Art History & the Mechanics of Pop-Ups

Imani S.

L. Robinson

T. Butler

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.

POP ART - Painting Translations

Bobby L. chose Jordans as his Pop-art expression.

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.

Students studied the political, social and economic factors that contributed to the Pop Art Movement. They investigated the lives of the notable artists of the time. However, for this assignment I asked them to reflect upon the "popular culture" images of today. I required the students to place a great deal of focus on the negative and positive space, so that emphasis would be placed on the iconic imagery.

12th grade, Gray Scale Object Translation - J. Blair

12th grade, Gray Scale Object Translation - N. Hakikah

Come Together (social studies + art)

Red Cloud, by N. Hakikah

What joy I felt last week after one of my students, J. Hutchinson let me know that he was more aware of the content in his GA High School Graduation Test, because of his art class. He said "Ms. Hill, Manifest Destiny was on that test!" I had no idea, honest... I had just hoped that by reinforcing SSUSH7 students may do better in social studies period. The standard states: Students will explain the process of economic growth in the early 19th Century and the different responses to it. The students  found this part of history fascinating (I love history!). We compared and contrasted the economic effect of Eli Whitney's cotton gin, with the legalization of marijuana in certain states in the U.S. - SMH, hey... if the shoe fits.... I required my students to choose an element from the standard: a. - e. and then from their research settle on an individual who had an impact on it, or was impacted by it. That person became the subject for their block prints. Then the art began. They had to choose parts of the portrait to show in white (the recessed areas) and parts to show with different values. Earlier in the Quarter I'd introduced them to linoleum block printing, then this became their culminating project. A student, T. Anderson remarked, "dang, we started with those little samples now look how far we've come."

Eli Whitney, by J. Hutchinson

John Brown, by J. Blair

If You Build It They Will Come

I am amazed at my students, they make me very proud, daily. A new 9-week quarter has just begun. I have a new set of Everyday Students; a new set of non-believers. I've already had one say, "I can't draw, my drawings look like a kindergartener's!" So, my first response is: "There's nothing wrong with that. I will show you very sought after and valuable art that one might interpret as child-like." My next response is: if you can write a letter, or make a line or a shape -- you can draw! The work here illustrates this...I teach them and they grow. [On the bottom: contour line drawings of three dimensional foam shapes that they draw first as simple 2-D shapes, then I encourage them to see their depth and draw the arrangement. Soon after, (top left) students’ careful use of shadows in a drawing of a paper bag helps to establish the ground beneath it, its creases and interior. To encourage them to understand how to represent the highlights on creases, I used a peanut butter sandwich analogy: the light is the peanut butter in between the bread is the shaded areas that flank the light. Hey - I gotta do what I gotta do!