Secret Mission: Time

Time.

It is something that at times we wish would speed up and others slow down.

It is an aspect that can never be physically held or seen, however we want more of it even though nothing can buy it.

It ravages all: Making the strong weak and even the mightiest fortresses crumble.

In the United States you must be on time or early because if you arn't you are not showing respect to someones time. However in South America to arrive a few minutes late is considered acceptable because it says that how you were spending your time was meaningful and not wasted.

Due to the events of my past week, and not wanting to dive into it here, I can only currently think of one way for me to really demonstrate my own personal time.

I can't help but relate to the one second video every day except by just using photographs. By taking a photograph a day of something I feel would best represent "that day" I could easily record what I truly did with that day. Photographs are also a unique way to present time. They can be either physical giving time a way to be "physically held" when it normally can't. However photos can now be digital therefore causing them to become only physical if I choose for them to be. 

Photographs are something that everyone has used to capture a personal moment of time. They only capture a second however they divulge and retain monumental amounts of information for some. They are a way to capture personal but also other peoples time for theirs or others use.

Facilitating Critical and Aesthetic Inquiry

Thoughts and bits that stood out to me while reading the Carroll text.


Engaging Students with Art Objects

Strategies that engages learners with objects = sensory involvement, personal response, preparation for development of skills and concepts.

Successful images = developmental interests and skill

Broad theme (Big Ideas) can focus engagement and inquiry

More ambiguity = higher levels of critical thinking

Visual Analysis = Looking Deeper

• isolate sections
• diagram or trace
• look for patters
• sorting
• draw work as a warm up
• describe work so others can "see it" in their minds clearly

Sound & Movement

• Strengthens Memory
• Deeper Understanding
• Enriches conception 
• Promotes Creativity 
• Practice out visual concepts
• Explore: time, space, force, flow, and effort
• Develop a "sound" vocabulary 
• Develop a "moving" vocabulary

Categories, Verbal Cues, and Search Strategies

• Provides new Knowledge  
• Opportunities to :
• sort 
• classify
• defend decisions 

• Intorduce and expanded reange of possibil perceptual categories
• describe thoroughly
• Identify category specification and cues  
• students then classify works to catagory based on cues
• students defend reasons
• self identify cues that played into decisions

Strategies from creative dramatics

• Drama in art allows
• bringing characters to life
• actions
• positions
• interactions
• dialog
• image
• events of past or present

Strategies from creative writing

• alternate between words and imagery
• letter writing encourages reflection and introspection
• personal voice
• informal

Game Strategies

•  Possible increase retention from studetns
• reenfore prior learning
• visual problem solving skills 

Employing Storytelling and Puzzle Problems
Stories = natural way to learn

• creates context
• Provides discussion and debate

Double edged sword

• Can diminish qualities of work or misrepresent artwork
• can create context and appreciation of artwork

What is said and how it is told both matter

False story

• powerful + convincing = change attitude 

Present artist in a balanced light

• concentrate on 
• challenges
• personal effort
• investment 
• achievement 

Keep the art in context of the time

Using Interpretive Strategies to Find Meaning

Nonlinear strategies = personal, emotion, metaphoric, and conceptual responses

Description

• Closely tired to interpenetration and evaluation 
• Critics decided all (Power)

Opposition

• Powerful tool for creating meaning
• contrasting opposites define each other
• Internal and external opposites can happen in artwork

Intertextuality

• Interdisciplinary connections add substance to an interpenetration

Metaphor

• see one thin in terms of another
• make sense of experience
• coherent structures
• highlight some things
• hide others

Principles

• Art demands interpration
• some better than others
• feelings are guides
• not right but reasonable/informative
• artwork no necessary about what the artist wanted it to be about
• no interpretation is the defacto end all
• meaning changes viewer to viewer

(this sure does feel a bit like VTS)

Promoting Critical Thinking Through Problem Based Inquiry
 Problem based approach promotes

• reflection and inquiry 
• research and debate
• leading to deep thinking about complete situation

We constantly "make up" world as we understand it
Experience everything as "sign"

Facilitating Student Curated Exhibitions
Can range from table sized to full installations
Finding sameness among differences is higher level thinking

Using Model for Writing about Art
Models serve

• setting expectations
• how problems can be addressed
• different ways to develop ideas

Postcards and Letters

• unearth personal observations 

Poetry

• different format for responce
• more elegant language

Making Art Inspired by the Study of Art
Cycling students back to personal experiences after investigations with art promotes

• Ideas
• concepts
• techniques

Engages students emotionally in discussion
Images may be prompts for new work
Study master artist
Invites students to examine cultural icons and images from own heritage


Once I was done with all of my reading I was drawn to the section of story and how it can affect a viewers interpretation of art. It dived into using story for issue based projects. Anne Lord in Creative visual art storytelling and concept development used this method for an assignment for students. Students then used different medias to tell a story, while increasing their knowledge and skills. I was highly impressed by the end product that all the students created and see the real potential on this assignement.


http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/ehost/detail?sid=89e9ffb1-4697-4c85-a291-61505d8a933d%40sessionmgr12&vid=3&hid=11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ufh&AN=58533559

Facilitating Engagement with the Art-Making Process

Thoughts and bits that stood out to me while reading the Carroll text.

Investigating Materials and Ideas

• Ideas are generated by working with materials
• Play and experience are key
• Even simple materials can be used complexly
• With continued practice material and artistic preference will develop 
• Always Push/Challenge your students

 
Structure for Creative Thinking

• "Closed" problems actually are not that bad
• Can learn
• New Skills
• Knowledge
• Concepts
• Techniques
• Processes 
• Ideas
• To Easy = Bored
• Flip Side To Hard = frustration or giving up
• Have task meet ability
• Don't have an answer be obvious without new thinking
• Brain storming best in groups
• Always Push/Challenge your students

 
Forming Elegant Problems

• Elegant problems allow any ability level to tackle the problem
• Open-Ended
• Original Thinking
• WORTH DOING/SOLVING
• Big Idea/Themes
• Metaphors

 Designing Problems based on Real World of Work

• Problem based learning + creative thinking = Solution
• Designed based allows rethinking and redesigning

 Facilitating Dialog and Discourse about Students Work

• Dialog requires clear purpose and guidelines 
• Taken serious with high regard
• Possibly model responses you want to develop
• Try smaller groups before bringing the whole class together 
• Try being a facilitator more then a critiquer
• Try and involve everyone
•  Have no one dominate the discussion

After reading all of these I then started think more about how others recommend strategies or ideas when it came to the infamous critique. This led me to The Class Critique: Get Beginning Art Students to Talk about Art by Alexandra Overby. Throughout the article she goes over a few of the different approaches on how she helps introduces begging artist to a critique. The first was to randomly mix up all the work and then place it in a show like setting. She then lists off all of the lesson objectives and then students then vote for each piece for a certain award (most creative, best technical, and best of show). Then since students are standing by work they are voting for they can speak positive about it and say why it might have beaten others out while remaining positive. A second approach was by having students breaking into small groups and critiquing others work, not in their group, based on a work sheet that asks technical questions while also providing positive criticism. A third approach was to use sticky notes with their name on it to choose the three strongest examples on the lesson. Overby says that by the end of the year students are comfortable with critiques and understand how to give positive criticism.The general rules are a negative is always followed by a positive one (complement sandwich like) and criticism is based on art principles and not opinion.
I noticed that in relationship to both reading it recommends to use small groups to introduce critiques. The more I sat down on this idea the more and more it made sense. Public speaking is a major fear among most people so why not try smaller groups before expanding it. I also liked the idea of keeping criticism to art principles and not content. I think that is often so much of what can cause a critique to become a negative experience to so many and by doing so the experience can remain positive.

http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/ehost/detail?sid=25d4edf9-8af5-41c6-9cf3-af1b074d48f2%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&hid=19&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ969216

Developing a Repertoire of Skills for Visual Perception and Artistic Response

Part 1

 Perception: The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

While reading all of the short articles in the Carroll text I found that I had to keep referring to the above definition, not because I didn't know but because being an artist the idea of perceiving something that I have become accustomed to. The very phrase "becoming aware" reminded me that this very little part is something our students are doing daily but has to also be nurtured and reenforced if we want them to grow as artist.

So upon reading through Carroll I wondered what else I could find that would relate to the readings, while at the same time being something somewhat fresh and new. During my searching I found an article titled "Making Information Visual: Seventh Grade Art Information and Visual Literacy" by Joel Shoemaker, Elizabeth Schau, and Rachael Ayers. Every student was required to take a course called Visual Studies where they are taught basic tools reference tools for research. In the course they did basic research about an artist and then were required to put that information into the a book. Upon first read I didn't feel as if I could connect it, even though I wanted to, because it seemed just like another lesson. Then upon reading my lovely definition again it hit me. These students were being asked to perceive information through a very traditional means, library research, and then retell it a completely different way. That being to create it in a new form where others will be able to clearly perceive it visually while the students themselves are being asked to perceive how to best accomplish that. 

Honestly my mind was slightly blown at this little revelation and I hope that it wasn't really my mind just doing back flips to make it work. Nevertheless it is still found it to be a wonderful article and I do suggest giving it a quick read here as it does have the full pdf with images of the students work:

http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/ehost/detail?sid=24e8cbb1-bd53-4e9c-b7a4-d711dc1a4d86%40sessionmgr14&vid=1&hid=27&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ825514

Part 2

When started looking at the different categories for artist I chose the Identity unit. Initially my first thought was its something that most students can easily relate to as they are trying to find their own identity. I chose Kerry James Marshall because I was initially drawn to the phrase "question the authority of history and "reclaim the image of blackness"." In the video he talks about how African sculpture has the same parallels as the Greeks in terms of the hero figures, however the African statues do not have the same regard so he is trying to "reanimate them" so they might become heroes once again.

Lesson Idea:

Distribute out images of artwork to students images work with relatively unknown subjects. Have the students create an identity for these characters and bring them to life in a completely new media. 

How will you have students connect the enduring idea to the students' lives?

Having students write down their own personal idea of what their identity is. Then if possible have students take a self portrait on how the feel is the best way to represent that. Afterwards have the students trade off with someone else to have them evaluate the others "identity"through the work to compare answers. They will be able to see how well they communicate their ideas and if what they believe is their identity is what others see.

How will you build the students' knowledge base about the enduring idea as it relates to other content areas as well as to life?

I think there is a lot the students will be able to learn from having the students investigate the identity of someone historically famous. The thought of students exploring the military aspect of William T. Sherman, pillage and burning of the south, compared to his personal identity, someone who loved the south, could show how the spotlight on one identity can overshadow another.

How will you build the students' knowledge base about the enduring idea as it occurs in art? (art criticism, art history, aesthetics)

Throughout history art has been used to identify them vs us, how you should look, who the elite are, etc. Without the notion of  identity artist would not have been able to connect with their patrons on what they were creating, and today by not being able to convey their message.

How will you engage students with exploring, questioning, and problematizing the enduring idea through art making?

My hope is they would already be somewhat curious to exploring their own identity and be curious about what others think of their own. However hopefully by allowing them to express their own identity, while then getting feedback on it, my hope is it will drive them to think if they are really showing the identity they want to be.

7 Principles that feel oh so familiar

When I got done reading Duncum's article for the first time I couldn't help but feel that I had read the article before. However something also felt different, and seemed obvious and staring me right in the face even though I couldn't see it. I also figured I wasn't reading something that was literally just the same, surely it was picked out to open another view. It wasn't until my second read that it hit me.

I Propose seven principles for examining various forms of imagery, whether they are drawn from fine art or popular culture, [whether they are] vernacular or indigenous, past or present. 

This article is about viewing art.
Throughout the entire article it all revolves around viewing and understanding art.

Duncum describes seven principles not as end all truths but as a means which we can harness in our curriculum as ways to think about art. The seven principles are Power, Ideology, Representation, Seduction, Gaze, Intellectuality, and Multimodality.
Power seemed to be primary and major player out of all the principles. As he states "Power is central to a consideration of imagery because all images involve an assertion of ideas, values, and beliefs that serve the interests of those for who they are made and audiences, in there turn exercise the power of interpretation." As I soaked that statement in I couldn't help but almost agree. I thought back to the statement Lyria made about loving impressionist art. It didn't matter what any of the artist were (or where not) trying to say in their work or what her art history friends believed. She was (or should be) using her own power to ignore all of that and appreciate it on her own terms. However I do have a somewhat disagreement with Duncum's view on Multimodality. In VTS we don't have viewers know the name of the image or have them listen to music and neither of those seem critical for them to read the images. Even when he states that "Words, music and sound effects anchor the meaning of images." I feel that is also somewhat contradictory to what he already said. Viewers use their own power to determine what an image means regardless so how does it truly anchor a meaning?

I decided upon two images actually for this week. Both are by the same artist, Andres Serrano, and both don't lack controversy. I feel either would be prime for use with Duncum's seven principles.

Piss Christ 1987 Andres Serrano

Klansman (Great Titan of the Invisible Empire) 1998 Andres Serrano

 

Kamhi: An Old School Way of Thinking (120+ Years Old)

What did I just read?

No seriously Kathy what id you just have me read!

These were the literal thoughts going through my head when I got done reading the sixth page of the article. Kamhi appears to want to basically throw out all art from the past 120 years. If it isn't traditional drawing, painting, or sculpture according to Kamhi it might as well be worthless.

How about some examples because there is no way it could literally be everything in the past 120 years!

Wanna bet?

Pop art?
Nope, an artist is "too detached" from it and they are trying to sell something so its not art.

Photography (from a film sense, she doesn't talk about digital and frankly I'm glad she doesn't)?
Nope, its way to mechanical and it is completely real world so an artist brain doesn't work hard enough. Also because its based on light and chemicals so there is way to much out an artist control and rely to much on "luck".

How about abstract art depicting spiritual values like the work of Kandinsky?
Wrong again. Even though they used the "proper medium" and their intentions were right they still managed to fail.

Kamhi believes that art focus to much on symbolism and decoding and not from an obvious pictorial standpoint. She also implies their is an issue when viewers of different ages, primarily pre-schoolers, can decode the same image. In other words Kamhi believes that age is more important benchmark to view art, then perhaps the idea that each stage of visual learners can view the same work differently. My translation from all that? If its not painfully obvious, you have to think about it, and its not traditional then it isn't art.

While reading the article I wanted to play devils advocate. When it comes to her argument for photography I wanted to argue that she was misspoken and was trying to speak about photojournalism, when speaking about the photo's of Iwo Jima in particular. Thus I would have tried to argue that photojournalism isn't art (P.S. I do completely 100% believe this type of work to be valid) but the hard work of Ansel Adams and others like him still is. However upon reading more on her stance on photograph in the article and in her notes I still couldn't even try and support that.

My one question I would like to ask her is that if painting and sculpture are the only real forms of art then what about the work of Rodin? Knowing that his work was rejected throughout his life because it was no depicted "how it was supposed to be" would she call it art? Since Rodin tried to capture someones essence and not how they actually looked I feel Kamhi would also deem his work a failure.

I did find an article that I like that supported the idea teaching Visual Culture called 
The Role of Visual Culture Studies on Primary School Students' Interpretation of Visual World
http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=8122835c-b7da-44c8-a302-5e282a46a21c%40sessionmgr13&vid=1&hid=19
In it I found most important that students found it more enjoyable than the traditional ways they were taught and believed that could actually learn more from it!

Overall I found this article extremely difficult to read. Between Kamhis backwards minded thought process, and her complete disregard for so many different mediums I was not able to take her seriously.
 

Recap, Thoughts, Reflections, and Questions on Gude

The article "New School Art Styles: The Project of Art Education" encourages educators to break away from traditional art projects and to reevaluate their curriculum. Gude argues that current art classrooms do not create real or true meaning making. Instead we are more concerned with the finished product when we should be focused more on the process of how the work was created. By doing so students will more efficiently learn art processes, while also putting more meaning into their work.

Gude also encourages us to actually teach the actual practices of other arts/cultures to avoid facsimiles. The example used was the Impressionist landscape created by a student from multiple photographs. However the problem was that because the assignment was about Impressionism, they never truly completed the criteria for the work to be Impressionist. However at the same time its hard to even think about blaming the student! They were never shown how Impressionist actually painted their work. While the guidelines, looking at photographs, also countered what impressionism was about because by looking at photographs you are not able to see the change in light that is required.

Gude's ideas about are education don't seem to be far from my own personal views. I have no desire to create a classroom of X amount of identical pumpkins, and honestly that thought gives me the hebbie jebbies! Personal meaning making from the individual student is also an absolute must. If a student has no emotional weight invested in it then why would would or should they create it. Without it the craftsmanship will be lacking and be forgotten quickly, therefore the project becoming meaningless. I also believe that "playtime" is an absolute must. If you have no experience with a material then how can you truly create something with it. Playtime encourages risk taking, and risk taking can bring both success and "failure". Those little "failures" in lots of ways have taught me much more than the instant successes have. In turn, I know that I am a stronger artist because I have learn the limits of a particular medium. "Playtime" allows students to work through these issues before working on an "assignment", and if they do run across those issues then they will be more prepared to handle them when the time comes.

My only possible issue with Gude was what I perceived as a lack of parameters when it comes to work. I will use this moment to admit I possibly misunderstood or just plain misread this before I go any further.However it seemed as if she was asking ups to demonstrate skills or techniques to students but then not require students to use them. My issue is if I teach the photography concepts of framing, vignetting, or shutter speed how do I know if my students truly learned or understood it? Do I have to wait till the end of the year to possibly actually see them use a technique in a piece. Am I not allowed to give some assignments with certain parameters to see if they understand an important technical aspect, while still trying to give them as much creative freedom as possible? Perhaps someone can clarify this for me if I did just misunderstand what was being said. Otherwise my question to ponder on is how many parameters are to many?