THEME: COMPARISON / PERSPECTIVE
SUBJECT: LANGUAGE ARTS / VISUAL ART
ARTIST: BILL SMITH
GRADE: recommended 9th-12th grade
Students will verbally dictate how they interpret what they see.
Students will translate what someone tells them into a drawing.
Students will compare their verbal and visual perspectives to a larger discussion about communication.
1. How do we communicate? List the ways.
2. In what directions do we communicate? In what directions is Spheredendrone moving? How are the pieces connected?
3. What can this system represent?
1. Spherodendron (2015), Bill Smith
Pair up with another student. One person will sit facing in the opposite direction from the artwork. No peeking! The other will directly face it and describe in as much detail as possible what the artwork looks like. The person facing away will then draw the description of the work without seeing it for themselves. After completion, discuss the result of your communication. As a whole group, what did the other groups find about communication? What made things easier or more difficult? How can Spheredendrone be a metaphor or symbol for communication? In addition to communication, what other systems can this piece become a metaphor for (i.e. biological, technological, pathological, mathematical, conceptual, etc.)? This same exercise can be done with other works of art to practice communication and understand how different people perceive different visual elements.
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Narratives: (CC.1.4.6.M-CC.1.4.11-12.M)
-write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events
Range of Writing: (CC.1.4.6.x-CC1.4.11-12.x)
-ability to write over an extended time-frame (ex. research) and shorter time-frames (ex. a single sitting) for different discipline tasks, purposes and audiences
(9.1.6.A-9.1.12.A)
-know and use the elements and principles of each art form to create works in the arts and humanities
(9.1.6.E-9.1.12.E)
-demonstrate the ability to define objects, express emotions, illustrate an action or relate an experience through creation of works in the arts