Bird writes about how using the human body as medium communicates the human presence in art making. This is very evident in his examples of handprints in cave painting or human heads made of frozen blood. The artists' presence is brought to the forefront. Bird also discusses the body as a universal medium. It is at everyone's disposal and has been used across time and cultures. Towards the end of this chapter I think Bird is hinting at the dangers of crossing to line to the commodification of the human body.
I think what Bird says about the body as medium being traces of the artists is really fascinating. I don't plan on freezing my blood into the shape of a head anytime soon, but I think that the idea of the body as an imprint is neat. I think that fingerprints have a natural beauty and artistic style to them. I think it would be interesting to use the lines and repetitions in an abstract way. I am really interested in using things that are concrete and defined but in the form of abstract art, such as finger prints or topographical maps.
This chapter also remind me of a story that my husband told me a few days ago about a young girl, about six, that he saw playing out in the snow. She knelt down on the sidewalk next to a pile of snow and plunged her whole face into the snow and left her face buried for about 20 seconds and then popped up to survey her mark making. She then moved over about a foot and did the same thing. He said she repeated this the whole length of her yard. I was super excited by this story. It's so cool to see kids amazing innate desire to create. She was using her body as medium. This also made me think more about the idea of snow as recording human movements. I think that arial photographs of a park with snow would be cool. It would automatically map human activity.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Idea No. 40 Anatomy
Bird discusses anatomy as it relates to changes in art as the study of the human body in order to produce convincing depictions of the human figure. He also specifically discusses art that shows literally what lies beneath the skin. Da Vinci made it a practice to spend time dissecting bodies in order to better understand anatomy and thus more accurately represent figures. Eventually following the lead of artists like Da Vinci the study of anatomy became part of academic art education.
As you will notice if you look back at my 50 Ideas List, I am very interested in science, specifically biology. Several of my ideas relate to science and the body, though not as literally as Bird describes. As I have mentioned, I spent several years working in a hospital. One of my duties involved spending time in OR rooms while surgeries were taking place. Where as this would be very disturbing to many people I was really intrigued by it. As Da Vinci suggested I loved being able to see what was inside. I think that the overlap between the human body and medical science is very interesting. My dad is a neurologist and I had an idea that involved using EEG (brain wave mapping) paper as a layer in my artwork. I think pen and watercolor on top of it could be really neat. There is some interesting research in how certain activities yoga, meditation, and art production change a person's brain waves. Art is the only activity that makes adult's brain waves exactly mimic the brain waves of a child at play. Meditation produces a greater number of alpha waves (happy, relaxation waves). However, they don't use actual paper anymore for EEGs, and I so far I haven't tracked any down. This could still be a really interesting area to explore.
While at the hospital, I also worked on the neo-natal intensive care floor and this further developed my interest in babies, pregnancy and birth. I think a series on pregnancy or giving birth might be interesting. Check out these super cool in-utero animal pictures from National Geographic. They're really beautiful. I think the pink glow and the veins and the lines are incredible.
As you will notice if you look back at my 50 Ideas List, I am very interested in science, specifically biology. Several of my ideas relate to science and the body, though not as literally as Bird describes. As I have mentioned, I spent several years working in a hospital. One of my duties involved spending time in OR rooms while surgeries were taking place. Where as this would be very disturbing to many people I was really intrigued by it. As Da Vinci suggested I loved being able to see what was inside. I think that the overlap between the human body and medical science is very interesting. My dad is a neurologist and I had an idea that involved using EEG (brain wave mapping) paper as a layer in my artwork. I think pen and watercolor on top of it could be really neat. There is some interesting research in how certain activities yoga, meditation, and art production change a person's brain waves. Art is the only activity that makes adult's brain waves exactly mimic the brain waves of a child at play. Meditation produces a greater number of alpha waves (happy, relaxation waves). However, they don't use actual paper anymore for EEGs, and I so far I haven't tracked any down. This could still be a really interesting area to explore.
While at the hospital, I also worked on the neo-natal intensive care floor and this further developed my interest in babies, pregnancy and birth. I think a series on pregnancy or giving birth might be interesting. Check out these super cool in-utero animal pictures from National Geographic. They're really beautiful. I think the pink glow and the veins and the lines are incredible.
Overall, though I was just doing it to make money, my experience at the hospital developed a lot more compassion with in me. This is something I hope to be able to instill in my students.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Facilitating Critical and Aesthetic Inquiry
Engaging Students with Art Objects:
This article discusses strategies that serve as pathways for getting students to become involved with an art work in a way that generates a personal response. I found the short section on sound and movement strategies to be particularly interesting. I am currently in Belinda Smith's Pre-school through Kindergarten class and this seems like a particularly good strategy to use with young kids. We ask those little guys to sit still for so much of the day, but their brains are naturally programed to move around and explore as a means of learning. It makes sense to nurture this natural learning inclination by incorporating sound and movement into lessons. In a recent field experience I saw students participating in a lesson plan where they looked at some images of Kandinsky's work and then drew and painted line pictures that reacted to classical music selections. I think it would be interesting to add full body movement to this by asking students (maybe in small groups) to first practice reacting to the music with their body and then move that reaction into the creation made with their hands. Carroll and Tucker site Herman and Hollingswort saying that "Kinesthetic learning strengthens memory, enriches conceptualization and deepens understanding, promotes creativity, and expands the potential for aesthetic communication."
Orchestrating Conversations About Art:
By facilitating discussions about art we can help students to make connections between artwork and their own lives as well as develop and higher level thinking skills. Several models for artistic discussion are presented including VTS (though slightly modified from the way I have seen it presented). One method mentioned is to extend and create information though speculative questions. I think it could be really interesting to have studnets discuss and examine a piece of artwork as a group and then individually write about what they think might happen after the depicted scene. Connecting creative writing and art was also a strategy mentioned in the first article.
Employing Storytelling and Puzzle Problems:
This section focuses on how what we know about an artist or the historical circumstances surrounding an artwork can affect what we see in an artwork as well as our overall opinion. Personally, I love art history (and history in general) and it makes a lot of sense to me that we should employ all aspects of art, not just aesthetics, to develop student's interest and understanding of the subject. I also think that by employing storytelling in art and illustrating to students how other artists have made meaning in their art we can encourage them to make meaning with in their own work. I think we all know that we can employ storytelling to support meaning making through contemporary artwork as well.
Using Interpretive Strategies to Find Meaning:
I felt that this section was reinforcing the benefits that we have seen presented with VTS and through Mary Franco's work. Through practice with interpretive strategies students can develop descriptions and connection with in the artwork and evolve to development of connections and meanings outside of the artwork. This section also explores intertextual relationships that can be made to artwork. We can present connections with literature, culture, music, politics, etc. I have seen picture books used very effectively with younger students as a means for connecting artwork to literature, both through the images in the book as well and through the inspired images created by the students. Metaphorical thinking is also discussed. I think it would be interesting to present students with prints of a bunch of different artworks an ask them to select one that the feel can be used as a metaphor for a certain time in their life and discuss this relationship in writing. I also love the idea of using aestetigrams as a means for reflecting on the process of aesthetic response.
Promoting Critical Thinking Through Problem-Based Inquiry:
This section promotes the importance of teachers acting as "cognitive coaches." we can lead students to deeper thinking and questioning in order to develop a deeper understanding. By utilizing a problem-based approach we can promote this type of complex thinking. Peer collaboration can also create a support system through which students can push one another towards deep investigations.
Facilitating Student-Curated Exhibits:
Curating calls upon a variety of higher level thinking skills including making connection amongst a diverse collection of artworks, cooperative group work and presentations skills. In my Drawing II class this semester we were asked for the first time to "curate" our own work as a class. It was a very interesting and valuable experience. I can see the value in asking students to do this with their own work, however I don't think it happens very often in schools currently. Students must look at the meanings made in their own artwork as well as their classmates. They must find some way to connect their work and make a unified message come forth to viewers.
Using Models for Writing About Art:
One of the strategies mentioned in this section is asking students to write postcards or letters to reflect on experiences (Hey! I've seen that somewhere before). This creates an opportunity for more candid and informal writing. I think that this would be a good strategy to use after visiting a museum or going on a field trip. In this way it functions like a art journal in that students can create and image and words to express themselves. We learned last week about how switching between symbol systems can reinforce learning.
Making Art Inspired by the Study of Art:
By creating art after viewing art students can explore the artists ideas, processes, subjects and techniques in their own work. Carroll and Tucker make a point of saying this is "more than creating art in the style of..."At least on the elementary school level I think that teachers sometimes have students look very shallowly at an artist and then ask them to create a piece that looks just like the work they viewed, such as layered Kandinsky-style circles. I think it would be much more interesting to see where this inspiration leads students creatively rather than prescribing the path they should take.
Related Article:
Heintz, June R. "How does your garden grow?" School Arts.
This article looks at Heintz's lesson plan for a third grade classroom which involves viewing art, discussing connections between different artists depictions of the same theme, storytelling through art and creating artwork inspired by the study of art. Students viewed artwork surrounding the theme of gardens from four different artists. They discussed these works and the meanings they found with in them. In this discussion they made connections between the art and their own lives. Next they created their own art inspired by the influence of gardens and nature in their lives. I think it is important to note that the students developed very different responses to this aesthetic inquiry. Their art making was about personal meaning making and drawing connections between an art viewing experience and their own lives and artwork rather than following a recipe of how to create Van Gogh-esqu sunflowers. By engaging students in a thoughtful investigation of artwork we lay the foundation for creating meaningful artistic explorations and interesting products.
Topic Proposal:
Effectively Embracing Cellphones in the Classroom
Cellphones have become an unavoidable part of life. As educators we seem to be fighting an uphill battle against cellphones in the classroom. Maybe we should be embracing the ways that cellphones can help us teach. I want to look at educators who are using cellphones as a tool effectively in their classrooms. I hope that this exploration will help us more consciously evaluate cellphone policies.
I plan to present this information in the form of a video. I think that video will be a great way to show instances in which cell phones are being used as a learning tool. I would like to interview teachers and students (if possible) about the uses of cellphones in the classroom. Michell Livek has agreed to help with this portion of my inquiry and I hope to find at least one more teacher who is embracing the powerful technology that hides in their students pockets. Michelle is bringing me some books tomorrow as well (She's awesome).
Questions to Address:
Other resources:
This article discusses strategies that serve as pathways for getting students to become involved with an art work in a way that generates a personal response. I found the short section on sound and movement strategies to be particularly interesting. I am currently in Belinda Smith's Pre-school through Kindergarten class and this seems like a particularly good strategy to use with young kids. We ask those little guys to sit still for so much of the day, but their brains are naturally programed to move around and explore as a means of learning. It makes sense to nurture this natural learning inclination by incorporating sound and movement into lessons. In a recent field experience I saw students participating in a lesson plan where they looked at some images of Kandinsky's work and then drew and painted line pictures that reacted to classical music selections. I think it would be interesting to add full body movement to this by asking students (maybe in small groups) to first practice reacting to the music with their body and then move that reaction into the creation made with their hands. Carroll and Tucker site Herman and Hollingswort saying that "Kinesthetic learning strengthens memory, enriches conceptualization and deepens understanding, promotes creativity, and expands the potential for aesthetic communication."
Orchestrating Conversations About Art:
By facilitating discussions about art we can help students to make connections between artwork and their own lives as well as develop and higher level thinking skills. Several models for artistic discussion are presented including VTS (though slightly modified from the way I have seen it presented). One method mentioned is to extend and create information though speculative questions. I think it could be really interesting to have studnets discuss and examine a piece of artwork as a group and then individually write about what they think might happen after the depicted scene. Connecting creative writing and art was also a strategy mentioned in the first article.
Employing Storytelling and Puzzle Problems:
This section focuses on how what we know about an artist or the historical circumstances surrounding an artwork can affect what we see in an artwork as well as our overall opinion. Personally, I love art history (and history in general) and it makes a lot of sense to me that we should employ all aspects of art, not just aesthetics, to develop student's interest and understanding of the subject. I also think that by employing storytelling in art and illustrating to students how other artists have made meaning in their art we can encourage them to make meaning with in their own work. I think we all know that we can employ storytelling to support meaning making through contemporary artwork as well.
Using Interpretive Strategies to Find Meaning:
I felt that this section was reinforcing the benefits that we have seen presented with VTS and through Mary Franco's work. Through practice with interpretive strategies students can develop descriptions and connection with in the artwork and evolve to development of connections and meanings outside of the artwork. This section also explores intertextual relationships that can be made to artwork. We can present connections with literature, culture, music, politics, etc. I have seen picture books used very effectively with younger students as a means for connecting artwork to literature, both through the images in the book as well and through the inspired images created by the students. Metaphorical thinking is also discussed. I think it would be interesting to present students with prints of a bunch of different artworks an ask them to select one that the feel can be used as a metaphor for a certain time in their life and discuss this relationship in writing. I also love the idea of using aestetigrams as a means for reflecting on the process of aesthetic response.
Promoting Critical Thinking Through Problem-Based Inquiry:
This section promotes the importance of teachers acting as "cognitive coaches." we can lead students to deeper thinking and questioning in order to develop a deeper understanding. By utilizing a problem-based approach we can promote this type of complex thinking. Peer collaboration can also create a support system through which students can push one another towards deep investigations.
Facilitating Student-Curated Exhibits:
Curating calls upon a variety of higher level thinking skills including making connection amongst a diverse collection of artworks, cooperative group work and presentations skills. In my Drawing II class this semester we were asked for the first time to "curate" our own work as a class. It was a very interesting and valuable experience. I can see the value in asking students to do this with their own work, however I don't think it happens very often in schools currently. Students must look at the meanings made in their own artwork as well as their classmates. They must find some way to connect their work and make a unified message come forth to viewers.
Using Models for Writing About Art:
One of the strategies mentioned in this section is asking students to write postcards or letters to reflect on experiences (Hey! I've seen that somewhere before). This creates an opportunity for more candid and informal writing. I think that this would be a good strategy to use after visiting a museum or going on a field trip. In this way it functions like a art journal in that students can create and image and words to express themselves. We learned last week about how switching between symbol systems can reinforce learning.
Making Art Inspired by the Study of Art:
By creating art after viewing art students can explore the artists ideas, processes, subjects and techniques in their own work. Carroll and Tucker make a point of saying this is "more than creating art in the style of..."At least on the elementary school level I think that teachers sometimes have students look very shallowly at an artist and then ask them to create a piece that looks just like the work they viewed, such as layered Kandinsky-style circles. I think it would be much more interesting to see where this inspiration leads students creatively rather than prescribing the path they should take.
Related Article:
Heintz, June R. "How does your garden grow?" School Arts.
This article looks at Heintz's lesson plan for a third grade classroom which involves viewing art, discussing connections between different artists depictions of the same theme, storytelling through art and creating artwork inspired by the study of art. Students viewed artwork surrounding the theme of gardens from four different artists. They discussed these works and the meanings they found with in them. In this discussion they made connections between the art and their own lives. Next they created their own art inspired by the influence of gardens and nature in their lives. I think it is important to note that the students developed very different responses to this aesthetic inquiry. Their art making was about personal meaning making and drawing connections between an art viewing experience and their own lives and artwork rather than following a recipe of how to create Van Gogh-esqu sunflowers. By engaging students in a thoughtful investigation of artwork we lay the foundation for creating meaningful artistic explorations and interesting products.
Topic Proposal:
Effectively Embracing Cellphones in the Classroom
Cellphones have become an unavoidable part of life. As educators we seem to be fighting an uphill battle against cellphones in the classroom. Maybe we should be embracing the ways that cellphones can help us teach. I want to look at educators who are using cellphones as a tool effectively in their classrooms. I hope that this exploration will help us more consciously evaluate cellphone policies.
I plan to present this information in the form of a video. I think that video will be a great way to show instances in which cell phones are being used as a learning tool. I would like to interview teachers and students (if possible) about the uses of cellphones in the classroom. Michell Livek has agreed to help with this portion of my inquiry and I hope to find at least one more teacher who is embracing the powerful technology that hides in their students pockets. Michelle is bringing me some books tomorrow as well (She's awesome).
Questions to Address:
- What are the drawbacks of cellphone use in a school setting and how can we respond to those concerns?
- How art some teachers artfully using cellphones in class?
- What do students think about using cellphones for classwork?
Other resources:
- The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future by Mark Bauerlein
- 21st Century Skills, Chapter 12: Technology Rich, Information Poor by Alan November and Chapter 13: Navigating Social Networks as Learning Tools by Will Richardson
- Education, Can Smart Phones Make Kids Smarter by Todd Hoffman
- YouTube, Idea Channel: Is Instagram the Best Thing Ever to Happen to Photography?
- Signs of Change: Art Education in the Age of the iKid by Kathleen Unrath and Melissa Mudd
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Idea No. 9 Body as Surface
Honestly, I found this to be a kind of strange chapter. It discusses the use of one's body as art trough alterations such as cutting, tattooing and painting. I found it unusual that piercing and other forms of permanent jewelry we not mentioned here. Bird discusses how the body has been used as art to draw attention to issues such as sexuality and gender. I think that he makes an interesting point when he says as body images have become more common in mass media the human body as become a "highly politicized surface for art." He also discusses how tattoos have been used both as decoration and to signify status with in society.
I used to work a side job as an event planner for Indian weddings. As part of the job I wore a Sari and had my hands painted with henna. I found this practice to be a really beautiful and amazing type of ceremonial use of the body as surface. While I am open to these types of non-permanent alterations to my body I really don't agree with the ideas of tattoos or piercings or any permanent alteration of the body. I do not consider myself to be a conservative person in the least, however, to me, permanent alterations to the body are disrespectful to our bodies. I do not feel right permanently altering my body because I feel as though it would not be fully accepting my body as it is. For this reason (and some others) I do not even have my ears pierced. Just to be clear, I do not judge anyone else who does have tattoos or piercings. I understand that they simply don't see this issue the same way that I do.
Though this concept of body as surface is not one that immediately appeals to me I could possibly see myself using this idea in photographs of ceremonial aspects of body as surface. I do think that ceremonial body painting can be really beautiful and it communicates a lot about a culture. Overall, I find elaborate cultural and religious ceremonies to be really interesting.
At music festivals I have seen naked people (usually women) who have painted their bodies in spectacular designs. While I think that this communicates something about females encouraging a sexually directed gaze I also think it can be a really interesting way to adorn the body. While I would never participate in this I think it is an intriguing use of the body as surface.
Overall, I don't think this will be the most fruitful idea with in my own art, but it is good to think about the canvas in a different way.
Alternative Canvases Lesson Plan (Judy Chicago)
In our group we discussed that having students look at "unsung heros" might be interesting. We thought that having students look at people within their school or community that are doing something special could be a good chance for them to think about the positive influences in their lives, just as Judy Chicago honored historic females that have positively impacted society. We would ask them to look at Judy Chicago's Dinner Party in order to understand the way that one artist has chosen to select and honor important people. This would also give them a chance to explore the way that Chicago used symbolism to communicate about the women she had chosen, which will become important when they begin their own work. We would also like to tie in the work of Phil Hansen. His Ted Talk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anujFqvCJsk) which I think Molly had previously posted, is a great example of how to think creatively about art making materials.
Jimi Hendrix made of matches
David on a banana
We would then ask students to select a person that they would like to honor and create an artwork using an alternative canvas. Carrie's example was a lunch lady at her school that makes an effort to check in on several at risk students. She thought that a lunch room tray might make a good canvas. We also discussed having students use non traditional tools to create the image. Such as food on the lunch tray or maybe carving into a styrofoam lunch tray with forks and knifes.
By asking students to create using non-traditional materials we are pushing them to think outside of the box and use their problem solving skills. In the Carroll and Tucker text on page 121 they say "...More creative solutions are generated by tighter constraints and limited options that force new thinking and problem solving. Many artists often give themselves problems with constraints so as to help focus their own work." We are presenting students with constraints that help to compose an elegant art problem, however, we have left the problem open enough to allow for choice so that personal meaning making can take place.
I also feel that this assignment speaks to Duncum's principle of intertextuality. The students have to think about what meanings and associations their chosen materials communicate. Is this the message that they want to communicate about the person they are honoring? How can they present the materials in order to bring forth the positive influence that this person has on them?
Concentration # 1
The big idea behind my series that I am working on is confidence. I want to gain confidence and experience as an artist and in a variety of different medias. My series is a media exploration of the look of confidence.
I am really open to tips and help. I am counting on you guys to help me learn how to use the materials better. I have another one that is watercolor, but I think I am going to take another shot at it. Let me know what you guys think.
Hyatt, Colored pencil
Shalonda, Charcoal
Lauren, Oil Pastels
Yun, Pen
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Facilitating Engagement with the Art-Making Process
Investigating Ideas and Materials:
Students need experience using materials in order to begin developing conceptual art making plans that use artistic materials and processes. Teachers should guide students down this path by developing investigations using a variety of media that allow students to explore. This article discusses using a "spiral curriculum" in which students revisit materials and techniques allowing them to develop a deeper and more complex understating of the media with each exposure. It is also suggested to allow for opportunities to gain experience with both two and three- dimensional processes to accommodate different forms of expression. This seems like common sense however, I think that three-dimensional art is given a lot less attention in school art programs. I am not especially drawn to one over the other, but in getting to know more artists I am finding that there are many people who feel that their brain just works in either 2-D or 3-D. I think that it is important to allow for these different forms on expression as much as possible in assignments.
Structuring for Creative Thinking:
When introducing an art problem it should be more closed than open. This might seem counterintuitive, but constraints can help to focus a student's work. The assignment should still allow for choice, so that the student has the ability to create meaning in their work. Narrowing the art problem and applying constraints is something that I have struggled with in my previous attempts at lesson planning. My lessons have a tendency to get bigger and wider as I go, so I think it might be helpful for me to start with something small and then look at how it connects to bigger ideas. I think I need to practice planning backwards. This article also the importance of persisting and following through with a process even if you aren't sure how it might turn out. It goes back to the idea of focusing on process rather than product and being willing to explore. There is also value in "working at the edge of one's expertise." This pushes artists to take risks and in turn grow from the art making experience. It is also important to reflect on the art making process. This helps use to better understand what we learned and how we learned it. I think that sketchbooks, in process peer critiques and the cool things that Michelle Livik is doing with Instagram and such are really cool ways of pushing students to reflect.
Forming Elegant Problems:
There are four main characteristics of an elegant problem. Flexibility for a variety of ability levels, choice making, sparks original thinking, opportunity for elaborations, and is worthwhile. Rich art making problems are centered on big ideas. It seems that if we focus on a big idea and follow the other steps outlined in this section, opportunity to explore the media and appropriate constraints, then we will be well step up to have a successful and engaging lesson.
Designing Problems Based on the Real World of Work:
Not only do problems based in the "real world" provide a strong basis for a rich lesson, but it also develops students' skills that are can be used in the work world and shows the importance of artistic skills beyond school. Of course we all know that the type of mental skills developed by strong art lessons are invaluable, but as students, school administration, and parents realize the strength of the work that thinking that these students are doing in art the will see how invaluable it is as well.
Facilitating a Dialogue and Discourse about Student Work:
I feel that this section makes several very important points about discussing students' work. First off it does not have to be in the form of a large all-class critique. Small groups, written responses and self-reflection are all ways to get students to think about the meaning that they are creating in their work and how others are seeing it. I think that in-progress feedback in usually the most valuable to students, but also one of the least well utilized. It is also of the utmost importance that students are given guidance on what is appropriate and respectful in a critique setting. All feedback should of course be constructive otherwise it can become a negative experience for students.
Related Article: Recognizing and Using Higher Order Approaches to Teaching Art by Elizabeth Kowalchuk
This article compared two teachers approaches to teaching portraiture. One teacher's approach was to simply explain facial proportion to students and then have them use a gridded picture to create a self-portrait. The other involved students in looking at art history, criticism, and aesthetics in addition to studio work. Kowalchuk says that having multiple component s like the second teacher leads to high level thinking and understanding.
She also states the importance of selecting "generative topics." Teachers should ask themselves if a topic relates to a variety of other issues, processes, and subject areas. Kowalchuk knows that this type of lesson planning can be time consuming and intimidating, but she suggests that teachers try to alter their existing lesson plans to find ways to incorporate other aspects of art. She suggests in the case of portraits rater than having students just make gridded self-portraits they could look at the work of Chuck Close.
Though I agree that this is a step in the right direction I feel like the Chuck Close lesson has become the stand-by way to teach gridded drawings. Maybe groups of students could look at a variety of different artists and how they approached self-portrait. Self Portrait also lend itself so well to being embedded in the idea of identity. Cindy Sherman and William Wegman are both good examples of other artists to look at for different approaches on portraits. This could allow students to explore the medium of photography which they might have less experience with. It also becomes the much more elegant problem of identity and self representation rather than the problem of drawing you face "correctly." It is important, even if it's through the mode of Chuck Close, that students are thinking about what their self portrait says to their audience. When the students work is discussed they should have more to say about it then the proportions, but we must give them the structure on which to hang a more developed artistic process and product.
Students need experience using materials in order to begin developing conceptual art making plans that use artistic materials and processes. Teachers should guide students down this path by developing investigations using a variety of media that allow students to explore. This article discusses using a "spiral curriculum" in which students revisit materials and techniques allowing them to develop a deeper and more complex understating of the media with each exposure. It is also suggested to allow for opportunities to gain experience with both two and three- dimensional processes to accommodate different forms of expression. This seems like common sense however, I think that three-dimensional art is given a lot less attention in school art programs. I am not especially drawn to one over the other, but in getting to know more artists I am finding that there are many people who feel that their brain just works in either 2-D or 3-D. I think that it is important to allow for these different forms on expression as much as possible in assignments.
Structuring for Creative Thinking:
When introducing an art problem it should be more closed than open. This might seem counterintuitive, but constraints can help to focus a student's work. The assignment should still allow for choice, so that the student has the ability to create meaning in their work. Narrowing the art problem and applying constraints is something that I have struggled with in my previous attempts at lesson planning. My lessons have a tendency to get bigger and wider as I go, so I think it might be helpful for me to start with something small and then look at how it connects to bigger ideas. I think I need to practice planning backwards. This article also the importance of persisting and following through with a process even if you aren't sure how it might turn out. It goes back to the idea of focusing on process rather than product and being willing to explore. There is also value in "working at the edge of one's expertise." This pushes artists to take risks and in turn grow from the art making experience. It is also important to reflect on the art making process. This helps use to better understand what we learned and how we learned it. I think that sketchbooks, in process peer critiques and the cool things that Michelle Livik is doing with Instagram and such are really cool ways of pushing students to reflect.
Forming Elegant Problems:
There are four main characteristics of an elegant problem. Flexibility for a variety of ability levels, choice making, sparks original thinking, opportunity for elaborations, and is worthwhile. Rich art making problems are centered on big ideas. It seems that if we focus on a big idea and follow the other steps outlined in this section, opportunity to explore the media and appropriate constraints, then we will be well step up to have a successful and engaging lesson.
Designing Problems Based on the Real World of Work:
Not only do problems based in the "real world" provide a strong basis for a rich lesson, but it also develops students' skills that are can be used in the work world and shows the importance of artistic skills beyond school. Of course we all know that the type of mental skills developed by strong art lessons are invaluable, but as students, school administration, and parents realize the strength of the work that thinking that these students are doing in art the will see how invaluable it is as well.
Facilitating a Dialogue and Discourse about Student Work:
I feel that this section makes several very important points about discussing students' work. First off it does not have to be in the form of a large all-class critique. Small groups, written responses and self-reflection are all ways to get students to think about the meaning that they are creating in their work and how others are seeing it. I think that in-progress feedback in usually the most valuable to students, but also one of the least well utilized. It is also of the utmost importance that students are given guidance on what is appropriate and respectful in a critique setting. All feedback should of course be constructive otherwise it can become a negative experience for students.
Related Article: Recognizing and Using Higher Order Approaches to Teaching Art by Elizabeth Kowalchuk
This article compared two teachers approaches to teaching portraiture. One teacher's approach was to simply explain facial proportion to students and then have them use a gridded picture to create a self-portrait. The other involved students in looking at art history, criticism, and aesthetics in addition to studio work. Kowalchuk says that having multiple component s like the second teacher leads to high level thinking and understanding.
She also states the importance of selecting "generative topics." Teachers should ask themselves if a topic relates to a variety of other issues, processes, and subject areas. Kowalchuk knows that this type of lesson planning can be time consuming and intimidating, but she suggests that teachers try to alter their existing lesson plans to find ways to incorporate other aspects of art. She suggests in the case of portraits rater than having students just make gridded self-portraits they could look at the work of Chuck Close.
Though I agree that this is a step in the right direction I feel like the Chuck Close lesson has become the stand-by way to teach gridded drawings. Maybe groups of students could look at a variety of different artists and how they approached self-portrait. Self Portrait also lend itself so well to being embedded in the idea of identity. Cindy Sherman and William Wegman are both good examples of other artists to look at for different approaches on portraits. This could allow students to explore the medium of photography which they might have less experience with. It also becomes the much more elegant problem of identity and self representation rather than the problem of drawing you face "correctly." It is important, even if it's through the mode of Chuck Close, that students are thinking about what their self portrait says to their audience. When the students work is discussed they should have more to say about it then the proportions, but we must give them the structure on which to hang a more developed artistic process and product.
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