Journal 1: Power Point

Reflecting on the Process: Albright Knox Presentation

• Why did I choose the subject? I chose to create my presentation based on Mark Bradford because I was immediately drawn to his work. I saw in his work a message that I believe many people can relate to--that meaning is layered, it is not one-dimensional.

• What are the new things I learned or discovered? I learned that presentations don't have to be wordy and full of text, in fact, I prefer it this way. What's the point of having a presentation if there's no one to present the information?
  

• What I liked/disliked about the project? I like the idea that a PowerPoint presentation can really support the knowledge you already have on a particular topic. I've come to the conclusion with this project that for me, this is the best way to use this tool, rather than it dictating the message you are attempting to communicate.
  

• How did I apply the elements and principles of design into my project? I think that while using templates can enhance the visual aspect of your presentation, I find that it sometimes distracts from what is important. In this case, I wanted to let the artist's work stand out.
  

• What are your thoughts about the finished project? The lesson plan was way more time consuming and difficult for me than the presentation...Despite how much the lesson plan is worth, I feel like I needed a little more guidance with it.
  

eHow: A Resource for PowerPoint

eHow is an online resource that would be useful to me both now, and in the future as an art educator. The site brings up something I think we should keep in mind as art educators--why shouldn't your students be familiar with the tools you use to teach them? What about doing a PowerPoint presentation on how to use PowerPoint?

The site suggests many different lesson ideas that encourage students to be more engaged, and think more about the presentation of their work. The lesson ideas are neat in that they could be used for any subject being taught. It also offers tips on using the program, as well as articles and videos for guidance. PowerPoint can improve and enhance the way you teach, and this website can point you in the right direction.

Albright-Knox Art Gallery

After perusing the Albright-Knox, I found myself leaving both inspired and dumbfounded. It made me realize that although I have a good idea of what artists are doing today, I saw many amazing works by artists I had never heard of. I'm always so familiar with new artists in the music world, and I hope to reach that same level with artists in the art world.

Works that made an impact on me:
1. Electric Flower (1965) by Werner Philips
2. The Desk in my Studio (1969) by Clayton Pond
3. Noise (2006) by Joe Goode
4. Before After Now (2008) by Tom Friedman
5) The Whiteness of the Whale (1957) Sam Francis
6) The Cremaster Suite (1994-2002) by Matthew Barney

Of all of these, this color print by Matthew Barney from his Cremaster Suite had the biggest impact on me:I'm not sure I would like to have this hanging above my bed, but it definitely made me look. I think what's so successful about this photo is that you can immediately create a story around this character...Where do they live? Why is its mouth bloody? The fact that Barney himself is playing this character makes it even more complex. What is he saying about his personal character? For me, this is the kind of work that sticks in my head.

Works that I felt a connection with:
1. The Unentitled Graces (1978) by Jess
2. Mississippi Gottdam (2007) by Mark Bradford
3. Toledo Blend (2003) by James Esber
4. #254 Drawing (Tracings from Sunset Blvd) (2007) by Ingrid Calame
5. Father of the Bride (1999) by Cecily Brown

Of all of these, I felt the greatest connection to this mixed media collage on canvas piece by Mark Bradford: This picture really does the piece no justice--at 102" x 144", I stood in front of Mississippi Gottdam for a good amount of time. On first impression of this work, it reminded me of water, with bits of debris mixed in. While dirtied water with debris would usually not be appealing to me, the piece had serene quality to me. I've always been drawn to artworks that have a certain flow to them, and I like for my own work to have this quality.

Works I would like to know more about:
1. Airship with Apples (1968) by John Carter
2. Julian and Suzanne Walking (2007) by Julian Opie
3. Three Color Sentence (1965) by Joseph Kosuth
4. If You See Anything Interesting...(2007) by Mads Lynnerup
5. You (2001) by Joseph Grigely & Amy Vogel

Of these works, the piece I found I would most like to research and understand more was this work by Julian Opie:This piece, a computer film on LCD caught my attention--it was so simple with such a strong message. After doing a little bit of research I found that similar works by Julian Opie have been installed in certain city spaces. I would like to know more about the reactions viewers have had to this, and the research the artist did in mimicking the way men and women walk.Where did the artist get their inspiration?

Using RSS Feeds

e-flux shows

One of the feeds I subscribed to is "e-flux shows", an international network that connects "more than 50,000 visual art professionals" daily through an email list, website and special projects. I think this feed would be incredibly useful as a future art educator. I think one of the expectations of art professionals should be to know what is going on in the art world...we cannot truly understand art unless we see the context.

All too often students feel disconnected from the professional art world. Visiting this feed on a regular basis would allow me as a teacher to incorporate current art shows into my lesson plans. I think that planning lessons around certain events in a way invites students to be a part of a greater art experience. Using this feed as inspiration, I could create lessons in which students use the featured artist as inspiration, which will give them something to compare their own work to.

The Art Teacher's Guide to the Internet

Another feed I subscribed to is "The Art Teacher's Guide to the Internet", a blog that serves as a continuation of Craig Roland's book, which the blog is titled after. The feed provides updates on "ideas, tools, and resources for teaching art and design in a post-digital age."

Although teachers can surely benefit from their own research on internet tools for teaching art, I would find it very helpful to have a site where I can depend on continuous updates on how I can utilize online tools to enhance my teaching methods. By the time I am a teacher, I will have a classroom full of "digital natives," and having a tool like this feed to keep up and keep their attention will be vital. Learning the newest ways to incorporate videos, websites and other online tools into lesson plans can ensure that both my students and I are engaged in learning.

Why I want to be an Art Educator

Being an art student, I have had very few teachers who showed me how art can relate to so many other studies. As a kid, I pictured "art" as something you could hang gallery of old paintings, all created by genius artists--it was not until much later that I learned that, thankfully, this was not the case. I was naturally drawn to the idea of creating art, and it took me awhile to realize that "art" can be learned, you don't have to be "born with it."

As an art educator, I feel I could show my students how applicable art really is to so many aspects of our lives, and I want to be able to share this. I think that people get excited about something they can relate to, something they understand. Today, I think kids need to be exposed to more contemporary art--it's what they are living in, but at least for me, in grade school my teachers hardly touched this. I hope to teach in a way that shows my students that art is an living idea--it's not just paintings by dead guys--and that their personal ideas can be manifested.