Modern Art
1. Create a work of modern art.
It can be made of anything. It can be a sculpture, painting, print...anything!
I am leaving it open to whatever your creative minds come up with. If you
need any materials from the art room, just let me know. I will try and help
you with what you may need.
2. Write an artist statement. I want your work of art to have meaning and thought put
into it. The artist statement needs to be 3 paragraphs, and at least 16 full sentences. It
can be typed or handwritten. You will be presenting your work of art AND reading
your artist statement to the class.
What could be included in your artist statement? Think about these following
questions.
Why did you do what you did?
How did you decide on what kind of work of art to create?
What are your favorite things about your work?
How did you feel when the work was going well?
Did your piece turn out well?
What elements of art are in your work?
What principles of art are in your work?
How did you know the piece was finished?
How did you begin the work of art?
What people see in your work of art, what would you like them to see?
When the piece was finished, what did you feel?
**What do you think people will say when they see your work?
Why do you like to create?
Why don’t you like to create?
What subjects do you prefer?
What processes and techniques did you use?
What are your aspirations as an artist?
Who or what inspires you?
** What does your work of art mean to you?
Be as creative as you can. Modern art is about creating and trying what nobody else
has done before. I don’t want to have 20 splatter paintings, I want something
innovative and unique.
Viewing Art Work
Viewing a visual image should be more than just looking and reacting without much
thought. Viewing is an interaction between you and the art objects. Every interaction
varies with each viewer because of the viewers own perspective. There are 4 actions
that should be involved when you view a work of art.
1. Describe - Taking inventory of objects or scenary in a work of art.
2. Analyze - Try to figure out what the artist has done to achieve certain effects.
• What is the artist’s choice of material?
• What grabs your attention in the work?
• What do you think this artist worked particilarly hard at while he did this work?
• What mood or feeling do you get when you look at this work of art?
• What qualities do you see in this work?
• How did the artist use the elements of art? (line, shape, form, texture, space, and
value?)
3. Interpret - What is the artist trying to say to you?
• What is the subject of the work?
• What is the work about; what do you think it mean?
• Why do you think the artist created this work?
• What do you think the artist’s view of the world is?
4. Decide - What do you think about this artwork?
• Do you like it?
• Why or why not?
Assignment:
1. Go to TeacherWeb.com
Click on students.
Select the state of Montana from the list.
Select Our Lady of Lourdes from the list.
Choose Art from the list.
2. Once on the Art site click on Links.
3. From the list choose 1 of the MODERN art museums listed. (The bottom 4.) Either
MOMA, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Tate, or the Guggenheim.
4. Once you are at a museum site, cruise through, check it out, and choose one work
of art. Most of the sites have a link to their "collections," which is the best place to look.
5. Once you have made the selection make sure to copy the label at the bottom of the
work of art. It should list the name of the artist, title of the work, the media, and the
gallery it is located.
6. While you are there, copy down the web page where you located the work of art so I
can return to it OR print a copy of it.
7. Take a good look at the work of art and think about what you seeing.
8. Write about the 4 actions in the art criticism process.
• Describe, analyze, interpret and decide.
• It should be in paragraph form...FULL sentences. You can print, type, use pencil,
pen. Whatever you want as long as it is legible.
• It will take more than one sentence to describe, analyze, interpret, or decide about a
work of art. Put some thought into this.
These actions should take a minumum of 4 sentences each to discuss. (Four to
describe, four to analyze, four to interpret, four to decide.)
Principles of Design
Principles of Design - Certain qualities inherent in the choice and arrangement of
elements of art in the production of a work of art. Artists "design" their works to varying
degrees by controlling and ordering the elements of art.
Reminder of the Elements of Art:
Line the most basic element of art; a continuous mark made on a surface can vary in
appearance such as length, horizontal. diagonal, curved, zigzag etc.
Color is produced when light strikes an object and reflects back in your eyes.
Value is the lightness or darkness of a color.
Shape is two - dimensional (circle, square, triangle, rectangle) and encloses space -
geometric, man-made or free form.
Form is three-dimensional and encloses space and takes up space-geometric, man-
made or free form.
Space is defined and determined by shapes and forms. Positive space is where
shapes and forms exist; negative space is the empty space around shapes and forms.
Texture refers to the surface quality or "feel" of an object
Balance - refers to the way the elements of art are arranged to create a feeling of
stability in a work; a pleasing or harmonious arrangement or proportion of parts or
areas in a design or composition. Portions of a composition can be described as taking
on a measurable weight or dominance, and can then be arranged in such a way that
they appear to be either in or out of balance, or to have one kind of balance or another.
Balance can be symmetrical, or formal; or it can be asymmetrical, or informal. It can
also be radial.
symmetrical balance - The parts of an image or object organized so that one side
duplicates, or mirrors, the other. Also known as formal balance,
asymmetrical balance - when one side of a composition does not reflect the design of
the other. Asymmetrical balance is the kind of balance in which the parts of a design
are organized so that one side differs from the other without destroying that
composition's overall harmony. Also known as
informal balance.
radial balance - is any type of balance based on a circle with its design extending
from or focused upon its center.
Movement - refers to a regular repetition of elements of art to produce the look and feel
of movement. It can be a way of combining elements of art to produce the look of
action. In a painting or photograph, for instance, movement refers to a representation
or suggestion of motion. In sculpture too, movement can refer to implied motion.
Rhythm - A visual tempo or beat, refers to a regular repetition of elements of art to
produce the look and feel of movement. It is often achieved through the careful
placement of repeated components which invite the viewer's eye to jump rapidly or
glide smoothly from one to the next.
Contrast - refers to a way of combining elements of art to stress the differences
between those elements. Thus, a painting might have bright color which contrast with
dark colors, or angular shapes which contrast with curvaceous shapes. Used in this
way, contrast can emphasize and direct attention to points of interest.
Emphasis - A way of combining elements to stress the differences between those
elements and to create one or more centers of interest in a work. Often, emphasized
elements are used to direct and focus attention on the most important parts of a
composition — its focal point.
Pattern -The repetition of any thing -- shapes, lines, or colors -- also called a motif, in a
design; as such it is one of the principles of design.
Unity - The quality of wholeness or oneness that is achieved through the effective use
of the elements and principles of design. A totality that combines all of its parts into one
complete, cohesive whole.
http://www.wildlifeart.org/Rungius/intro_movie.html
http://www.artsconnected.org/toolkit/index.html
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/tourFames.cgi?tour_id=14897
Linoleum Cut
After our investigation of the work and inspiration of Keith Haring, you are going to
sketch your own drawing with the same idea as Keith. Simple, lighthearted figures
with meaning behind his image.
Elements Needed:
1. 1 sketch of simple line drawings and symbols of meaning that are personal to you.
Remember the work of Keith Haring.
2. You will copy your sketch on to the piece of linoleum and start cutting away.
• Your image will print the opposite of what is on the sketch.
• Remove all the space that you DON’T want printed black. Every line you remove
will be white space.
• Please fill the space of the linoleum. I don’t want one object in the middle of the
page.
• Always cut AWAY from your body. You need to use the bench hooks and watch
your hands.
3. You will need a run of 4 prints. The first will be a test run, or an “artist proof.” The
other 3 will be on specific paper.
• You will be graded on neatness so watch for ink and fingerprints.
• Try your best to center the print on the paper.
4. Final work should be titled on the left bottom margin, numbered in the middle (1/3,
2/3, 3/3...) and signature on the right. This should be done in PENCIL, and along
the bottom edge of the print, not the bottom edge of the paper.
Tesselation
1. Create a stencil to trace your shape. I will give you a specific piece of square paper
to begin. We read about the tesselation AND it was demonstrated in class.
2. After you have the stencil, you will trace the shape many times. You will need to
ALTERNATE colors. You can use pages from a magazine, wallpaper, anything paper,
or 2 different colors.
• BE CAREFUL when cutting your pieces. They need to be neat and exact so they fit
together.
3. We will be gluing these puzzle pieces onto a larger piece of paper. The pieces
should fit together well if they were cut correctly.
Vocabulary
Collage - a paste-up made by sticking together pieces of paper or photographs to
form an artistic image
Surreal - imagery that is unrealistic, like a dream or a fantasy
Focal Point - portion in an artwork’s composition where interest is centered, or draws
attention
