Art21 season 6 educator guide

During a recent conversation I was asked, “Where do you come up with the questions featured in the Art21 educator guides?” I didn’t know what to say. The “Before Viewing” questions, which promote active viewing of Art21 films, are a combination of long conversations and focused emphasis on particular thematic strands. Collectively, we try to come up with questions that will not only promote discussion about contemporary art in the classroom but also stimulate thinking about the big questions featured in the segments. For example, if you simply look through the most recent seasons, you’ll come across questions such as:

• What are the qualities or characteristics that define something as art, versus something that is not art? How and why are these definitions established? (John Baldessari, season 5).
• How are rituals created and how do they change over time? (Pierre Huyghe, season 4).
• What are the differences and similarities between making a portrait and a landscape? (Catherine Opie, season 6).
• How can the process of drawing and painting, like sculpture, be both additive and subtractive? (Julie Mehretu, season 5).
• What is the role of the viewer of an artwork, or the reader of literature? How are these roles similar and/or different? (Tabaimo, season 6).

If you are seeking a mountain of good questions and ideas to give you a boost in the classroom, Art21 educator guides are a great place to start, and they are available as FREE downloads here. You are also sure to enjoy the way Before, During and After viewing questions make the process of sharing Art21 films more productive. Afterward, “Create” suggestions allow for students to make material sense of their learning, as well as articulate how viewing Art21 films changes their approach to making art.

There are lots of phenomenal reasons for working with Art21 teaching materials. Art21 educator guides can make teaching with contemporary art more enjoyable for teachers and students alike.

Hans-Peter Feldman, “Lips”. Image: qompendium.com

I have always been interested in the way certain artists, more so than others, have the ability to take us by the hand (or the eye) and walk us through works of art very deliberately. Because the “subject” is often about the whole work and not a single focal point, these artists persuade us to compare and contrast, and see the small differences as well as the commonalities.

While I was waiting out Hurricane Sandy like so many others, I did a lot of reading. In the process I had the opportunity to re-read last summer’s issue of Aperture magazine and came across a wonderful article featuring the work of Hans-Peter Feldmann, whom I was actually surprised to see since his work always struck me as that of a collage artist vs. a photographer (Feldmann prefers to be known as a “merchant” and not an artist at all). His collections of arranged photos had me visually walking through the images in a much similar way to how I experience John Baldessari’s work, as well as other artists such as Mark Dion and Joseph Cornell. Seeing the relationships and subtle differences between the photographs one begins to realize what Baldessari talks about when he refers to experiencing “the space between things”. Continue reading »

Oliver Herring gets our version of TASK Unplugged started

Time just feels like it moves a hell of a lot faster than it used to. This past Art21 Educators summer institute, which was recently held from July 2-10 here in NYC, just FLEW.

Sixteen art, science, Spanish, English, special education, language arts and social studies teachers came together with us for eight days of workshops, conversations, artist visits, studio visits and museum visits (not to mention front row seats to the July 4th fireworks at 601 Artspace and a wonderful dinner together to top it off) in order to explore ways of utilizing contemporary art to foster student learning. This is a term we all want to hear nowadays but is often tied to some horrific standardized test, assessment or evaluation. The fact remains that students learn when they have meaningful experiences, not tidy tests. Unfortunately, data is a lot easier to report than the qualities of people, things and moments in time.

But I digress!

Our summer institute, which started with Oliver Herring and a stripped down TASK party at Luhring Augustine Gallery, moved between experiences where teachers had the opportunity to learn from each other, five of our Art21 artists (Oliver, Charles Atlas, Allan McCollum, Mary Reid Kelley and New York Close Up’s Diana Al-Hadid), the superheroes at Dieu Donne Papermill and MoMA, as well as our team here at Art21.

It’s hard to explain how excited I am to work with our current group. The fact that big, important questions drove not only the units of study teachers began to develop, but also much of our time together, really is inspiring. And here are just a few of them:

• What is beauty?
• What is cool?
• What is the role of the media in an election year?
• How do we construct and express identity singularly and collectively?
• What stories can art tell?
• What is the nature of creativity and why is it important to use our creativity responsibly?
• How does the media define gender?
• Can we find beauty in the ordinary?
• What makes a global citizen?

As you can probably tell, this was no ordinary summer workshop series, and the possibilities for teaching across disciplines in the coming year as we work with these sixteen energetic and passionate educators are, to say the least, exciting.

Very much looking forward to our first monthly online meeting next month. Love to all!

Below are a few more snapshots taken during the institute… Continue reading »

Tim Hawkinson, "Sherpa". Image: booooooom.com

This week two of my classes begin a new unit where students are asked to work with the themes of distortion and transformation. Especially for teens, the idea of transformation- of the self, objects, symbols, even the meaning of words- is an attractive proposal. Add the multiple implications associated with distortion and it becomes the kind of field day you really want in a classroom.

During our introduction yesterday we discussed some artists that work with distortion and transformation in very different ways and screened a video exclusive featuring Cindy Sherman (also on artbabble) as she describes how her wildly different characters evolved from early performances in her career.

As we looked into Tim Hawkinson’s motorcycle made of feathers, Ann Hamilton’s Body-Object series, works by Nancy Spero, Ai Weiwei’s bicycle sculpture, Jenny Saville’s pinched and pressed flesh as well as some classic paintings by Jasper Johns and Robert Indiana, students took notes and made observations about how each artist worked with the theme of distortion and/or transformation. Students then were asked to contribute to a group conversation about ways that one or more of the works they saw might inspire a creation of their own. A few talked about how Cindy Sherman spurred some ideas related to creating alter-egos. Others mentioned  that Jenny Saville gave them new perspective about how something initially considered ugly, or even grotesque, can still hold our attention in a beautiful way. Many also remarked that they quickly started thinking about making people “re-see” certain objects, similar to how they experienced Ai Weiwei’s bicycles, Hamilton’s suit infused with toothpicks and Hawkinson’s motorcycle.

Very much looking forward to the progression from sketches to final works in the next week…

Ai Weiwei, "Study of Perspective- White House", 1999. Source: artlog.com

Yinka Shonibare MBE says in his season 5 segment that he would like to have the “trappings of wealth” himself, even though he may be criticizing it. And being made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is classic irony. It’s like giving Occupy Wall Street protesters keys to the city. But then again, maybe we should be giving these people keys to the city instead of forcing them to stop setting up and speaking up. Instead of blocking out reporters, maybe the mayor should be giving the press police escorts into the action. “Occupy” protests are calling attention to the inequality of 99% feeling the ever-increasing weight of a financial foot across their throat. People continue to struggle without jobs, health care, and especially hope. The fact that Occupy Wall Street protesters do not have specific “demands” doesn’t bother me. Calling attention to inequality in this way is a positive thing. More voters- from any political party- need to add their voices to the protests. (New York Close Up artist Martha Colburn recently filmed an Occupy Wall Street protest. Check it out here).

Working with a theme like inequality in the classroom can be a challenge. Similar to teaching about racial prejudice, there’s a ton that may go unsaid in a class discussion, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important for students to think about (and even write about) these things. What do our students imagine Occupy protesters stand for, or want? What would they do if in charge of the protests? How can they get involved, even if they’re not able to actually attend?

When I think about teaching with the theme of inequality in the classroom, I am first interested in the ways it can be taught at different grade levels. For example, in elementary school, students can be taught that shared decision making and collaboration is important for positive interaction among people. Working with an artist such as Oliver Herring can be a good place to start, as he works with others to help make his photographs and videos.

Middle school students, especially given the recent popularity of anti-bullying campaigns, can be exposed to the work of season 3 artist Krzysztof Wodiczko, especially in his Art21 Exclusive “Peace”, as he encourages viewers to speak “what is unspeakable” in order to avoid a “death of democracy”. If this doesn’t connect to Occupy Wall Street, I don’t know what does.

Finally, high school students might look into the season 4 segment featuring Allora and Calzadilla as they share the story behind their interactive work, “Chalk (Lima)”. Here, students get the opportunity to learn about protest in a way that is unconventional and non-violent, to say the least. Unless, of course, you consider “arresting” chalk particularly violent.

Other Art21 artists that address inequality in their work include Mark Bradford, Jenny Holzer and Alfredo Jaar, to name a few. And if you have used Occupy Wall Street in the classroom or taught about inequality with contemporary art, please share your story.

This week, let’s give thanks for the Occupy Wall Street protesters and Occupy protesters in dozens of other cities as they speak up for 99% of the 99% unable to stand alongside them.

Carrie Mae Weems, "The Kitchen Table Series", 1990

If you follow the Art21 blog and work with Art21 materials you know full well there are plenty of opportunities to see and share a huge variety of video about contemporary art and artists. Add New York Close Up to the lineup, which kicked off Monday, and it just keeps getting better. But this week I want to take a moment to highlight the blog’s video exclusives and an idea for grouping videos like these.

At two different professional development workshops this month, one at the Jacob Burns Film Center in New York and another at the Holland Area Arts Council in Michigan, I had the opportunity to teach with Art21’s video exclusives. For both workshop activities I grouped three videos that simultaneously addressed themes of peace, war and power in order to give participants a look at multiple perspectives on these subjects. I asked teachers and artists in the audience to consider how exposing students to these three videos together may open up the definitions of war, peace and power in order to give them diverse starting points vs. going with knee-jerk reactions to familiar (but often under-explored) topics. Let’s face it, if you simply ask a bunch of secondary teenagers to create art about war, don’t be surprised to see a lot of guns, blood, and maybe a few planes. Using the three videos in this particular example allowed me to more broadly define very different kinds of war, peace and power that exist in our world, and even in our homes.

When you compare An-My Lê’s video featuring “29 Palms” with Krzysztof Wodiczko’s interview discussing the meaning of peace, and then view Carrie Mae Weems’ “The Kitchen Table Series”, a broad picture gets painted with these themes. An-My Lê discusses the beauty of war and Krzysztof Wodiczko asserts that working towards peace “cannot be peaceful”. Carrie Mae Weems illustrates through her photographs and commentary that even our own kitchens are the stage for very different kinds of war and power struggles.

But what are the similarities between what each artist is saying? What are the main differences? And are there other videos you would pair or group in order to teach about particular themes, questions or ideas?

Utilizing Art21’s video exclusives allow us to compare artists in the series taking on questions and topics that are perhaps not highlighted in the original broadcasts. With the aid of concise descriptions that accompany each exclusive, educators can quickly read about any number of videos and then view selected exclusives that have potential to inspire students far beyond static “image searches” or, God help us, sifting through piles of old magazines. Give it a try!

Nathan Oliveira, "Standing Man with Hands on Belt", 1960

Now if anyone happened to dial up the title of this post hoping to see me (or anyone, for that matter) reach down deep and start talking about making art and/or teaching after a few martinis, well, I apologize in advance. I’ve had some experience on the art making side and it doesn’t work very well even though we’re all geniuses for the few moments it is happening. As for teaching in that state… um… no. That’s insane.

What I wanted to talk about this week is actually quite simple and I’m sure many of you can relate.

Since 2002, on a spontaneous visit to the Neuberger Museum, I’ve been regularly returning to the work of Nathan Oliveira, particularly his “Standing Man with Hands on Belt” pictured above. I have been blissfully influenced by this surprise steamrolling of a retrospective almost a decade ago that quietly left a thumbprint on my approach to painting and making art. It also left an impression about the value in surprising myself as a teacher and taking the time (aka planning) to see new art in person. Today more than ever, with the immediacy of image searches and online overload, it’s crucial to make real time for seeing art and engaging with it.

Visiting the Neuberger galleries during the Oliveira show, I decided on my 2^nd walkthrough that I had to purchase Peter Selz’ sensational catalogue, if only to be able to return to these figures and continue some of the conversations I started. And just as predicted, I’ve been returning to it ever since. That catalogue has made its way from my home to the studio to school many times and has even been on a few vacations. During that time I learned that Oliveira had a brilliant career teaching at Stanford for over 30 years. I continue to find it easy to open the pages and begin sharing how Oliveira’s figures, in some ways, made me see myself differently at a tipping point in my personal and professional career. More than once I have shared Oliveira’s work only to watch a student look into the painting instead of at it. There’s just something about his work, particularly his figurative painting and monotypes about conflict, that makes me look again. And I try to inspire this in my own students: Make work that makes people look again, look closer, and ask questions.

Many of us have been lucky enough to see some great exhibits over the years, whether or not they made their way into our classrooms or studios. I think about shows such as Marlene Dumas at MoCA; Kiki Smith at the Whitney Museum; Mark Bradford at ICA Boston; Yinka Shonibare MBE at Mass MoCA; Spencer Finch at Mass MoCA; and even Francis Bacon at the Met in 2009. But sometimes a spontaneous visit to an exhibit or checking out an artist you’re unfamiliar with can provide a different inspiration. I often think about how close I was to missing the Oliveira show and how easy it would have been to say, “I’ll look him up,” vs. getting off my ass and driving into the splendor of SUNY Purchase.

This spring and summer create some openings. Allow yourself to be surprised. While Nathan Oliveira may have passed away back in November, his work continues to inspire me. His influence is something I continue to cherish.

I think many of you can indeed relate. Feel free to share some of your own surprises that consequently put you under the influence.

This week Teaching with Contemporary Art here on the blog turns 3. Frankly, I can’t believe that I’ve been writing this column for three years. At the same time, it has flown by much like academic years often do.

To celebrate I want to share some of my favorite posts from the first three years (I say the first three because if I keep from screwing things up maybe there will be another three). Links to each are provided.

A few months after beginning the column, Mining Ideas was published and began the conversation about ways of  utilizing sketchbooks in the classroom. Then In-Progress initiated what would be multiple visits to the notion of in-progress critiques.

After only a few months on the job, the powers that be were crazy enough to allow me to interview Eleanor Antin for a two-part post titled Myths, Metaphors and More. Part 1 looked into how Eleanor prepares for exhibits and handles the occasional label of being “controversial”, while part 2 discussed how she uses allegory in order to slow viewers down and really see her work.

A particularly cranky but timely post, What is an Art Contest?, zoomed in on contests without criteria and It Takes Two… or Two Hundred examined how artists today rely increasingly on others in order to realize their work.

Right around TwCA’s first birthday the post Make Less Art asked readers to think about what a quality art curriculum looks and sounds like beyond the production of objects. A few months later one of my favorite posts, …. and the Not-So-Powerful, allowed me to begin sharing stories about learning experiences related to things that haven’t gone so well in my own classroom.

Where Am I? outlined some specific strategies for starting the school year and If the Shoe Fits, Pay For It zoomed in on the (still) timely report by the Center for Arts Education regarding the state of affairs in New York City schools.

My second blog interview turned out to be another surprise, pleasure, and blockbuster for the column. Janine Antoni and I spent about an hour talking about teaching, finding a balance between being an artist and a parent, as well as discussing her most recent exhibit at Luhring Augustine. Part 1 and part 2 are posted separately. Check it out!

Interview number three presented Esopus editor Tod Lippy, who discussed his magazine-as-art and his relationship with education and educators.

For TwCA’s second birthday I wrote the post Better Than Ketchup and Vaseline, which shared the dangers of teaching with film without previewing beforehand. The column also offered some simple steps to take in order to prepare students for complex and easily misinterpreted works.

Which brings us to year three…

Continue reading »

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Episode #138: Filmed in her Syracuse studio, artist Carrie Mae Weems discusses the impetus for her work “The Kitchen Table Series” (1990), a photographic investigation of a single domestic space in which the artist staged scenes of “the battle around the family” between women and men, friends and lovers, parents and children.

Carrie Mae Weems’s vibrant explorations of photography, video, and verse breathe new life into traditional narrative forms—social documentary, tableaux, self-portrait, and oral history. Eliciting epic contexts from individually framed moments, Weems debunks racist and sexist labels, examines the relationship between power and aesthetics, and uses personal biography to articulate broader truths. Whether adapting or appropriating archival images, restaging famous news photographs, or creating altogether new scenes, she traces an indirect history of the depiction of African Americans for more than a century.

Carrie Mae Weems is featured in the Season 5 (2009) episode Compassion of the Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes (link opens application), or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.

CREDITS | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Catherine Tatge. Camera: Joel Shapiro. Sound: Roger Phenix. Editor: Joaquin Perez. Artwork Courtesy: Jack Shainman Gallery & Carrie Mae Weems. Special Thanks: Elvira Dyangani Ose. Video: © 2011, Art21, Inc. All rights reserved.

Carrie Mae Weems. “Untitled,” from Kitchen Table Series,1989–90. Set of 20 gelatin-silver prints, 28 1/4 x 28 1/4 inches each. © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

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Episode #137: Filmed in his Brooklyn studio, artist Allan McCollum discusses two projects utilizing dinosaur fossils—”Lost Objects” (begun 1991) and “Natural Copies (begun 1994)—and his interest in how both scientific and local communities define the historical value of objects.

Applying strategies of mass production to hand-made objects, Allan McCollum’s labor-intensive practice questions the intrinsic value of the unique work of art. McCollum’s installations—fields of vast numbers of small-scale works, systematically arranged—are the product of many tiny gestures, built up over time. Viewing his work often produces a sublime effect as one slowly realizes that the dizzying array of thousands of identical-looking shapes is, in fact, comprised of subtly different, distinct things. Engaging assistants, scientists, and local craftspeople in his process, McCollum embraces a collaborative and democratic form of creativity.

Allan McCollum is featured in the Season 5 (2009) episode Systems of the Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes (link opens application), or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.

CREDITS | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Wesley Miller. Camera: Joel Shapiro. Sound: Tom Bergin. Editor: Mary Ann Toman. Artwork Courtesy: Allan McCollum. Special Thanks: Vera Alemani, Celina Paiz, Marcie Paper & Adele Röder. Video: © 2011, Art21, Inc. All rights reserved.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Allan McCollum. Lost Objects, 1991. Enamel on glass fiber-reinforced concrete, dimensions variable. Installation view at John Weber Gallery, New York. Produced in collaboration with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh. Photo by Fred Scruton. © Allan McCollum. Courtesy the artist.

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