June 19, 2014
June 17, 2014
Summer Bridge... to Cross
Summer Session, "Summer Bridge" is nearing an end, and what a whirlwind three weeks it has been. First just attempting to condense a 16-week lesson into a 9-week quarter is already quite a fete. Now to squish that into a three-week session, that's some magic for you!
One of the classes I'm teaching ("Intro to Art") is Maskmaking. I've taught maskmaking before, in one-day workshops in community centers to semester-long classes with middle school students. I feel that it is a subject that exposes students to a wide variety of cultural expression. They can analyze the origins of their own ideas in relation to community, culture and the world. [GA Visual Arts Standard VAHSVAMC.4] For this class, I was incredibly inspired by the art of Warren King. http://wrnking.com.
Because I always embed math, science, and history in every lesson of course the students complained "It's too hard!" Nevertheless, fact is, in crafting the cardboard pieces into a cohesive representation, one must consider geometry and physics as well as creative expression. Students had to consider the symmetry of their shapes, and when it was necessary to use a rotation, a reflection or a translation. I can't tell you how many times I watched someone cutting what should be two identical shapes at two different times -- there's no way they will turn out the same shape.
The students began the lesson by exploring the cultural significance of masks in Native American, African and Mexican traditions. We used a chart at www.whats-your-sign.com then I encouraged them to think about an animal spirit who's characteristics best matched their own. I encouraged them to think about the function and the form of their masks as well. From there they compared and contrasted characteristics on a double bubble map - here's where it got tricky... explaining that their mask was representational and not literal. Oh, what fun!
When the students were frustrated I would tell them "that's good, frustration leads to problem solving." When the students grumbled I said "it's like a science experiment -- you are testing theories." Oh, and "there are no mistakes, only your expression" is my mantra. Even with my best efforts there were a few students who decided to retaliate against the rigor to make my three weeks a living hell. I had the remedy for that -- one-to-one lessons (when everyone else got cooking) Alas, mini-session or not, the class still had an amazing learning experience and most of them produced amazing works. I hit at least eight State and Common Core Standards in the lesson, examples of their base masks are posted. Next up... painting. Stay tuned.
One of the classes I'm teaching ("Intro to Art") is Maskmaking. I've taught maskmaking before, in one-day workshops in community centers to semester-long classes with middle school students. I feel that it is a subject that exposes students to a wide variety of cultural expression. They can analyze the origins of their own ideas in relation to community, culture and the world. [GA Visual Arts Standard VAHSVAMC.4] For this class, I was incredibly inspired by the art of Warren King. http://wrnking.com.
Because I always embed math, science, and history in every lesson of course the students complained "It's too hard!" Nevertheless, fact is, in crafting the cardboard pieces into a cohesive representation, one must consider geometry and physics as well as creative expression. Students had to consider the symmetry of their shapes, and when it was necessary to use a rotation, a reflection or a translation. I can't tell you how many times I watched someone cutting what should be two identical shapes at two different times -- there's no way they will turn out the same shape.
The students began the lesson by exploring the cultural significance of masks in Native American, African and Mexican traditions. We used a chart at www.whats-your-sign.com then I encouraged them to think about an animal spirit who's characteristics best matched their own. I encouraged them to think about the function and the form of their masks as well. From there they compared and contrasted characteristics on a double bubble map - here's where it got tricky... explaining that their mask was representational and not literal. Oh, what fun!
When the students were frustrated I would tell them "that's good, frustration leads to problem solving." When the students grumbled I said "it's like a science experiment -- you are testing theories." Oh, and "there are no mistakes, only your expression" is my mantra. Even with my best efforts there were a few students who decided to retaliate against the rigor to make my three weeks a living hell. I had the remedy for that -- one-to-one lessons (when everyone else got cooking) Alas, mini-session or not, the class still had an amazing learning experience and most of them produced amazing works. I hit at least eight State and Common Core Standards in the lesson, examples of their base masks are posted. Next up... painting. Stay tuned.
June 10, 2014
POP ART - Painting Translations
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| Bobby L. chose Jordans as his Pop-art expression. |
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| Jacoby S. uses the negative space expertly in his translation of Beats for his Pop-art painting. I think Warhol [Andy] would have been very impressed. |
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