Unit theme: Knowing
Art can be a way of
understanding and communicating with the world and our circumstances
Artists: Vary by
lesson – Jackson Pollock, Rogier Van der Weyden, Kathe Kollwitz, Janine Antoni,
Giotto, Marcel Duchamp, Eva Hesse, Jessica Stockholder, Rembrandt, Andy Warhol,
Jeanne-Claude and Christo, Anne Hamilton, Robert Smithson, Tara Donovan.
Key Concepts
-
Our knowledge is continuously changing
-
Our perceptions and personal experiences
influence what we feel to be true
-
Now knowing is uncomfortable, but can be
essential to our growth
-
Art-making is just one way to come to know
something
Essential Questions
1.
What does it mean to know?
2.
How do we come to know something? Methods?
Senses?
3.
Once we know something, can that knowledge
change? How?
4.
How might art become a way of knowing or
understanding?
Lesson 2: Exploration of Materials, the Artist’s toolbox
Objectives
-
Students will be able to see how art materials
have changed throughout history
-
Students will analyze artists’ intentions when
choosing materials
-
Students will communicate how using different
materials changes the meaning and purpose of the artwork
-
Students will analyze how artists change how we
see certain objects and what we know about them
-
Students will be able to broaden the range of
materials in their own artist toolbox
Lesson/Discussion
-
Why do
artists decide to use certain materials?
-
When you
hear “artist’s materials,” what do you think of?
-
Activity
o
A pile of objects exists in the center of the
room (oil paint, paper, electrical cord, plastic bucket, cheesecloth, house paint,
woodblock, random object labeled “ready-made,” copper plate, pencil, chocolate,
collage, screen, fabric, plaster, dirt, Styrofoam cups.)
o
Select one material from the pile in the center
of the room. Discuss its properties with your group and then we will discuss
these as a class.
§
What is
the typical purpose of this material?
§
Why might
an artist use this material? Is it considered a traditional art material?
§
Who can
you think of that has used this material in their artwork?
§
Are there
non-artists who have used this material? How does that change the significance
of the material?
-
Discuss questions as a class. Perhaps artists
choose certain materials because they are more familiar with them, support the
concept of their work, logistical reasons/cost, popularity, curiosity.
-
The artists who used these materials did so for
very specific reasons. Perhaps let students pick 3-5 objects and we will
discuss the artist that goes with them. Why
did they use that to make their art? What meaning does it convey? How do they
rebel against what art traditionally is? How do they change how we see certain
objects, or what we know about them? How do they rebel against the traditional
purpose of art? What is the purpose of art?
o
oil paint – Rogier van der Weyden
o
paper
o
electrical cord – Janine Antoni
o
plastic bucket – Jessica Stockholder
o
cheesecloth – Eva Hesse
o
house paint – Jackson Pollock
o
woodblock & ink – Katthe Kollwitz
o
the “ready-made” – Marcel Duchamp
o
copper plate – Rembrandt
o
pencil
o
chocolate – Janine Antoni
o
collage
o
screen – Andy Warhol
o
fabric – Ann Hamilton
o
plaster - Giotto
o
dirt – Robert Smithson
o
Styrofoam cups – Tara Donovan
Project (writing)
Choose one of these objects (or another object of your
choice), and consider what art piece you might make using it. Would you “rebel”
against the objects original purpose, or stick with tradition? Why? What
question or idea would you like to convey? Include a drawing of your imagined
art piece that shows how the object would be transformed.
Assessment
Participation in class discussion and group discussion. Turn
in project on time with short, written explanation and sketch that is
thoughtful in regard to the topics discussed in class.
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