video exploring a dystopian consumerist world where emotional expression is commodified. Blending media analysis, design, and worldbuilding, the project offered a creative lens on how history is constructed and remembered.
Wicked Arts Assignement Assess the CityStudents studied the history and legality of graffiti, then designed their own street-art-style stickers and temporarily placed them around the city as “awards” for overlooked places. They documented their work through photography and created a short documentary that combined research, visual storytelling, and critical reflections on public art and social boundaries.
Wicked Arts Assignment
School Conspiracy
Students investigated the structure and psychology of conspiracy theories before scripting and producing their own fictional conspiracy about their math teacher secretly being an alien. The project combined research, satire, and media production as students developed a storyline, filmed on campus, and edited their videos to mimic real internet conspiracies—complete with “evidence,” interviews, and voiceovers.
Wicked Arts Assignment Student DocumentaryOne student took on the role of documentarian, filming the entire project process from behind the scenes. They interviewed classmates and the teacher, captured b-roll of students designing, debating, and creating, and edited it all into a polished short documentary that told the story of the class’s creative journey from start to finish.
Project Reflection Essay: MatthewProject Reflection Essay: SkyeProject Reflection Essay: JamesProject Reflection Essay: NovieProject Reflection Essay: Chopra
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