That was a lot of information to digest. In my head I made a
lot of connections to the group discussion we had today in class!
I started off reading the two Barrett articles. They had a
lot of overlapping information but the whole time that I was reading thought
the articles… my head was screaming “VTS does all of this!”. What a great
teaching strategy we are given and taught to by Mary Franco. I will never look
at an artwork again and not run through the VTS questions out loud or in my
mind. I will also never create a piece of artwork that is meant to be viewed
without thinking about the VTS questions. Barrett talked about interpreting art and
creating discussions around an artwork. He presented a list of principles that
should be considered. Interpretations should be given with reason and evidence
(is that VTS or what!). He also stated
that there is “no one true interpretation of an artwork” but the interpretation
should be compelling, original and insightful. It also does not need to be what
the artists intended it to be. Opinions
may change when a interpretation is shared because it may be persuasive.
Barrett stated that interpretation in Art Education came to being with concern
with making meaning in art. Anyone can create meaning when interpreting a piece
of work.
Interpreting art lead right into Freedman’s chapter with his
discussion of finding meaning. The overall understanding that I took out of
this chapter was the following. Art is the formal qualities of the work itself but
it includes the experience you, as a viewer, have while interpreting and
finding meaning in the work. That meaning and interpretation can be different
then another viewers or even the artists.
I was drawn to one particular idea the was repeated in this
chapter; personal experiences and life experiences creates extensions of interpretations outside the art work, making
meanings and connections. This idea leads into Eisner’s chapters about world
environment and experiences.
Although I felt that I already knew a lot of what Eisner was
stating about the teaching of art and what arts teach and how it shows, I like
how it is all stated with an art classroom in mind. My undergrad work was done
strictly in education leaving out the art factor. It’s refreshing to read about
a art environment and how art teaches our students and the affect of the
learning. A quote that I laughed about was on page 48. “ the surest road to
hell in a classroom is to stick to the lesson plan, no matter what”. I thought
this was funny because it is very true. I don’t think I have ever truly stuck
to a lesson plan! Although I might have this “great idea” it never works out
that way. Anyways….
The following list are ideas that were stated in these
chapters that resonated with me.
Helping students find a voice and helping them find a way to
say it in the arts. P. 51
The entire last paragraph on page 57 reminded me that
teachers are important. And on the following page reminded me that you need to
love your job and art to teach art… and that I love my job! “
The choice of material that I assign to a project, “imposes
its own possibilities” p 79. I need to remember to think before I limit in
order to not limit the imagination and the possibilities that another art
making material might have.
I connected back to Barret’s articles on p 89 and the idea
of VTS andhaving studnts taking and describing what they see in art work; in their own and in other works.
I'm glad you incorporated "the surest road to hell" quote from Eisner because I thought it was amusing too, yet very important. I thought it was interesting that he said it almost as a warning to not become accustomed to sticking to the lesson plan which I actually thought would be more difficult to do.
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