Zemer Peled

The thing about a Google image search is that sometimes it does not turn out so well but sometimes you get lucky, find exactly what you need, and become inspired. Last night Amanda and I were working on coming up with a lesson to do with the class for our "Mark Making: Making a Mark" unit. We started out with the notion of thinking big. We wanted to do something that would excite the class. Originally we had come up with a lesson, which would in fact be a useful lesson for studio art high school students to explore, but after discussion with Aaron we thought that we may need to change our direction for what we are presenting to our class of students on the first day of the unit. Thinking about this, we decided that we wanted to open with something quite attention grabbing, breaking notions of your typical "mark" and what that means in the artistic process. We thought about ways we could consider action, chance, mark making and more typical elements such as composition all at the same time. Amanda brought up possibly doing something with clay. I thought what about throwing clay?
So- Google image search: "Throwing clay at wall" Result: Zemer Peled.
Zemer Peled is a contemporary ceramic artist who works with shards and globs of clay rather than what one would consider a traditional ceramic work. Even her "still lifes" consist of warped and droppy vessels. Her piece that popped up in the Google search, "Throwing clay on the wall (2012)" (pictured below), demonstrates contemporary themes of action and chance that we had been exploring with other artists along with truly testing what a "mark" is. Peled stands at a distance and throws globs of clay onto a white cement wall. The pieces stick where they may, in whatever shape they happen to form.
Amanda and I were very excited about this work. Not only would this be fun for potential high school students but we know that it will be for us. As students are exploring what it really means to make a mark or an impression, they can also be taking into consideration chance, action, and class collaboration. I hope this version of mark making will allow for students explore "mark" through some unique play.

Fieldwork: Conversation with Students

On my last day of fieldwork at the high school, I was able to see the graphic design students finishing up the lesson on color mixing and creating thumbnail paintings. As they had some interferences student testing and then the hurricane they weren't as far along on the project as my mentor teacher and I had wanted them to be at this point. Even so, I was able to have a small discussion with three students who had completed the painting and then was able to answer any questions for the rest of the class as they finished out their work. It was nice to be able to talk to the few students that were done in sort of an informal assessment of what they had trouble with in regards to creating their paintings, what they thought was successful about their work, and what was something that they would change about their piece if they were to go back into it. The students revealed that matching the colors exactly was much more difficult than they would have thought. Each specific color became it's own unique challenge. It was evident that these students had worked particularly hard on their compositions as the colors were very close, even if they weren't one hundred percent satisfied with them. In the small discussion we talked about each of their paintings, putting it up next to the original composition. One student was excited about the way his composition turned out. He said that it was interesting to see it as a painting and that he would have never thought to do something like this. The next student had created two paintings because he was not thrilled with how the first came out. I appreciated this effort and he did too as he concluded that his second one came out much better because of it. He did in fact have a real challenge in color matching as the focal point of his piece was an iris of an eye. (lots of colors in there!) The third student's work was well done and exceptionally detailed. It is clear that this student has a great deal of natural ability. She explained that she enjoyed working this way to get to do something a bit different from the graphics work. All of the students were though excited to scan these imaged into the computer and see what they could manipulate and do from there. This small conversation allowed me to get a sense of what some of the students really got out of the project, which was definitely rewarding.

Making a Mark

William Anastasi, Subway Drawing, 1993, Pencil on Paper

What do you see when you look at this image?

How do you think these marks may have been made?

These were the two opening questions that myself and my partner posed to the class when we introduced our theme of mark making. It was exciting discussing these questions with our classmates, having them take their best guess at what was behind the making of this piece. The artist who created this, William Anastasi, places himself on the subway, headphones in, paper on his lap, pencil in each hand. He allows the movement of the subway to guide the marks that are made on the paper. All he does is steady himself and allows chance to create the image you see above.

We presented Anastasi along with a piece by Marcel Duchamp, "Three Standard Stoppages," and Ushio Shinohara, "Boxing Painting," in discussion of mark making through chance. All of these artist develop a certain formula with their works that we discussed in order to provide for a chance experience in making their mark.

The question was posed at the end of our presentation: is "mark making" a process or a theme?

I believe it depends on how you look at it. For me, and for the way I will be developing it as a lesson and then a larger unit, it is a theme. As one explores mark making through various methods, including chance and motion, it becomes more dynamic than just a drawing process. Mark making becomes a way in which artists on making impressions. The artists that we are exploring develop ways in which they are using mark abstractly to explore further concepts and to make their impression on those who come into contact with their work and with their process. Developing mark making as "making a mark" will allow for students to understand ways in which they can develop unique processes in order to make their own impressions. 

Fieldwork Lesson: Color Mixing

Last week began my color mixing lesson with the Graphic Design students. I began by introducing them to artist Henri Matisse and talking about the importance of color and thinking about color in art work. We also talked about composition and how artists may look at small sections of larger composition in order to be thinking about positive and negative space. We zoomed in on a section of one of Matisse's paintings, what if we were to match the colors in this image?
Showing the students my collage and thumbnail painting, I explained how I zoomed in on a section of my collage in order to make a new composition. We had another conversation about color in which I demoed the mixing of a dulled yellow green that was part of my painting. As a class we worked together to create the color. I asked the students questions, what should I add? What happens if I add white? Black? What is green's compliment? What if I added that? The students responded to this well. They got involved in the color mixing and it was a fun guessing game in order for them to observe the way in which one must really look at a color to find what is in it. Students then cropped out a section of the collages that they had made with my mentor teacher. I challenged them to pick one color, and try to match it as I did in the demo. I walked around the room as the students work, they were challenged but all working hard at making a match.
For the project, as I explained this week, they will be expected to replicate their composition and match all of the colors in that section. We started off this week with another discussion where we discussed what was challenging for them in finding particular colors in their sections. I showed them methods of copying their images onto their thumbnails, explained a bit about proper clean up and brush cleaning, and then they got to work. It was exciting to see the students working hard and being challenged as they attempted to match colors. 
I am enjoying teaching this lesson as it is evident that the students are really enjoying being challenged. Along with this, the conversations that I have been having with the class  at the beginnings of each day are proving to be successful in going over what they are doing along with making them more comfortable with talking to me and asking me questions. I am also appreciating the way they are experiencing color mixing as more meaningful to them in order to create a painting, off of something they themselves have already created. To me, this is making it more exciting than say having them do a color chart. I am extremely happy with the way the lesson is going and am hoping to have a chance to see them finished and do a bit of a critique with the students.

Fieldwork Experience

For my fieldwork this semester I have the opportunity to work at a local high school once a week with an excellent mentor teacher. I have been to the school three times already and am going to begin my lesson with the students on Wednesday. Something interesting about my placement are the courses that my mentor teacher has. My mentor teacher has some interesting courses in graphic design, architecture, drawing/design for production, and ceramics, and it has been excited to see how I can help the students. When the graphic design students are working on layouts for designs or collages, my mentor teacher encourages them to ask me questions about composition and color. I also really enjoy her ceramics courses and drawing/design for production class. In these particular classes it is interesting to observe the students problem solve. Whether working on their ceramic hollow animal sculptures or building rooftops for houses in DDP, my mentor teacher encourages the students to work through problems, experience some trial and error, and work hard for a rewarding final product. By experiencing these various courses I am getting a taste for what a high school art curriculum has to offer beyond studio art.
For my lesson I am going to be able to bring a bit of what I know to the graphic design students. As they will be doing a printmaking project in the future, they are responsible for learning color theory and to mix color. Together, my mentor teacher and I brainstormed to come up with a way in which she could introduce color theory to them and I could follow up with a paint mixing lesson. We wanted them to do something more interesting then to just make color swatches. I reflected on what I had done in terms of learning my color mixing and reflected on when I took a Cezanne painting, broke it down into shapes, and recreated those colors. I wanted them to do something similar but with something more meaningful to them. They had been creating collages in order to express a particular emotion. I thought, what if they took a small section of their collage piece, creating a new composition, and matched those colors? This way they could create a painting, with a definite focus on color mixing. They students will have to really examine the color. What would they first define it as? Now how can you tone that down? What is really in there? Below is the teacher sample I made of both the collage and the 3 inch by 3 inch painting. I can't wait to see what the students come up with.

Ushio Shinohara

Last weekend I had the chance to see Ushio Shinohara’s performance in the Fine Arts Building Rotunda.  It just so happened that I was walking by right before it started, remembered seeing the artist’s work in the Dorsky Museum, and stopped in. I did not get to hear much of the introduction but I was able to see him in action. Shinohara’s performance was definitely exciting as he strapped on boxing gloves, towels lumped on the ends, dipped them in paint, and began to box the canvas. With each jab he worked his way across the wall, creating a quite dynamic composition.  Each hit created a circle on impact, a splash effect, and dripping paint. Shinohara’s performance encompassed not only the physicality of the body in making but a definite element of chance. Although he purposefully planted his fist on the canvas the artist had no control over where the paint would go from there.  Reading further about Shinohara I discovered that he began making these paintings in 1961 and became renowned for giving exciting meaning to the term “action painting.” He also known for his works in found object sculpture and assemblage and is encompassed as part of the Neo Dada movement.
After seeing the performance last weekend I began thinking about the unique ways that Shinohara was making mark. How he successfully combines the art of boxing with the visual arts. Along with this, his paintings become a very labor intensive and physical. I thought about how I might be able to explore these concepts in my own making along with how students can be thinking about these ideas. How exciting would it be to do a lesson in reference to Shinohara’s “action painting?” As I develop my unit plan on “mark making” I hope to utilize the ideas of this artist. I aim to emphasize his unusual technique and painting by chance which give a unique perspective to ideas about what it means to make a mark in terms of the visual arts.

Dr. Olga Hubard

Today I had the chance to attend the lecture given Dr. Olga Hubard, an assistant art education professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Hubard’s presentation was based on her experience in creating dialogues about works of art, mostly in a museum setting. I found her lecture to be very interesting along with extremely connected to our class readings on talking about student artwork. Related to our readings, by Nancy House and Terry Barrett, Hubard’s presentation brought up the importance of asking questions, acting as a facilitator of conversation, and collaboratively constructing meaning.

Hubard opened the presentation with the age old question that educators often start with “how does this artwork make you feel?” She followed with the idea that this question almost always is not the most effective, often puzzling students, making them uncomfortable, and creating a blank stare. Her emphasis on not asking this question was instead followed by the question “what emotions does the work suggest?” This question is open-ended, can start with description, and does not put pressure on the viewer/student to share a personal response. Instead this question can begin a conversation in which constructs the dialogue to create meaning before a follow up of asking the students if they can relate to the emotions the art is speaking to. I felt as though Hubard was touching on something important through this. In speaking directly to teaching in a secondary classroom, it would make sense that you develop a greater level of comfort to have a conversation before diving into any deeply personal thoughts/feelings. Such as the reading suggests, it may be more helpful to start with a description of the art work. In tying emotion into this dialogue, it would be very useful to question what feeling the work suggests before expecting a student to unveil their sentiment right away.

Four specific points were brought up in Hubard’s presentation about reacting to artwork and the various in ways in which people may do this. Hubard spoke to her personal experience as a museum educator but these ideas are all more than relevant to an art classroom conversation. The first one was empathy. This was related directly to the questions that Hubbard proposes as more suitable for dialogue about art work. Through the development of the paintings emotions, and the relationship of those emotions on a personal level, she expresses that some individuals may empathize with the work while others may not feel that connection. Hubard then presents the point that there are different characters of artworks. She presents a Duchamp ready-made, explaining that there are not always obvious emotions in a piece and the conversation needs to be developed specifically on the piece. Her third point was ideas about elusiveness in that sometimes people have trouble explaining their specific emotions. We should be mindful of this as educators when students are trying to explain their reaction to work or discussing their own work.  It can be complicated, people do not always know exactly how they feel about something, and there is variation in ability to describe exactly what one is feeling. Students may struggle to put exactly what they are thinking into words, as educators it is important to be asking questions in conversation to help them articulate their thoughts. Hubard’s final point explained that sometimes there are emotions beyond what the artwork can say. She talked about getting initial reactions to work from the viewers or students and creating a further conversation about the work and artist from this dialogue

It became clear through Hubard’s presentation and the questions that preceded it that conversation about art, critiques about student work, and all dialogue in the classroom for that matter should seek to create a conversation that collaboratively makes meaning. There are a variety of ways that people, this then including your future high school students, may react to a piece of art. Some may recognize the emotions involved, some may feel them to a degree, and some may have a direct connection with those emotions. The facilitator of the conversation, or teacher, should ask questions that depend on the work, the setting, and what they want the audience to be learning from the conversation. From further thinking about this, I thought it was important that one person, including the facilitator, not dominate the conversation. I feel as though the goal for dialogue in the classroom, whether critique, analysis of art work, or any discussion be a forum for making meaning. Hubard’s presentation was an interesting engagement with these ideas and I was glad I had the opportunity to attend.