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overview
Lesson 3 | Summary
Activity Pages
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lesson 3 | converging media
activity | natural selection
Successful species evolve over time to adapt to their environments,
slowly changing to function efficiently in their surroundings. Similarly,
artists often choose their medium or create a hybrid form to fit
a specific project, communicate something particular, or solve a
real problem. Krzysztof Wodiczko combines
architecture and video projection in his site-specific installations
in Tijuana, Hiroshima, and St. Louis to give individuals a monumental
voice, confronting taboo subjects and bringing local issues to light
in important public spaces. Mel Chin
employs unconventional media and engages collaborators from fields
like ecology and software engineering to intercede in sites as diverse
as video games and toxic waste dumps. Use the video segments and
artist interviews and slideshows (see links above) to introduce
your students to the work of these two artists. Discuss how the
hybrid forms chosen by each artist respond to or attempt to solve
particular problems. Could Wodiczko and Chin have chosen other media
to accomplish their goals? Is each successful? What makes pieces
like “Revival
Field” and “Tijuana Projection” art?
Tell your students to imagine that have each been commissioned to
design a large-scale public art piece for a site in your town. Ask
them to research a local issue, either individually or in groups,
and draw up plans for a project that gives voice to an under-represented
population, serves as a call to action, or actively solves a problem.
Their drawings and written plans should be descriptive enough to
permit the piece to be constructed in the artist's absence. The
piece should involve the community, whether community members help
in design and construction, or it is the sight for a public forum,
performance, or provides some other means of allowing people to
share their experiences with others. Tell your students to think
big- they are famous artists! But tell them they must also consider
the technicalities involved with undertaking such a project.
Ask them to consider the following questions as they plan their
piece:
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What media would
best communicate your message? |
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How would the media interact
with/change the space and how might the piece facilitate community
interaction or encourage activism? |
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Who would be the best resources
to ask for help in conceiving your project? |
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How would you go about getting
something like this approved by the local government? What
is your budget? |
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What would your piece accomplish? |
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the next activity for this lesson
Art Phyla
This lesson asks students to take stock of the categories that
have separated art forms through history, and ultimately become
mutable in contemporary art. Matthew Barney’s
“CREMASTER” series and Ann Hamilton’s
multi-media installations are used as the basis for a discussion
about categorization and hybridization in art.
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