unit 3: Stories
artists: thomas hart benton & diego rivera
studio - group murals: drawing and/or collage
artist: faith ringgold
studio - story quilts: watercolor
artist: jean shin
studio - mini sculptures from found objects
unit 3: stories reflection
This unit and the accompanying studios revolved around the theme of stories. I found that my pieces also incorporated and reflected the themes of identity and relationship that I worked on previously. Pink (2006) states that stories provide "context enriched by emotion, [and] a deeper understanding of how we fit in and why that matters" (p. 115). Pink's thoughts explain how stories are interwoven with identity and relationships as add emotion and feeling to things, and are the essence of who we are and how we came to be where we are today. Stories can be informative and encompass beliefs of the artist, which I found when I worked on the group mural inspired by Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera. I chose to make an ironic statement about celebrating and recognizing diversity in schools. I believe it is important to highlight diversity and treating others respectfully regardless of differences, however, it does not always happen in schools. I drew a banner announcing that it was diversity week in the school and focusing on how differences make people special and unique. Underneath the sign are four friends promoting the message of diversity, but they all look exactly the same and dress alike, so they are not really practicing diversity in their own friendships. I struggled to think of what I wanted to make a statement about, but I am happy with the resulting piece I came up with. I think that if I were to do this in my classroom, I would invite the students to draw about something they would like to change, or something that they find unfair in school or in life. I would emphasize that while these types of cartoons are meant to make a statement, they are not to be offensive or cruel.
My second studio is a story quilt that was inspired by the children's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. I wanted to express the story using one key scene, and decided to show the caterpillar in the process of eating an apple on someone's lunch table. I explored using oil pastels and watercolor to see how I could best represent the image I wanted to get across to the reader. I really liked making this as a quilt, because a lot of times quilts are things that are passed down through generations of families and have their own family memories and stories attached to them. This could be a great class activity that has to deal with relationships and identity as well, because the students could make the story about a special time with their family or friends, or to include things that are important to them. It would be a wonderful way to get to see a personal side to the students.
The final studio for the story unit was probably the most challenging, but also the most fun one to create. We brought in a "found object," which is an object that is easily found and often disposed of, and had to work together with another person to create a mini sculpture utilizing both of our found objects. I brought in an empty water bottle, and Diana brought in hair ties. We struggled to think of what the objects represented and how we could combine them to create some sort of statement or story. We ended up showing the bond between a mother and her child, specifically a newborn. We talked about how hair ties are used to bind and hold things together, and used those as the mother's arms holding her baby. They symbolized the bond between the two individuals and how they support each other. The water bottle is something that can fill people up, much in the way that a mother fills up her child with nourishment, love, care, knowledge, and support. Amber pointed out the symbolism of the water bottle being empty in our sculpture that could represent how the mother could feel as though she is empty now that her baby is no longer inside of her, or empty metaphorically because she uses all of her energy on her children and puts so much of herself in them, that she takes the back burner. I loved doing this and having to work together with someone else. I think both of our ideas grew as we created more of the sculpture and we wound up with something neither of us could have imagined on our own. This activity would work great in a classroom, and I would also think about having students invent a new object with a different use than what one normally uses it for.
Stories at once demonstrate relationships and identities of people, places, and things, inform, express ideas, and are also communicated through art. Bang (2000) provides examples of the ways stories can be conveyed in artwork by carefully selecting how each element works together and adds to the mood of a piece. "Specific elements such as points or color or size seem to call up the emotions we felt when we experienced actual sharp points or colors or large or small things. it is these 'emotions attached to remembered experiences' that seem largely to determine our present responses" (p. 73). Artwork makes people feel in the same way that stories make people feel different things.
Bang, M. (2000). Picture this: How pictures work. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books LLC.
Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
My second studio is a story quilt that was inspired by the children's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. I wanted to express the story using one key scene, and decided to show the caterpillar in the process of eating an apple on someone's lunch table. I explored using oil pastels and watercolor to see how I could best represent the image I wanted to get across to the reader. I really liked making this as a quilt, because a lot of times quilts are things that are passed down through generations of families and have their own family memories and stories attached to them. This could be a great class activity that has to deal with relationships and identity as well, because the students could make the story about a special time with their family or friends, or to include things that are important to them. It would be a wonderful way to get to see a personal side to the students.
The final studio for the story unit was probably the most challenging, but also the most fun one to create. We brought in a "found object," which is an object that is easily found and often disposed of, and had to work together with another person to create a mini sculpture utilizing both of our found objects. I brought in an empty water bottle, and Diana brought in hair ties. We struggled to think of what the objects represented and how we could combine them to create some sort of statement or story. We ended up showing the bond between a mother and her child, specifically a newborn. We talked about how hair ties are used to bind and hold things together, and used those as the mother's arms holding her baby. They symbolized the bond between the two individuals and how they support each other. The water bottle is something that can fill people up, much in the way that a mother fills up her child with nourishment, love, care, knowledge, and support. Amber pointed out the symbolism of the water bottle being empty in our sculpture that could represent how the mother could feel as though she is empty now that her baby is no longer inside of her, or empty metaphorically because she uses all of her energy on her children and puts so much of herself in them, that she takes the back burner. I loved doing this and having to work together with someone else. I think both of our ideas grew as we created more of the sculpture and we wound up with something neither of us could have imagined on our own. This activity would work great in a classroom, and I would also think about having students invent a new object with a different use than what one normally uses it for.
Stories at once demonstrate relationships and identities of people, places, and things, inform, express ideas, and are also communicated through art. Bang (2000) provides examples of the ways stories can be conveyed in artwork by carefully selecting how each element works together and adds to the mood of a piece. "Specific elements such as points or color or size seem to call up the emotions we felt when we experienced actual sharp points or colors or large or small things. it is these 'emotions attached to remembered experiences' that seem largely to determine our present responses" (p. 73). Artwork makes people feel in the same way that stories make people feel different things.
Bang, M. (2000). Picture this: How pictures work. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books LLC.
Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.