Students explored their culture(s) through the passage of time by looking into their own community’s past, present and future.
Before students started making art, the class defined what a community is. They realized that is does not only have to be comprised of family members. The culture of a community can also be found in a school environment or other places where people come together.
Student’s wrote an artist statement explaining what they wanted to say about their culture and their community? The elements of art were then introduced and students explored ways of bringing in items that could support their written statement to convey their ideas visually in this cultural collage. If students had trouble beginning their piece, a suggestion was made to use a silhouette of their faces or a visual symbol that can support their artist statement.
Upon close examination, you will find that much thought went into the objects students selected. Items stored from their childhood were brought into class and discussed throughout the process. Students carefully thought about where to place the objects and papers and what shapes they should take in the overall composition of the piece. For example, some students painted their artwork by making a colorful paste with ethnic spices and rice. Another artist cut sandpaper in the shape of a heart to represents a difficult relationship. One student placed money in her collage hoping it will be plentiful in the future, yet contrasted it with old objects in her past that represented the absence of money. The use of visual symbols and color theory were also examined.
To use Differentiated Instruction, students were given the opportunity to make a two-dimensional or three-dimensional work of art. For example, in the photograph of a three-dimensional cube below, the artist put objects from her past on one side. The objects placed in the future side were unknown and concrete, so the artist used words to create them. In the center there is a hole which only allows select object to pass into the future side of the cube. Another student used a clock as the base of her work because it allows time to be switched and changed.
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