What makes good art? If you have a few art lovers in your class, I think they will enjoy this lesson.
Does an artist have to suffer to make good art? Is it the amount of time one spends on the piece? The complexity, the skill of the artist, the message, the feeling it creates…what?
I am always fascinated when I watch my children draw or make crafts. They dive in with their whole being–fearless. They never doubt their ability to produce or that the result will be great. On the other hand, I am not submitting every piece to the Smithsonian…
So between the fearless child, to the tortured soul, what makes a piece of art great? In this PBS series the Art Assignment, they explore many of the stereotypes we attach to the “true” artist and they challenge some of the values we attach to quality. But better still, they talk about how, regardless of the process, art can make us feel less alone in the complex journey of being human.
Pre discussion
- Do you go to museums or buy books to look at art?
- What kind of art do you like?
- What are some artist you know
The Video: PBS The Truth of the Tortured Artist
If you find this video a little fast or vocabulary dense, don’t forget that you can add CC (close captions) to help comprehension and you can slow the video down in the YouTube settings
Discussion
- I would cut the video into parts and do Tell Backs on each. I would take notes on key vocabulary.
- Part 1 from 0 to 1:07
- Part 2 from 1:07 to 2:10
- Part 3 from 2:10 to 3:45
- Part 4 from 3:45 to 4:30 (on Picasso)
- Part 5 from 4:30 to 4:45 (on Frida Kahlo)
- Part 6 from 4:45 to 6:45 (on art as an outlet for pain)
- Part 7 from 6:45 to end (what are some of the purposes of art?)
- Do you think an artist has to anguish over a piece for it to be good. Or is it more a question of skill and craft (in the other words being very good at what they do)?
- What are some of the states of mind art can come from?
- If I could grant you all the skills you need to be an artist, why would you make art?
Let me know how it goes…
