IPTS 2: The competent teacher has in-depth understanding of content area knowledge that includes central concepts, methods of inquiry, structures of the disciplines, and content area literacy. The teacher creates meaningful learning experiences for each student based upon interactions among content area and pedagogical knowledge, and evidence-based practice.
In my teaching it is important for me to keep up with and be looking at new art forms and artists to teach in my classroom. Here you can see two databases where I have gathered images and analyzed them for appropriateness in the classroom setting.
Visual Culture Database
This is a collection of images that are analyzed for their use in middle school curricula.
1. McMummy by Ben Campbell
Big Idea: Life and Death, Social Norms
Major Theme: Views of Reality
Medium: Sculpture
Visual Components: Form, Proportion, Texture
Category: Pop Culture
Original Location: Tomb
of the McMummy Art Show, Texas.
Description & Interpretation: This
mummy is made of $200 worth of McDonalds hamburgers that have been blended,
mixed with resin and then poured into a mold. The preservatives in the product
keep the mummy intact. Many interpret this work as a commentary on personal
food choices and can be a frightening message if you abide by the old saying,
“you are what you eat”. The whole purpose of the mummy is to preserve the body
and prevent as much decay as possible. As a result, we can examine these bodies
in order to get an idea of what life was like for people who lived in the same
era. This piece suggests that the consequences of our practices of eating
unhealthy foods and preservatives will be something that future generations
will have to deal with.
Use in Teaching: Middle
school students are often interested in social issues that pertain to their own
lives. How does this piece bring awareness to a social issue? How does art
communicate a social issue in a way that is different from other types of
activism? Should corporations be allowed to fight against art if it brings them
a bad reputation? In what ways can one use art to bring light to a social issue
Source: http://www.geeknewz.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/McDonalds-mummy2-550x825.jpg
2. Sasha
& Ruby 1 by Loretta Lux
Big Idea: Family, Relationships
Major Theme: Individual Identity
Medium: Photography
Visual Components: Balance, Harmony, Repetition, Unity
Category: Fine Arts
Original Location: Paul Getty Museum, Getty
Center, Los Angeles, CA.
Description & Interpretation: This
is a portrait of two girls (twins) that bring a dream-like state with their
identical nature. The artist combines digital manipulation and painting
techniques to give it this quality. This image forces viewers to notice subtly.
The simplicity creates a narrative that is open to interpretation. Expressions
and touch in this photo become incredibly important to the different narratives
each viewer brings to the photo.
Use in Teaching: Breaking
down each element in the photo brings new light to the narrative. How do the
similarities in the photo change the narrative? Would it be different if they
dressed differently? How does each of their gazes affect your interpretation?
What if they were both looking away? What if they were both looking at you? How
do their posture, position, and gesture affect your interpretation? For middle
school in particular one could discuss relationships. How are relationships
with friends and family similar? How is it different? What qualities of
relationships are in the picture?
Source: http://www.torchgallery.com/loretta-lux/sasha-and-ruby-1.html
3. Balloon Dog (Magenta) by Jeff Koons
Big Idea: Celebration
Major Theme: Life and Death
Medium: Sculpture
Visual Components: Color, Scale, Texture
Category: Pop Art
Original Location: Chateau de Versailles, France.
Description & Interpretation: This
dog is crafted from steel and coated with a translucent magenta paint. Balloon
animals are known for being present during times of celebration and joyfulness.
It’s bright color and large scale amplifies these joyous feelings. Balloon
animals are also inflated. Air and breathing are often associated with
humanity, optimism, and joyfulness. This piece reflects a strong hope for the
future. The reflective surface of balloon dog includes the environment as a part
of this hope it brings. The viewer is included in the celebration of life.
Use in Teaching: This
piece can be used to teach symbolism and how color and scale and symbolism
function together to communicate a point of view. If the scale of the dog were
made smaller, how would it change the message of the balloon dog? How does the
contrast of the material the dog is made of and the material associated with
balloon animals create an “eternal optimism”? What does the reflective surface
add to the interpretation of the balloon dog? What does the contrast of the
location of the installation affect the piece? How does the juxtaposition of
the old art of Versailles against the modern pink balloon dog affect how the
viewer receives the piece?
Source: http://p6.storage.canalblog.com/62/95/83966/30816014.jpg
4. Crayon Shooter by Banksy
Big Idea: Views of Reality
Major Theme: Conflict
Medium: Public Art, Paint
Visual Components: Color, Contrast
Category: Pop Culture
Original Location: Westwood, Los Angeles, California.
Description & Interpretation: This
piece is painted outside a public building in Los Angeles. The creator of this
image is the semi-anonymous graffiti artist from London named Banksy. It was
created by a combination of traditional and spray paints. The figure is created
by a series of cut out stencils and black or white spray paint. The crayons and
childlike images are created with traditional paints and brushes. This work is
interpreted as a critical commentary on child soldiers. In other countries,
children are often recruited or abducted to fight wars. Banksy highlights the
controversy of this practice by highlighting the childishness of young people
though the youthful scribbled drawing, how they are still developing into
adults and have an incomplete sense of the world. Additionally the bullets in
the gun are actually crayons. The contrast between the images of the dark child
and gun and the bright crayon art bring forth the ideas of the extent of how
wrong this practice is.
Use in Teaching: For Middle School
students, this piece can reflect how one can be engaged with a global issue on
a local scale. Many middle level students are concerned about big world issues.
The shock value of this image might also spark imagination in students. The
high contrast of the two aspects: war and childishness is a way of teaching
juxtaposition to middle level students. One could also discuss the problems of
public art. How does the contrast of the
boy and the gun and the scribble drawings create a strong message? How does the
difference in color versus black and white affect the piece? Should graffiti
art be a crime? Who owns the art (the building owners, public, artist)? Why
might the artist stay anonymous? What does being anonymous add to the work?
Discussion of real world issues, especially
of other children their age is an important aspect of growth. It promotes
multicultural understanding and how to create appropriate dialogue about
different practices, not just controversial ones.
Source: http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/633/1064101/Banksy_Crayola_Gun_Boy_Westwood_Fairfax-Melrose_Jan11_1_u_1000.jpg
5. La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John William Waterhouse
Big Idea: Fantasy
Major Theme: Life and Death, Relationships
Medium: Painting
Visual Components: Balance, Form, Proportion
Category: Fine Arts
Original Location: Hessisches
Landesmuseum - Darmstadt, Germany.
Description & Interpretation: La Belle Dame Sans Merci translates from French to mean, “The
Beautiful Lady Without Mercy”. Without context, the painting is often
interpreted as a knight winning a damsel in distress, but the reality he is the
one who is in trouble. The painting is after a work of literature written by
John Keats. It is a poem about how a lady lures men into loving her and then
she poisons them. Several painters were inspired by Keats’ ballad and painted
their visual interpretations of the written work. This interpretation shows the
seductive and alluring nature of the Lady and the knights full engagement with
her trap. Unlike other paintings you get the sense of intimacy that was created
right before the moment of death. One can more clearly relate to the lure of
the woman, and how the knight may have been so easily trapped. Additionally,
there is a shift of power from the tradition male dominant roles of knights and
women. This work is often read as a reflection on what seems to be versus what
actually is.
Use in Teaching: For middle school
students, relationships are becoming a huge focal point for this stage of life.
Girls and boys notice each other in different ways and images of intimate
relationships can be a point of interest to curious middle schoolers. One can
also discuss the importance of context when interpreting artworks. Middle
school students are capable of forming their own observations to provide their
own interpretations and can begin to see how narratives, inspirations and
literature combine with art. Some questions may include:
What
do you see in this picture? What is the relationship between the two figures?
What could be the story of this image? After knowing the context, what changes
about the image? How does this visual interpretation differ from other
paintings about the same ballad? How does literature and art interact? How does
it create narrative?
Source: http://www.jwwaterhouse.com/view.cfm?recordid=20
6. Nathan by Jose Lerma
Big Idea: Relationships
Major Theme: Truth
Medium: Painting
Visual Components: Color, Line, Shape
Category: Pop Art
Original Location: Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
Description & Interpretation: This
piece is one of six portraits. Each portrait is created on a large mirror using
silicone paint. The paint follows a bright color scheme of greens, indigo,
blues and reds. The portrait is integrated with various gestural marks. The
mirror is unique in that the piece reflects off other pieces in the room,
creating a dialogue between the different portraits present in the room. Each
portrait is of a different family member of the Rothschild family. The family
was a huge banking family and practiced insider trading and other conspiracies
to bring themselves monetary and political wealth. Jose Lerma comments on the
nature of the falsehood of these practices by using an almost florescent paint
that looks very manufactured. The silicone also creates a sense of falsehood
with its highly plasticized texture and manufactured appearance. Through this
piece he investigates the dynamics of how the family operated through the use
of mirrors and similar colors among the portraits. The viewer is included in
the conspiracies as they see their own reflections and forces considerations of
our own life practices.
Use in Teaching: For middle school level
students this piece can reflect how history is relevant in the art world today.
One should consider how being critical of the banking practices of the
Rothschild family can reflect overall concerns of corporate practices today.
Additionally it is important to recognize how investigating history with a
critical eye is important to gaining new perspectives on the issues that
perpetuate in today’s society.
In what ways are the portraits similar to one
another?
How does the materials use affect your
interpretation of the historical views of the great power and wealth of the
Rothschild family?
Other than being critical of historical practices,
how might one connect these paintings to an issue that is prevalent today?
How does the mirror affect the experience of this
piece?
It is also important to
discuss how works of art can function together to create a deeper meaning.
Middle school students can explore how a collaboration of different artworks
can create a stronger case than a single piece.
What would happen to the interpretation of the art
if there were only one portrait?
How would the interpretation change if it were
painted on canvas?
What kind of dialogue is created by the use of
mirrors?
Source: http://kavigupta.com/artist/joslerma
7. Untitled by Lewis Hine
Big Idea: Individual Identity
Major Theme: Views of Reality
Medium: Photography
Visual Components: Balance, Perspective
Category: Non-Art
Original Location: Unknown
Description & Interpretation: This
image is of a young girl working at the Whitnel Cotton Mill. She had been
working there for a year for 48 cents a day on four spinners. This image is
black and white, taken on the far side of the mill. These images were taken by
Lewis Hine in order to express his concerns about the treatment and practice of
child labor in the United States. He shows the children in the workplace and
frames the seriousness of the situation. He captures the tired sorrow in this
young girl’s face.
Use in Teaching: These images are very
useful in teaching the connections between arts and history and social change.
While this photograph is using an artistic medium, it is not in this case
intended as art. Yet it uses the balance, perspective and the mediums of art to
express a social concern. In a middle school classroom I would prompt questions
about the relation of imagery to social change:
Can images express ideas better than words? How?
How does this image show a social concern? Is it
effective?
How can images promote social change? What images
today have a strong impact on society?
It is important to teach students at a young
age ways they can engage with current social issues. Photography and images are
just one way that they can easily express their ideas about social issues.
Source: http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/
These are images I collected in order to begin gathering a well-rounded visual resource bank.
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