UNIT 3: Stories
Studio 1: Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera- Heath Food
Studio 2: Faith Ringgold- Rocky
Studio 3: Jean Shin- Reduce Reuse Recycle
The third unit of the semester was Stories. Pink (2005) explains, “Story is high concept because it sharpens our understanding of one thing by showing it in the context of something else” (p. 103). Through each studio, I attempted to convey a certain message through an image in a specific context.
My first studio was a political or educational cartoon based on Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera. They both created murals to portray a certain message. In my drawing, the school displays signs advertising food to “fuel your mind”. However, the food on the child’s plate seems the very opposite of healthy. The food caricatures are very fatty and sugary, and their expressions seem to portray malicious intentions and trickery. I wanted to sharpen viewers’ understanding of many school lunches in the context of a caricature because it is a topic I feel strongly about. When thinking about my future classroom, I would like to integrate this studio with literacy and social studies. I could use this in a civics lesson for students to pick a topic they feel passionate about and portray a message through political or educational cartoons. After this, they could write a summary of the message they are sending.
The second crayon resist studio I call Rocky, portrays my energetic puppy’s story through colors and shapes. I wanted the viewer to see the energy my dog, Rocky, portrays, so I put crazy shapes around him. Bang (1991) discusses the emotions of art when he says, “In each case, it seems most helpful to represent a situation that would particularly affect you personally” (p. 96). I wanted the image of my dog’s face to be the focal point, and I wanted exciting colors and shapes flying around him to convey his personality. I think anyone looking at this image could personally see the character of my dog through this studio. The artwork is influenced by Faith Ringgold. The rhythmic patterns around the image mimic her story quilts. In my future classroom, I would like to have my class create their own story quilts based on a story we read together in class. Each student will interpret the story from a different lens, so the students can portray that perspective through their own artwork. This studio could also be integrated with literacy if they write out an actual storybook to go with their story quilt.
The final studio was influenced by artist Jean Shin, who collects objects from the community to create a story or message. My group collected recyclable bottles and paper to create our own mini sculpture of a recycling bin. We hoped that people would see our artwork in passing and be caught off guard. By noticing our artwork, we hoped they would become more aware of the importance of recycling. This project could be integrated into topic of community and civics. I would have each student bring in an object from home, which symbolizes a bigger story or message. Our class can combine each object to form a more meaningful message and statement.
Bang, M. (1991). Picture This: How Pictures Work. Boston: Bullfinch Press/Little, Brown and
Company.
Pink, H. D. (2005). A Whole New Mind. New York, New York: The Penguin Group Inc.
My first studio was a political or educational cartoon based on Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera. They both created murals to portray a certain message. In my drawing, the school displays signs advertising food to “fuel your mind”. However, the food on the child’s plate seems the very opposite of healthy. The food caricatures are very fatty and sugary, and their expressions seem to portray malicious intentions and trickery. I wanted to sharpen viewers’ understanding of many school lunches in the context of a caricature because it is a topic I feel strongly about. When thinking about my future classroom, I would like to integrate this studio with literacy and social studies. I could use this in a civics lesson for students to pick a topic they feel passionate about and portray a message through political or educational cartoons. After this, they could write a summary of the message they are sending.
The second crayon resist studio I call Rocky, portrays my energetic puppy’s story through colors and shapes. I wanted the viewer to see the energy my dog, Rocky, portrays, so I put crazy shapes around him. Bang (1991) discusses the emotions of art when he says, “In each case, it seems most helpful to represent a situation that would particularly affect you personally” (p. 96). I wanted the image of my dog’s face to be the focal point, and I wanted exciting colors and shapes flying around him to convey his personality. I think anyone looking at this image could personally see the character of my dog through this studio. The artwork is influenced by Faith Ringgold. The rhythmic patterns around the image mimic her story quilts. In my future classroom, I would like to have my class create their own story quilts based on a story we read together in class. Each student will interpret the story from a different lens, so the students can portray that perspective through their own artwork. This studio could also be integrated with literacy if they write out an actual storybook to go with their story quilt.
The final studio was influenced by artist Jean Shin, who collects objects from the community to create a story or message. My group collected recyclable bottles and paper to create our own mini sculpture of a recycling bin. We hoped that people would see our artwork in passing and be caught off guard. By noticing our artwork, we hoped they would become more aware of the importance of recycling. This project could be integrated into topic of community and civics. I would have each student bring in an object from home, which symbolizes a bigger story or message. Our class can combine each object to form a more meaningful message and statement.
Bang, M. (1991). Picture This: How Pictures Work. Boston: Bullfinch Press/Little, Brown and
Company.
Pink, H. D. (2005). A Whole New Mind. New York, New York: The Penguin Group Inc.