Exploring Contemporary Art Based on the Big

Idea Memory

Chuting Cao

Grade/Class

High School Level 2 (Grade 10)22 students 11 boys and 11 girlsone boy and one girl identified as “gifted”

Goals/ Rationale - Personal Stake in the Unit

Why I want to teach it and why it is important?

Contemporary art is always hard to understand even for adults, but in 21st century, to understand it is very important for the reason that it is a major part in our visual culture. In this unit, I will present variety of contemporary artworks in different styles and medias, and let students experience how to make a contemporary artwork and present their own understandings of a specific big idea “memory”.

The reason I chose the big idea “memory” is that everyone has memory even little kids, the concept is easy to understand, people has different memories and has multiple feelings of it, and the various memories made everyone became unique. When they understand the process of how to make contemporary artwork, they can easily create artworks to express their own thoughts.

National and state standards and GLE’s:

GLE: 3.1.1 Analysis the ways that visual arts are used to express feelings and present ideas and applies his/her understanding when creating artworks.

Express, synthesize, and present original ideas and feelings (with teacher’s guidance and mentoring) by using visual arts symbols in a variety of genres, styles, and media.

Express and/or represent in works of art/design what is perceived and experienced through the senses (seen, felt, smelled, tasted, and/or heard).

Articulate and justify choices of artistic/design in a variety of media and/or styles.

Discuss and/or describe representations (in a variety of styles) of original ideas and feelings and describes how the arts were used to create these representations.

Describe the use and misuse of the practice of appropriating (plagiarizing) copyrighted artworks and designs to communicate ideas and feelings.

GLE: 3.2.1 Analyzes visual artworks that communicate for a specific purpose and applies his/her understanding when creating artworks.

Use (with teacher’s guidance and mentoring) media, materials, and resources deliberately to communicate for a specific purpose.

Evaluate and explain (with teacher’s guidance and mentoring) how the deliberate use of the elements of visual arts communicates for a specific purpose.

Determine how an artistic work communicates a specific purpose or idea.

Examine (with teacher’s guidance and mentoring) how visual arts styles and genres can communicate for a specific purpose.

Work alone or in collaboration with others (and with the teacher’s guidance and mentoring) to plan and create visual artworks in a variety of media to communicate for a specific purpose.

National and state standards and GLE’s:

Rationale for Artists and Artworks used meet the unit goals:

I choose a variety of artists working on the big idea “memory”, to show students different solutions to this big idea and multiple choices of materials they can use. The images require a high level thinking so it is fit for high school students. It is also a challenge for them. In each lesson, I will present one style of contemporary artworks (such as Abstract Expressionism, Multimedia, Installation Art, Conceptual Art…), analysis them and let students creating their own artworks with this style. And these works I chose also express different perspectives about memory. I will lead them think about it from these aspects: store the memory, the shape of memory, the specific event of memory, the process of making memory, the individual memory and common memory.

Major Artists:

Josiah McElheny"Modernity circa 1952, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely," 2004

"From an Historical Anecdote about Fashion," 2000

"Landscape Model for Total Reflective Abstraction," 2004

Josiah McElheny

Chiharu Shiota

“Memory of Skin”, 2008

Chiharu Shiota “Trace of life”, 2008

Chiharu Shiota

Chiharu Shiota

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Hiroshi Sugimoto Architecture," 2003

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Maya Lin

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Betye Saar

House of Ancient Memory, 1989

wood, paint, plastic, mirrors, embroidered fabric,

feathers,

metal, glass perfume bottles, painted and lacquered

wood table

61 in. x 19 3/4 in. x 13-1/4 in.

Mike Kelly

"Educational Complex," 1995

Mike Kelly"Extracurricular Activity Projective Reconstruction #s 2 through 32 (Day is Done)," 2004-2005

video"All the scenarios for 'Day is Done' are based

on images found in high-school yearbooks in this particular case, though I’ve also done a whole collection of similar kinds of images from the small-town newspaper of the town where I grew up. The particular categories had religious ritual overtones, but outside of the church context. They all looked like they were done in public places, or they had gothic overtones. So I said, 'Okay, I’m going to work with these particular groups of images and develop a kind of pseudo-narrative flow.' The rituals run the gamut from something like dress-up day at work to St. Patrick’s Day or Halloween, to a community play or an awards ceremony."- Mike Kelley

Enduring Ideas: Throughout time and across culture artists never stop exploring the big idea memory. Memory plays a powerful role in our lives. We admire a sharp memory and often equate it with intelligence itself, and we worry about forgetting even when remembering is painful. The need to share memories and to self-identify through them is central to human nature. So I think memory is a topic I feel so broad and deep that it is suited to tackle as a unit plan project.To know contemporary art is very important to the today’s visual world. But it is always not easy to understand it well. I think it is a good way to know it better by reading, discussing, and making arts. Students will learn both the knowledge in art history and the skills in making arts.

Investigative Essential Questions:

1. What is memory?2. How different artists express memory in art? 3.Why do artists use their own ways to express memory?4. What methods do artists usually use in contemporary art?5. What medias do contemporary art use differ from classic art?6. What solutions and perspectives can be used to express memory?7. How to express memory in a contemporary way?

Key Instructional Concepts :

Contemporary art

Post-modern art

Memory

Multimedia

Abstraction

Neo-expressionism

Conceptual art

Installation art

Land art

Memorial

New media art

Performance art

Photography skills

Video edition

Constraints:

Some artworks I chose expressed memory mixed various styles of art, it maybe hard to distinguish.supplies: every lesson will use different mediasTime: it may be a tight schedule

Integrative Options/Cross Curricular Correlation’s :

Art historyVisual Cultureteam workability to express oneselfwriting

Relationship to the Developmental Needs of Children :

The assignment is very fit of the high school students. Since they have a better understanding of art and art history, it will be easy to learn more about contemporary art. And they also have the ability of high-level thinking, it will help them express their own perspective. Their skills are also comparative mature that can create artworks with one specific purpose. This assignment will be an interesting challenge for them.

Opportunities for student responses to art from historical, critical and aesthetic perspectives :

discussing professional artists’ artworks: different ages, styles and culturesreadingswriting essays and comment others’ essays

Lesson Sequence : 1. Defining the big idea “memory” 2. Defining contemporary art, distinguish it from classic art3. Presenting artworks by professional artists, discussing and analyzing. Connecting them to one specific style in art history to explore more information about contemporary art.4. Teaching some skills about the style mentioned, giving teacher’s example and explain it.5. Playing with different materials to create their own artworks6. Essay assignment: write an artist statement and trade it with peers for comments 7. Select one of your artworks for exhibition and give a presentation at the end of semester

(The unit may take one whole semester for various styles of contemporary art, so 3-6 will continue repeat till the end of semester)

Lesson 1- art history introduction

1. Defining the big idea “memory”2. Discussing their own understanding and experience about memory 3. Defining contemporary art, distinguish it from classic art4. Introducing some main styles of contemporary art5. Show and discussing art works about memory6. Connect the these art works to one specific contemporary style7. Show some other works about this style8. Homework: reading and do background research

Lesson 2- skills and playing with media

introduce certain skills of the contemporary art ( eg. video,photography)divide groups and play with the mediashow teachers’ examples and discuss about how it related to the big idea memory and the contemporary artists mentioned in lesson 1sketch and start to create their own artworks

Lesson 3-essay and critique

show artworks (Gallery Walk)write an artist’s statementtrade the essays with peers and make comments

Assessment Strategies and Evaluation Criteria :

artwork : the best evidence to know their understanding of the big idea memory and contemporary art

artist statement :it can clearly express their development, their understanding, and the knowledge they have learned.

Peers’ evaluations: trade their artworks and essays with peers for comments, it will be a good chance for them to discuss their own works and peers’.

gallery exhibition Presentation

Unit Evaluation and Assessment :

The success looks like: 1. The discussion of professional artworks should be active

and thoughtful.2. Students’ artworks highly related the big idea “memory”

and using a contemporary art method.3. The work should be original, unique, personal and creative.4. Students’ artist statements should reflect their high-level

thinking about the big idea “memory”, and show their understanding of a specific contemporary art style.

5. Students’ comments on others’ works should be thoughtful and develop the idea well.

6. The exhibition and presentation should be rich in content and explain clearly, and show the new understanding of art especially contemporary art.

Unit student art exemplar

Unit student art exemplar

Unit student art exemplar