Introduction:
You and your classmates have just finished an art project in the
art room. We all did a self portrait. Some of us made ourselves very realistic.
Others decided to make ourselves look like we wished we looked. Others had a
very abstract approach. During our critique session, an argument breaks out.
Who is right? Who is wrong? Is there a right or wrong?
You and your classmates are going to problem solve how to
appreciate and accept artwork of others. Everyone has a different approach of doing his
or her artwork, and in art, all answers are acceptable. When we negatively comment about the work of
others, conflicts arise. By addressing this social issue, we can learn how to
have conversations about our art and the art of others, tolerating different
opinions and how to provide constructive critiques. We will discover that
unlike some other subjects we study in school, art has many solutions for the
same problem. In addition, by using some of the same strategies, we might be
able to solve other conflicts that present themselves in school as well!
Task
You will research and find
two different artists of your choice who have done artwork to compare.
For example,
you might look at
Pablo Picasso’s Portrait of Dora Maar
and compare it
with
Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona
Lisa. 
You will also compare the work of two of your classmates. You will
discuss, compare, contrast and role-play two different scenarios on how to
discuss artwork: one hurtful and one helpful! In the end you will be making a
poster to display in the art room on how to talk about art!
Process
·
I will be dividing you up into groups of four.
·
By using the resources list, please choose and research two
different portraits by two different artists. As a group if you prefer to
research a different genre of art, such as still life or landscapes, use the
second list of resources to choose your two artworks.
·
Next, choose two different artworks from your classmates to
compare.
·
Using the guide below, discuss the artwork. Take you time,
analyzing and critiquing are both thinking processes!
You can use this guide to ask questions on both sets of art
Describe:
What are you looking at?
Whose work is this? Is it a portrait? Landscape? Still Life? What is your first
impression? What materials were used?
Analyze:
Using what you have learned
about critiquing art in the past, How are the elements of art (color, shape, line,
texture, space, form, value) and the principles of design (balance,
contrast, emphasis, movement/rhythm, unity, variety) used in this artwork? What
grabs your attention?
Interpret:
How does this work make you
feel? How do you think the artist feels about him or herself? The world?
Evaluate:
Take your time with this one. Evaluating means thinking!
After describing, analyzing and interpreting, do you feel
different about the artwork you first viewed? Why or why not.
·
Next decide between the four of you who will take the role of the
artist first while the others comment about the art. Take turns so that
everyone has a turn.
·
Talk about your findings and come up with some policy ideas that
could be used at
·
Be a Public Policy Analyst: remember to define the problem, which
is the disrespect to the artwork of others.
·
Next gather the evidence: do students talk disrespectfully of the
work of others? Does this happen often? Where? When?
·
What is done about this problem now both in the art room and out?
·
By role-playing see if you can uncover ways to talk about art that
is constructive not destructive. What ways can you solve this problem?
·
After you have explored the options with your team. Make a poster
about how to talk about art! Use graphics! You may use the computer to print
out clip art or draw your own. Think facial expressions.
Resources:
These resources focus on portraits.
These resources contain a variety of artists and artwork to look
at. If you use these, choose two different artists within the same genre
This link is by artist.
http://library.thinkquest.org/J001159/famart.htm
This link is by style
http://library.thinkquest.org/J001159/artstyle.htm
Evaluation:
Please evaluate yourself using this rubric. Be honest!!!
|
Name:________ |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Graphics - Originality |
Several of the graphics used on the poster
reflect a exceptional degree of student creativity in their creation and/or
display. |
One or two of the graphics used on the poster
reflect student creativity in their creation and/or display. |
The graphics are made by the student, but are
based on the designs or ideas of others. |
No graphics made by the student are included. |
|
Attractiveness |
The poster is exceptionally attractive in terms
of design, layout, and neatness. |
The poster is attractive in terms of design,
layout and neatness. |
The poster is acceptably attractive though it may
be a bit messy. |
The poster is distractingly messy or very poorly
designed. It is not attractive. |
|
Graphics -Clarity |
Graphics are all in focus and the content easily
viewed and identified from 6 ft. away. |
Most graphics are in focus and the content easily
viewed and identified from 6 ft. away. |
Most graphics are in focus and the content is
easily viewed and identified from 4 ft. away. |
Many graphics are not clear or are too small. |
|
Mechanics |
Capitalization and punctuation are correct
throughout the poster. |
There is 1 error in capitalization or
punctuation. |
There are 2 errors in capitalization or
punctuation. |
There are more than 2 errors in capitalization or
punctuation. |
|
Teamwork |
We all worked exceptionally well
together as a team, both critiquing the art work and creating a public policy
poster together. |
Most of us worked well together, and
managed to critique the artwork and make a clear and relevant public policy
poster. |
Only a couple of us we able to
discuss the art and create a public policy poster. |
None of us could come together as a
group to decide how to talk about art or make a poster. |
Conclusion
This is one of
my personal favorite articles. It was written by a man named Elliot Eisner in
1985.
Ten
Lessons the Arts Teach
1.
The arts teach children to make good
judgments about qualitative relationships. Unlike much of the curriculum in
which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgment rather
than rules that prevail.
2.
The arts teach children that problems can
have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.
3.
The arts celebrate multiple perspectives. One
of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the
world.
4.
The arts teach children that in complex forms
of problem-solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and
opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and willingness to
surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.
5.
The arts make vivid the fact that words do
not, in their literal form or number, exhaust what we can know. The limits of
our language do not define the limits of our cognition.
6.
The arts teach students that small
differences can have large effects. The arts traffic in subtleties.
7.
The arts teach students to think through and
within a material. All art forms employ some means through which images become
real.
8.
The arts help children learn to say what
cannot be said. When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps
them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that
will do the job.
9.
The arts enable us to have experience we can
have from no other source and through such experience to discover the range and
variety of what we are capable of feeling.
10. The
arts' position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults
believe is important.
Elliott
Eisner, in Beyond Creating: The Place for Art in
After reading this, tell
me in writing what this article means to you and how you now can view artwork
differently than before this webquest.
Standards:
N.Y.S. Standard #1:
(Creating and Performing in the Arts)
Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute
creation and performance in the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts)
and participate in various roles in the arts.
N.Y.S Standard #2:
Knowing and Using Arts Materials and Resources)
Students will be knowledgeable about
and make use of the materials and resources available for participation in the
arts in various roles.
N.Y.S Standard #3:
(Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art)
Students will
respond critically to a variety of works in the arts, connecting the individual
work to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought
N.Y.S Standard #4:
(Understanding the Cultural Dimensions and Contributions of the
Arts)
Students
will develop an understanding of the personal and cultural forces that shape
artistic communication and how the arts in turn shape the diverse cultures of
past and present society