Class #4

Don’t let the cat out of the bag!  That was one of my first notes from our 4^th Media and Materials class.  I had never thought of that saying in relation to teaching, but through our class discussion, I can see how it applies.  When you are teaching, the majority of the lesson or project will be about the process and if you jump ahead to the product, your students may jump too quickly to the product as well and not involve themselves in the particular process.

I did discover recently that there are however some things definitely worth mentioning as you begin a class.  I teach a few art classes to elementary school students and the particular project we were working on was a group project.  There were finished drawings in the end, but all students had contributed equally to the works, so then there was uproar, “You mean I can’t keep mine?”  I assumed they saw that everybody was working together and you couldn’t just out-right claim one because you really liked the part you did.  So in that situation I don’t think I would have let the cat out of the bag had I discussed what the final pieces would be, but I made some assumptions about how the class would handle a group project and they needed a little more information from the get-go.

As with assigning jobs/creating a collaborative learning situation, I am ready to take the idea of extra activities and jobs aside the main project on which you are working, into my teaching.  It inevitably happens that some students will finish ahead of others.  I had one student last year in a class who always finished ahead of his group.  Luckily he enjoyed having “jobs” to do around the art room and I put him to work.  While having jobs for students works in some cases, it may not in all.  I am so interested in having a bin (of sorts) to fill with the extra activities.  Aileen mentioned folded papers that have ideas or jobs written on them, perhaps the bin could contain a certain material(s), something that could change periodically.

So many other constructive ideas were brought up in class.  The question was posed as to what do you do when you are given the opportunity to teach but given few if any parameters?  In order to not have complete chaos, what we discussed could be broken down into three phases. First you must create structure and once that is established you move onto content.  Lastly within the content you add variety.  While not necessarily an easy task, breaking your planning down into these parts seems an excellent framework from which to begin.

Adaptations summarized what we had been discussing and name an idea to always keep in mind when planning a particular project to teach children/adolescents.  Our Tyvek cutout we made would need to be adapted into a slightly different project if you wanted to try it with a group of children.  The idea of using text only, or making a cutout could remain, while the process of using an exacto knife to cut would need to be modified.  I am enjoying seeing how I can draw from own artwork or that of other artists to arrive at a well-designed art class for kids.

Clare Hilger, Tyvek cutout

Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.
Jacques Cousteau

 

With regard to the Tyvek, I was not extremely excited about my final cutout, but I did enjoy our experimentation session with documentation.  I would have never thought to use an over-head projector, along with some human interaction and a flip video.  If I had strayed in the Tyvek work, our documentation process that brought me right back in!

Class #3

What can I take to class?  Seeing the Flickr slide show of our class' work showed me several things.  First of all it was visual documentation, which is important to have for your own teaching portfolio and it serves as a as reference as to how the project you designed looked in the end.  Second, the slide show would be an easy way to get a class to view the whole group's artwork.  It might not be possible to have a full critique, but at least an opportunity could be presented where a class could reflect on the work they made.  Lastly, this slide show paves the way for new ideas with similar materials or methods.  We discussed how to have fun in class, maybe there was an aspect of the project that your students really enjoyed.  What was that aspect and how could you elaborate on that in the future?
We moved on to Tyvek and looked at the work of fellow Pratt graduate student, Ivan.  He and his class worked on Tyvek cut-outs that were narrative, not text focused as is our current assignment.  The intricate details of Ivan's Tyvek work is extremely well executed.  The Tyvek cut-outs made me think of different cultures who have traditions of paper cutting--Scherenschnitte from Switzerland and Germany, which involves a folded piece of paper so as to make a symmetrical design.

Scherenschnitte Paper Cut by Pamela Dalton

Here I found a Japanese artist who utilizes text in her paper cuts.

Paper Cut by Hina Aoyama

After beginning our Tyvek cut-outs as a class, we reviewed our sketchbook drawings.  Aileen suggested I look at the work of artist Russell Crotty.  There seems to be similar points of interest between his work and some of my own drawings and paintings.  I am especially drawn to his mark making and when  I looked at more of his work, discovered his use of (here we go again...) text!

Russell Crotty
Sierra Monochrome, 2007
ink and watercolor on paper on fiberglass sphere
24 inch diameter 

Russell Crotty
Four Seasons in our Galaxy, 2004 edition of 35
20 x 20 inches
archival inkjet pigment and screenprint varnish on paper in four parts
published by CRG Editions / printed at Axelle Editions

Class #2

Text and more text.....
I am really enjoying our current exploration of text.  My own artwork has always steered clear of using text as I had always wanted to express myself with images, not words.  Now, in Media and Materials class,  I find the practice to be quite freeing.  Part of it has to do with the excitement of working in a different way than I am accustomed.  I am not trying so hard to control things and working with exploring the possibilities.
I have also gained more of an appreciation for artists who work with text.  Maira Kalman is an artist who's work I've always enjoyed but I had not looked at her artwork specifically in regard to text.  Some of her work was included in a book passed around in class.  This renewed my interest in her work and how she uses text.

She has a blog as part of NY Times website.  You can even see examples where she sews her drawings and writing.

Maira Kalman

My hunt continues in the realms of text as does my quest for a better looking blog.  I have not yet mastered getting the images in place, so for the moment, for better or worse--I'm all about text.

Media and Materials: Class #1

I left class number one of Media and Materials feeling that this class is going to be an engaging, exciting experience and a lot of hard work.

After introductions we began with cooperative learning and were assigned jobs for class.  I am the note keeper (for now.)  Having an inspired moment, assigning jobs is something I am going to attempt in the classroom next week when I begin my art classes at my day job.  Having taught art to young children before, I know how important classroom management is and I have never before assigned jobs to my students.  I want implement this from the very beginning and try to stick with it.  I am especially hopeful for students actually participating in maintaining an orderly room and cleaning up after themselves.

When we discussed materials we were hoping to work with in class, we also talked about having one dreaded material.  Aileen brought up googly eyes, mentioning she was never a fan until seeing Roadkill, a work by Simryn Gill:

When she said googly eyes was her least favorite material, one word popped up in my mind--glitter.  I do not think I am alone when I declare my extreme dislike for projects in which children work with glitter.  I am currently on the hunt for what I deem may be a worthwhle use of the material, possibly in a contemporary artwork.  With glitter comes glam, and I am interested to see where my glitter quest may take me.
I am also new to blogging, I have begun with the bare minimum and plan to expand and eleborate as much as possible as soon as possible.