Welcome & Assignments for Week 1

Week of January 25

Welcome! In our class, Art Fundamentals, we will explore art concepts and techniques in relation to interdisciplinary teaching practices- how to use visual art methods to teach the standard curriculum. You will have the opportunity to engage in a wide variety of art-making practices which lead to individual and collaborative projects. Some projects will be reminiscent of activities you did in elementary school and others will introduce new methods or media to you or often a fresh approach to using familiar media. Throughout the semester, we will bring resources into the classroom as well as visit places off campus, making use of many important community resources.

This course is designed to accommodate students with little or no formal art-making background. Emphasis is placed on experimenting with a wide variety of methods and media in a supportive and constructive environment. Assessment of art work will focus on depth of engagement and quality of process rather than creation of a perfect product. Students, no matter what age cannot be truly creative if they fear their work will be harshly judged.  

Please bring an apron or wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. We will be using art materials that may stain nearly every week, so dress like an artist!

Here are two links to videos on the two artists I wanted to show you yesterday. Both are worth checking out and good examples of use of traditional media in an unusual or surprising way. Enjoy!

http://www.williamlamson.com/#/selected_work/automatic/sea_drawings/1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipd7ZjFcoo8

 

ASSIGNMENTS

1) Set up blog at blogspot.com – design your page and create a profile for yourself. Please comment on this blog post with the url of your own personal blog.

2) Read Chapter 1 (Children and Their Art)

3) Blog/Journal entry: Collect and document (scan or photograph) 6-10 images that you come across in your typical day. Upload those images to your blog and do your best to identify what medium was used to create the art pieces. Describe the context within the image is placed and discuss how that contexts affects your response to the piece. Think about how people from cultures or socio-economic backgrounds that differ from your own might respond to the piece. Be prepared to share 3-4 images (print them out, cut them out to bring in) that are especially meaningful or provocative to you in class next week.

4) Bring drawing paper and mark making tools (pen or pencils) to class 2/1.