Creating with Artistic Media: Using Visual Technologies & Performance

Chapter 7 Reflection

For chapter 7, the authors focus on the importance of children making art. They discuss how learning to make their own visual culture can be helpful in teaching them to make connections between ideas and materials. Experimental manipulation is the biggest help as it gives students the chance to become familiar with different mediums and learn about the possibilities of what they can achieve with them. The chapter then turns its focus on digital media in particular. The authors go on to discuss various different types of digital media and how they can be used by students in K-12 classrooms. As they mention in this section, students are being exposed to digital tools like cameras and computers at much younger ages than before as the availability of these tools has become more accessible. In some places, the schools themselves are providing young students with tablets or computers that they can take home. Despite this, computer use in school for art making processes is still rare as they are usually reserved for use with other subjects. Therefore, I think this chapter is all the more important for highlighting the importance of having these digital tools available for art making in the classroom. Having computers with varied art programs installed and digital cameras ready for use will help expand the possibilities of what we as art educators can teach them in the classroom. This will in turn help them when learning about visual culture and how to interpret the images around them because they will gain a better understanding of how they were created in the first place.

As I was reading, what stood out to me the most was the section talking about performance as a form of time arts. The authors make a very good point that performances technically fall into the category of a visual art. They use this example to further explain how different forms of art can be multi-modal and don’t necessarily have to be limited to their own main category. Also discussed, is how every component that goes into the performance can fall under the umbrella of visual culture and therefore visual arts. This includes everything from set design, to props and costumes, and even make up that performers might wear. I think it was very important for them to include performance art into this chapter talking about students using technology and other alternate forms of media for art making. In terms of visual arts, I feel like performances and the visual components that go into creating them are often overlooked by the general public. They often get lumped into just performing arts and while that is their main category, it’s important to recognize how art forms are not limited to their respective categories.

For my future art classroom, I think students would have a lot of fun with a project that incorporates some type of performance art. With it being interactive, a performance based art project can really help with fully engaging the entire classroom into the art making portion. As well it would be a great way to include lots of different art making processes as well. For an art lesson, we could spend a few weeks and come up with an idea for a story they want to perform. First, the students could work on creating characters and drawing out ideas for a set design. We could possibly then create these characters out of different materials as well as the set where the story will be taking place. This also opens up the possibility of using stop motion animation and video recording to further flesh out the story in a digital format. This way, I would be able to teach the students of how performance art can also fall into the visual art category while giving them the opportunity to explore digital mediums that may be new to them.

Dance Party by Grace, Grade 1

References:

Freedman, K. & Boughton, D. (2023). Elementary Art Education: A Practical Approach to Teaching Visual Culture [Unpublished manuscript]. Art and Design Education, Northern Illinois University.

Grace. (n.d.). Dance Party. Artsonia. Retrieved from https://www.artsonia.com/museum/art.asp?id=113508916