Stratification: embodied poetry works by high school students

In this art submission we describe a collection of twelve multimedia art works that combine sound, images and animation. These works are the result of collaborative creative practice between media artists and students in the context of two high school Language Arts classes for non-Native English speakers. The works were created, in part, by the students physically acting out aspects of the composition within SMALLab, a mixed reality environment for multimodal composition. We call the works "Embodied Poetry" because of this physical action aspect. The title of the collection, Stratification, refers to the layers of meaning within human language. The theme of the collection is English Idioms and the works incorporate both literal and figurative meanings. Examples of idioms include "bringing home the bacon," "fighting a losing battle", and "cutting through red tape." These works were created in an everyday educational setting, with the goal of improving student learning. Nevertheless, they should be viewed as works of art. For us, the artistic contribution of this work includes the pieces themselves and also the guided creative process by which they were created. Thus, for the exhibit we will showcase the works themselves and a documentary describing the process.