Our group plans to teach Cindy according to the object she picks for day 1. From perviously working with her, we know she likes working with found objects, animation, and new materials.

Today, we will focus on building different a relationship between Cindy and the object she choses from the Fens. We will facilitate a discussion about why she chose her object, what she likes/dislikes about it, what it reminds her of, etc.

For week 2, we will discuss different mediums and drawing techniques in order to make the lesson as broad as technical drawing can be. When Cindy choses a medium and style, why? Is it to try the new material, or because it relates to the object?

Week 3 will focus on a different medium than technical drawing. The first time we met with Cindy, she told us she liked making animations with found objects, sometimes personifying them. We are thinking about doing something similar with her found object from the Fens. From there, she could write a story about it, make a film, draw it, etc.

My work teaching and observing teaching at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum directing ties into contemporary art practices. With the addition of the new wing, artists like Victoria Morton (an abstract painter and musician being shown at the ISGM right now) are affecting the way students and visitors experience the historical museum.

Aesthetically, I wouldn’t say I see any direct connections between any work or practices at the Gardner and Brian Knep and his work. However, this theme of interactiveness and directly involving the viewer in his or her experience is shared. The Gardner museum is full of installations that ask the viewer to engage his or herself in order to have a personal experience with the artwork.

Brian Knep’s digital work in uniquely interactive. The biggest difference I drew from the 100 Years Show at BU and Brian Knep’s work is the interactive quality.

From his piece on the Civil War showed at Harvard, to his Healing Pool, Knep asks his audience to directly involve their body in experiencing his art. The 100 Years show felt a bit distance to me; considering it was about performance art and I only had pictures and small videos to experience.

It was an interesting experience visiting Brian’s studio. It surprised me how clean it was, but considering he is not a painter, and his medium is mostly digital, it was more about an environment that inspires him.

Brian Knep

1. Was the creation of Healing Pool more about others impacting your piece or yourself personally? How did you intend to make viewers feel as they interact with Healing Pool?

2. How do you think scale effects your work? Was the size and its relation to the body an important aspect in creating this piece?

Kate McNamara

1. What are some ways you were able to narrow down the selection for 100 Years? The history of performance art is such a broad show to curate, I’m curious to know about pieces that didn’t make the cut and why.

2. How do younger students react to the show? Is there a certain age or generation that you think has been most attracted to the show?

Tehching Hsieh work born in 1950 in Nan-Chou, Taiwan. After dropping out of high school, Hsieh began to paint. He became an official U.S. citizen in 1988 after fourteen years of living here as an illegal immigrant.

He has done five one year performances and one thirteen year performance. These one year pieces consist of the artist doing various challenges over the span of exactly one year. In his first one year piece, from September 30, 1978-September 30, 1979, Hsieh confined himself to a 11’6 x 9′ x 8′ cell for one year, with absolutely nothing but food and water. No making art, no television, no music, no conversation.

This book aims to make connections between the powerful potential of art and multicultural issues. Multicultural education refers to a type of educating that  began in the 60′s, inspired by social activism.

Art history as well as learning about contemporary art is a vital part of art education. Learning about other artists’ work has the potential to inspire student’s art production. Considering this, it is very important to provide students with a wide variety of artists as resources; coming from different backgrounds, of different races, sex, and ages.

Another aspect missing from art ed today is teaching a specific culture’s practice by connecting it to bigger ideas like “everyday experience, social citique, and creative expression”. For example, Hindu or Budhist art is commonly summed up by students creating their own Mandala. But what does that mean? Simply copying a aesthetically pleasing art object doesn’t get the students invested enough to understand what they’re doing.

The author’s biggest issue is clearly with the way textbooks have handled incorporating artists of different cultures, sex, and specifically, race.  I agree that the most commonly used art historical texts almost always fail to teach enough African American and other culture’s art.

I don’t really agree that teachers are nervous to teach about contemporary art in their classrooms because they aren’t comfortable with it. That just seems like an overgeneralization and kind of a sting at art educators. Personally, I have no shame in discussing contemporary art work. I also don’t like a lot going on in the art world today. However, this is an area in which I have to put my own opinion aside, and educate myself on contemporary practices, so that I can be a better resource for my students in the future.

What’s next, then? Increased funding requires people to open their eyes to the importance of art education.

Claire Bishop’s “Viewers as Producers” uses examples from movements in art history to point out a need for participation in art today. Whether it is a visual piece, performance, or any form in between, art work should rely heavily on the participation of its audience.

The first part of the Bishop article that really struck me was the section about German theorist Walter Benjamin. He believed that a work of art should be judged on its ability to inspire other artists to produce work of their own. As a future educator, this statement helps remind me that the history of art and contemporary art work are very important to weave into teaching. A single work of art that a student forms a strong relationship with may inspire countless works of art of their own. Biship believes that this inspiration begins with the viewer really diving into the work; really participating in the experience. In order for an active education, students must be invested enough to participate.

This idea applies to teaching really any subject, and I feel best relates to the incorporation of art history in art education today. It is the job of the educator to help direct student towards areas of their own interests, and showing them other artists to inspire them is a great way to start. I will keep Bishop’s points in mind tomorrow as we meet for class in the ICA.

The first exercise we did in class this morning broke us up into 4 groups of 4. We looked at  a work by artist Brian Knep titled Healing 1. The interactive video work lays on the ground, and its colorful, organic shapes change as a person walks across it. After that person leaves, the “wound” they leave behind mends, but not fully. This “scar” alters the piece forever, and it continues to change as more people interact with it. After watching a video of Knep’s interactive work, we worked backwards to write a lesson plan that could have resulted in his work.

The problem we posed to the class is this: create a visual piece that conveys the way an individual can affect you. Your piece can be interactive or not, and can use any material you feel will best convey your idea. This is a very open assignment, and should result in very unique pieces from student to student. Lastly, you should complete an artist’s statement describing how the impact of others has influenced your piece.

In the second half of the seminar, we watched two examples of students’ final video projects from past semesters in this course. One student compared the work of high school students to the work in the contemporary art wing at the MFA. Another student’s video gave us a view into the truly inspirational community of a Boys and Girls club in Dorchester. This two examples gave me a better understanding of what kind of observations and connections I should be making while I’m doing my hours this semester.

I look forward to starting my field work at the Jeremiah E. Burke High School and continuing my work at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. While I love teaching in a museum, I think it will be very beneficial to have more experience in a school setting as well.

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