Images and Identity: Improving Citizenship Education trough Digital Art

Transcription

1 Images and Identity Images and Identity: Improving Citizenship Education trough Digital Art Scheme of work: Changing Identity: Metamorphosis Lesson plan title: Self-portrait as Visual Metaphor (Lesson 2) County of origin: Czech Republic Target age group: Years Time frame: 60 Mins Keywords: Self-portrait, Personal identity, Assemblage, Self-representation, Reflection, Art vocabulary Topic and conceptual frame work: This activity explores the idea of transformation through metaphoric thinking by building upon interpretive relationships from ideas and images to objects. The lesson draws upon the historical influence of the Czech artistic movement Poetism, ( s) which influenced the creation of visual montages from poetry. The concepts used here relate to the work of the Czech avant-garde group Devětsil (meaning Nine Powers). The group included Czech artists such as Toyen and Jindřich Štyrský, who moved to Paris and formed close ties with leader of the French Surrealist movement, André Breton. Selecting and correlating visual metaphors representing identity from concepts and words to objects, presents various challenges for artistic problem-solving: i.e. what characteristics of the object selected are being included, what characteristics are being excluded? Do qualities of the object contribute new understandings to the qualities of the person? Is it possible that the object represents a quality that is not currently present, but is imagined and desired? In selecting visual metaphors that represent oneself that correlate to personal objects, conceptual mapping and blending occur, forcing new metaphoric associations and imagery. Examining the concept of metamorphosis in various forms and contexts: i.e. in literature (Kafka), in nature (chrysalis), physically (infant to teenager), emotionally (facial expressions), etc. inquires into how identity itself is a process of ongoing metamorphosis. The creation of a visual assemblage (a mixture of two-dimensional and three-dimensional elements and materials in the same picture plane) is used to connect 1

2 these various aspects together. Using the technique of assemblage, which mixes two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects and materials together in a collage, metaphoric thinking will be extended into metamorphosis. The results will be documented digitally and created into a simple animation from changes created with still images. Objectives: Students are able to: use metaphoric thinking to relate personal qualities and attributes that correspond to material objects; create a mixed media assemblage representing oneself metaphorically; discuss the motivation for the selection of objects, process of construction, and personal meaning given to one s own artwork; engage in dialogue about the meaning and interpretation of the self-portraits with others in a group. Resources and preparation: Students bring objects for making assemblages from home or they are things of everyday use they bring with them and which represent object they identify with. It refers to previous game play with the new metaphor, I am the things I carry with me.... Prepare materials to support the fabrication and presentation of assemblages such as heavy cardboard, tables and desks, hot glue guns, staplers, wood pieces, Mylar, etc. Digital cameras for documentation and creation of moving metaphors. It is expected that the school will have computers with paint, photo and Windows Moviemaker software or the equivalent that allows students to make moving pictures from still photographs. If these programs are not available, they can be found as freeware online. Students will be expected to learn how to use the available program as part of the lesson (e.g. average learning time for Moviemaker is 30 minutes). Selecting and examining various kinds of Czech nonfigurative, and conceptual self/portraits from the Avantgarde and contemporary art further supports the visualization process of metaphoric representations (e.g. Frantisek Drtikol, Dancers 1930 where 8 dancers look like insects; František Kupka s Amorpha, etc. Visual artists such as Orlan (plastic surgery performance), Joseph Beuys (installation as a homeless person), Martin Kotrba 2

3 (Process of Hominization, see Image Gallery), etc. may be selected. Depending on the age and ability of students, the teacher may want to consider popular media such as movies (i.e. Avatar, Coralina), as well. Questions can be explored such as, how is the visible and invisible human face evidenced in artwork? How do images evoke metaphoric thinking in a viewer? What do non-figurative representations say to us about how personal identity can sometimes be hidden? What are some examples of how someone s identity can be misunderstood? To support the idea of metamorphosis, draw upon the relationship between the various kinds of languages (written, oral, visual, auditory, kinesthetic) and textual structures (visual, lingual, conceptual) used in metaphoric thinking, prepare a selection of written texts (at least one for each student) for the next lesson of the project from various works of literary art with the theme of metamorphosis through metaphoric thinking. For example Ovidius: Metamorphoses; Golding: The Lord of the Flies; Kafka: The Metamorphosis. Instructions for activity: ❶ Students bring objects to school that personal meaning for them that they will use in a work of art that is a self-representation, expressing their identity through metaphor. ❷ Students organize their objects on a background or environment and try to make the most suitable self presentation. Students use artistic methods and materials to create self portrait assemblages made of the objects they brought. ❸ Discuss as a group. Examine aspects of the artistic process and the visual representations of the assemblages. Share and discuss personal choices, experiences, observations, perceptions, feelings, interpretations, and advocacy of the work. Why does it look like this? Does its representation correlate to the person? Can others recognize who I am in my assemblage? Explore the personal interpretation of visual signs and describe the codes of the metaphors and symbols. Why did I choose the things I brought and what do they mean to me? Who do other people see and read them? ❹ Take a digital photo of each assemblage that will be used in the next lesson to make a stop-motion animation using Windows Moviemaker program or other equivalent software (e.g. imovie. etc.). A stop-action animation is 3

4 created by taking a series of digital photographs of a sequence of consecutive changes and/or movements. After all of the photographs have been made, the images are run through a moviemaking software program (Windows Moviemaker or equivalent) to create a moving picture from still images. (See teacher notes.) ❺ If time permits, students begin the discussion by reflecting individually with a paragraph of self-reflective writing (see teacher notes). The teacher opens a discussion with the following questions and asks students to share their share their responses orally as a group, Was it difficult to make a self-portrait? Are the self-portraits metaphoric to the appearance of the person who made it? Which aspects of identity are they metaphoric to? Which assemblage was the most difficult/easy to read? Can your personal identity be described by artwork? What is left out, what is added when identity is represented by objects depicting your selfimage? Does it change how you perceive your identity? ❻ Motivation for next lesson (or closure if lesson is used separately): Reading about change. How do (other) artists create and express concepts of change in their work? Learning outcomes, assessment: Are students able to find and select concrete objects for the assemblage? Are students able to complete a metaphoric visual selfportrait as an assemblage? Are students able to select and correlate visual materials and methods to their ideas of assemblage metaphors of self-representation? Are students able to read the visual signs and decipher the visual metaphors of others? Are students able to reflect on the meaning of the artistic work for themselves and for the work of fellow students? Are students able to follow directions to complete activities? Teacher Notes: If there are enough digital cameras for each student to have their own or share a camera while working on their assemblages, students can begin the animation process during this lesson by documenting the construction of their assemblage as it proceeds in stages up to its final completion. This gives students the possibility of completing two animations in the unit instead of one. Reflective skills are facilitated by beginning by the individual students considering questions in their own way and either 4

5 making notes or developing a paragraph of self-reflective writing. If time does not permit this additional element, the teacher can close the activity by opening a group discussion by asking everyone the questions without writing. This lesson can also be taught separately. The third lesson Metamorphic Changes Animation can also be included in this lesson in one longer block. As in the rest of the project, especially during reflection and discussion, there is a need for confidence in the classmates and the teacher. In the last part of the lesson a new text is selected. The teacher must find suitable texts for the age and ability of his students. Texts may talk about the changing of identity in several ways (destruction, magical mythological changes, changes in time...) This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. 5