Real Life Art

This series of lessons or mini critical projects serves to view how the art and design of cultural artifacts, meaning: monuments, bridges, buses, buildings, roads, urban planning...etc. are value-laden works of art that convey both explicit and implicit messages in their form and functionality. 

Item 1: The Toronto Go Train Project
(http://www.arttrain.no9.ca/#)


"No.9 is an arts orga­ni­zation that uses art and design to bring awareness to environmental concerns. We deliver programs in schools and in the public domain designed to encourage the use of creative thinking to resolve environmental issues and to promote a sustainable lifestyle." 
(http://www.no9.ca/mission.php)

"Public Art is the communal ver­sion of this expe­ri­ence and can act as a cat­a­lyst for cultur­al dia­logue and change. As a society we are currently driv­en by the desire for a lifestyle of per­pet­ual growth that is not socially or envi­ron­mentally sustainable. Vision­ary voic­es are needed to inspire a cultur­al shift towards a glob­al sustainable lifestyle. "
(http://www.no9.ca/mission.php) 

Meaningful Learning Activity

Much of art curriculum encourages students to think critically about artwork and images through their own artistic lens. Considering this fact, developing a student's ability to recognize their own beliefs about art is essential in the meaning making process. To be able to reflect upon their own critiques of art is to critique their own perceptions of the art as well. 

Meaning and Context Assignment:

This assignment encourages students to place themselves within the context of their own critiques and in doing so recognize that there is a triangle at work between themselves (the viewer), the artist (in their own historical context), and the work (the product of the artist's context and ideas). 

Begin the assignment by showing the class this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjgQ58sRU3o

Group discussion about the ideas presented in the video. For example:

• Why were these images chosen? What effect do they have on the message? 
• How does the music change how we feel watching the video and listening to the narrator? 
• As a multi-dimensional piece do the elements come together?
• Is this video effective? If so, how? Why do we agree? Do we agree?
• Is this why Art matters? Does art, in fact, matter?

Transition into a brainstorming activity about their own experiences and beliefs:

• How has art transformed your beliefs? If not, why?
• Does art show the complexity of daily life as you have come to know it? 
• How do you see art?
• Why might others see art differently? Does this change the purpose of art?
• Do you believe art changes how you think?
• Do you consider media to be art? If so how does it change the way you see the world or think about what you see and experience? 

The Assignment:

Use this brainstorm to develop an artist statement. Show the class a sample article on the subject matter:

http://www.artstudy.org/art-and-design-careers/artist-statement.php

and an interview with Janet Werner from canadianart.ca:
http://www.canadianart.ca/features/2012/11/28/janet-werner-interview/

Encourage the students not to limit their discussion to how their ideas and beliefs and affected their creative process in terms of the work they produce but how their beliefs have coloured their identity as an artist. This might include how they view art, what the purpose of "good" art is, what their goal in producing and viewing art might be, and what art means to them. 

Presentation Exemplar

PowerPoint Presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1w8LbgmBKVrXK83k45rPc4K0GISvChjCEIAxQ2sGtCyE/edit

The following is a link to a sample PowerPoint Presentation that may be used for the lesson " 7 Elements of Design/4 Basic Principles of Art" 

Illustration Project: The Bad Beginning

Project Details:

Choose an interesting episode in a well-known novel and select a quotation from the novel to interprete. Use this quotation to develop a personal image, illustration, or multi-media work using various forms of technology, including: computers, scanners, paint software, collage, Photoshop...etc. 

Objectives:

• Incorporate media images and technology into an artistic creation
• Construct meaning around literary ideas and episodes within a greater text
• Familiarize students with available software and technology in the creative process 

Example: 

“The Play is called the Marvelous Marriage and is written by the great playwright, Al Funcoot. We will give only one performance, this Friday night. It is about a man who is brave and intelligent, who is played by me. In the finale he marries a young beautiful woman he loves, in front of a crowd of cheering people.”

— Count Olaf, THE BAD BEGINNING

Exemplars:

by: Brett Helquist

(http://sherbetshucker.blogspot.ca/2009_06_01_archive.html)

(http://snicket.wikia.com/wiki/Category:TBB)

(http://www.procollage.com/occasion/wedding-photos-collage.php)

Quick Quiz: Art and Emotion

Identify the emotions present in these famous works of art
1.    2.  
3.    4. 
5.    6. 
7.    8. 

1. Henri Matisse - joy/happiness 
2. Roy Lichtenstein - terror/anxious
3. Pablo Picasso - sadness/nervous
4. Marc Chagall - love
5. Roy Lichtenstein - anger
6. Francis Bacon - pain
7. Marc Chagall - whimsy/ freedom/happiness 
8. Grant Wood - serious/simple/stern

Images and lesson idea found at http://www.artsology.com/artemotion.php

Lesson Plan: Virtual Museum Tour

60 minute lesson

Features of day two:

·         Conducted in the computer lab

·         Individual assignment conducted online using Google Art Project

·         Objective is to develop autonomy in their exploration and critique of artistic spaces (i.e. museums) as well as re-affirm their knowledge of art vocabulary and develop critical thinking in an arts context

·         Materials required: Computers for each student (or in pairs if resources are limited) with internet access

·         Materials required for homework: Computer with internet to complete any unfinished work and to upload their critiques on the class’ blog

60 minute work period to work on their assignment

·         Using their Google Account they log into Google Art Project (http://www.googleartproject.com/)

·         Students will find their chosen artist’s collection and view the work in both

o    “Museum view”: to analyze their placement within the museum in terms of sub-collections or coloration etc.

o    “Slideshow view”: to compare the works individually and as a part of the artists’ whole collection of works

·         From this exploration Students will prepare a critique of one work and its specific elements as well as a critique of the artists’ style, situating the selected work within a larger context (meaning the entire body of work, relevant art movement[s] of the time, the artist’s lifetime etc.)

·         The individual critiques will then be uploaded to a blog (created by the teacher on Blogger) to feature the class’ “gallery” of critiques in a collaborative online forum to compare,  contrast, and comment upon their peers’ critiques

HOMEWORK: Complete any unfinished work and upload their critiques on the class blog

Lesson Plan: 7 Elements of Design/ 4 Basic Principles of Art

60 minute lesson

Features of the lesson:

·         Conducted in the classroom

·         Provides the theoretical foundation for the follow-up lesson in the computer lab

·         Materials required prior to the lesson:

o   Access to a computer with internet access, a printer, and photocopier in order to create the worksheet using resources found on LEARN (http://www.learnquebec.ca/)

o   An account with LEARN

·         Materials required during the lesson: Access to a computer and projector

·         Materials students require for homework: Computer with internet access

Break-Down:

30 minutes of lecture, analysis, and class discussion:

PowerPoint presentation

Objectives of the Presentation:

·         Review of the vocabulary (mainly essential principles in design and composition)  used in art appreciation and critique

·         Apply the vocabulary in a class discussion/analysis of Photography from  National Geographic’s online web galleries, specifically:

§   “Pictures: 10 Larger-Than-Life Earth Art Installations” (http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/land-earth-art-gallery/)

§   “Life in Color”  (http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/life-in-color/)

§   “Photo Gallery: How to Take Landscape Photos” (http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-tips/landscape-photos/)

10 minutes of group activity

·         A painting is presented in the PowerPoint Presentation relating to the specific art movement being studied , i.e. Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night for Impressionism

·      In groups of four or five the students will analyze and critique the work of art by discussing the artistic elements of the painting

§  Fill out a worksheet (modeled after resources found on LEARN) to organize their critique—sample worksheets:

·          (http://www.learnquebec.ca/en/content/les/visual_arts/les1_journal/documents/VA_1_1_art_critique.pdf)

·          (http://www.learnquebec.ca/en/content/les/visual_arts/les1_journal/documents/VA_1_1_art_crit_analyz.pdf)

·          (http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/~/media/ArtsEdge/LessonPrintables/grade-6-8/art_show_questions.ashx)

·          (http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/~/media/ArtsEdge/LessonPrintables/grade-6-8/media1_media_awareness.ashx)

20 minutes of sharing the group work and wrap-up:

·         The groups will then share their findings to the class and compare their analyses