Unit 3 : Stories
Artists: Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera
During studio one, we were asked to think about a political, social, or educational issue that we could make a cartoon about. I chose to do an educational issue. My cartoon is sarcastic and poking fun at some of the rules that schools have. I understand that some rules are necessary and are for the safety and benefit of the students. On the other hand, there are some rules that I think are unnecessary. My opinion is that we need to spend more time on teaching the students and less time on making sure that they are following every single rule.
Artist: Faith Ringgold
During studio two, we were asked to portray a story through watercolor and other medias. I picked the movie Tangled and illustrated the lantern scene. This scene is the goal of the entire film as that is where Rapunzel is traveling with the help of her companions. Along the outside is the quilt images. I chose to use pastels and colors of purple, pink, orange, and gold. I made designs on strips of paper and cut them into one inch pieces. I placed them in a pattern around the image in the center.
Artist: Jean Shin
During studio three, we were asked to bring in found objects. I brought in sales tags and my partner brought coupons. We decided to cut out all of the dollar amounts and use them to spell the word "happy". We then decided to find images in magazine of things that we spend a lot of money on including clothing, shoes, brand names, etc. Through this image our story we portrayed was the misconception that money and belongings bring us happiness.
Unit 3 : Stories Reflection
During this unit we were exploring different types of stories. Studio one allowed us to explore stories that we can tell in political drawings and cartoons. During studio two we illustrated a story through a quilt; and studio three gave us the chance to use everyday objects and portray a message. All of these studios gave us the opportunity to tell many different types of stories. My stories included educational issues, fairy tales, and social issues. According to Pink (2006), "Story is high concept because it sharpens our understanding of one thing by showing it in the context of something else" (p.103). Like in my studios, I was showing one picture but it could be taken to mean so many things. For example, studio three looks like a collage of fashion but there is a deeper meaning that money is thought of to buy happiness. Any story can be understood in many ways.
Ursula K. Le Guin stated that there have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories (as cited in Pink, 2006, p. 105). I thought of this in terms of my future students. There will be many students that do things different than their peers, but they will all tell stories. I am sure that everyone has seen at least one child that could not wait to tell a story. Stories bring excitement to children. I think it is important to show students different ways that they can tell stories, such as through art. All of these studios would be beneficial and students would gain from participating in them. I would allow my students the same basic freedom that we were allowed and see what they are able to come up with through doing these studios. I would be extremely interested in learning what kind of stories my students would have to tell. According Bang (2000), "Do not worry about whether the picture is pretty. Worry about whether it is effective" (p. 94). This is something that has to be stressed to students. Students often have low self confidence with art and stressing this would benefit the students.
References
Bang, M. (2000). Picture this: How pictures work. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books
Pink, D.P. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Penguin Group
Ursula K. Le Guin stated that there have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories (as cited in Pink, 2006, p. 105). I thought of this in terms of my future students. There will be many students that do things different than their peers, but they will all tell stories. I am sure that everyone has seen at least one child that could not wait to tell a story. Stories bring excitement to children. I think it is important to show students different ways that they can tell stories, such as through art. All of these studios would be beneficial and students would gain from participating in them. I would allow my students the same basic freedom that we were allowed and see what they are able to come up with through doing these studios. I would be extremely interested in learning what kind of stories my students would have to tell. According Bang (2000), "Do not worry about whether the picture is pretty. Worry about whether it is effective" (p. 94). This is something that has to be stressed to students. Students often have low self confidence with art and stressing this would benefit the students.
References
Bang, M. (2000). Picture this: How pictures work. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books
Pink, D.P. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Penguin Group