Metaphoric Self-Portrait
(Click image to embiggen!)
More than any other subject area, art education is an adventure into the fantastic. In today’s highly structured and concrete educational system, learning is frequently a bleak and passive experience where students are not given the freedom to think outside the limits of a standardized test. However, once they travel from their cold gray world to the vibrant sphere of the arts, everything changes. Suddenly, learners are encouraged to imagine, to create, and to consider realities outside of their own. Like sailors of old seeing mermaids in sea cows, it instills a sense of wonder in the world, the ability to suspend belief and truly feel that anything is possible. An luminous airship that takes us to legendary places existing only in our imaginations - where mythical beasts run free, a giant pufferfish acts as a balloon, and Ganesha is your co-pilot – the art classroom is a vessel of discovery. The thrill of innovation, the joy of charting the uncharted – this is what drives us to learn, experience, and grow.
Brainstorming
Statement: Art Education as Adventure
More than any other subject area, art education is an adventure into the fantastic. In today’s highly structured and concrete educational system, learning is frequently a bleak and passive experience where students are not given the freedom to think outside the limits of a standardized test. However, once they travel from their cold gray world to the vibrant sphere of the arts, everything changes. Suddenly, learners are encouraged to imagine, to create, and to consider realities outside of their own. Like sailors of old seeing mermaids in sea cows, it instills a sense of wonder in the world, the ability to suspend belief and truly feel that anything is possible. An luminous airship that takes us to legendary places existing only in our imaginations - where mythical beasts run free, a giant pufferfish acts as a balloon, and Ganesha is your co-pilot – the art classroom is a vessel of discovery. The thrill of innovation, the joy of charting the uncharted – this is what drives us to learn, experience, and grow.
Brainstorming
Posts
I love this one! I can't wait to see the picture when I go to the site. I want a copy of it. I love the message and the word "embiggen!"
ReplyDeleteHA! I don't have a reference for the ship. Is it Egyptian, Roman? I wish it was a viking ship so there was a little more reference to concrete art/culture objects. I wonder why you chose Easter Island Man. I consider him a symbol of caution that we should preserve and respect cultures and environment. Perhaps in your metamorphic SP he is saying preserve your imagination too?
Well done!
Great job! I love your connection between art and fantasy. This comment connects the entire image, "the art classroom is a vessel of discovery." Art truly does allow for one to discover his/her own creativity. However, I wonder what would happen if some of the images became transparent. The images now appear to contradict with one another. With all of the images in an equal opaque state, some of them begin to flatten out and none of them are dominate. With a few of the images in a transparent state it would help some of the other more important images stand out. This will also help to create a more visually dynamic composition.
ReplyDeleteHey Ryan, This is a great image, my student would enjoy looking at it over and over again. Maybe we could show it to them and get a middle school reaction.
ReplyDeleteThe use of color in the sky and water helped move the eye around the image. I like the combination of pencil sketches, photo images, the pyramids and puffer fish. Is that a bear in the middle of the boat? What is it holding? Can't wait to talk with you about this a bit more. Debbie
Great metaphor--I want to be a student in your classroom! (I also applaud your use of "embiggen".) Your image is wonderfully creative and fantastical. Formally, I think the piece is well balanced and has some nice movement to it. I think however that I would make it more clear who Ganesha is since you say in your statement that he is my co-pilot. I would perhaps move him closer to the helm and make the Moai statue smaller so it is not such a dominant figure in the ship. Also, I think if you could make the ropes go over the blow fish it would make it look more like it's actually attached to the ship. Wonderful over all.
ReplyDeleteI like you comment “art is a vessel of discovery”, well said. This piece reminds me of a dream or a world of no worries. Only discovery awaits and new ideas are soon to be met. The color contrast works wonderfully, the figures handle well, not to mention the composition. Strong metaphors are used to illustrate your passion of art. Overall, well done and I’ll look for that giant puffer fish in the sky.
ReplyDeleteYou just can't help but look at this piece! There is so much going on but it still does not seem too busy to me. It appears to be what you said, "an adventure into the fantastic". I love it, I want to travel to this world! I think your composition is successful. The way the images are arranged allows the viewer to easily navigate around the picture. The use of the black and white figures combined with the uniquely colored background creates a nice contrast. I really enjoy looking at this art and I am excited by your enthusiasm for teaching art in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteChristine
All alliteration aside, I really enjoy the playfulness of your piece. The psychedelic blowfish against the galaxy backdrop adds a decidedly fantastical, dreamlike quality. I must admit I find it puzzling, and a bit comical that the companions on this voyage are an Easter Island head, Ganesha lord of success, and what appears to be a raccoon with a spatula. While I enjoy the sheer randomness of this crew, I am curious as to why all of the figures on your island seem to come from the same general style/period.
ReplyDeleteHi Ryan, this is really terrific! You did a good job incorporating such a wide variety of elements into a coherent whole. The effect is exactly as you intended--whimsical, imaginative, and adventurous. I also enjoy the tanuki in the life vest as I have enjoyed few things in recent memory. Great work! :)
ReplyDeleteVery smart and insightful comments. Everything you wrote in your statement rings true expecially in our current climate. Your image is very well thought out. My only critique is the cohesiveness of the image. Overall the image to me reads as a surrealistc composite which makes sense with your theme. However, some of the componets(layers) seem a little obvious cut and paste. I would try some blending tricks to bring it all together.
ReplyDelete