overview
Lesson 1 | Summary
Activity Pages
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| lesson 1 | |
collaborators,
dictators,
managers& soloists |
language arts | grades 9-12
Often as appreciators or viewers of art we are unable to see the
process of how the work was conceptualized and made. A longstanding
cliché about artists is that they work alone, following their
personal muse. Indeed, when a painter closes him or herself in a
studio and confronts a blank canvas on an easel, there is the expectation
that the resulting work will be driven solely by the inner vision
of that artist. A viewing of selected Art:21 segments reveals that
some contemporary artists do not work alone in a studio but create
their art with the cooperation or collaboration of many others who
serve as collaborators, specialists, or participants.
The cliché of the lone artist can also be found in the literary
arts - the solitary writer sitting in front of a blank sheet of
paper. While a film or a play often requires the participation of
hundreds of creative people, including the director, actors, costume,
lighting, sound people, animators, and cameramen, we often perceive
a film as the creative work of a single director or a skilled actor
or actress. Is the creativity of a director more important than
that of a costumer or sound person? Is the work of an artist who
creates independently more significant or valid than a work of art
created by a team of specialists or collaborators? In fact, the
process of making art or realizing a creative idea can take many
forms and include a wide range of creative relationships and solitary
efforts.
activities
The following activities can be implemented individually or collectively
as a longer unit of study.
Working Styles
This activity introduces different collaborative and participatory
working processes presented by artists featured in the Art:21 series
including Martin Puryear, Kiki
Smith, Richard Serra, and Maya
Lin, to inspire discussion about the role of the artist today
and the skills needed for a creative practice, whether visual or
literary.
Group
Process—The Many Faces of Collaboration
This activity encourages students to look more closely at different
collaborative artistic processes in the work of Oliver
Herring, Matthew Ritchie, Fred
Wilson, Matthew Barney, and Eleanor
Antin. Students research an artist to explore their collaborative
process from the perspective of a collaborator or participant.
Exquisite
Corpse
Exquisite Corpse is a group exercise used by Surrealist writers
and visual artists to create original writing and images inspired
by the unconscious mind. This activity explores the Exquisite Corpse
as a collaborative drawing and writing exercise.
Individual
Process
This activity examines the creative process by watching a selection
of Art:21 segments that focus on artists who work independently
including Raymond Pettibon, Paul
Pfeiffer, Laylah Ali, Vija
Celmins, and Jessica Stockholder.
Students explore the alternatives for working collaboratively as
well as how artists define their individual creative process and
sources of inspiration.
Telling
Stories—Alone & Together
Working alone and collaboratively generates a variety of creative
possibilities. Students will explore different avenues of creativity
by working alone and together in small groups to do creative writing
based on found imagery from the news, advertising, or popular media.
objectives
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Students will explore
the differences between working individually and working collaboratively. |
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Students will work
individually and collaboratively and compare their creative
experiences. |
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Students will look at the creative
processes of a diverse range of contemporary artists. |
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Students will use the collaborative
and solitary working methods of visual artists as inspiration
for their own creative writing and visual narratives. |
critical questions
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What are the similarities
and differences between the creative process of visual artists
and that of writers? |
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What are the most
important skills an artist working today can have? |
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What is the role of an artist
today? |
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What is the importance of originality
and imagination in an artistic practice? In other fields and
professions? |
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What are the benefits and drawbacks
of collaboration? |
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What are the differences between
collaboration, management, working alone, and dictating in
the creative process? |
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In what aspects of daily life
do we rely on cooperation, collaboration, individual initiative,
or on someone else’s orders? |
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What are the differences between
creativity that is based on individual inspiration and creativity
defined by group activity? |
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Can creativity be pre-determined? |
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Where does inspiration come from? |
reflection & evaluation
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Did students explore
and compare artists who work alone? |
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Did students review
and discuss a range of artists who work collaboratively? |
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Have students compared the working
methods and processes of visual artists and writers? |
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Have students examined the differences
between collaboration, management, dictation, and working
alone in the creative process? |
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Did students work individually
and collaboratively and compare their creative experiences? |
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Have students presented and discussed
the process and results of their individual and collaborative
projects? |
national standards: language arts
| #1 |
Read print & non-print texts |
| #5 |
Writing strategies |
| #12 |
Use spoken, written & visual language in
tandem |
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Find out how this lesson plan correlates to
your state’s education standards by following the link
to PBS’s TeacherSource. |
going further
This lesson explores the diverse working methods of artists and
writers and the ideas of creativity and collaboration. To create
a longer unit or lesson based on these ideas, this lesson could
be combined with additional lessons such as:
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about this lesson
This lesson was first submitted by David
Henry, Director of Public Programs, Institute
of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA. Additional contributors include Dina
Helal, Head of Online Curriculum, Whitney Museum
of American Art, New York, NY and Jessica Hamlin,
Art:21 Director of Education & Outreach. The lesson was first published
on this Web site September 2003, and was revised September of 2005. For
questions and/or comments, please contact curriculum@art21.org
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