The previous postings are a live account of TDAR’s Monday activity. For those coming late to the game: circa autumn a certain local educator approached TDAR after seeing our FLUX exhibit at Historic Yellow Springs. He invited TDAR to consider creating a project that would address the issue of academic integrity at the local high school where he taught. The students there are among the state’s most driven learners, players, artists, and workers. They are primary examples of excellence: they wake up at 4 a.m. to row crew before starting class at 7:20am, then save the world as an extracurricular activity. Think Tracy Flick. Alas, with such great responsibility comes accountability; competition is stiff, and the school has had some difficulty with issues of academic integrity. Having all attended similar such schools, we decided rather than chastising to explore this larger system of grades, AP tests, clubs, and the various pressures to achieve.

So we made a cube. Ok, one step back. Here’s how we arrived at the cube’s construction. TDAR thought: what nuanced ideas could we deliver to the students? Obviously they’re smart. To tell them not to c.h.e.a.t, that’s just cliche. What if we created a temporary stress-free space in which the transmission of knowledge would take place independent of grades or evaluation? One wherein TDAR was not teaching them something, but they in fact were teaching us?

So we made a cube. We put the cube in a high-traffic area. And we invited students to step inside and teach us about ANYTHING–a favorite hobby, a little known fact, an essential high school survival skill. TDAR planned to sit in the space and take record of the lessons students offered in passing. We had no idea that it would become the center of attention that it did: over 250 students met with us.