Unit 2: Relationships Popplet
Artist: Mary Cassat Studio
Portraiture: Printmaking
Background:
Artist Statement:
Artist Statement:
Artist: Rene Magritt Studio
Surreal Journey Postcards: Collage
Background:
Artist Statement:
Artist Statement:
Artist: Do Ho Suh Studio
Pop-Up Homes and Habitats: Mixed Media
Background:
Artist Statement:
Artist Statement:
Unit 2: Relationships Reflection
How did the studio lessons relate to the given Big Idea?
The Mary Cassatt studio we used print making to emphasize and elaborate images that we had chosen. We could use any theme within the Big Idea of relationships for this studio. There were many examples of family (mother, dad, sister, brother) relationships, of intimate personal relationships (boy/girlfriends, wives, husbands), and even some relationships such as friends, pets, etc.
The Rene Magritte studio was a much more creative and abstract way of thinking of relationships. We were asked to choose a background from a set of magazine pages that we had collected. Random images were chosen for our background by other artists. In his book, A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink discusses that "integrating and imagining how the pieces fit together" of the big picture has become key in our society (2005, pg. 141.). This quote fits so well with this studio because we as artists had to decide how we were going to give these images a relationship. Sometimes this was easy because the images fit well together and other times we had to show our perspective of the world around us. We then made these images into postcards and sent them to people. This is another tie to the Big Idea. Not only did our images need to be tied together with a relationship to make sense, but the purpose of these post cards could bring out another kind
of relationship.
The Do Ho Suh studio allowed us as artists to think about what we consider a home. We had to think about what relationships make a place home. Is it the house you grew up in? Is it a certain part of the world? Is it the culture, that makes you feel at home? As an artist we had to consider all of these relationships that we have created with people, places, environments, and cultures and how they define home for us as an individual. When discussing design in his book, A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink describes design as “utility enhanced by significance” (2005, pg. 70.). I think that this line flawlessly describes the Do Ho Suh studio’s main point. All of the things that we as people describe a making us feel at home are just items or relationships designed to be useful to us, but our relationships with them make them so much more than that. We enhance their significance with our feelings.
How might you utilize visual art integration utilizing the studio lessons in your own classroom?
These studios would be great to integrate into other lessons in my classroom. The Mary Cassatt studio would be fun to do with a Science unit. You could use this studio to make prints of leaves or animal tracks. This would be a great way for my students to see one small and unique part of an organism that creates a relationship with nature.
The Rene Magritte studio would be excellent to use for a unit on social studies. The students could make post cards from places that we “travel” across the world throughout a unit on geography. They could depict important things and places that they learn on the front, and write a letter to someone on the back. This studio could also be used to think about characters in literature. I could have my students create postcards of how a certain character sees the world versus how another character may see it (protagonist vs. antagonist).
The Do Ho Suh studio would be great to do with a unit on social studies, specifically geography and culture. When we are studying other cultures and civilizations it would be interesting to have my students use this same studio to define some of the aspects that make that culture call a place home. Or even if we were studying the Wonders of the World, the students could make depictions of these and talk about what makes the so wondrous and why they are important to people.
Resources:
Pink, D. (2005). A Whole New Mind. New York: Riverhead Books.
The Mary Cassatt studio we used print making to emphasize and elaborate images that we had chosen. We could use any theme within the Big Idea of relationships for this studio. There were many examples of family (mother, dad, sister, brother) relationships, of intimate personal relationships (boy/girlfriends, wives, husbands), and even some relationships such as friends, pets, etc.
The Rene Magritte studio was a much more creative and abstract way of thinking of relationships. We were asked to choose a background from a set of magazine pages that we had collected. Random images were chosen for our background by other artists. In his book, A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink discusses that "integrating and imagining how the pieces fit together" of the big picture has become key in our society (2005, pg. 141.). This quote fits so well with this studio because we as artists had to decide how we were going to give these images a relationship. Sometimes this was easy because the images fit well together and other times we had to show our perspective of the world around us. We then made these images into postcards and sent them to people. This is another tie to the Big Idea. Not only did our images need to be tied together with a relationship to make sense, but the purpose of these post cards could bring out another kind
of relationship.
The Do Ho Suh studio allowed us as artists to think about what we consider a home. We had to think about what relationships make a place home. Is it the house you grew up in? Is it a certain part of the world? Is it the culture, that makes you feel at home? As an artist we had to consider all of these relationships that we have created with people, places, environments, and cultures and how they define home for us as an individual. When discussing design in his book, A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink describes design as “utility enhanced by significance” (2005, pg. 70.). I think that this line flawlessly describes the Do Ho Suh studio’s main point. All of the things that we as people describe a making us feel at home are just items or relationships designed to be useful to us, but our relationships with them make them so much more than that. We enhance their significance with our feelings.
How might you utilize visual art integration utilizing the studio lessons in your own classroom?
These studios would be great to integrate into other lessons in my classroom. The Mary Cassatt studio would be fun to do with a Science unit. You could use this studio to make prints of leaves or animal tracks. This would be a great way for my students to see one small and unique part of an organism that creates a relationship with nature.
The Rene Magritte studio would be excellent to use for a unit on social studies. The students could make post cards from places that we “travel” across the world throughout a unit on geography. They could depict important things and places that they learn on the front, and write a letter to someone on the back. This studio could also be used to think about characters in literature. I could have my students create postcards of how a certain character sees the world versus how another character may see it (protagonist vs. antagonist).
The Do Ho Suh studio would be great to do with a unit on social studies, specifically geography and culture. When we are studying other cultures and civilizations it would be interesting to have my students use this same studio to define some of the aspects that make that culture call a place home. Or even if we were studying the Wonders of the World, the students could make depictions of these and talk about what makes the so wondrous and why they are important to people.
Resources:
Pink, D. (2005). A Whole New Mind. New York: Riverhead Books.