overview
Lesson 1 | Summary
Activity Pages
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lesson 1 | systems &
styles
language arts | grades 9-12
As students and educators in the process of learning, we create
systems in order to remember information and to record our daily
interactions, accomplishments, and opinions. These modes of structuring
and accessing information have influenced the ways we create new
ideas and new information—from the systems we create to define
our lives, to the impact that these structures have on thought and
action. Similarly, the boundaries of creative thought continually
expand to reflect new influences. The lessons in this topic address
how artists create systems to conceptualize and realize their work.
Their systems often categorize or structure the thoughts or concepts
that inform and inspire the work they make. Sometimes the system
or framework is the structure of the work itself. Often, artists
choose to use systems as creative motivation, as subject matter,
as technique, medium or materials, or any combination within the
act of making art.
activities
The following activities can be implemented individually or collectively
as a longer unit of study.
Systems & Creativity
This activity explores the idea of systems and asks students
to consider the systems that define their creative working process
whether in writing or visual art.
The Presence of Time
The artist Vija Celmins often labors
over a single painting, drawing or print for years. This activity
has students consider how time is a factor in the creative process,
and how themes of time intersect with art and the written word.
The Power of Repetition
This activity looks at the different ways that the artists
Ellen Gallagher, Bruce
Nauman, and Paul Pfeiffer use
repetition as a structure or system in their work. Students will
compare these artists’ use of repetition and explore the use
of the loop in selected literature and their own creative writing.
Bodies as Machines
When working with clay, the artist Gabriel
Orozco focuses on the physical aspects of shaping the clay
as well as the thinking process involved in creating each object.
In this activity, students will consider writing as both a physical
and intellectual process.
Narrative Structures
The artists Matthew Ritchie and Jessica
Stockholder use narrative as a structure or armature for
their work as well as its inspirational source. Students will explore
these artists’ distinct approaches to narrative and use images,
objects, and writing to create their own visual narratives.
Freedom & Constraint
Sometimes the best ideas come from working within a set of limitations.
This activity explores the work of Andrea Zittel
whose experiments in artful living include designated kinds
of clothing, eating habits, and architectural spaces.
objectives
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Students will look
at a range of visual artists who employ different organizational
structures and systems in their work and working processes. |
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Students will compare
and contrast the use of organizational and structural systems
in the work of literary and visual artists. |
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Students will discuss the elements
of time, repetition, and structure in visual art and creative
writing. |
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Students will explore the various
ways in which artists have used narrative as a structural
system. |
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Students will use the structural
and organizational elements used by visual artists as inspiration
for their own creative writing and visual narratives. |
critical questions
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What are the systems
that we create and participate in on a daily basis? |
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How does the creative
process relate to systems of thinking and making? |
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What is a system and how does
it relate to literary and visual creativity? |
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How are systems related to the
elements of time, repetition, and structure in visual and
literary art? |
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How do certain kinds of constraints
or rules provide restrictions as well as offer freedom or
opportunity? |
reflection & evaluation
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Have students explored
and responded to a range of visual artists who employ different
organizational systems and styles in their work? |
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Have students discussed
the elements of time, repetition, and narrative in the creative
process? |
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Have students explored various
examples of the use of time, repetition and narrative in the
work of contemporary artists? |
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Have students used the structural
and organizational elements employed by visual artists as
inspiration for their own creative writing? |
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Have students created and presented
their own visual and written work that incorporates time elements,
repetition, and narrative? |
national standards: language arts
| #1 |
Read print & non-print texts |
| #3 |
Comprehend, interpret, evaluate & appreciate
texts |
| #6 |
Create, critique & discuss |
| #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 can be combined with others to create an extended unit
or course of study that explores the ways that the creative process
is conceptualized and enacted including:
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about this lesson
This lesson was originally written by Juliet
Myers, Director of Education Public Programs,
SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM and Jessica Hamlin,
Art:21 Director of Education & Outreach. Additional contributors include
Dina Helal, Head
of Online Curriculum, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. 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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