the art of looking.

graduate students

2013-02-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

in a session with other graduate students as part of my fellowship, i ran a music+art session, where participants choose a painting that they feel corresponds to the song. the following are the songs and chosen paintings.

Edward Hopper - Nighthawks

"the painting has a certain feeling of desolation."

Edward Hopper - Sunlight in cafeteria

Edgar Degas - The Ballet Class

"there's a separation between the two characters. she's preoccupying herself while he is mid-conversation."

"like the words are saying, it's like the girls are trying to stick out, to be special."

Jackson Pollock - Number 14

"something about the beginning of the song..."

"the words in the song fit the emotion in the painting."

Roy Lichtenstein - Thinking of him

Pablo Picasso - The Old Guitarist

Salvador Dali - Swans reflecting elephants

"there's real sadness in the way he's playing his guitar."

"we chose the dali because, well, it's dali."

adults with disabilities

2013-01-18T20:22:00.000-08:00

after discussing still life paintings, participants created their own still life drawings after an example model.

William Bailey - Still Life - Table with Ochre Wall

Still life model:

participants' still life drawings:

integrated dis/abled summer camp

2012-08-08T08:43:00.001-07:00

for this activity, which emphasizes listening and visualization, i describe a painting that is out of participants' view. using my description, the participants are instructed to draw what they visualize.

Swans Reflecting Elephants - Salvador Dali

The Ballet Class - Edgar Degas

integrated dis/abled summer camp - ages 9-11

2012-08-08T08:10:00.003-07:00

The Old Guitarist - Pablo Picasso

what do you see?

camper 1: "i see a dead man playing a sad song."

camper 2: "i see a humble man."

what do you see that makes you say that he's humble?

camper 2: "he's wearing raggedy clothes, but he's still playing music passionately."

camper 3: "i think you should turn the painting the other way. it makes better sense like that."

"like this?"

camper 3: "yeah, now he looks relaxed and not so sad."

integrated dis/abled summer camp - ages 9-11

2012-07-10T22:22:00.002-07:00

Mother's Helper - Diego Rivera

"if i were the artist and i asked you to come up with a name for this painting, what would you call it?"

camper 1: "gift-giving"
camper 2: "flower girl"
camper 3: "forgiveness"
camper 4: "mother's day"

integrated dis/abled summer camp

2012-07-10T22:16:00.001-07:00

these lessons come from a summer camp that serves an integrated population of individuals with and without disabilities. accordingly, the responses come from typically-developing campers and from campers with a range of developmental disabilities.

Nighthawks - Edward Hopper

teen group

from an activity that encourages participants to break down art pieces into simple shapes and colors using felt pieces:

"this is a great job - why don't you explain this to everyone."

camper: "okay, well the red square is the building on the outside and the grey square is the outside sidewalk. the green is the wall outside and the red is the counter on the inside. the red circle is the woman because she is all red and the orange is the chef. the white is the light coming from the restaurant."

"you did a great job."

camper: "really? are you proud of me?"

"yes, very proud. you did really great."

ages 9-11

"so what do you think is going on here?"

camper 1: "i think that the two men are secret spies."

camper 2: "and the chef passed the lady a note telling her 'you're being watched.'"

camper: "if they're on a date, i don't think the lady likes the man very much."

"what do you see that makes you say that?"

camper: "well, she's just picking at her fingernails, which all girls do when they're bored on dates."

ages 5-8

"tell me about the characters you see in this piece."

camper: "the man on the left is very mysterious."

"okay, what do you see that makes you say that?"

camper: "the other 3 characters are in bright light and you can see their faces, but the man on the left is in the shadows and his face is hidden."

kindergarteners

2011-04-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

i received this thank you note from kindergarteners, along with their watercolor painted pictures.

Dear ______,
Thank you for showing us the painting with the squares. Thank you for showing us the waterfall painting. Thank you for showing us the sundown painting. Thank you for showing us the big elevator. Thank you for showing us the painting with the splatter colors. Thank you for showing us around the place. Thank you for showing us the black and blue painting. Thank you for showing us the painting that looked like a person. Thank you for showing us the black, white, and gray painting with all the shapes on it. I liked the painting with the round shapes. Thank you for showing us the orange and black painting. Thank you for showing us the sculpture of the girl sitting down at the table. I saw a painting of a girl standing up, and I liked it. Thank you for showing us the paintings. I liked a painting that had a lot of books in it and a girl was sitting down at a table. Thank you for showing us the flower painting. I really liked it. I saw a sculpture of a girl standing up and I liked it. Thank you for showing us the black sculpture. We had a great time.

Love,
The Kindergarten Class

after Mark Rothko - Untitled

after Wassily Kandinsky - The Waterfall

after Ellsworth Kelly - Charter

after Andy Warhol - Flowers

3rd graders

2011-04-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

"tell me a story of what's going on here."

student 1: "the king and queen don't want their son to marry the girl in pink. but the girl doesn't care about marrying the guy in purple."

"what do you see that makes you say that?

student 1: "look at her face! she's not even paying attention."

student 2: "yeah, she doesn't give a hoot."

Edwin Austin Abbey - The Play Scene in "Hamlet" (Act III, Scene 2)

3rd graders

2011-04-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

"what do you see?"

student: "it's the tsunami in japan"

Edward Hopper - Rooms by the Sea

high school students

2011-04-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

"what do you see?"

student: "that dude looks like jake gyllenhaal"

Edwin Austin Abbey - The Play Scene in "Hamlet" (Act III, Scene 2)

3rd graders

2011-04-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

"so i want you to write a letter to your parents as if you were standing in this crowd. describe what you see, smell, and hear"
_______

"what do you hear?"

student 1: "rollercoasters"

student 2: "people yelling"

student 3: "justin beiber, on stage, singing his hit songs."

Joseph Stella - Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Mardi Gras

1st graders

2011-01-30T11:50:00.000-08:00

"so, what do you see?"

student 1: "i think it's nighttime."

"okay, what do you see that makes you say that?

student 1: "the window. it's dark outside."

student 2: "i think the red army is invading the city. and they have torches and are about to storm the restaurant!"

"that's very vivid! what do you see that makes you say that?"

student 2: "you can see them through the window!"

Le cafe de nuit -Vincent van Gogh

high school teacher workshop

2011-01-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

"so to engage high schools students into the art, let's work to create a conversation or thought bubbles for the characters in this piece."

teacher 1: "well my dialogue is between the 4 characters. i think the man with the red face is an industrialist, talking about market failures. the woman to his right is saying, "george, what a lovely tie!" his wife is to his left and saying, "george, you're about to have a heart attack." the man the right is the pretty woman's husband and has nothing to say, but he is just smiling."

Drinnen und Draussen (Inside and Outside) - George Grosz

middle school special needs class

2011-01-20T17:23:00.000-08:00

"what do you see?"

student: "i think that she is chinese royalty. i think this is a portrait of chinese royalty."

"okay, what do you see that makes you say that?"

student: "well, the cabinet behind her is a very rich red and for the chinese, red is a very extravagant color. so i think that because there is red, this is a portrait of chinese royalty."

Lady Jean - George Bellows

1st graders

2011-01-20T17:19:00.000-08:00

"so if you were in this painting, describe room around you."

student 1: "well, i think i'm in a place for only adults would have fun."

"what do you see that makes you say that?"

student 1: "there are no kids around!"

student 2: "why is there a bathtub in the middle of the room?"

Le café de nuit (The Night Café) - Vincent van Gogh

middle school special needs class

2011-01-20T17:16:00.000-08:00

"what do you see?"

student: "well, i think this is a jewish scene. of jewish royalty."

"what do you see that makes you say that?"

student: "well, the man with the golden cross and the beautifully elaborate jewish decorations on the left side."

The Play Scene in "Hamlet" (Act III, Scene 2) - Edwin Austin Abbey

1st graders

2011-01-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

"so what kind of story is the artist trying to tell?"

student: "well, i think it's like a map of the gallery. the 'new' means all the new art pieces here and the 'drawing' is like all of the drawings here in the gallery. and also, in the beginning, you said that there is no running in the gallery, so that's why it says 'go slow.'"

Combination Concrete #2 - Stuart Davis

3rd graders

2010-12-01T16:36:00.001-08:00

student: "is that the closet from chronicles of narnia?"

High Chest of Drawers - Unknown

3rd graders

2010-12-01T08:59:00.000-08:00

"so this mask used to have a lot of color on it, but over time, the colors faded. what do you think were the original colors?"

student 1: "red!"

student 2: "white!"

"right, there's some white on the chin and, actually, the face was covered in red paint, really bright red paint, like fire-engine red. so what else do you notice?"

student 3: "well maybe the guy got his head stuck in a fire-engine and couldn't get it out, which is why he's all puffy."

Mask (Kakuungu) - Suku

3rd graders

2010-12-01T08:51:00.000-08:00

"so, using the themes we talked about today, character, setting, mood, write your own story about this painting and then you can share."

student: "once upon a time in italy, king luther told everyone to give their gold away. princess jalissa, that's my name, had a gold vase that she didn't want to give away, but she did. and everyone got sad."

Agrippina Landing at Brundisium with the Ashes of Germanicus - Benjamin West

3rd graders

2010-12-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

"tell me who you think this mask is."

student: "i think it's an african man. and he has no job."

"uh, okay. well -"

student: "he probably lives in the forest and hunts animals."

Mask (Kakuungu) - Suku

3rd graders

2010-11-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

"so if you were sitting this room, how would you feel?"

student 1: "happy"

student 2: "exciting"

student 3: "drunk"

The Night Cafe - Vincent van Gogh

3rd graders

2010-11-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

student: "teacher, can you take us to some paintings of naked people?"

"no, not today."

2nd graders

2010-10-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

"so what kind of sounds do you hear?"

student 1: "screams. like from a rollercoaster!"

"great! does this look like a place you would want to be?"

student 2: "no! i already had an ear infection, so why would i want to go to a place that would hurt my ears?"

student 3: "i just went to a justin bieber concert and it was like this!"

student 4: "the concert wasn't that good."

Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Mardi Gras - Joseph Stella

3rd graders

2010-10-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

"what do you see?"

student 1: "i see cursive writing."

"what color is the cursive writing?

student 1: "it's green."

"what do you think it says?"

student 2: "winnie the pooh."

Combination Concrete #2 - Stuart Davis