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• Students will consider the concept of an alter-ego in visual art and the notion of presenting an alternate, transformed, or idealized self. • Students will explore the medium of the comic book as a narrative vehicle. • Students will create their own alter-egos as a tragic, heroic, comedic, or sinister protagonist in a comic book narrative.
Art:21 Web Site • Humor, Personas, & Yiddish Theater – Eleanor Antin interview & clip • Storytelling, Characters & Colors – Trenton Doyle Hancock interview & clip • Gumby, Vavoom, & Baseball Players – Collier Schorr interview & clip • CREMASTER 3: at the Guggenheim Museum – Barney interview & clip Additional Web Sites • http://www.geosites.com/SoHo/5537/hist.htm A history of the comic book • http://www.milieux.com/costume/ A variety of examples of costumes including ethnic, historical, theatrical, plus costume museums Classroom Materials • paper • pencils • rulers • markers or colored pencils • examples of a variety of comic books
• What is an alter-ego? • What are different examples of alter-ego in literature, film, television, drama, or comic books and how do they function in different ways depending on the medium in which they are conceived and performed? • What are different roles an alter-ego can assume? • Why might a visual artist create an alter-ego in a work of art?
The Fictionalized Self Discuss the concept of the alter-ego. Identify alter-egos in literature and other media such as film, television, and comic books. What are the different functions an alter-ego might perform in a narrative (tragic, heroic, comedic, sinister)? View Art:21 segments on artists Raymond Pettibon, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Eleanor Antin, and Matthew Barney and read portions of their interviews that describe their relationships to the alter-egos they have created in their work. Identify the various alter-egos created by each artist. How are they similar to and/or different from each other? How are they similar to and/or different from the artist themselves? What purpose does each alter-ego serve for its creator? What can the alter-ego do that the artist cannot? (Time: One 45 minute session) Altering the Ego Look at examples of protagonists in comic books (The Hulk, Spiderman, Wonder Woman). Have students choose a persona that they would like to become. This person can be a compilation of the real (Michael Jordan), impossible (someone without a memory or a head), fictional (Tom Sawyer), historical (Cleopatra), or non-human (animal, plant or alien). Ask students to consider how this personae will stand-in for them in given situations and whether they will be heroic, tragic, comedic, or sinister. How will the character differ from them and how will they be similar? What special powers, characteristics, strengths or weaknesses will they have? How might they have acquired these qualities? What would they look like? What kind of costume would they wear? Would they have an archenemy or a sidekick? A love interest? (Time: Half a 45 minute session) Making the Costume Have students create a sketch of their alter-ego and ask them to design a costume or outfit that this figure will wear in a separate drawing. Ask students to consider whether their identity or costume will change (like Bruce Banner to the Incredible Hulk or Clark Kent to Superman) or whether they will always look the same (like Professor Xavier of the X-Men or the Joker). How will their costume reflect their role, powers, and identity? Have students make a full-scale version of their costume or create a multi-media drawing or collage of the costume that incorporates the materials, colors, and accessories that would be used. (Time: Two to four 45 minute sessions) Constructing the Narrative Have students create a narrative in which their alter-ego goes through a single day. What will the day include – a rescue, an argument, a sneak attack? Ask students to write out a beginning, a middle, and an end to the day as well as the issue, or the event that they will then interpret visually. Ask students to draw one issue of a comic book illustrating their alter-ego in this narrative. Consider conventions of comic book art such as incorporating dialogue, thought and sound bubbles, or altering long shot, close-ups and extreme close-ups for visual interest. Make a cover for your comic featuring your alter-ego. Photocopy each comic book for distribution and compilation classroom volume. (Time: Four 45 minute sessions to long term project)
• Have students examined the use of the alter-ego in art and other media such as comic books and cartoons? • Have students explored the function of the alter-ego as a fictionalized, transformed, or idealized self? • Have students devised their own alter-egos, created a related costume or outfit, and designed a comic book narrative illustrating the adventures of their alternate self? Find out if this lesson plan correlates to your state's education standards! On PBS TeacherSource do a search for "Art in the 21st Century" and click on the Standards Match icon.
Other lessons that could be combined with this lesson to form a longer unit or an extended course of study include: Characters & Caricatures Cartoon Commentary Re-Made Myths: Remaking Myths Did you use this lesson or generate your own activities based on ideas inspired by the lesson? Submit student art work, new lesson plans, and your comments to Art:21 and have them posted on the site. Help the Online Lesson Library grow!
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