30/03/10 11:18
Honors Art
Reflection, Spring 2010
Note: I usually wait until May to post this so this will be updated when the time comes.
Surveillance
Spring Semester, 2010
This semester introduced an investigation of surveillance theory. Our research included:
Surveillance: The Still Life
We created two surveillance logs and one final culminating piece representing our ongoing surveillance of a large still life assemblage located in the center of our classroom.
Prompt: Where does truth and/or fact exist in the relationship between the surveillant and the surveilled?
Graphic log
We created a series of five compositions while studying the still life.
Text log
We created a series of log entrees representing five consecutive days of "staking" out the still life.
Still Life Surveillance Culmination
We created a piece of our choice representing the "findings" of our graphic and text logs. Artifacts ranged from video to two and three-dimensional works.
Surveillance: The Art Room
This investigation will begin after spring break so I'll post information as soon as I have it. DTM
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the physical and/or virtual community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Personal Identity
Fall Semester, 2009
The semester brought a return to the investigation of personal identity. Self-investigation is one of the most important topics in Honors Art and is a keystone of our curriculum. We look upon ourselves through various contextual lenses and, as such consider our cultural identity, familial identity, stereotypical identity, "other" identity, and heroic identity. In addition we considered how the language of games we play as children influence our linguistic habits and world-views. We completed the semester with a series of pieces in which we explored our non-objective identity. In most cases our investigative methodology incorporated a syntagmatic structure using a prompt paper prior to, and a rationale paper following the construction of the artifacts. Written and verbal rationale statements incorporate three forms of criticism included in the PA Standards for the Arts & Humanities: formal criticism, contextual criticism and intuitive criticism.
NOTE: A significant aspect of this semester was the creation of student web sites using Wordpress. Mr. Miller has been exploring this for years and finally required that we all have sites of identical structure to feature our written work and artwork. This allows our efforts to be viewed by each other, our families, and college admissions offices (not to mention the rest of the world).
Contextual Identity: My Life as a Deck of Cards
We used the deck of cards as an analogy for our individual identity. Rather than using the traditional suites of clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds our decks included culture, family, stereotype, "other" and hero. Marcel Duchamp's Boite-en-Valise (Box in a Valise) and the Artist Trading Cards (ATC) phenomenon influenced the construction of our physical artifacts. We created ten playing card size pieces for each of the following topics. Both sides of our cards were embellished. Note: We did not maintain the standard ATC format and approach to labeling. Another topic of discussion was scale. We are accustomed to working much larger so the smaller size challenged us to work smaller. In the end we were able to compare the actual size to much larger projections on the Smartboard.
Cultural Self/Identity Cards
Prompt: How do you define culture and how does culture define you?
Familial Self/Identity Cards
Prompt: How are you positioned within your family dynamic and how does that influence your identity?
Stereotypical Self/Identity Cards
Prompt: What is your perception of how you are perceived by others?
"Other" Identity Cards
Prompt: In what situations do you find myself treated as an "other".
Heroic Self/Identity Cards
Prompt: What defines a hero and what is heroic about you currently, or what heroic qualities would you hope to develop as you age?
Game Language as Dialogue: Text Painting (Diptych)
We used two-dimensional supports and mark-making methodology of our choice to palimpsestically and haptically represent a dialogue between languages of two games that have influenced our personal identity. We looked at the work of many contemporary text-based artists.
Prompt: What two games have contributed to who you are and what might they "say" to one another?
Non-mimetic Identity: Our "Abstract" identity
This was the result of the wonderful non-objective imagery found on the Identity Cards earlier in the semester. Most of that imagery was representational, but a surprising amount wasn't. We took the opportunity investigate mimesis and formalism prior to creating five pieces responding to notions of abstractions of our personalities. We did not incorporate a prompt paper this time.
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the physical and/or virtual community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2009
Collaborations
Spring Semester, 2009
This semester was defined by invitations to work with two local museums, the Woodmere Art Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The topic to be addressed at the Woodmere was “Origins”. The arrangement with the PMA was to use video conferencing technology to collaborate with the artist, Ben Volta, while somehow incorporating works from the museum collection. Collaboration appeared to be a logical basis for student investigation this semester.
Origins
Philadelphia Museum of Art Video Conference Collaboration with Ben Volta
Ben Volta & Mr. Miller selected works from the PMA’s collection by Glenn Ligon, Felix Gonzales-Torres and Marcel Duchamp to base our collaboration on. Our explorations evolved into three phases.
Video Collaboration
This was a new experience for all of us. We had three conferences over several weeks. Ben introduced himself and gave instructions for students to create contour line tracings from digital reproductions of works by the three artists selected. Ben talked about collaborative projects he had contributed to and referenced Sol Lewitt’s, Sentences On Conceptual Art. Students made three tracings that were composites of all three artists’ works and sent them to Ben with instructions for his response. Ben sent back a composite of everybody’s work in a singular composition. Students used Adobe Illustrator to make three interpretive edits each. Ben selected one favorite from each student to print out.
Collaborative Painting
Students created a painting representing their collaboration with Ben Volta, Glenn Ligon, Felix Gonzales-Torres and Marcel Duchamp. After painting on yarn for the Woodmere Art Museum Origins project students really appreciated canvas.
Sentences on Conceptual Art Objectified
Students selected two of Sol Lewitt’s, Sentences On Conceptual Art to respond to artifactually. Rationale papers were to be considered as artifactual works of art as well.
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Semester Final
Students constructed the installations before you as evidence of their learning over the course of the school year or a single semester. We wish for the viewers to consider the artifactual works and the textual works as equal expressions of contemporary material and visual culture.
Information Distribution Systems
Fall Semester, 2008
Our goal was to develop sensitivity to the many ways information is distributed to us as we grow and learn. A sophisticated literacy is required to read, filter and process the information we are inundated with on a daily basis.
Our investigative methodology typically involved a syntagmatic approach consisting of four steps per topic. We wrote a paper responding to a prompt, which informed our artifactual response. Our artifactual response was explained in a rationale paper, which was followed by a group reflective exercise involving, formal, contextual and intuitive criticism.
Multiple Intelligences, Multiple Modalities
Prompt: Who is Howard Gardner & Why Should I Care?
This prompt question was used to begin our investigation. We learned how intelligence exits in multiple manifestations. It follows that information must be distributed differentially to accommodate a greater community of learners.
Information Distributions Systems: Mark Making
Prompt: How do haptic, palimpsestic, sous rature strategies and/or occurrences in drawing become systems of information distribution?
Artifact: We explored this idea through a series of full-contact drawings of Mr. Miller.
Information Distributions Systems: Education
Prompt: How have information distribution systems varied from class to class and from teacher to teacher in your school experience? From which have you benefited most and least?
Artifact: We submitted a project proposal for this topic, but we had no limitations regarding media, size or quantity.
Information Distributions Systems: Political Ideology
Prompt: How can inanimate objects such as those observed in our still life be used to promote political ideology? Describe at least two historical antecedents.
Artifact: We created a series of drawings and one "more monumental" piece referencing the objects in Mr. Miller's still life installation.
Information Distributions Systems: Cubism as Visual Language
Prompt: How was Cubism viewed as a "new visual language, fragmented, simultaneously disintegrating & re-forming"? What were two influences on this development? Compare and contrast the two primary manifestations of this language.
Artifact: We referenced Mr. Miller's still life installation as we graphically commented on a visual language that went against 500 years of artistic tradition.
Information Distributions Systems: Family Values
Prompt: What kind of information is valued within your family structure and how is it distributed?
Artifact: We constructed "books" referencing this query.
Information Distributions Systems: Religion
Prompt: What role do relics, shrines and ceremonies play in religious information distribution systems?
Artifact: Due to time limitations we were unable to construct an artifactual response. We had a choice between writing the prompt paper and writing a proposal for a project we might do in response to the topic if we had no material, time or financial constraints.
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Semester Final
We were required to create a dedicated web site or blog of our choice displaying the written and artifactual work created over the course of the semester.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2008
Personal Identity
Spring Semester, 2008
The goal of this investigation was to address literacy relevant to our individual identity. Questions such as Who am I? Who was I? and Who will I become? are central to identity construction and projection. If we are able to read our own feelings accurately we will be happier, more productive and more enjoyable for others to be around.
Totemic Identity
Prompt: How do your objects define you and how do you define your objects?
Palimpsestic Identity
Prompt: What have the layers of your life contained? What remains and what has been left behind?
Other Identity
Prompt: In what ways have you felt "othered"?
Avatistic Identity
Prompt: What graphic image would you create to represent yourself and why would that image represent you?
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Cultural Narrative
Fall Semester, 2007
The goal of this investigation was to address literacy relevant to the world around us. Our objects, rituals and relationships are texts reflecting cultural positions relative to class, gender, power, privilege and race. A sophisticated literacy is required to read our world and if we don't learn how to 'read our world' we will indeed be left behind. We can't afford to remain visually and culturally illiterate.
Our investigative methodology typically involved four steps per topic. We wrote a paper responding to a prompt, which informed our artifactual response. Our artifactual response was explained in a rationale paper, which was followed by a group reflective exercise involving, formal, contextual and intuitive criticism.
Still-Life as Cultural Narrative
Prompt: What cultural narratives might be reflected in the individual or collective objects found in our still life?
Art Classroom as Cultural Narrative
Prompt: How do various cultural narratives observed in our art classroom relate to cultural narratives observed in society in general?
Transportation as Cultural Narrative
Prompt: What cultural narratives are reflected in the ways we go to and from school?
Eating as Cultural Narrative
Prompt: What cultural narratives are reflected in our eating environments and rituals?
Bag as Cultural Narrative
Prompt: How can cultural narratives be represented in one's choice or use of bags? What "baggage" is reflected in our choice/use of bags?
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2007
Monumental Obstacles, Narratives and Texts
Spring Semester, 2007
Monumental Obstacles Book
The goal of this investigation was to identify and challenge obstacles of monumental proportions in our everyday life.
Prompt: What must I overcome to become who I wish to be?
Using quotidian ephemera we relied on our powers of bricolage to palimpsestically construct a book (from scratch) that haptically communicated our message and/or reflection.
We wrote prompt papers before and reflection papers after making the artifact.
Monumental Community Connections
The goal was to become familiar with the historical narratives of our community. Mr. Miller made a podcast with Mr. James Malley (an administrator from Central Office) that provided insights into our communal past. We then used corrugated board and hot glue to construct "monuments" to a real or fictitious person of local historical significance.
Prompt: To whom do monuments "speak" and through what language?
As usual we wrote prompt papers before and reflection papers after making the artifact. This time we had great fun with the reflection papers because we were instructed to explain who our monuments commemorated and where we envisioned the installation of our monuments and why. After hearing the made - up "histories" of our classmates we questioned the "truth" of universally accepted narratives.
Monumental Text Diptych
There were two goals for this project: one was to monumentalize text as a graphic image and the other was to communicate with our ancestors and descendents.
Prompt: What would I like to say to or ask of my ancestors? What would I like to say to or ask of my descendents?
The sides of our diptychs addressed each of those questions. Again we wrote prompt papers before and reflection papers after making the artifact. This project is due this week so you are the first to see the artifacts.
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
We wish to fondly acknowledge Mel Antler, our student teacher this spring from the University of the Arts. Her future students will be very fortunate to learn from her...
Signs of Influence, Sites of Meaning
Fall Semester, 2006
Fragmented Self
The goal of this investigation was to address the influence of print media on our sense of identity. Two essential questions were:
At the beginning of the investigation some of our classmates denied that the media influenced them, but our reflective papers indicated that it is virtually impossible to avoid such influence so media literacy and semiotic awareness are primary tools for survival in contemporary society.
Recontextualized Object
Students investigated visual communication in terms of the semiotic relationship between the sender and receiver of information. Some essential questions were:
We created a series of drawings of an everyday object of our choice. We delineated visual relationships of personal interest throughout our drawing series and extracted them with scissors. We composed collages of our extracted delineations and created drawings of the collages that included text as a design element. We returned to our original collages and embellished them as we wished. We then returned to our original drawings, revising, recycling and recontextualizing.
We engaged in formal, contextual and intuitive criticism of the products created. It was obvious that the objects originally selected had been represented in such a way as to create a completely different frame of reference. We revisited our essential questions considering the significance and implications of the design experience and its relationship to communication in the world at large.
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2006
Personal Identity
Spring Semester, 2006
Fragmented Faces
This semester began with a second, very awesome student teacher, Jamie O'Neill. Mr. Miller and Jamie determined that some of us were "face wimps", often avoiding facial features when representing people in our graphic imagery. They were determined to desensitize us and had us do about 50 drawings each of eyes, noses, mouths and ears. These were studies aimed at overkill, but we playfully created some collage pieces titled Fragmented Faces.
We then began to investigate our personal identities through several different, yet overlapping, avenues. Our method involved four steps per topic. We wrote a paper responding to a prompt, which informed our graphic response. Our graphic response was explained in a rationale paper, which was followed by a group reflective exercise involving, formal, contextual and intuitive criticism.
Cultural Self/Identity
Prompt: How do you define culture and how does culture define you?
Stereotypical Self/Identity
Prompt: What is your perception of how you are perceived by others?
Familial Self/Identity
Prompt: How are you positioned within your family dynamic and how does that influence your identity?
Heroic Self/Identity
Prompt: What defines a hero and what is heroic about you currently, or what heroic qualities would you hope to develop as you age?
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
We wish to fondly acknowledge Erika Gehringer & Jamie O'Neill. Their future students will be very fortunate to learn from them...
Cultural Narratives
Fall Semester, 2005
Key Terms
We kicked the year off with an awesome student teacher, Erika Gehringer, and a vocabulary list. Both set the pace for the year. Aesthetics, Biedermeier Aesthetic, Vitaly & Melamid: "The Most Wanted Painting, Deconstruction, Reconstruction, Paradigm, Linear Thinking, Non-Linear Thinking, Readymades, Multiculturalism, Ethnocentrism, Zeitgeist, High Art, Low Art, Appropriation, Nihilism, Ideology, Hegemony, Semiotics, Hermeneutics, Pastiche, Epistemology, Context, Reactionary, Pluralism, Avant-garde, Collage, Assemblage, Studium, Punctum, Ethnography, Bricolage, Haptic, Diaspora, Visual Culture, Modernism, Postmodernism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, Fauve, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art became key concepts and the basis for our dialogue.
Still-Life as Cultural Narrative
Mr. Miller and Erika, our student teacher, arranged a group of items on a table in the middle of the room and challenged us to "read" them as a text. We began to identify cultural positions relating to class, gender, power, privilege and race in our own still life as well as still-life representations from the history of art.
We began this investigation with very aggressive charcoal studies incorporating additive and subtractive approaches to mark making. Mr. Miller referred to these as Haptic, or Full-Contact Drawings. Chris Henkels enjoyed teasing Mr. Miller about his frequent reference to "subtractive mark making".
Erika showed us how to do monotypes and monoprints. We also studied some popular dolls with respect to packaging and clothing, which opened our minds to the unspoken messages of popular toys regarding gender, race and privilege, etc. Our favorite was Blaine. We thought he would fit in at our high school.
We then explored some very typical drawings of the still life. We stepped away, or tried to anyway, from contextual content and focused on traditional, formal aspects of the objects. We called these "Typical" Oil Pastel Still Life Drawings.
Our final piece of this investigation focused on a social commentary reflected in the still life objects and arrangement. This was called Still Life as Cultural Narrative. We enjoyed a variety of readings including comments on colonialism and gender relationships.
Ethnographic Research
Our exploration of cultural narratives moved from objects to people. We became involved in ethnographic research. We wanted to observe group dynamics in terms of power, authority, leaders followers and sub-groups so we spent several days observing life in our school's choir room and band hall. Mr. Conahan and Mr. Hood graciously allowed us to collect many field notes in the form of sketches. Our Ethnographic Research Studies provided the basis for a graphic "outline", or Ethnographic Research Working Drawing. Mr. Miller used the analogy of the research paper, but we were using graphic texts rather than alphabetic texts. Our graphic "notes" and "outlines" provided the basis for our final Ethnographic Research Piece.
Our investigations and conversations yielded a clear understanding of ideological differences. We concluded that dominant ideologies exist in a state of tension and are far from universal acceptance. We had many discussions involving the notion of appropriateness in the context of art. We never had a complete consensus of what appropriate imagery and content might look like. Our final piece of the fall semester was titled Appropriateness: Traversing the Hegemonic Minefield. We expressed our feelings through two forms of text: graphic and alphabetic.
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2005
Further Investigations
Spring Semester, 2005
Me as a Learner
This was an exercise requiring us to cast our gaze inward. This served as segue between our semesters and prepared those of us continuing the course into the second semester to engage in self-reflection on a very personal level.
Significant Life Event
We reflected on our personal histories and created a visual representation of a significant event from our own life; something that affected our current contextual position and/or grounding. We discussed the concept of significance and discovered the many different readings of the term. We also explored the notion of history as a story told from many, and perhaps conflicting, perspectives.
Mask Project
This was something we did for the Ambler Rotary Club. We were given ceramic masks to embellish as we wished. They were then auctioned off to raise money. It was very fun to compare our work with that of two neighboring schools: Upper Dublin High School and Germantown Academy.
Encapsulated Dream
What are dreams? Do they only occur during moments of slumber? Are they projections into the future? Why are some dreams encapsulated while others appear free to roam and grow? We were instructed to reflect on or generate a psychic environment in an enclosed space. We haven't reflected on this project yet, but I suspect questions regarding the space between the dream and the outside world will be raised. Why are some separated by glass and others aren't. Why is the glass sometimes very clear and others opaque? What's up with the information that resides within the barrier? This will be a fun discussion, and no - they are not Joseph Cornell shadow boxes...
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
We wish to fondly acknowledge Sarah Clum, our student teacher this year from Arcadia University. Her future students will be very fortunate to learn from her...
Visual Culture: Welcome to the Zeitgeist
Fall Semester, 2004
Portraits Beyond the Edge
This began as a series of studies of classmates observed from within the classroom. It was started while Mr. Miller was absent for a few days at the beginning of the year. When he returned he asked why our studies were limited to the surface of the page defined by four straight edges. He reminded us of linear perspective, foreground, middle ground and background and asked why we were edge wimps. We talked about how we often limit ourselves to cultural norms and miss opportunities to express ourselves. We began to view our artistic production as a text that can be manipulated by its author in a manner similar to the written word.
Still-Life as Cultural Narrative
Mr. Miller arranged a group of items on a table in the middle of the room and challenged us to "read" them as a text. We began to identify cultural positions relating to class, gender, power, privilege and race in our own still-life as well as still-life representations from the history of art.
We composed an essay titled "Who is Howard Gardner and why should I care?" This made us realize that education in our culture privileges only a few of what Howard Gardner refers to as intelligences and generated many questions and observations regarding pedagogical authority.
We also participated in an exercise called Everyday Privileges (authored by Wanda Knight from Penn State University). We made a list of ten things we typically do during the course of a week. We then imagined awakening one morning to find our "race" or gender had changed. We went back through our list to analyze how each aspect of our current life might be different.
Our still-life representations became visual essays with many "observations" about life. None of them were square or rectangular...
Victimization
We were very affected by societal unrest. We explored the notion of victim-hood and began to see how cycles of behavior appear endless. We explored the idea of protection and why it fails. Power, privilege and hegemonic disconnects became the informing text for our artistic production.
What is a Book?
This question was posed by our student teacher, Sarah Clum. Again we observed our cultural definitions and habits. We deconstructed the physical and textual hegemony of an object that has a profound presence in our lives. We made objects with physical and textual readings that Howard Gardner might like to "read".
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2004
Art and Society
Spring Semester, 2004
Relationships
Students investigated the relationship and the impact one has on the other. Some essential questions were:
We began the semester with an investigation of Manifest Destiny. We collected visual examples that related positively or negatively to the notion of Manifest Destiny. We studied our images and decoded them verbally and in writing. We discovered that some people were more visually literate than others and that iconography can be and has been used as a powerful communication tool.
Ethnographic Research
This project involved the study of group dynamics and necessitated graphic note taking. We were instructed to create a visual report on the dynamics of either the Chorus room or the Band Hall while their classes were in session. We compiled visual notes on location that were then compiled and edited before creating our final piece. This was primarily a painting, but we were allowed to use any materials we desired.
Voices: No One Left Behind
Our investigation of the relationship between art and society led us to the No Child Left Behind act and its ramifications. Student research led to the discovery that funding for curricular subjects such as art, music, and foreign languages has been cut or curtailed in parts of the United States in the effort to promote skill development in other areas such as reading, writing and math. Students became fearful that curricular offerings of the future might have very little in common with those of the present and voiced their opinions through written and graphic essays. Most of the work from this project is currently on display at the Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Avenue, in Chestnut Hill and will remain on exhibit until June 20, 2004.
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Context and Content
Fall Semester, 2003
Communication
Students investigated visual communication in terms of the semiotic relationship between the sender and receiver of information. Some essential questions were:
Recontextualized Object Drawings and Mixed Media Collages
We began by making a series of observational drawing studies of people in our class using additive and subtractive techniques. Next we reviewed each other's work and wrote ten-line narratives based on our observations of the artwork.
We then created a series of drawings of an everyday object of our choice. We delineated visual relationships of personal interest throughout our drawing series and extracted them with scissors. We composed collages of our extracted delineations and created drawings of the collages that included text as a design element. We returned to our original collages and embellished them as we wished.
We engaged in formal, contextual and intuitive criticism of the products created. It was obvious that the objects originally selected had been represented in such a way as to create a completely different frame of reference. We revisited our essential questions considering the significance and implications of the design experience and its relationship to communication in the world at large.
Recontextualized Skeleton
This project encouraged us to consider the effect that cultural orientation has on communication. We compared the visual significance of a human skeleton in Mexican culture to that of our own. We found the contextual significance to be different. We explored ways to visually communicate a variety of messages with images that utilized the human skeleton as an icon of contextual value.
Recontextualized Still-Life Drawing
Drawing from an arrangement of objects is not only one of the most used training practices in art education it is a very common theme in itself. We investigated possible ways to use still-life iconography as a means to communicate a variety of messages.
Recontextualized Furniture Assemblage
One person's junk can be another person's furniture and vice versa. We discovered that we could not collectively agree on a definition of furniture. We had very intriguing conversations deconstructing and reconstruction our contextual views regarding art, function and furniture.
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval. Read More...
Reflection, Spring 2010
Note: I usually wait until May to post this so this will be updated when the time comes.
Surveillance
Spring Semester, 2010
This semester introduced an investigation of surveillance theory. Our research included:
- Electric Eye in the Sky: Some Reflections on the New Surveillance and Popular Culture, by Gary T. Marx
- An investigation of panopticon theory.
- Mr. Cairnes (assistant principal) demonstrating the school's surveillance system including 56 cameras and software allowing various views. This led to valuable dialogue. The connections Mr. Cairnes made to acts that remain, once recorded, whether they are on camera, Facebook or cell phones, and the notion that the "genie can't be returned to the bottle" once released were extremely timely. We discussed "bystander apathy" and our responsibilities as observers.
- EarthCam.com provided a live view of morning commuters in Times Square.
- Animal Cam (James Moore of marshlands.com) enabled us to view the hierarchical behavior of animals in the wild.
- Dr. Robert Sweeny of Indiana University of Pennsylvania created a mash-up response to a short video of our still life originally videotaped by Mr. Miller. This provided a different contextual view of what we thought we all saw everyday in class.
Surveillance: The Still Life
We created two surveillance logs and one final culminating piece representing our ongoing surveillance of a large still life assemblage located in the center of our classroom.
Prompt: Where does truth and/or fact exist in the relationship between the surveillant and the surveilled?
Graphic log
We created a series of five compositions while studying the still life.
- Three pieces using charcoal, sepia conte and erasers as mark-making tools.
- Two pieces using oil pastel.
Text log
We created a series of log entrees representing five consecutive days of "staking" out the still life.
Still Life Surveillance Culmination
We created a piece of our choice representing the "findings" of our graphic and text logs. Artifacts ranged from video to two and three-dimensional works.
Surveillance: The Art Room
This investigation will begin after spring break so I'll post information as soon as I have it. DTM
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the physical and/or virtual community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Personal Identity
Fall Semester, 2009
The semester brought a return to the investigation of personal identity. Self-investigation is one of the most important topics in Honors Art and is a keystone of our curriculum. We look upon ourselves through various contextual lenses and, as such consider our cultural identity, familial identity, stereotypical identity, "other" identity, and heroic identity. In addition we considered how the language of games we play as children influence our linguistic habits and world-views. We completed the semester with a series of pieces in which we explored our non-objective identity. In most cases our investigative methodology incorporated a syntagmatic structure using a prompt paper prior to, and a rationale paper following the construction of the artifacts. Written and verbal rationale statements incorporate three forms of criticism included in the PA Standards for the Arts & Humanities: formal criticism, contextual criticism and intuitive criticism.
NOTE: A significant aspect of this semester was the creation of student web sites using Wordpress. Mr. Miller has been exploring this for years and finally required that we all have sites of identical structure to feature our written work and artwork. This allows our efforts to be viewed by each other, our families, and college admissions offices (not to mention the rest of the world).
Contextual Identity: My Life as a Deck of Cards
We used the deck of cards as an analogy for our individual identity. Rather than using the traditional suites of clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds our decks included culture, family, stereotype, "other" and hero. Marcel Duchamp's Boite-en-Valise (Box in a Valise) and the Artist Trading Cards (ATC) phenomenon influenced the construction of our physical artifacts. We created ten playing card size pieces for each of the following topics. Both sides of our cards were embellished. Note: We did not maintain the standard ATC format and approach to labeling. Another topic of discussion was scale. We are accustomed to working much larger so the smaller size challenged us to work smaller. In the end we were able to compare the actual size to much larger projections on the Smartboard.
Cultural Self/Identity Cards
Prompt: How do you define culture and how does culture define you?
Familial Self/Identity Cards
Prompt: How are you positioned within your family dynamic and how does that influence your identity?
Stereotypical Self/Identity Cards
Prompt: What is your perception of how you are perceived by others?
"Other" Identity Cards
Prompt: In what situations do you find myself treated as an "other".
Heroic Self/Identity Cards
Prompt: What defines a hero and what is heroic about you currently, or what heroic qualities would you hope to develop as you age?
Game Language as Dialogue: Text Painting (Diptych)
We used two-dimensional supports and mark-making methodology of our choice to palimpsestically and haptically represent a dialogue between languages of two games that have influenced our personal identity. We looked at the work of many contemporary text-based artists.
Prompt: What two games have contributed to who you are and what might they "say" to one another?
Non-mimetic Identity: Our "Abstract" identity
This was the result of the wonderful non-objective imagery found on the Identity Cards earlier in the semester. Most of that imagery was representational, but a surprising amount wasn't. We took the opportunity investigate mimesis and formalism prior to creating five pieces responding to notions of abstractions of our personalities. We did not incorporate a prompt paper this time.
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the physical and/or virtual community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2009
Collaborations
Spring Semester, 2009
This semester was defined by invitations to work with two local museums, the Woodmere Art Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The topic to be addressed at the Woodmere was “Origins”. The arrangement with the PMA was to use video conferencing technology to collaborate with the artist, Ben Volta, while somehow incorporating works from the museum collection. Collaboration appeared to be a logical basis for student investigation this semester.
Origins
- Students were asked why do artists tend to paint on canvas and or smooth wood?
- Students collaborated by pairing with a classmate. Students assigned a topic to their partner in the form of a prompt question. What is the origin of (item) and how has it impacted society and or you as an individual?
- Students were instructed to construct a substrate from yarn that was approximately 3′ square.
- Students were instructed to “prime” their surface.
- Students then created a graphic response to their prompt questions on their yarn surfaces. They were instructed to turn a one-page response paper in with their graphic response and to be prepared to explain their rationale verbally.
- Pam Birmingham attended our reflection day and selected works to be exhibited in the Millard Gallery of the Woodmere Art Museum.
Philadelphia Museum of Art Video Conference Collaboration with Ben Volta
Ben Volta & Mr. Miller selected works from the PMA’s collection by Glenn Ligon, Felix Gonzales-Torres and Marcel Duchamp to base our collaboration on. Our explorations evolved into three phases.
Video Collaboration
This was a new experience for all of us. We had three conferences over several weeks. Ben introduced himself and gave instructions for students to create contour line tracings from digital reproductions of works by the three artists selected. Ben talked about collaborative projects he had contributed to and referenced Sol Lewitt’s, Sentences On Conceptual Art. Students made three tracings that were composites of all three artists’ works and sent them to Ben with instructions for his response. Ben sent back a composite of everybody’s work in a singular composition. Students used Adobe Illustrator to make three interpretive edits each. Ben selected one favorite from each student to print out.
Collaborative Painting
Students created a painting representing their collaboration with Ben Volta, Glenn Ligon, Felix Gonzales-Torres and Marcel Duchamp. After painting on yarn for the Woodmere Art Museum Origins project students really appreciated canvas.
Sentences on Conceptual Art Objectified
Students selected two of Sol Lewitt’s, Sentences On Conceptual Art to respond to artifactually. Rationale papers were to be considered as artifactual works of art as well.
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Semester Final
Students constructed the installations before you as evidence of their learning over the course of the school year or a single semester. We wish for the viewers to consider the artifactual works and the textual works as equal expressions of contemporary material and visual culture.
Information Distribution Systems
Fall Semester, 2008
Our goal was to develop sensitivity to the many ways information is distributed to us as we grow and learn. A sophisticated literacy is required to read, filter and process the information we are inundated with on a daily basis.
Our investigative methodology typically involved a syntagmatic approach consisting of four steps per topic. We wrote a paper responding to a prompt, which informed our artifactual response. Our artifactual response was explained in a rationale paper, which was followed by a group reflective exercise involving, formal, contextual and intuitive criticism.
Multiple Intelligences, Multiple Modalities
Prompt: Who is Howard Gardner & Why Should I Care?
This prompt question was used to begin our investigation. We learned how intelligence exits in multiple manifestations. It follows that information must be distributed differentially to accommodate a greater community of learners.
Information Distributions Systems: Mark Making
Prompt: How do haptic, palimpsestic, sous rature strategies and/or occurrences in drawing become systems of information distribution?
Artifact: We explored this idea through a series of full-contact drawings of Mr. Miller.
Information Distributions Systems: Education
Prompt: How have information distribution systems varied from class to class and from teacher to teacher in your school experience? From which have you benefited most and least?
Artifact: We submitted a project proposal for this topic, but we had no limitations regarding media, size or quantity.
Information Distributions Systems: Political Ideology
Prompt: How can inanimate objects such as those observed in our still life be used to promote political ideology? Describe at least two historical antecedents.
Artifact: We created a series of drawings and one "more monumental" piece referencing the objects in Mr. Miller's still life installation.
Information Distributions Systems: Cubism as Visual Language
Prompt: How was Cubism viewed as a "new visual language, fragmented, simultaneously disintegrating & re-forming"? What were two influences on this development? Compare and contrast the two primary manifestations of this language.
Artifact: We referenced Mr. Miller's still life installation as we graphically commented on a visual language that went against 500 years of artistic tradition.
Information Distributions Systems: Family Values
Prompt: What kind of information is valued within your family structure and how is it distributed?
Artifact: We constructed "books" referencing this query.
Information Distributions Systems: Religion
Prompt: What role do relics, shrines and ceremonies play in religious information distribution systems?
Artifact: Due to time limitations we were unable to construct an artifactual response. We had a choice between writing the prompt paper and writing a proposal for a project we might do in response to the topic if we had no material, time or financial constraints.
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Semester Final
We were required to create a dedicated web site or blog of our choice displaying the written and artifactual work created over the course of the semester.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2008
Personal Identity
Spring Semester, 2008
The goal of this investigation was to address literacy relevant to our individual identity. Questions such as Who am I? Who was I? and Who will I become? are central to identity construction and projection. If we are able to read our own feelings accurately we will be happier, more productive and more enjoyable for others to be around.
Totemic Identity
Prompt: How do your objects define you and how do you define your objects?
Palimpsestic Identity
Prompt: What have the layers of your life contained? What remains and what has been left behind?
Other Identity
Prompt: In what ways have you felt "othered"?
Avatistic Identity
Prompt: What graphic image would you create to represent yourself and why would that image represent you?
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Cultural Narrative
Fall Semester, 2007
The goal of this investigation was to address literacy relevant to the world around us. Our objects, rituals and relationships are texts reflecting cultural positions relative to class, gender, power, privilege and race. A sophisticated literacy is required to read our world and if we don't learn how to 'read our world' we will indeed be left behind. We can't afford to remain visually and culturally illiterate.
Our investigative methodology typically involved four steps per topic. We wrote a paper responding to a prompt, which informed our artifactual response. Our artifactual response was explained in a rationale paper, which was followed by a group reflective exercise involving, formal, contextual and intuitive criticism.
Still-Life as Cultural Narrative
Prompt: What cultural narratives might be reflected in the individual or collective objects found in our still life?
Art Classroom as Cultural Narrative
Prompt: How do various cultural narratives observed in our art classroom relate to cultural narratives observed in society in general?
Transportation as Cultural Narrative
Prompt: What cultural narratives are reflected in the ways we go to and from school?
Eating as Cultural Narrative
Prompt: What cultural narratives are reflected in our eating environments and rituals?
Bag as Cultural Narrative
Prompt: How can cultural narratives be represented in one's choice or use of bags? What "baggage" is reflected in our choice/use of bags?
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2007
Monumental Obstacles, Narratives and Texts
Spring Semester, 2007
Monumental Obstacles Book
The goal of this investigation was to identify and challenge obstacles of monumental proportions in our everyday life.
Prompt: What must I overcome to become who I wish to be?
Using quotidian ephemera we relied on our powers of bricolage to palimpsestically construct a book (from scratch) that haptically communicated our message and/or reflection.
We wrote prompt papers before and reflection papers after making the artifact.
Monumental Community Connections
The goal was to become familiar with the historical narratives of our community. Mr. Miller made a podcast with Mr. James Malley (an administrator from Central Office) that provided insights into our communal past. We then used corrugated board and hot glue to construct "monuments" to a real or fictitious person of local historical significance.
Prompt: To whom do monuments "speak" and through what language?
As usual we wrote prompt papers before and reflection papers after making the artifact. This time we had great fun with the reflection papers because we were instructed to explain who our monuments commemorated and where we envisioned the installation of our monuments and why. After hearing the made - up "histories" of our classmates we questioned the "truth" of universally accepted narratives.
Monumental Text Diptych
There were two goals for this project: one was to monumentalize text as a graphic image and the other was to communicate with our ancestors and descendents.
Prompt: What would I like to say to or ask of my ancestors? What would I like to say to or ask of my descendents?
The sides of our diptychs addressed each of those questions. Again we wrote prompt papers before and reflection papers after making the artifact. This project is due this week so you are the first to see the artifacts.
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
We wish to fondly acknowledge Mel Antler, our student teacher this spring from the University of the Arts. Her future students will be very fortunate to learn from her...
Signs of Influence, Sites of Meaning
Fall Semester, 2006
Fragmented Self
The goal of this investigation was to address the influence of print media on our sense of identity. Two essential questions were:
- How is our social/cultural identity framed by projections of visual culture in the forms of advertising and graphic design?
- How does mass media influence our identity and inform our views on class, race, gender, privilege and need?
At the beginning of the investigation some of our classmates denied that the media influenced them, but our reflective papers indicated that it is virtually impossible to avoid such influence so media literacy and semiotic awareness are primary tools for survival in contemporary society.
Recontextualized Object
Students investigated visual communication in terms of the semiotic relationship between the sender and receiver of information. Some essential questions were:
- How does communication occur?
- How are context and content related?
- How can the communication process be manipulated?
We created a series of drawings of an everyday object of our choice. We delineated visual relationships of personal interest throughout our drawing series and extracted them with scissors. We composed collages of our extracted delineations and created drawings of the collages that included text as a design element. We returned to our original collages and embellished them as we wished. We then returned to our original drawings, revising, recycling and recontextualizing.
We engaged in formal, contextual and intuitive criticism of the products created. It was obvious that the objects originally selected had been represented in such a way as to create a completely different frame of reference. We revisited our essential questions considering the significance and implications of the design experience and its relationship to communication in the world at large.
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2006
Personal Identity
Spring Semester, 2006
Fragmented Faces
This semester began with a second, very awesome student teacher, Jamie O'Neill. Mr. Miller and Jamie determined that some of us were "face wimps", often avoiding facial features when representing people in our graphic imagery. They were determined to desensitize us and had us do about 50 drawings each of eyes, noses, mouths and ears. These were studies aimed at overkill, but we playfully created some collage pieces titled Fragmented Faces.
We then began to investigate our personal identities through several different, yet overlapping, avenues. Our method involved four steps per topic. We wrote a paper responding to a prompt, which informed our graphic response. Our graphic response was explained in a rationale paper, which was followed by a group reflective exercise involving, formal, contextual and intuitive criticism.
Cultural Self/Identity
Prompt: How do you define culture and how does culture define you?
Stereotypical Self/Identity
Prompt: What is your perception of how you are perceived by others?
Familial Self/Identity
Prompt: How are you positioned within your family dynamic and how does that influence your identity?
Heroic Self/Identity
Prompt: What defines a hero and what is heroic about you currently, or what heroic qualities would you hope to develop as you age?
In addition...
Community Connections
We go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. We then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which we complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook each marking period. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
We wish to fondly acknowledge Erika Gehringer & Jamie O'Neill. Their future students will be very fortunate to learn from them...
Cultural Narratives
Fall Semester, 2005
Key Terms
We kicked the year off with an awesome student teacher, Erika Gehringer, and a vocabulary list. Both set the pace for the year. Aesthetics, Biedermeier Aesthetic, Vitaly & Melamid: "The Most Wanted Painting, Deconstruction, Reconstruction, Paradigm, Linear Thinking, Non-Linear Thinking, Readymades, Multiculturalism, Ethnocentrism, Zeitgeist, High Art, Low Art, Appropriation, Nihilism, Ideology, Hegemony, Semiotics, Hermeneutics, Pastiche, Epistemology, Context, Reactionary, Pluralism, Avant-garde, Collage, Assemblage, Studium, Punctum, Ethnography, Bricolage, Haptic, Diaspora, Visual Culture, Modernism, Postmodernism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, Fauve, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art became key concepts and the basis for our dialogue.
Still-Life as Cultural Narrative
Mr. Miller and Erika, our student teacher, arranged a group of items on a table in the middle of the room and challenged us to "read" them as a text. We began to identify cultural positions relating to class, gender, power, privilege and race in our own still life as well as still-life representations from the history of art.
We began this investigation with very aggressive charcoal studies incorporating additive and subtractive approaches to mark making. Mr. Miller referred to these as Haptic, or Full-Contact Drawings. Chris Henkels enjoyed teasing Mr. Miller about his frequent reference to "subtractive mark making".
Erika showed us how to do monotypes and monoprints. We also studied some popular dolls with respect to packaging and clothing, which opened our minds to the unspoken messages of popular toys regarding gender, race and privilege, etc. Our favorite was Blaine. We thought he would fit in at our high school.
We then explored some very typical drawings of the still life. We stepped away, or tried to anyway, from contextual content and focused on traditional, formal aspects of the objects. We called these "Typical" Oil Pastel Still Life Drawings.
Our final piece of this investigation focused on a social commentary reflected in the still life objects and arrangement. This was called Still Life as Cultural Narrative. We enjoyed a variety of readings including comments on colonialism and gender relationships.
Ethnographic Research
Our exploration of cultural narratives moved from objects to people. We became involved in ethnographic research. We wanted to observe group dynamics in terms of power, authority, leaders followers and sub-groups so we spent several days observing life in our school's choir room and band hall. Mr. Conahan and Mr. Hood graciously allowed us to collect many field notes in the form of sketches. Our Ethnographic Research Studies provided the basis for a graphic "outline", or Ethnographic Research Working Drawing. Mr. Miller used the analogy of the research paper, but we were using graphic texts rather than alphabetic texts. Our graphic "notes" and "outlines" provided the basis for our final Ethnographic Research Piece.
Our investigations and conversations yielded a clear understanding of ideological differences. We concluded that dominant ideologies exist in a state of tension and are far from universal acceptance. We had many discussions involving the notion of appropriateness in the context of art. We never had a complete consensus of what appropriate imagery and content might look like. Our final piece of the fall semester was titled Appropriateness: Traversing the Hegemonic Minefield. We expressed our feelings through two forms of text: graphic and alphabetic.
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2005
Further Investigations
Spring Semester, 2005
Me as a Learner
This was an exercise requiring us to cast our gaze inward. This served as segue between our semesters and prepared those of us continuing the course into the second semester to engage in self-reflection on a very personal level.
Significant Life Event
We reflected on our personal histories and created a visual representation of a significant event from our own life; something that affected our current contextual position and/or grounding. We discussed the concept of significance and discovered the many different readings of the term. We also explored the notion of history as a story told from many, and perhaps conflicting, perspectives.
Mask Project
This was something we did for the Ambler Rotary Club. We were given ceramic masks to embellish as we wished. They were then auctioned off to raise money. It was very fun to compare our work with that of two neighboring schools: Upper Dublin High School and Germantown Academy.
Encapsulated Dream
What are dreams? Do they only occur during moments of slumber? Are they projections into the future? Why are some dreams encapsulated while others appear free to roam and grow? We were instructed to reflect on or generate a psychic environment in an enclosed space. We haven't reflected on this project yet, but I suspect questions regarding the space between the dream and the outside world will be raised. Why are some separated by glass and others aren't. Why is the glass sometimes very clear and others opaque? What's up with the information that resides within the barrier? This will be a fun discussion, and no - they are not Joseph Cornell shadow boxes...
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
We wish to fondly acknowledge Sarah Clum, our student teacher this year from Arcadia University. Her future students will be very fortunate to learn from her...
Visual Culture: Welcome to the Zeitgeist
Fall Semester, 2004
Portraits Beyond the Edge
This began as a series of studies of classmates observed from within the classroom. It was started while Mr. Miller was absent for a few days at the beginning of the year. When he returned he asked why our studies were limited to the surface of the page defined by four straight edges. He reminded us of linear perspective, foreground, middle ground and background and asked why we were edge wimps. We talked about how we often limit ourselves to cultural norms and miss opportunities to express ourselves. We began to view our artistic production as a text that can be manipulated by its author in a manner similar to the written word.
Still-Life as Cultural Narrative
Mr. Miller arranged a group of items on a table in the middle of the room and challenged us to "read" them as a text. We began to identify cultural positions relating to class, gender, power, privilege and race in our own still-life as well as still-life representations from the history of art.
We composed an essay titled "Who is Howard Gardner and why should I care?" This made us realize that education in our culture privileges only a few of what Howard Gardner refers to as intelligences and generated many questions and observations regarding pedagogical authority.
We also participated in an exercise called Everyday Privileges (authored by Wanda Knight from Penn State University). We made a list of ten things we typically do during the course of a week. We then imagined awakening one morning to find our "race" or gender had changed. We went back through our list to analyze how each aspect of our current life might be different.
Our still-life representations became visual essays with many "observations" about life. None of them were square or rectangular...
Victimization
We were very affected by societal unrest. We explored the notion of victim-hood and began to see how cycles of behavior appear endless. We explored the idea of protection and why it fails. Power, privilege and hegemonic disconnects became the informing text for our artistic production.
What is a Book?
This question was posed by our student teacher, Sarah Clum. Again we observed our cultural definitions and habits. We deconstructed the physical and textual hegemony of an object that has a profound presence in our lives. We made objects with physical and textual readings that Howard Gardner might like to "read".
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Honors Art
Reflection, May 2004
Art and Society
Spring Semester, 2004
Relationships
Students investigated the relationship and the impact one has on the other. Some essential questions were:
- How are art, artist and society related?
- What is the artist responsibility to society?
- What is society's responsibility to the artist?
- What does it mean to be an analytic observer?
- What does it mean to be literate?
- What is the relationship between visual literacy and visual culture?
- How can visual literacy empower members of society?
We began the semester with an investigation of Manifest Destiny. We collected visual examples that related positively or negatively to the notion of Manifest Destiny. We studied our images and decoded them verbally and in writing. We discovered that some people were more visually literate than others and that iconography can be and has been used as a powerful communication tool.
Ethnographic Research
This project involved the study of group dynamics and necessitated graphic note taking. We were instructed to create a visual report on the dynamics of either the Chorus room or the Band Hall while their classes were in session. We compiled visual notes on location that were then compiled and edited before creating our final piece. This was primarily a painting, but we were allowed to use any materials we desired.
Voices: No One Left Behind
Our investigation of the relationship between art and society led us to the No Child Left Behind act and its ramifications. Student research led to the discovery that funding for curricular subjects such as art, music, and foreign languages has been cut or curtailed in parts of the United States in the effort to promote skill development in other areas such as reading, writing and math. Students became fearful that curricular offerings of the future might have very little in common with those of the present and voiced their opinions through written and graphic essays. Most of the work from this project is currently on display at the Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Avenue, in Chestnut Hill and will remain on exhibit until June 20, 2004.
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval.
Context and Content
Fall Semester, 2003
Communication
Students investigated visual communication in terms of the semiotic relationship between the sender and receiver of information. Some essential questions were:
- How does communication occur?
- How are context and content related?
- How can the communication process be manipulated?
Recontextualized Object Drawings and Mixed Media Collages
We began by making a series of observational drawing studies of people in our class using additive and subtractive techniques. Next we reviewed each other's work and wrote ten-line narratives based on our observations of the artwork.
We then created a series of drawings of an everyday object of our choice. We delineated visual relationships of personal interest throughout our drawing series and extracted them with scissors. We composed collages of our extracted delineations and created drawings of the collages that included text as a design element. We returned to our original collages and embellished them as we wished.
We engaged in formal, contextual and intuitive criticism of the products created. It was obvious that the objects originally selected had been represented in such a way as to create a completely different frame of reference. We revisited our essential questions considering the significance and implications of the design experience and its relationship to communication in the world at large.
Recontextualized Skeleton
This project encouraged us to consider the effect that cultural orientation has on communication. We compared the visual significance of a human skeleton in Mexican culture to that of our own. We found the contextual significance to be different. We explored ways to visually communicate a variety of messages with images that utilized the human skeleton as an icon of contextual value.
Recontextualized Still-Life Drawing
Drawing from an arrangement of objects is not only one of the most used training practices in art education it is a very common theme in itself. We investigated possible ways to use still-life iconography as a means to communicate a variety of messages.
Recontextualized Furniture Assemblage
One person's junk can be another person's furniture and vice versa. We discovered that we could not collectively agree on a definition of furniture. We had very intriguing conversations deconstructing and reconstruction our contextual views regarding art, function and furniture.
In addition...
Community Connections
Students go into the community twice each marking period to review an art exhibit. They then produce a review of that work in terms of formal, contextual and intuitive criticism. Venues include local sites as well as gallery openings at the First Friday events held each month in Philadelphia. Gallery exhibits from other states and countries have been reviewed over the course of this project.
Sketchbook
This is an on-going project in which students complete a minimum of six thematically related pieces in a sketchbook. Works must use both sides of the binding, incorporate mixed media and use text as a design element. As the result of student creativity and ingenuity, the Alternative Sketchbook has come to exist. This is proposed to the instructor for approval. Read More...