The purpose of this lesson is to serve as an introduction to a unit plan that incorporates the development of a symbolic language in artmaking with contemporary human rights issues.
We begin by highlighting points from artist presentation. Review Ai Weiwei and Jenny Holzer...ask what were the human rights issues they were addressing in their work? If we can’t remember, go back over an example in detail and let them figure it out again.
Group discussion about human rights issues. One monitors class/calls on people, other writes on whiteboard. Name some issues! Let them come up with what they want to talk about but have all possibilities anticipated. (Are all issues school appropriate? Know beforehand what is acceptable and be prepared to explain why)
Possible Human Rights Topics
-Adequate Housing
-Forced Labor
-Child Labor
-Employee Discrimination
-Child Abuse
-Prostitution
-Infanticide (Female Infanticide)
-Religion
-Right to Assemble
-Freedom of Speech/Expression
-Climate Change (tsunami, earthquakes, natural disasters)
-Disability
-Pollution and Public Health
-Poverty
-Famine
-Appropriation of Wealth
-Genocide
-Globalization
-Health Care
-HIV/AIDS discrimination
-Human Trafficking
-Racism
-Terrorism
-LGBTQ Rights
-Abortion
-Cyber Bullying
-Suicide and Assisted Suicide
-Education
-Marriage
-Women’s Rights
After brainstorming a list with the class, supplement it with our list to give a wider range of working options. Select a topic for class work-shopping (we have one pre-selected or they choose? I think it would be better to let them pick...give them a sense of ownership...or should it be preselected to ensure that it all works out???) From here we would come up with a list of words that we associate with our topic. For this example lets use our example from the artist slide show (Occupy Wall Street) to discuss Appropriation of Wealth.
Notes from Gabby’s sheet:
*6 & 7th grade, but tailored, of course, to our college students
*let’s aim to finish a teensy bit early. 40 mins mark, so we have time to sum up like Gina and Zach were beginning to. I felt that was super effective, and aaron loved it. also leaves time for questions- BINGO
*Ai Weiwei- uses culture richly, work is direct link between object and action
*Holzer- uses text that she is reappropriating, uses symbolic locations and buildings
*Things we can address:
-Comics as examples
-Artists
-Narrative
-Material exploration (set limits with charcoal and colored pencil, if we meet resistance to charcoal (i.e. the “bad” kid), we can reiterate how experimentation may lead to other ideas and briefly discuss how different materials lend themselves to different aesthetics)
-color emotives (what does red mean, vs. blue?) (chromology as vocabulary word)
-semiotics (how can language be used?)- AdBusters magazine, manipulation of branding (our examples will show this, kind of like how Steven used the Corona bottle to such on alcoholism, but maybe not as literal)
**Maybe we make our display for the unit and give an overview for these things that we plan on discussing further in the unit? Or do you want to use it for teacher examples? What do you think? Also I’ll start hashing out the time for the lesson but I think we should spend a decent amount working as a class. Maybe we make them a worksheet to brainstorm on?
A worksheet may be a good idea. It could be a great jumping off point for potential students who would have difficulty in addressing a visual task right off the bat.
What would we include on it? Words? Issues? Fill in blanks with their own thoughts?
Ask open ended questions like:
What matters to you?
What’s something you’d change in the world if you could?
Etc?
Gabby! Those are all swell ideas. I’m thinking that maybe we go through the class example together first so that they understand the format. YES. Essentially,
1. Think of issues you relate to
2. Pick ONE to work with
3. Make a list of words you associate with that issue (these could be describing words, nouns, whatever, as long as they relate to the theme. ex. Appropriation of wealth, greed, poverty, starving, poor, etc)
4. Write the names of objects, people, etc (nouns) that you associate with the words you listed in step 3 (Appropriation of Wealth → Greed → Pig)
5. Develop your symbolic language → This is the fun part! illustrate these words to create your own visual language that gives meaning to your issue. (Illustration of pig)
-We will have a slide with issues on them, or have the students shout stuff out like rapid hot fire and we will jot it down on the white board, so it has more of a physical presence than slides. I really don’t like using PPoints, by the way. YES white board think tank session, I even wrote that above :) Lets only bring up the PPT if we need a refresher on the artists *Exactly. We can just pull up the two images... Ai Weiwei breaking pots and Jenny Holzer’s buildings.
Think tank on white board- Check! How many examples do we want?
We need 3-4
Resources:
Binder with Wikipedia overviews of selected human rights topics.- do we still need this? our idea has sort of shifted since we originally thought this out.
Probably not, I keep going back to the whole intro lesson thing...they can research their project idea when the have one in future classes but this is just an intro right?
ALSO- what materials should i lift from the supply closet today... in 20 mins?
(what kind?)paper, charcoal, colored pencils, pastels?
something with a tooth to hold that charcoal...and size? medium to large id say
***We can also cut down the big sheets, like what we did for Grodin, so for those who finish early, they can move onto the next practice round. We won’t have to worry about conserving materials. They can have at it a little bit.
Have students draw up a schematic using a specific controversial issue and a specific issue written on a distributed sheet.
-base opening discussion on human rights- what is it? define it.
-brainstorm some topics
-try to gauge student’s comments in think tank and synthesize them with what distribution material we have.
-have a few groups
-discuss commonalities in branding/advertising *are we incorporating a discussion about advertising? yes
what makes them recognizable as an ad?
use examples.
examples can be pulled directly from ads
use specific demographics, issues, brands
-sketch round, not a finished product
-crit will be an open discussion
-set up guidelines so that they can determine whether they have met the project’s requirements.
-human rights issue, demographic, known brand/corporation
-groups will discuss topics and use the strategy for developing a symbolic language to brainstorm ideas for individual projects
-throughout group discussion, individuals will generate their own thoughts and opinions. following the group discussion, each student will create their own approach to the assignment and come up with primary sketch
Lesson Layout:
-Greeting, highlight artist presentation. You remember the PPT we saw? Who remembers what contemporary issues these artists addressed with their work? (Show reminder slide)
-Introduce today’s lesson - Today we will beginning a unit of study that is going to bring us deeper into those concepts we we just starting explore...human rights, activism, the publicity of those actions and what they mean to us as artists. Today is going to be like a big brainstorm, meant to give us a jumping off point for the rest of the unit. So don’t worry if you don’t have a perfectly finished product by the end of the day, today is a think day to give us tools to use in the future.
-Intro to Developing a Symbolic Language (Bri) - Preface this by saying...We will first be looking at symbols in art making and how we can make our own meaningful symbols that help us create meaningful art. (Tool kit) It is a challenging topic, but we are all up for it if we work together and stay focused. on white board, write a central issue. Use web to construct symbolic language chart with help from class. Gabby assist in calling on hands and getting more ideas going while Bri is frantically writing. Show how symbolism can be broken down simply and turned into visual language that we can use. KEEP this in mind, turn it over to Gabby to tell you about your job today.
-Gabby introduce lesson, bring us out into the hallway to stretch out a bit and look at teacher examples. Explain what we are going to be doing.
-Lesson- divided into groups of 4 Each group will be given a topic to workshop like the one we did as a group. They will have time to web it and discuss. After workshopping as a group, they work individually to create an ad based using all materials given based on their own opinions on the issue at hand.
-Clean up
-Class discussion
First Lesson Thoughts:
Seemed low energy. After talking to Aaron I feel better about it...he explained that it is difficult to talk to students about such tough issues. When faced with difficult issues, students will often resort to joking in order to keep things lighthearted. It is important to maintain a good balance of joking and seriousness...If that's the way kids have to deal with uncomfortable issues, it is okay to laugh with them as long as it is appropriate and you maintain professionalism.
Brainstorm: other ways to discuss challenging social issues while still developing an understanding of constructing a symbolic language.
Should they choose an issue to work on for the entirety of the unit?
-they might want to change issues
research component. Talk about the importance of research and knowledge about you create. Art should come from a place of passion. What do you feel passionate about? What do you question? What things do you want to change? How can you be the beginning of change? Can art do something to make a change?
More artists to talk about.
Community type project?
Lessons on specific human rights issues?
History of symbolism in modern art. How the context of the art “explains” it.
What is art? How can we challenge perception of art?
Marcel Duchamp. What do we think of when we talk about art? Any artists come to mind? Van Gogh, Monet, Leonardo, Michelangelo...paintings. What is good art? Realistic?
Back during the Renaissance, artists were commissioned to make work. If the Pope wanted a painting done for a chapel, he'd get Michelangelo to paint one for him. Sistine Chapel. Artists were hired for their merit, how well they could execute a work of art. How beautiful they could make something. Art was largely about aesthetic, an artist's perception about beauty. Do you think it is still that way today?
There are some people who would say yes, some no.
About one hundred years ago, one artist changed art by challenging what it actually was.
Marcel Duchamp. Crazy guy. French, came to the United States
Conversation about technology – how does it affect our relationships? How do we include/exclude each other with technology (social networking sites, instant messenger, cell phones, etc.)
Technology topics:
-cell phones
-social networking sites
-internet access
-video games
Pre-Unit Survey
What issues interest you most? Group students according to interests to work on projects. Group brainstorms, independent projects.
Day 1: Introduction as class, group discussions. Homework: sketches, research.
Day 2: Meet in groups. Share what you learned/discovered in research and present possibilities for projects. I meet with each student independently for 2-3 minutes to go over idea. (20 kids x 2 min = 40 min class period roughly) After self directed group talks, work on sketches and finalizing project ideas.
Day 3: Independent project work.
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