Golden Rules…

1. Link your CS to your own work…(HL)
2. Be sure of the concepts / context within your own work…
3. Do not study obscure / limited artists…
4. Choose artists from different cultural backgrounds

Putting together the Comparative Study
Formal requirements of the task—HL

Your Comparative Study should include the following…

For each of the selected artworks (3), objects or artifacts, students are encouraged to:

What IB looks for in the Comparative Study:

•identification and analysis of the formal qualities of artworks, objects and artifacts
•interpretation of the purpose of the selected artworks, objects and artifacts within the cultural context in which they were created?
•An understanding of the cultural significance of the selected artworks or objects
•identification and critical analysis of the connections/similarities/differences between the selected artworks, objects and artifacts
•information is clearly and coherent in a visually appropriate and legible manner
•consistent use of appropriate subject-specific language?

A working format for your CS:

Introduction

Students summarize the scope of the investigation from which the focus artworks, objects and artifacts have been selected, and any thematic or conceptual framework used to draw the investigation together. eg you may be looking at how artists explore gender roles / identity politics in art…

The artworks, objects or artifacts and their contexts

Students must summarize their research from a range of different sources and present their inquiry into the identification and interpretation of selected artworks, objects and artifacts. They also explain how they have applied a range and combination of critical theories and methodologies to the works. Areas of investigation might include:

Making connections

Students present their comparisons of the different pieces, clearly identifying links between them. These comparisons might include:

Connecting to own art-making practice (HL only)

Students reflect on their research outcomes and the extent to which their own art-making practices and pieces have subsequently been influenced by artworks, objects, artifacts and their creators examined in the comparative study. These influences and personal connections, which should be evidenced in both visual and written forms, might include:

When referring to their own artwork and practices, HL students must be sure to identify and acknowledge their own artworks with the same rigorous attention to detail as with images from other sources.

Sources

Students include a list of sources used during the study.

Academic honesty

Every image used within the comparative study must be appropriately referenced to acknowledge the title, artist, date (where this information is known) and the source, following the protocol of the referencing style chosen by the school. When HL students include any images of their own original work, these must also be identified and acknowledged in the same way.

Examples

Looking at Art History

Prior Learning

EG – Guernica Task : you have already compared Picasso’s Guernica 1937 to Goya’s Third of May 1808 (1814) and discussed how both paintings deal with the futility of war and violence. The Third of May execution was an indiscriminate killing of civilians by French soldiers in reprisal for a guerrilla attack the previous day, and Guernica was a response to the fascist forces’ bombing of Guernica town in Northern Spain by the German Airforce during the Spanish Civil War in 1937.

Genres and isms

Essential Art Movements and Styles

Potential Comparisons

 1. Kehinde Wiley and Titian

Italian Renaissance painter Titian could be paired with the portrait paintings of contemporary artist, Kehinde Wiley. This is an excellent pairing to begin with as Wiley references the pose and expression of Titian’s The Penitent MaryMagdalen (1555-1565) in his portrait, After Titian’s “The Penitent MaryMagdalen” (2009).

Create a Venn Diagram to show similarities and differences…

Respond with your OWN versions and outcomes…

2. Lisa Brice and Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso explored various artistic periods, such as Cubism, The Rose Period, and The Blue Period.

Similar to Picasso’s use of the color blue is contemporary painter and visual artist, Lisa Brice. Her paintings reference her experiences growingup in South Africa, and the time she spent living and working inTrinidad.

Compare and contrast these two artists’ works. Reflect on how Picasso and Brice may see the world differently and communicate their perspectives through their artwork. While Picasso applied the color blue to represent his own sadness, Brice uses the color blue in reference to Trinidad’s carnival traditions. Find some contextual information about each artist. Make inferences from what you learn.

Create your own monochromatic drawings or paintings. Review what a value scale is and how to create various shades and tints using different art materials. Create a monochromatic value scale in the hue of your choice. Choose a color that can communicate emotion or meaning in the same way as Picasso and Brice.

3. Kadir Nelson and Norman Rockwell

Many artists create work reflecting and critiquing the world around them. Art is not simply about technique and aesthetics, but can also have a message and make a profound impact on popular culture.

The work of Norman Rockwell and his illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post have become famous as snapshots of daily life, as well as statements about social and political issues. The Four Freedoms (1943) series of oil paintings refer to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union speech. The Problem We All Live With (1964) isconsidered to be an iconic image of the Civil Rights Movement.

Contemporary artist and writer, Kadir Nelson, has similarly used his artwork to honor the life of George Floyd and depict the social uprising and protests of 2020. His work has been featured on the cover of TheNew Yorker and Rolling Stone.

Analyze these works individually and write or discuss your own thoughts and opinions about how each piece reflects the political and social climate of its time. You can compare and contrast the two artists’ works. You can research speeches, essays, and articles that speak to the topics the artwork is referencing.

Try to create your own magazine or newspaper illustrations concerning issues you are passionate about. Consider the big topics you discuss with peers, or at home with their family. Think about how you would create a cover illustration to visually represent that topic in a way that is universally understood. You can use photography, magazine clippings, design software, drawing or painting materials, etc. to create a finished cover.

4. Victoria Villasana and Andy Warhol

It’s safe to say that Andy Warhol was obsessed with all things celebrity. He created many iconic prints of notable figures like Marilyn Monroe, Queen Elizabeth, Muhammad Ali, and Michael Jackson, to name a few. These prints and paintings were not realistic depictions, but colorful abstractions unique to Warhol’s process.

Victoria Villasana is a textile artist born in Guadalajara, Mexico. She creates embroidery patterns on top of images. She places her artwork in the streets and has become well known for her rebellious femininity andacute cross-cultural imagery.

Many of Villasana’s embroidered images feature celebrity portraits like David Bowie, Maya Angelou, Frida Kahlo, and Rihanna. The colorful yarn is left uncut and hangs below the image frame.

Both artists utilize image reproductions of celebrities but use their artistic style and vision to alter the images with bright colors, elements of folk art and mixed media approaches. You can compare and contrast the artists’ work and processes. You can creatively alter images of your own political heroes to democratize their exposure, vulnerability and ultimately their worth too…or subvert it and challenge the art establishment

Other possibilities…

Cindy Sherman – Claude Cahun (gender roles)

John Piper – Anselm Kiefer (memories and mythologies of war)

Robert Rauschenberg – Kurt Schwitters (political / dAda / collage)

Paula Rego – Frida Kahlo (biographical / gender challenging)

Jenny Saville – Lucian Freud (body image)

Lucian Freud – Tai Shan Schierenberg

Michael Armitage – Yinka Shonibare (colonialism)

Peter Doig – (magical realism, heritage and colonialism)

Francis Bacon – Jean Michel Basquiat (race and prejudice)

Damien Hirst – Marc Quinn (mortality, fragility and banality of life)

Compare and Contrast Neoclassical/Romantic

The honor and stoicism of Neoclassical art is a great contrast to the emotional turmoil of Romanticism. Compare David’s Oath of the Horatii with Delacroix’s Lady Liberty Leading the People.

Patriotism and nationalism are key themes in both of these art movements, but this manifested in their art in incredibly different ways.

Impressionism/Post-Impressionism

Putting a Van Gogh next to a Monet works as an art comparison because you can really notice the addition of emotion…

Post-Impressionism = Impressionism+Emotion+Bolder + Unrealistic Colors.

Task 1

1. Look at exemplar material for comparison
2. Choose a combination of artists from the selections above
3. Create a Venn Diagram to show similarities and differences
4. Share your findings with the class
5. Discuss ways forward and how your choice could merge with your practical work…

Task 2

Writing Support

CS Guide (powerpoint)

Examples of CS Slides

ART TERMS

ELEMENTS OF ART

DEVELOP YOUR IDEAS…

• Select two artists that relate to your idea and you find inspirational – this can be from the presentation or from your own research.​
• For each artist present your research across two A4 pages (a double page spread). Think about what information is relevant – e.g. where they went to school is not very relevant to their work. You also need to include at least 4 large images of their work.​
• Make sure you analyse at least 1 x key image / work and identify what about their work you find inspirational or interesting.​
• We are more interested in your interpretation of their work and your analysis of the formal elements in their work. If you need a bit of help with this, have a look at this link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z9kmhyc​

RESEARCH : CONCEPT AND CONTEXT

• WHAT ?
• WHO?
• WHEN?
• WHERE?
• HOW?
• WHY?
• …then apply to your own ideas

EXPLORE A RANGE OF MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES

• drawing
• painting
• mixed media
• sculpture
• printing
• photographic

RECORD YOUR OWN IDEAS FROM A RANGE OF PRIMARY SOURCES

• OBJECTS
• PLACES
• PEOPLE
• ARTEFACTS, DOCUMENTS, ARCHIVES

PRESENT YOUR IDEAS AND DISPLAY YOUR WORK

You must show you that you can clearly select your most successful ideas, and group a range of outcomes together ina creative and engaging way.

You must be able to articulate your process in notes, annotations and labelled analysis of key images

Your choice of medium may dictate both your outcome and your display method…try to look at examples and aim to produce an interactive and intelligent final outcome (s) that has…

• aesthetic qualities
• inherent skill and refinement
• a clear sense of function and purpose
• connections with a chosen artist / art movement
• be framed / completed

LINK TO KARA WALKER’S RECENT WORK

Click on the link below and download the pdf…print off, complete and enter!

Good luck!

http://www.artscentre.je/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/JERSEY-Application-Form-Fox-2020.pdf

What is a Related Study?

Golden Rules

1. Link to your own work
2. Use only credible sources (do not rely ONLY on wikipedia)
3. Keep to established artists / artworks (avoid obscure artists)

Explore a range of source material…

Objective: Criteria from the Syllabus

• Be aware of some of the methods employed by critics and historians within the history of art.
• Demonstrate a sound understanding of your chosen area of study with appropriate use of critical vocabulary. – use for image analysis
• Investigate a wide range of work and sources
• Develop a personal and critical inquiry.

Academic Sources:

• Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, Youtube/video .
• Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
• It’s important that you show evidence of reading and draw upon different pints of view – not only your own.
• Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages
• Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography

Quotation and Referencing:

• Use quotes to support or disprove your argument
• Use quotes to show evidence of reading
• Use Harvard System of Referencing…see Powerpoint: harvard system of referencing for further details on how to use it.

Essay Plan:

Make a plan that lists what you are going to write about in each paragraph – essay structure.

• Essay question:
• Opening quote
• Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question? Include a quotation. Due date
• Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. Add quotation. Due date =
• Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.Add quotation. Due Date
• Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.Add quotation. Due Date
• Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists and that of your own work that you have produced. Add quotation. Due Date
• Bibliography: List all relevant sources used

Essay question: Hypothesis

Think of a hypothesis and list possible essay questions

Here is a list of  possible questions to investigate that may help you.

Opening quote: Choose a quote from either one of your artists or critics. It has to be something that relates to your investigation

ESSAY STRUCTURE

See below for a possible essay structure. Further help can be found here essay structure or see link here The Royal Literay Fund

Introduction (250-500 words). Think about an opening that will draw your reader in e.g. you can use an opening quote that sets the scene. You should include in your introduction an outline of your intention of your study e.g. what and who are you going to investigate. How does this area/ work interest you? What are you trying to prove/challenge, argument/ counter-argument? What historical or theoretical context is the work situated within. Include 1 or 2 quotes for or against. What links are there with your previous studies? What have you explored so far in your Coursework or what are you going to photograph? How did or will your work develop.

Paragraph 1 Structure (500 words) : Use subheading. This paragraph covers the first thing you said in your introduction that you would address. The first sentence introduces the main idea of the paragraph. Other sentences develop the subject of the paragraph.

Content: you could look at the following…exemplify your hypothesis within a historical and theoretical context.  Write about how your area of study and own work is linked to a specific art movement/ ism. Research and read key text and articles from critics, historians and artists associated with the movement/ism. Use quotes from sources to make a point, back it up with evidence or an example (a photograph), explain how the image supports the point made or how your interpretation of the work may disapprove. How does the photograph compare or contrast with others made by the same photographer, or to other images made in the same period or of the same genre by other artists. How does the photograph relate to visual representation in general, and in particularly to the history and theory of photography, arts and culture.

Include relevant examples, illustrations, details, quotations, and references showing evidence of reading, knowledge and understanding of history, theory and context!

Paragraph 2 Structure (500 words) : Use subheading. In the first sentence or opening sentences, link the paragraph to the previous paragraph, then introduce the main idea of the new paragraph. Other sentences develop the paragraphs subject (use relevant examples, quotations, visuals to illustrate your analysis, thoughts etc)

Content: you could look at the following...Introduce your first artist. Select key images, ideas or concepts and analyse in-depth using specific model of analysis (describe, interpret and evaluate) – refer to your hypothesis. Contextualise…what was going on in the world at the time; artistically, politically, socially, culturally. Other influences…artists, teachers, mentors etc. Personal situations or circumstances…describe key events in the artist’s life that may have influenced the work. Include examples of your own photographs, experiments or early responses and analyse, relate and link to the above. Set the scene for next paragraph.

Include relevant examples, illustrations, details, quotations, and references showing evidence of reading, knowledge and understanding of history, theory and context!

Paragraph 3 Structure (500 words) : Use subheading. In the first sentence or opening sentences, link the paragraph to the previous paragraph, then introduce the main idea of the new paragraph. Other sentences develop the paragraphs subject (use relevant examples, quotations, visuals to illustrate your analysis, thoughts etc)

Content: you could look at the following…Introduce key works, ideas or concepts from your second photographer and analyse in-depth – refer to your hypothesis…Use questions in Pg 2 or add…What information has been selected by the artist and what do you find interesting in the artwork? What do we know about the artwork’s subject? Does the artwork have an emotional or physical impact? What did the artist intend? How has the image been used? What are the links or connections to the other artist in Pg 2? Include examples of your own artists and experiments as your work develop in response to the above and analyse, compare, contrast etc. Set the scene for next paragraph.

Include relevant examples, illustrations, details, quotations, and references showing evidence of reading, knowledge and understanding of history, theory and context!

Conclusion (500 words) : Write a conclusion of your essay that also includes an evaluation of your final responses and experiments.

List the key points from your investigation and analysis of the artist(s) work – refer to your hypothesis. Can you prove or Disprove your theory – include final quote(s). Has anything been left unanswered?  Do not make it a tribute! Do not introduce new material! Summarise what you have learned. How have you been influenced? Show how you have selected your final outcomes including an evaluation and how your work changed and developed alongside your investigation.

Bibliography: List all the sources that you used and only those that you have cited in your text. Where there are two or more works by one author in the same year distinguish them as 1988a, 1988b etc. Arrange literature in alphabetical order by author, or where no author is named, by the name of the museum or other organisation which produced the text. Apart from listing literature you must also list all other sources in alphabetical order e.g. websites, exhibitions, Youtube/TV/ Videos / DVD/ Music etc.

Literacy Support

Glossary of terms

Vital Reading and links

CLICK LINK HERE

TATE MAG

Helpful resource packs

GROUP DISCUSSION ACTIVITIES

GUERNICA v GOYA

You will be comparing Picasso’s Guernica (1937) to Goya’s Third of May 1808 (1814) and discuss how both paintings deal with the futility of war and violence. The Third of May execution was an indiscriminate killing of civilians by French soldiers in reprisal for a guerrilla attack the previous day, and Guernica was a response to the fascist forces’ bombing of Guernica town in Northern Spain by the German Airforce during the Spanish Civil War in 1937.

Show Me Boards

3 key points about Guernica

3 key points about Third of May

Cold Calling

Question : What are the artists commenting on in these paintings?

How are they doing this?

Why are they doing this ?

Think – Pair – Share

Look carefully at the structure of the Related Study Essay and then discuss what should go in each section…

Intro – body – conclusion

Use what suits you, or the subject There are lots of different methods for structuring extended responses, you may prefer one over the other, or some methods may suit different subjects better.

Some other examples are:

• P.E.A. – Point, Evidence, Analysis
• P.E.A.C.H. – Point, Evidence, Analysis, Contrast, Historical Context
• P.Q.D. – Point, Quote, Discuss

Essential Art Movements and Styles

ART PERIODS THROUGH TIME

• Abstract Expressionism
• Art Deco
• Art Nouveau
• Avant-garde
• Baroque

• Bauhaus
• Classicism
• Conceptual Art
• Constructivism
• Cubism

• Dada / Dadaism
• Expressionism
• Fauvism
• Futurism
• Impressionism

• Installation Art
• Land Art
• Minimalism
• Neo-Impressionism
• Neoclassicism

• Performance Art
• Pop Art
• Post-Impressionism
• Precisionism
• Rococo

• Surrealism
• Suprematism
• Symbolism

Modernism v Postmodernism

Modernism

Postmodernism

Some Essay Possibilities…

Cindy Sherman – Claude Cahun (gender roles)

John Piper – Anselm Kiefer (memories and mythologies of war)

Robert Rauschenberg – Kurt Schwitters (political / dada / collage)

Paula Rego – Frida Kahlo (biographical / gender challenging, identity and culture)

Jenny Saville – Lucian Freud (body image)

Lucian Freud – Tai Shan Schierenberg (portrait and The Male Gaze)

Michael Armitage – Yinka Shonibare – Kara Walker (colonialism, race, slavery, identity)

Peter Doig – (magical realism, heritage and colonialism)- Kara Walker (colonialism, race, slavery, identity) Hurvin Anderson

Francis Bacon – Jean Michel Basquiat (race / prejudice / stereotypes, religion)

Damien Hirst – Marc Quinn (mortality, fragility and banality of life) – Sam Taylor-Johnson – Vanitas Painting / Photography

Borrowing culture: the appropriateness of Picasso’s use of the Mbangu mask in ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’ (2008)

Can Luc Tuymans be classified as a political painter?

How does the work of Ketna Patel illustrate the growing impact of media culture on Asian cultures? (2014)

How does the work of Yinka Shonibare illustrate the changing role of African art in a Global Society? (2008)

How far Andy Warhol’s interest in morbidity explored in his “Death and Disaster’ series? (2014)

How the cultural aspects of Jesse Trevino’s life impacted his artwork (Part1, Part2) (2008)

How would one determine the essential balance between form and function in the cases of four 21st century pedestrian bridges? (2014)

The influence on the Casa Batllo (1904-6) by the architect Antoni Gaudi (Part1, Part2, Part3, Part4) (2011)

Is the distortion of Francis Bacon and Jenny Saville’s artwork gender related? (Part1, Part2, Part3) (2011)

To what extent has Damien Hirst explored the themes of Life and Death in his work? (2013)

To what extent has the design of Federation Square been a success?

To what extent have Jungian theories of the unconscious archetypes, influenced Rotho’s ‘The Omen of the Eagle, 1942’ and ‘No. 18, 1948,’ and in what ways are they expressed? (2012)

To what extent was Toulouse-Lautrec’s lithograph ‘Dican Japonais’ influenced by the culture of Montmartre and technical developments of ‘Belle-Epoque’? (2013)

When does photojournalism transcend into art? (Part1, Part2, Part3) (2011)

How does Fra Angelico present himself within Renaissance Florence though his depiction of The Annunciation? (2017)

How does the work of Yinka Shonibare illustrate the changing role of African art in a global society?

“In what way did African art influence on the work of Henry Moore”

How to analyse and interpret…starting points

What…is the artwork? Describe it…

How…how was it made? Materials, processes

Where…was the artwork made, where was the artist from?

When…the era / time period is CRUCIAL.

Why…reasons, function,purpose (most art is a reaction to something)

NEXT STEPS

1. Choosing an artist to focus on…
2. Devising a title for your essay…
3. A question / hypothesis to work from…
4. Developing an argument- for and against…
5. Concluding with a balanced and critical view…

HANS HOLBEIN V GRAYSON PERRY

Glossary of Art Terms

https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/glossary/

Link to BBC Art Resource

Being Human…

Starting Points…making and observing

Simple things – paper and it’s value in life

This exercise combines sculptural 3D form with linear observational drawings of angular planes. You will have two sheets of white paper and a pencil, as well as instructions for folding the origami crane or paper plane, scrumpled up ball etc. You must fold the paper and then spend the rest of the lesson drawing this from a variety of angles, giving attention to line, tone, weight and shadows.

Use white A4 paper and a graphite pencil. Paper is creased, folded, ripped, rolled and torn to create tiny sculptures that each represent a chosen emotion (pain, sorrow, excitement etc). These are then drawn, including shadows, with notes about the chosen emotion. This encourages you to think about how abstract forms, shapes, lines and tone suggest meaning.

You can use white paper, scissors to produce an abstract sculpture. In particular, you should think about how light will pass through the sculpture and cast shadows. Photograph your sculpture creatively as a homework exercise, using a spotlight and black sheet as a backdrop, for example.

Artist References

Edgar Martins

FROM THE SERIES SILOQUIES AND SOLILOQUIES ON DEATH, LIFE AND OTHER INTERLUDES, PAPER PLANE INSPIRED ON A LETTER WRITTEN BY AN INMATE IN THE EARLY 1900’S, WHICH WAS THROWN FROM A PRISON CELL WINDOW, 2016

Martin Creed

There’s something about a blank page. There’s a sense of possibility, of course: this could be where it all goes right – this page could soon be home to the perfect drawing or piece of text – but there’s also a sense of anxiety, after all what can go very right can also go very wrong. We’ve probably all been there, stuck in the cycle that sees each new page end up in the bin. You write. You read. You screw up the page and start again. If the blank page carries a sense of possibility I guess the scrunched up ball of paper carries the sense of exasperation.

In the case of Martin Creed’s Work No. 88, A sheet of A4 paper crumpled into a ball the connotation of disappointment at things not going according to plan is there to an extent but the tight roundness of the resulting ball is too close to perfect to be the result of anything other than a more careful, considered crumpling up of the page.

Brendan Austin

Brendan Austin creates imaginary landscapes out of crumpled pieces of paper. He calls them ‘Paper Mountains‘. Austin examines what we mean by nature and the way humans have impacted upon it. “The isolated desert city running on oil generators, the mars like landscapes of a volcanic environment and the mountains made from paper all attempt to start a conversation concerning the loss of meaning and reality.” The resulting images appear both recognisable as landscapes but also suggest a sense of artifice. Humble materials are made to carry an important message.

Photographing Paper

• Take an A4 piece of plain white paper
• Scrunch the paper into a ball
• Using your iphone / camera photograph the ball
• Think carefully and creatively about how you can transform the paper ball…
• Try to show various approaches to composition and framing, exposure, lighting, movement, focus, shadow-making
• Take as many different, interesting, quirky, sequential, right, wrong and intelligent photographs of the paper ball.
• Then make a series of drawings from your images — try a grid of thumbnails, or panoramic compositions…

High Tonal Value / Contrast in drawings

CUT-N-PASTE PORTRAIT EXERCISE

Influences

Rankin (Destroy Project)

Joseph Cartwright (Instagram)

John Stezaker

Kensuoke Koike

Jesse Draxler

1. cut-n-paste your own self portrait and portrait examples
2. these will then be stimulus for you to draw and paint from
3. the next stage is to create 3-d renditions of your ideas / designs

Portfolio / Coursework

Externally Set Task (exam)

Link to BBC Art Resource

Link to BBC Art Resources

ALL TOO HUMAN – PROJECT

Starting Points…making and observing

This exercise combines sculptural 3D form with linear observational drawings of angular planes. You will have two sheets of white paper and a pencil, as well as instructions for folding the origami crane or paper plane, scrumpled up ball etc. You must fold the paper and then spend the rest of the lesson drawing this from a variety of angles, giving attention to line, tone, weight and shadows.

Use white A4 paper and a graphite pencil. Paper is creased, folded, ripped, rolled and torn to create tiny sculptures that each represent a chosen emotion (pain, sorrow, excitement etc). These are then drawn, including shadows, with notes about the chosen emotion. This encourages you to think about how abstract forms, shapes, lines and tone suggest meaning.

You can use white paper, scissors to produce an abstract sculpture. In particular, you should think about how light will pass through the sculpture and cast shadows. Photograph your sculpture creatively as a homework exercise, using a spotlight and black sheet as a backdrop, for example.

Artist References

Edgar Martins

FROM THE SERIES SILOQUIES AND SOLILOQUIES ON DEATH, LIFE AND OTHER INTERLUDES, PAPER PLANE INSPIRED ON A LETTER WRITTEN BY AN INMATE IN THE EARLY 1900’S, WHICH WAS THROWN FROM A PRISON CELL WINDOW, 2016

Martin Creed

There’s something about a blank page. There’s a sense of possibility, of course: this could be where it all goes right – this page could soon be home to the perfect drawing or piece of text – but there’s also a sense of anxiety, after all what can go very right can also go very wrong. We’ve probably all been there, stuck in the cycle that sees each new page end up in the bin. You write. You read. You screw up the page and start again. If the blank page carries a sense of possibility I guess the scrunched up ball of paper carries the sense of exasperation.

In the case of Martin Creed’s Work No. 88, A sheet of A4 paper crumpled into a ball the connotation of disappointment at things not going according to plan is there to an extent but the tight roundness of the resulting ball is too close to perfect to be the result of anything other than a more careful, considered crumpling up of the page.

Brendan Austin

Brendan Austin creates imaginary landscapes out of crumpled pieces of paper. He calls them ‘Paper Mountains‘. Austin examines what we mean by nature and the way humans have impacted upon it. “The isolated desert city running on oil generators, the mars like landscapes of a volcanic environment and the mountains made from paper all attempt to start a conversation concerning the loss of meaning and reality.” The resulting images appear both recognisable as landscapes but also suggest a sense of artifice. Humble materials are made to carry an important message.

Photographing Paper

• Take an A4 piece of plain white paper
• Scrunch the paper into a ball
• Using your iphone / camera photograph the ball
• Think carefully and creatively about how you can transform the paper ball…
• Try to show various approaches to composition and framing, exposure, lighting, movement, focus, shadow-making
• Take as many different, interesting, quirky, sequential, right, wrong and intelligent photographs of the paper ball.
• Then make a series of drawings from your images — try a grid of thumbnails, or panoramic compositions…

CUT-N-PASTE PORTRAIT EXERCISE

Influences

CUT & PASTE

The Surrealists inherited an interest in photomontage from Dada who had used this technique to disrupt the dominance of easel painting in the art world. The Surrealists enjoyed the chance associations of different elements that suggested the logic of dreams. Often incorporating text (also reflecting a poetic rather than logical choice and arrangement) photomontages feature in prominently in Surrealist photography and have gone on to influence subsequent generations of artists and the advertising industry, in the process losing some of their subversive edge. 

https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/photomontage-art

Rankin (Destroy Project)

Joseph Cartwright (Instagram)

John Stezaker

Kensuoke Koike

Jesse Draxler

EXQUISITE CORPSE

Influenced by Dada, Surrealist artists developed games of chance such as ‘The Exquisite Corpse’ to also incorporate collage and photomontage. This is similar to an old parlour game called Consequences in which players write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold to conceal, and then pass to the next player for a further contribution.

André Breton, Jacqueline Lamba, Yves Tanguy – Exquisite Corpse 1938

MASKS AND HEADRESSES