Art Independent Study, Fall 2020
Pandemic Emotions
For this project, students created artworks that expressed their emotions during the Pandemic using non-traditional materials. Their artworks express a range of emotions from loneliness to boredom to peacefulness.
Non-Traditional Materials
This project asked students to explore the inherent language of materials. How can the material itself impact the meaning of the artwork? They looked at artists who create work from non-traditional materials, such as trash, mass produced straws and cups, and even toilet paper rolls. Before beginning, students conducted research and created planning sketches to help them develop their ideas. They choose their materials, technique and subject matter. The only limitation was that their artwork had to be created with non-traditional materials and the materials had to relate to the content and subject matter.
Activist Artworks
In this project, students created a work of art that explored the theme of "activism".
They began by learning about activist artworks throughout history, from Goya's "The Third of May1808" to Ai Weiwei's 2014 exhibit about political prisoners called "At Large" on Alcatraz. Students then brainstormed activist topics, conducted research and created planning sketches to help them develop their ideas. They designed their own projects, choosing their materials, technique and subject matter to express an activist theme about which they were passionate.
