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AVANT-GARDE ART RESEARCH
Shared by Prado Sobrino:
This activity is aimed for 4th Year ESO students.
Each student has to
investigate a precursor of the 20th Century Art Movements.
First we have to explain the main characteristics of
avant-garde art, which is considered to be ahead of its time.
Students
have to understand that this kind of art was going against the academic
understanding of art, the imposed rules on what an artwork should look like and
the way it should be produced.
After that
each student has to choose one avant-garde art movement from a list:
·
COBRA
·
Cubism
·
Dadaism
·
De Stijl
·
Fauvism
·
Fluxus
·
Futurism
·
Imagism
·
Land art
·
Orphism
·
Pop art
·
Rayonism
·
Tachisme
·
Nadaism
·
Ultraist
They have to
make a research on the Internet about the art movement chosen and make:
- An art movement essay. This essay has to be well structured. It has to contains:
· An
introduction: a brief description and overview of the artwork.
· A
Thesis Statement: a comprehensive and inclusive description of the research
problem in question.
· Discussion
· Formal
Organization of Visual Content
· Aim/Characteristic/Processes/Context
of the Art Movement ( a historical, political and cultural framework)
· Views
and Critiques
· Conclusion
· Bibliography
*
If they do not know how to do it this web can be very helpfull:
Paper Format
-Research papers should be in a 12-point Arial font, double-spaced.
-Number all pages.
-Ample margins should be left for
the teacher’s comments. All margins should be one inch to allow for comments.
- The cover sheet for the paper should include the following
information: title of paper, your name, course title and number, and date paper
is submitted.
-Staple the pages together at the upper left or put them in a simple
three-ring folder or binder. Do not put individual pages in plastic sleeves.
- Artwork
creation: After the research the students have to create
and art work inspired by the art movement studied. They have to find an
artwork that embodies the art movement’s values and visual characteristics
and do a write up analysis in the presentation of it.
3.
Presentation
·
Each student will give a 5-10 minute presentation on
the art movement.
·
The students have to create a visual aide (poster or
PowerPoint) that highlights the important points of their research, like a
visual summary of their essay. They can use power point or the presentation
program they considered appropriate to make the oral presentation in front of
their classmates.
·
To develop the oral presentation explaining the goal
and main characteristics of the art movement researched the student can
impersonate the greatest artist figure of the movement.
·
They have to show also the piece of art created as a
comprehensive analysis of the art movement researched.
·
Remember the student that they will be graded on:
o
Using appropriate visual aides to support your
research
o
Using the allotted time appropriately
o
How well you answer the above questions regarding the
art movement you choose.
o
Clarity of presentation
Use the questions below to guide the students
as they look for information and write the essay on the art movement to which
they were assigned.
·
What :
o
What art movement have you been researching?
o
What is the purpose or the goals of the
movement?
- What art movement or movements came right before
this one?
- Was your art movement a reaction against a
previous style or a complement to it?
- If your art movement was a reaction against
previous styles, what did your artists object to in the previous
movements?
- What was considered to be the role, philosophy,
goal or main intention in this art movement?
- Which are the counter-arguments for this
movement?
- What
movement came after?
- Where:
- Where
did the movement take place?
- Is it
typical of the art of a geographical area?
- Where
did it start? Where did it spread after?
- When:
- What was the time period during which the
movement took place?
- Did any historical events influence the
movement?
- How:
- How
was the relation with to mainstream society?
- How
those historical events influenced the art movement?
- How is
this art movement relevant to the Art History? What idea will you take
forward from it?
- Who: (Research
on Individual Artists)
- Who
give the art movement its name?
- Who
are the major artists in the movement? Select three
representative artists (Do not forget to include feminine artists also),
write a brief biographical sketch of each, and find three representative
works of art by each. If possible, print out examples of their works. If
not, write a one-paragraph description of each work you have selected.
Do not forget to write the name of the artwork, the title, the subject,
the artist’s full name, the date, the period, the country,…
- Who
was the leader of the movement?
- Did
the artists of this movement create each piece of art by themselves or
did they employ others to help them?
- Why:
- Why do
you think artists created this movement?
- Why
they choose this name for the movement?
- Why an
artist made a specific decision? These kind of questions help to place
you in the mindset of the artist and gain further insight into the art
movement itself. To answer this it is useful to try to imagine how it
could have been otherwise.
- Visual Characteristics and Process:
- What
type of art came out of the movement (drawing, painting, sculpture,
etc.)?
- What
is the main style and characteristics of the artist’s work?
- What
was the preferred subject matter of the movement (people, landscapes,
historical events, etc.)?
- How
was the artwork made? Were there specific techniques/skills used to
create the art?
- Describe
how the artist has used line, tone, colour, pattern, shape and texture to
create the work.: Was there a specific color scheme used (warm, cool,
earth tones, etc.)?
- Explain
how the formal elements of a work of art affect the representation of the
subject matter and expressive content
- Explain
how the artist’s formal choices affect the viewer.
- Why
did the artists choose to use this?
- Conclusion and Personal Response:
- What
is your opinion regarding the artwork from this movement or time period
and has it taught you anything?
- Do you
like/dislike the artist’s work? Why?
- How
the world would be different without this art contribution?
- Provide
all Sources: Bibliography
- Some helpful websites to start the research
The shock of the New,
by Robert Hugues:
Ep. 4. “Trouble in Utopia” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C04JZsoqs1A
Tips for the
students to remember:
-Find
credible information sources that are related to the issue in question.
-
Do not copy and paste, read the information and re write in your own words. Remember
that copy without the author permission is a criminal offense called plagiarism
and it is punished by law. So it is really important to cite the sources you
used in your essay properly.(See the image bellow).
*An
useful website regarding plagiarism is provided by Cornell University, http://plagiarism.arts.cornell.edu/tutorial/index.cfm.
*
A “Quick Guide” for the Chicago Manual of Style footnote and
bibliography format is found http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html.
-Make
the well-organized notes regarding the topic of your research paper. It’s up to
you what methods of note-taking to use. But still, take notes as many as
possible to simplify the writing process.
-Before
beginning to write a research paper, you should develop the outline that will help
you finish the paper considerably faster.
-Make
a list of keywords. Since it is the art research paper, use some art terms,
artistic concepts, name of representative artist, etc.
-
After the first reference to the artist by his or her full name, you may refer
to the artist by his or her last name (e.g., Vincent Van Gogh becomes Van
Gogh).
-
Don’t use words that you don’t understand, look up what the word means or ask a
teacher.
-Always
write in full sentences.
-
Write your research paper in the correct verb tense.When describing works of
art, write in the present tense. While references to the life of the artist and
the historical period surrounding the work should generally be in the past,
formal analyses should always be in the present, as should as any descriptions
of the works themselves.
-
Move from discussing larger elements (such as the effect of the composition of
a work) to discussing the specific details (such as the effect of the
brushstrokes).
-You need to link the art movement to your own work to
show development of ideas for it.
-Add
details to show how the art movement has influenced your piece of work.
-Always
choose a relevant piece of the art movement to analyse, consider the images you
have seen in class.
-Re
read your work once you have finished to check its right.
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