I think that we can all attest to the fact that there truly are no limits when it comes to art, everything is accepted and as artists we all seem to have open minds. Hopefully we all carry this ability outside the realm of art, and into the world surrounding us as we encounter different individuals in our lives and build relationships, especially those with our students. As we become teachers, we should encourage our students to be open minded in all areas.
As we begin to handle issues pertaining to discrimination, we should not only have ourselves on guard for racial slurs, but should also watch for discrimination against persons with different sexual orientations. If I was approached by a student who "came out" to me I would be open to them and welcome them if they need someone to talk to. I am not opposed to anyone with a different sexuality than I, so I don't feel that I would have a hard time talking to someone who is beginning to be open about this part of their lives. I would sit down with the student and ask them if they have spoken to their friends or family about it yet, and ask them how they plan to approach the subject when they do. I hope to be able to help the student talk through the difficulties they may encounter as they begin this process.
I plan to make my art room a safe place for all students by being intolerant of any language pertaining to anyone's race or personal choices. While reading Chapter 7 in Adolescents At School, I found the following passage interesting and disturbing, and this pertains to our roles as teachers and the examples we set in our classrooms: "One of the most damaging way some school staff contribute to the creation of identity-detrimental environments for LGBT students is their failure to respond to hostile language and harassment. Forty percent of GLSEN's survey respondents indicated that the faculty and staff at their schools never intervene when they hear students use anti-LGBT language, and another 43 percent said their teacheers intervene only 'some of the time.' " Students should not feel threatened and discriminated against when they come to school, it is important that they feel safe, we are working in the environment that is the basis for their future and it is our job as teachers to make sure that all of our students feel safe in the school environment. An environment full of discrimination and threats is detrimental to the personal and academic growth of students.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
ITM: Arnaldo Morales
Assignment: Tinguely staged event for spectators to behold. Morales is not content with mere observation. He demands participation. Sometimes he allows the audience to decide if they want to interact with his works; sometimes their proximity compels participation. Find examples of specific artworks by Tinguely, Morales, or other artists that exemplify the audience's relationships with: a static, harmless art object, an active, harmless art object, and active, dangerous art object, an art object that invites participation, an art object that imposes participation.
I was intrigued by the work that Arnaldo Morales has created, and was interested to see what other types of work were out that were meant to engage the audience with the artwork. When I began researching artists who exemplified a relationship between the audience and their artwork, I found an artist who's artwork intrigued me. Paul Weidmer works with fire and iron as the basis for most of his project. He does sculptures that are both interactive and non interactive. I was most interested in the pieces I will display below that incorporate fire and iron together. I feel that these pieces are really engaging and interesting. They show how his mind is working and he executes his projects well.
I was intrigued by the work that Arnaldo Morales has created, and was interested to see what other types of work were out that were meant to engage the audience with the artwork. When I began researching artists who exemplified a relationship between the audience and their artwork, I found an artist who's artwork intrigued me. Paul Weidmer works with fire and iron as the basis for most of his project. He does sculptures that are both interactive and non interactive. I was most interested in the pieces I will display below that incorporate fire and iron together. I feel that these pieces are really engaging and interesting. They show how his mind is working and he executes his projects well.
ITM Skip Schukmann and Impermanence
Assignment: Provide an example of another artist who accepts impermanence, and explain if that artist was inspired by the natural environment or by some other phenomenon.
After reading the text over Skip Schukmann's work with the natural environment and impermanence, I began looking at other artist's work relating to impermanence. I think that this is an interesting way to work. I found work by Maria Velasco titled "Embracing Impermanence". This is a performance piece in which for a period of two weeks she will stencil words on the wall and erase them. The rubber remains from the eraser become the raw material which she then uses as her medium to create new stencils. The cyle repeats itself. I find this interesting because as an artist I become attatched to my work, and this is a different way of looking at the way in which you create a piece of work. To embrace impermanence seems to be a way of embracing whatever happens to a work of art and going with it, allowing it to take a new course and not necessarily being ruined. As stated in the text about Skip Schukmann's art, a viewer bumped an edge of his piece and it fell and he just created a new piece based off of the parts that had fallen. He did not consider that piece ruined, it just simply began to take a new course.
After reading the text over Skip Schukmann's work with the natural environment and impermanence, I began looking at other artist's work relating to impermanence. I think that this is an interesting way to work. I found work by Maria Velasco titled "Embracing Impermanence". This is a performance piece in which for a period of two weeks she will stencil words on the wall and erase them. The rubber remains from the eraser become the raw material which she then uses as her medium to create new stencils. The cyle repeats itself. I find this interesting because as an artist I become attatched to my work, and this is a different way of looking at the way in which you create a piece of work. To embrace impermanence seems to be a way of embracing whatever happens to a work of art and going with it, allowing it to take a new course and not necessarily being ruined. As stated in the text about Skip Schukmann's art, a viewer bumped an edge of his piece and it fell and he just created a new piece based off of the parts that had fallen. He did not consider that piece ruined, it just simply began to take a new course.
Discrimination
A time that I recall when I was discriminated against stems all the way back to middle school. I was the first person in my fifth grade class to get braces, and everyone noticed the moment I arrived at school. Since I was the first person to don this new contraption (or at least new to my peers and I) I felt awkward, vulnerable, and nervous to see my peers. And also let me add that in addition to the metal monstrosity in my mouth, I also at four rubber bands binding my mouth shut, as well as unflattering glasses..... I won't even get into the large plastic retanater that was cemented into my mouth a year later leaving me with a lysp for six months. At any rate, my friends teased me about it because they didn't yet have any of these things, and I was the first to, ergo, the target.
A time that I discriminated against someone was during my high school years. We received a new group of transfers from the next town over that were rumored to be drug dealers because of the area they came from. The school that they had been attending was rougher and these transfer students did have some drug dealers as their peers, but not all of these students were fitting the stereotype everyone seemed to be giving them. As I got to know some of these transfer students, I found out that they had requested to be transferred because of the school they were attending, some of them wanted to go back to their friends, etc.....but all of these students were very bright and polite individuals. The more and more my peers got to know these students the more we learned about them and I remember being angry at myself for assuming what someone would be like based on what I had heard.
I think that if we incorporate opportunities that allow our students to get to know one another, we will be combating discrimination. If we as teachers stop discrimination the moment we hear or see it beginning, we will be helping our students. Also, as teachers, we need to be careful to not discrimintae or judge students prematurely based on what we think we know based on what students look like, what rumors we've heard about them, or what experiences other teachers have had with students.
A time that I discriminated against someone was during my high school years. We received a new group of transfers from the next town over that were rumored to be drug dealers because of the area they came from. The school that they had been attending was rougher and these transfer students did have some drug dealers as their peers, but not all of these students were fitting the stereotype everyone seemed to be giving them. As I got to know some of these transfer students, I found out that they had requested to be transferred because of the school they were attending, some of them wanted to go back to their friends, etc.....but all of these students were very bright and polite individuals. The more and more my peers got to know these students the more we learned about them and I remember being angry at myself for assuming what someone would be like based on what I had heard.
I think that if we incorporate opportunities that allow our students to get to know one another, we will be combating discrimination. If we as teachers stop discrimination the moment we hear or see it beginning, we will be helping our students. Also, as teachers, we need to be careful to not discrimintae or judge students prematurely based on what we think we know based on what students look like, what rumors we've heard about them, or what experiences other teachers have had with students.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Drawing: Teaching Techniques
After reading the assignment for this week, I thought back to what techniques my drawing teachers have stressed to my peers and I over this past years, and what still sticks with me when I am working on a drawing. When I read the assigned reading in From Ordinary to Extraordinary, I picked out a few key components that agree with what was emphasized by my instructors.
To start off with, I think that it is important to focus on an area of an object rather than taking on the entire object at once. This can be extremely disheartening and a heavy load to take on when you are trying to render an object. I remember when I was in high school and was given a still life to draw from, I thought that I needed to include the entire object, but what I learned to do was to find an area that I found most interesting and I then dedicated my attention to that. As a result, I was more satisfied with my work. I eventually learned to handle entire objects, but I think that it is also important to teach students to draw from an interesting view point, which may not consist of this entire object. This leads me to my next point. I feel that it is important to show your students the importance of what it can do for a drawing when it touches all sides of the paper, has weight, as in a foundation so objects do not appear to be floating, and when the focal point is not directly in the center of the paper.
I hope to be able to teach my students to realistically render their objects, but also teach them the beauty of expressive drawing. I feel that too often students mark themselves as unable to draw because they feel that they cannot create a perfectly realistic drawing. If they are introduced to different approaches to drawing, different techniques and what each can do for the mood of the piece, etc. then possibly more students would be willing to jump in and make art free of preconceived expectations of what their artwork "should" look like. Art is uninhibited and an outlet for self expression and thats how students should feel when they are making their own work. This being said, I do feel it is important that students learn the techniques we all have that allow us to create realistic pieces. One of the most important techniques I feel that I will teach my students is shading. This can bring a piece to life and my art instructors have shown me that that is the next step to be taken to create a realistic piece.
My favorite sketch is created by M.C. Escher. I feel that the way that he shows the different levels of sketch within one piece is a perfect example to show students when teaching them the technique of shading.
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