Today we discussed our upcoming art project that is themed around the concept of IDENTITY.
Things to think about as we begin the process:
What makes you, you?
We are all different and special in our own way, but what exactly forms who we truly are, and how we see ourselves?
What factors, experiences, and influences help form us as people?
Today we broke it down into what we thought were the major parts of what creates personal identity:
1. Sense of Place: Think of a building, home, room, or indoor space where you feel most relaxed and comfortable... somewhere where you can just be yourself and be happy. It could be your house, your bedroom, your tree-house, your grandma's kitchen - who knows! But think of an indoor place that is special and safe to you.
2. Connection to Nature: Think of an outdoor space where you feel at peace and right with the world. Where in nature do you go to be free of worries and connected to the wild beauty of mother nature? Think of somewhere you like to visit somewhat regularly.
3. Family: Think of the people closest to you who help guide you through life, give you advice and encouragement and support you. Who are they? How do they influence your view on the world?
4. Passions/Talents: If you could have the whole day to do anything you really enjoy, what would it be? What activities or interests get your feet bouncing out of bed in the morning? What activities make you lose time because you are so interested and happy that you do not even notice the world around you....
5. Culture: What countries, beliefs, traditions and celebrations are special to your family? Think of influences from your family tree that help shape your world view.
Think about the questions above and talk about them with your parents! You may be surprised to learn about how their experiences helped form their sense of identity and how your family history influences your experiences today!
Once you have had a chance to chat about ideas together, think about what image or picture would best represent each of the 5 topics listed above. It could be a picture you take yourself or even a picture you already have! If you can not do either, see what images you can find on Google that could work!
Once you have chosen your images, please share them with me on Google Docs. You have some time to think about this, as we will not be moving into the second phase of this project until at least mid-week next week.
Once I have all your images, we will be using them to create photographic art that is inspired by Canadian indigenous artist, Meryl McMaster. Meryl's photography work is based on the concept of identity as well, and she uses elaborate costumes and manipulated natural settings to take beautiful self-portraits. Our artwork will be inspired by her light-projection photos where she has used a projector to "paint" an image on top of a person. In Meryl's projection photographs she has used pictures of animals that are important to her indigenous beliefs and ways of knowing as well as photos of ancestors that she overlays on younger generations.
We'll be doing our own version of this concept by using our photos and a light projector too! Ms. Walker has all the things we need, so not to worry - all you have to do is choose your pictures thoughtfully and send them electronically. Once we have those it's just lights, camera, action! We will be writing a short explanation of why we chose the images we did to go along with our photography. Every great artist needs an artist's statement, after all :)
Attached to this post are some images of Meryl McMaster's photography as well as Ms. Walker's first attempt and example of this project, so you'll have a vision of what's to come. In Ms. Walker's pictures you'll see an image of her mom, one of her dad, one of her home (sense of place), and one of a whale in the Atlantic ocean (land/nature connection). These are things that helped shape Ms.Walker's sense of self and who she is inside. I can't wait to see yours!
If you have any questions, e-mail Ms. Walker at laawalker@cbe.ab.ca, and share your images through Googledocs at laawalker@educbe.ca
Things to think about as we begin the process:
What makes you, you?
We are all different and special in our own way, but what exactly forms who we truly are, and how we see ourselves?
What factors, experiences, and influences help form us as people?
Today we broke it down into what we thought were the major parts of what creates personal identity:
1. Sense of Place: Think of a building, home, room, or indoor space where you feel most relaxed and comfortable... somewhere where you can just be yourself and be happy. It could be your house, your bedroom, your tree-house, your grandma's kitchen - who knows! But think of an indoor place that is special and safe to you.
2. Connection to Nature: Think of an outdoor space where you feel at peace and right with the world. Where in nature do you go to be free of worries and connected to the wild beauty of mother nature? Think of somewhere you like to visit somewhat regularly.
3. Family: Think of the people closest to you who help guide you through life, give you advice and encouragement and support you. Who are they? How do they influence your view on the world?
4. Passions/Talents: If you could have the whole day to do anything you really enjoy, what would it be? What activities or interests get your feet bouncing out of bed in the morning? What activities make you lose time because you are so interested and happy that you do not even notice the world around you....
5. Culture: What countries, beliefs, traditions and celebrations are special to your family? Think of influences from your family tree that help shape your world view.
Think about the questions above and talk about them with your parents! You may be surprised to learn about how their experiences helped form their sense of identity and how your family history influences your experiences today!
Once you have had a chance to chat about ideas together, think about what image or picture would best represent each of the 5 topics listed above. It could be a picture you take yourself or even a picture you already have! If you can not do either, see what images you can find on Google that could work!
Once you have chosen your images, please share them with me on Google Docs. You have some time to think about this, as we will not be moving into the second phase of this project until at least mid-week next week.
Once I have all your images, we will be using them to create photographic art that is inspired by Canadian indigenous artist, Meryl McMaster. Meryl's photography work is based on the concept of identity as well, and she uses elaborate costumes and manipulated natural settings to take beautiful self-portraits. Our artwork will be inspired by her light-projection photos where she has used a projector to "paint" an image on top of a person. In Meryl's projection photographs she has used pictures of animals that are important to her indigenous beliefs and ways of knowing as well as photos of ancestors that she overlays on younger generations.
We'll be doing our own version of this concept by using our photos and a light projector too! Ms. Walker has all the things we need, so not to worry - all you have to do is choose your pictures thoughtfully and send them electronically. Once we have those it's just lights, camera, action! We will be writing a short explanation of why we chose the images we did to go along with our photography. Every great artist needs an artist's statement, after all :)
Attached to this post are some images of Meryl McMaster's photography as well as Ms. Walker's first attempt and example of this project, so you'll have a vision of what's to come. In Ms. Walker's pictures you'll see an image of her mom, one of her dad, one of her home (sense of place), and one of a whale in the Atlantic ocean (land/nature connection). These are things that helped shape Ms.Walker's sense of self and who she is inside. I can't wait to see yours!
If you have any questions, e-mail Ms. Walker at laawalker@cbe.ab.ca, and share your images through Googledocs at laawalker@educbe.ca
What is this last image of?
ReplyDeleteThis is a self portrait of the artist herself. She does a series of photographs where she makes elaborate costumes for her images that she feels represent her identity as an indigenous person, but do not conform to the stereotypical representations :)
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