seeing spots....

SMocKroom

picks

Something that I have come across being an art teacher is the notion that everyone can do everything, with the notion that “My child could do that”.  This mostly relates to contemporary art and the idea that contemporary artists create such simple works that young children are capable and able to do the same.

Hm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/arts/design/damien-hirsts-spot-paintings-at-gagosian-in-eight-cities.html?ref=design&_r=0

 Take artist Damien Hirst, for example.  He is one of my contemporary favorites (and contemporary meaning that he still makes art and is alive) that draws me in with his paintings.  His “spot paintings” have been in galleries across the world and draw you in to their mesmerizing precision and color.

But they are only dots.

True, but what kind of dots.

This is where a little research about the artist and the artist’s purpose plays a big role in understanding the meaning of a work, and possibly appreciating it a little more.

Damien Hirst, Albumin, Human, Glycated,1992, household paint and polymer on canvas, 7′ x 9’8″

 

http://www.damienhirst.com/controlled-substance-key-paint

Damien Hirst fills galleries with his whimsical ‘spot paintings’ and to the normal eye they are fun dot paintings.  Investigating the artist and his work a little more you find a series of paintings called “The Pharmaceutical Paintings” in which Hirst challenges perspectives of art, science and popular culture.  These perfectly painted, meticulously gridded, color coded ‘spots’ are used as a form of communicating a message, an idea, or in this case, controlled substances.   This not only redefines a viewers' perspective but also provides an interactive element that engages a viewer beyond just the sense of sight.

Amidst the colorful aspect of these paintings and what looks like a random effort to create these works, lies structure, order and something not so random.  Perhaps we should all take another look before we conclude a child can “make that”.

". . . In the spot paintings the grid-like structure creates the beginning of the system. On each painting no two colours are the same. This ends the system; it’s a simple system. No matter how I feel as an artist or painter, the paintings end up looking happy. I can still make all the emotional decisions about colour that I need to as an artist, but in the end they are lost. The end of painting." Hirst

http://venetianred.net/2008/10/14/1698/  


6th grade art unit....

M&M's for color study :-)

As an art teacher, my mind gravitates towards ideas and projects that will hook my students into learning.  Specifically for my 6th grade students, artists and art works that excite their senses have demonstrated to be very effective.  Much like Hirst's play and  integration of art, science and pop culture, my students can explore color theory, visual communication and identity within the structure of "spot paintings".  Now, I am not going to have my students study any sort of controlled substances, but I am will use the idea of encouraging viewer interaction with a painting by creating whimsical, colorful spot paintings with encrypted messages about their life, culture or society.
What a wonderful juxtaposition....

 

http://www.damienhirst.com/exhibitions/solo/2012/complete-spot-paintings

Check back to see how my students handled all the spots ;-)

xoxo, SMocK you.

Getting organized....and some fake glasses with mustaches...

The past couple of days have been pretty productive!  

My "To Do" list is becoming shorter and shorter by the hour....which is not  bad :)

The emphasis this year, from 1st to 6th grade, is to engage the students in thoughtful, reflective and interpretive observation, while making connections to bigger ideas and  greater concepts.  

WOW!

That doesn't sound like fun.....and pretty intense.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBBOMLURSGA

I was thinking about the little guys in first grade for which this year would be their first experience in an art room and working within a structured art curriculum.  (I note that this art curriculum is something I came up with to provide these 1st graders a linear approach to learning in the art room.)  So, in thinking about observing, I thought of a very classic movie, that has inspired many of days off.  Not only do these characters explore the great  

Art Institute of Chicago, but they look.....and they look...and they look.

How am I going to get these 1st grade students to look.  I mean really look and engage their senses to achieve a deeper understanding of paintings, sculptures and drawings.  How am I going to get them to find those tiny details that emphasize how special an art work really is.

My solution: fake glasses with mustaches.

 Within structure, steps, process and projects, we sometimes need to take step back and think of our audiences.  Sometimes our audiences need to pretend glasses have magical powers that allow them to see just a little clearer and find those tiny details.

This all sounds like child's play but underneath the eyebrow and the mustache lies the art literacy tools needed to help students 'look' at an art work.  

I coordinated the colors to a piece of the wheel.  Students spin the arrow and respond to the coordinating prompt :)  For all students to participate, at the beginning of each class have each student draw a color out a "hat".  Wherever the arrow lands, those students need to respond.  

There are many different ways to use these cards, these are a few ideas that just came to mind while wearing fake glasses with a mustache.

One of my favorite artist, Cy Twombly, makes you look.

 See you back in the SMocKroom !

Preparing for a new year....yikes!

2013 IAEA Distinguished Service in the 

Profession of Art Education

It seems as though, when the calendar marks August 1st, 

teachers start crawling out of the wood works like swarms of ants.  

This is said with great respect and understanding because I am one of those busy, fast moving critters that took a hiatus from the teacher scene this summer.   It's the final countdown to what we anticipate being a great new year with a fresh start and some new ideas that we picked up during the summer.  Check list, do to lists, to buy list, to build lists, to copy lists, to put up lists, to hold off for later lists....we have lots of them.  Perhaps too many, but it seems we are at our best with the hustle and the bustle of creating a learning environments that will best benefit our students.  I have been working on a few projects that will (I hope that will--that is) engage my students thinking skills while learning about art and making some ;-)

Let's talk COMMON CORE.....(do we really have to?)

Like everyone else in the education world, these two words have become the buzz words for....well just about everyone.  But really...what does it all mean, especially in the profession of art education.  

Let's break it down: COMMON,  depending on how you use the word can mean several different things.   In this case, I see the definition as "something agreed upon as a norm".  CORE, I see as the "central component" of something (in this case the vitality of our educational system).  My question has been the implementation of this new initiative within an art curriculum.  In July, the NCCAS released the preliminary version of what the CCSS for art would be and would look like. http://nccas.wikispaces.com/ The matrix looks great, the definitions sound pretty good and the overall grade level targeted goals...look ok.  Yet, how are we all (the common) suppose to teach the same fundamental (the core) skills, so this streamlining effort is successful?

In preparing materials for my own art classroom, I thought about how to make "looking", "listening", "responding" and "connecting" a natural process within what we do everyday.  But this "natural process" is not so natural.  The natural process only surfaces when students and teachers alike use their knowledge and skills without even thinking about it.  So the "natural process" only comes with practice and mastery.  

That's a whole lot of pressure for a 6 year old.  And then you have tying your shoes!  Poor little guys.

I'm a very "minds on" and then "hands on" type of art teacher, so my very first instinct is for my students to begin discussion about what we are doing, or looking at, or going to do.  They need to talk, they need to question and they need to discovery answers to questions, issues and queries.  And my main goal is for my students to achieve their answers independently (meaning, without me giving them the answers).  But his too is a learning process and while thinking about my successes in the classroom and the goals of common ideas at the core of teaching, I came up with a system for encouraging student critical thinking, participation and inquiry.

I came up with a set of cards that use the common language of the CCSS standards and combined them with visual thinking strategies as to promote student and teacher language familiarity.  The cards are divided by four colors (blue, green, yellow and pink) into four categories that guide the students (and teachers) through the sequence for art discussions.

 Students and teachers use these cue cards as prompts to begin to use language that aligns with other subjects.  Now, this is a work in progress, in which case all the kinks have not been worked through.  Somehow, these cards and colored coding kids will create a system that will open discussions and make the students think.  

Check back and see my students' progress, as I implement, document and trace their progress.  

xoxo, SMocK you.