overview
Lesson 3 | Summary
Activity Pages
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
lesson 3 | converging media
activity | biodiversity
While some artists choose to work primarily in one medium, style,
or form, other artists like Kiki Smith
and Oliver Herring celebrate the biodiversity
of the art world by alternating forms like sculpture, video, drawing,
photography, performance, and printmaking. Kiki Smith defies classification
by shifting from sculptor to printmaker as she sees fit to tell
her stories, and Oliver Herring crosses from visual to performing
phyla in his playful collaborations that include video, photography,
and collage/sculpture.
Watch the video segments on these two artists and refer to their
interviews and slideshows (see links above). Discuss the reasons
why Herring and Smith utilize many art forms rather than specializes
in one and how that choice may relate to their early careers or
personal background. How is the process they choose for each artwork
related to its meaning? How would some of the ideas explored by
these artists be different if they were conceived in a different
medium?
Ask your students to select a favorite short story, poem, or play
(or write an original) and to keep it secret from the rest of the
class. After becoming familiar with the text, ask students to select
a character, scene, or main idea to use as the basis for a series
of art works. Using a variety of forms, such as video, performance,
painting, installation, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, photography,
and collage, have students explore their chosen subject from multiple
perspectives through three different media, including at least one
that they have never used before. On the final day, pair students
and ask them to interpret each other’s works (first individually
and then collectively). The artist can then reveal the source of
inspiration and discuss how each medium changed his or her approach
to the subject.
|
|
