STATEMENT OF INTENTION - IDENTITY.

This is a Visual Arts teaching resource, designed for a Year 7 – 8 audience. The theme of the resource is ‘Identity’. This resource is presented in the form of a creative process I undertook. I recorded my starting place, various creative trajectories including my successes, failures and distractions. I also included the justification and process of creating the final artwork. This resource was produced in this format with the specific intention of providing and enabling many creative trajectories for students, by being engaging to the target audience of Year 7 – 8 secondary students.

Having a theme for young secondary students is very helpful because it narrows their view which enables them to start artmaking rather than be overwhelmed with options. Themes also provide a context in which Year 7 – 8 students can hone artistic techniques and glean understanding about media and art form options for art making.

As with the previous annotated creative process, the pedagogical underpinning of this resource is to ‘show rather than tell’ the students what to do. Art making is far more satisfying and validating, and the learning successful when a young artist develops their own idea trajectory from stimulus, not to mention the very real motivation and enthusiasm, when it’s your own idea, to be productive. The pedagogy of questioning is also put to use in this resource in the provided ‘Responding’ activities. As Churchill et al states, ‘When a question engages students and motivates them to ask further questions or challenges their ideas, it requires more complex thinking: analysing, evaluating or creating’ (2011, pg.261). Churchill elaborates there is nothing like a well formed question to trigger ravenous learning (2011, pg. 260).

The design of this digital resource takes the form of a photograph of every page in my visual diary of the ‘identity’ creative process in chronological order. Each page can be zoomed in on and read as well as an accompanying text coherently explaining what each page was about. Rather than beginning with a mind map, I started the process with a simple internet search to find out more about identity. My findings are recorded in the diary. The mind map that followed included some art making ideas that I did not pursue, leaving creative frontiers for students to explore. The next page discussed my interest in fingerprints and provided two examples of worked trajectories as well as a Responding task directing students to look at pen and ink artworks of Escher and a Making task that facilitated tessellation design. These two activities addressed the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) content descriptors, (VCAVAR045) and (VCAVAE041).

Collage was the next art form addressed in this creative process, as well as the use of gouache and watercolour. References to contemporary artists were included, and Responding and Making activities drew students’ attention to Picasso’s collages addressing the VCAA descriptor of (VCAVAP044). Students then were given the opportunity and use the art vocabulary of elements and principles to respond to a question. A making activity introducing them to collage was also provided which aligns with (VCAVAV042).

Exploration into digital identities provided students with a light hearted, humorous context to learn about appropriation. The Responding task provided teaching about Appropriation and followed up with small group discussion. This task speaks to the descriptor (VCAVAE046). A Making task lets students produce an artwork that incorporates their own gaming avatar, addressing (VCAVAE040).

Students proceed to Environmental art in the context of values and beliefs being an aspect of identity. They view a successful pencil artwork and a failure with solvent transfer. Students gain insight into carefully choosing images for reference to communicate their message powerfully. They learn about Chris Jordan, an artist against waste. A video link prompts a Responding analysis using a Venn diagram to compare two environmental artworks, satisfying the VCAA descriptor of (VCAVAR046). A making activity provides students with information to make good use of a variety of graphite pencils and responds to the curriculum descriptor, (VCAVAV043). This creative trajectory also addresses the cross curriculum priority of sustainability.

The following trajectory acknowledges Aborigines identification with Country and addresses ‘Learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures’ (VCAA). The artwork of Ed Fairburn is explored and students learn about the subtleties to consider if undertaking a similar artwork by reading about my reflections on the drawing of an Aboriginal Elder on a map of Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). The Responding activity for this trajectory directs students to consider what elements and principles Fairburn used in his artwork. It addresses (VCAVAR045). The Making task enables students to produce their own portrait on a map or document which speaks to (VCAVAE040).

After thoroughly soaking in the theme of Identity, I began the process of making the final artwork which was an artists’ book examines the nature of crystals, particularly that they grow and change over time, their appearance may change but they are still the same crystal. His is a beautiful metaphor for the ‘persisting entity’ and ‘personal continuity’ (Wiki, identity formation) aspect of identity that I explored in this process. Students “responding’ task informed them about contemporary mixed media artists and the making activity enabled them to experiment with mixed media. These tasks addressed (VCAVAV042) and (VCAVAR045).

Though this Visual Arts teaching resource is designed specifically for and aimed at students in Year 7 – 8, students from Years 9 – 12 could engage well with it also. Not only is this resource useful in the teaching of the Visual Arts discipline, it could also be used to engage students who are undertaking learning in the cross curricular priorities, such as sustainability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander histories and cultures.

In conclusion, this resource is visually engaging and is dialogic in its approach. It’s transparency about its successes and failures, empower students to take risks and be experimental, embracing the creative process.

 

© Copyright Ingrid Schmidt