Surrealism Unit

I love Salvador Dali, he has been one of my all time favorite artists since the day my elementary art teacher introduced me to him back in fifth grade. I remember being in absolute awe of the paintings she showed us and my brain literally exploded with a thousand questions as to why an artist would paint the things he did. Now being an art teacher myself, I am so excited to share this interdisciplinary Surrealism unit that my MYP students finished up before the winter holiday. 

Statement of Inquiry: Dreams and nightmares inspire imaginative thoughts, creative activities, and provocative representations. 

Inquiry Questions: How can dreams and nightmares describe past and present experiences and help us imagine future aspirations? Can literature be considered art? How did the narrative of Alice in Wonderland inspire Dali?

To start off the unit my students did a short research activity of Surrealism and Dali's background, discussing their findings as a class. After research and discussion, the students did an individual art analysis on Dali's Burning Giraffe. They focused on the above inquiry question about past and present experiences and how that can influence an art work. Each student's response to the painting was unique and they all had something original to contribute while exchanging their ideas. 

During our next class period together the students were introduced to Dali's Alice in Wonderland inspired watercolor paintings. They had just started reading Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in their English class, and were excited to interpret different parts of the story from the paintings.

 (Here is a link with some of the examples I showed in class: https://www.brainpickings.org/2011/11/15/salvador-dali-alice-in-wonderland-1969/ ) 

After discussion, the students chose a personal dream or nightmare to write about in their process journals. When their stories were complete, they circled action verbs and other descriptive words that had been included in their writing. The words were then used as inspiration for practicing a variety of watercolor techniques with different materials as seen below. 

The students then began drawing ideas for their final painting based on their personal dream or nightmare. While they started sketching their ideas, I showed them the video Destino, which was a Walt Disney/Dali creation that began in 1945 and was completed in 2003. They loved it just as much as I do and it was great for further inspiration for their designs! 

While their initial designs were being created in their process journals, we were lucky enough to have a Dali exhibition come to Shanghai! The English teacher and myself brought the students to the exhibit. It was an absolute blast and perfect for our interdisciplinary unit with Visual Arts and English! During their visit, the students used their process journals to sketch down ideas that could influence their final designs. 

This was such a great opportunity for the students to experience Dali's work firsthand and gather new inspiration outside of the classroom! 

  After our wonderful field trip, the students chose one of their designs to begin developing for their final watercolor dream or nightmare surrealist painting. 

When their paintings were complete, the students made photocopies of their original work. They began discussing typography and literature as an art form in English, while choosing specific words from their dream/nightmare story to incorporate into their final painting. They practiced creating decorative letters in art class on the photocopies until they came up with a design they felt comfortable with, and applied it to the final piece. 

This unit was so much fun to teach and the students were able to make clear connections through interdisciplinary learning in both Visual Arts and English classes. 

Illuminated Manuscripts

My middle school students have been researching about and designing their own illuminated manuscripts for the past few weeks. Here is how we went about completing this unit:

Inquiry Questions:  What innovations in manuscript formats have changed over time? Can individual and cultural identity can be represented in manuscript form? Are illuminated manuscripts archaic and dated, do they still have a place in the contemporary world?

The students were first introduced to illuminated manuscripts through a little background history before they began their own research within their process journals guided by the above inquiry questions. After research, discussion, and comparing/contrasting a variety of illustrated letters, students chose one letter from their name and designed it in four different ways. They were encouraged to think of personal interests as inspiration for their designs.

 When the four letters were complete the students watched and discussed the animated movie Secret of the Kells. They really enjoyed the movie and it was a perfect link with what we were discussing in class! Plus, the imagery within the film is simply beautiful! (I suggest you check it out!) We talked about the elements of art and principles of design in specific frames during the movie which led to great inspiration for our final designs.

The students first did a draft of their final, choosing one design from their four smaller drawings and also including a border. 

We practiced a variety of mark making techniques with watercolor, colored pencil, and other materials before starting and planning out the summative task.

Once the first draft and material practice were complete, the students set off on their final designs! 

Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism

 

My MYP 2/3 class just finished up a unit on Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism, and it was a huge hit! Here is what we have been up to...

Line of Inquiry: Global media has become prominent in new visual cultures. 

Inquiry Questions: What types of popular ideas have spread globally? How can pop culture mediums and materials be used in an artwork? Are Andy Warhol's paintings art?

We started off the unit with a class discussion investigating what "Pop Art" is, how it started, and how those ideas are still being used today. The students viewed a variety of pop artists and focused on Andy Warhol. 

They did some individual research about Warhol's background and famous works before discussing and debating if his ideas should be considered art. During discussion, the students also identified the elements of art and principles of design within Warhol's famous soup cans.   

After research and discussion, students made a list of ten items found in the grocery store. Four of those items were chosen and drawn in their process journals. 

After the four items had been sketched, we went backwards in time within the the art history world and began investigating Abstract Expressionism. Why was this art movement happening right before Pop Art started, how is it different? The students examined art works by Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko, but their favorite was Jackson Pollock.

The students started practicing a variety of mark-making techniques they discovered while looking into Abstract Expressionism in their process journals. We took the mark-making experimenting to the next level by throwing around some paint filled eggs, creating splatters just like Pollock! 

After making a brilliantly colorful mess, the students were ready to begin their final task. They chose one item from their four sketches to develop into a design that was influenced by both Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism. Once finished, the students presented their work during a group critique. They were thrilled with their final results!

Here are a few more examples of student work from their beginning ideas up to their final product:

I'm really proud of their enthusiasm, creativity, and effort! 

Cultural Identity

Wow, it has been a very long time since I have been involved in the blogging world! About a year to be exact, and it has been an exciting year to say the least.

I have moved from the International Programs School of Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia to the EtonHouse International School of Wuxi, China. Besides moving to a new country, I have also been busy learning how to use the International Baccalaureate program for MYP, PYP, and Early Years students. It has been an interesting transition and I feel as though I have grown immensely in my approach to teaching visual arts through out the year. I am excited to start sharing my lessons again and I am so proud of my students' creative works of art!

My MYP 2-3 students just wrapped up their final unit of the year. While investigating a variety of cultures around the world, the students were also discussing cultural identity and how that is represented through different forms of art. They researched a variety of of cultural costumes, masks, and body art and infused their findings into a final piece. The final work was a mask made out of chosen materials (plaster, cardboard or clay) that combined elements of cultural identity from different parts of the globe.

This is an example from a student's process journal with their unit title page and cultural research. 

After the research was complete, students used inspiration from their investigation to start a series of designs for their final product. When the final design was decided, the initial drawing was developed into further detail and materials were chosen as shown below. 

Once the final design was complete, students began creating their mask with the medium of their choice. This student decided to work with clay and acrylic paints. The results were fantastic!

Here are a few more examples of students' final work made with clay, cardboard, or plaster.

The students and myself really enjoyed this unit. I personally love cultural art and collect masks among other things during my travels. I was able to bring in those items and share with the class, which sparked even more creativity as well as student discussion. The MYP 2-3 class worked very hard and each them have a unique piece as a final product!