Further photo work

I have continued to work on the flower photos I posted a few days ago, this time focusing on tone and the disintegration of shape.

Photo work

I have begun experimenting and developing photos once again. I took a number of photos of the natural landscape, as well as reviewing photos I took over the last year, and chose to focus on flowers as I loved the colours and forms. I am still interested in transformations but wanted to work simply with the colours, shapes and forms rather than trying to create a new landscape.

Here are a few of the photos I have chosen along with the first edit of them that I have done. I created the effects by splitting the images into 3 colour layers and taking screenshots as the images separated / reformed. I then further edited them using a range of photo apps on my iPad.

Overview thoughts on Critical Pedagogy

A major focus of critical pedagogy is that of enabling individuals to identify / name, understand and disrupt power imbalances that are present in different aspects of the educational process and setting. In particular, issues of race and class are often viewed as a significant focal point.

It is concerned with empowering individuals to transformational, emancipatory acts and the facilitation of critical consciousness.

There are a number of key issues related to and contained within critical pedagogy, some of which I shall attempt to outline below.

UNDERLYING BELIEFS

1. Power is concentrated in the production of knowledge.

2. Knowledge content areas are seen as largely neutral and thus disconnected from power.

3. Subject areas are chosen in order to perpetuate the hegemony of socioeconomic classes and race (consciously or unconsciously).

THE 3 IN 1 CURRICULUM

1. Mainstream - the curriculum that is explicitly taught (knowledge, skills, understanding).

2. Hidden - the curriculum that is implied through the mainstream curriculum, teaching methodologies and practice. This is often communicated through the teacher’s own biases and views which are unconsciously manifested in their practice and expectations (sexism, Eurocentrism, patriotism, classism, etc). It can also be manifested through the physical / practical arrangements - class seating, subject options, etc.

3. Null - what is not included in the curriculum, or what is actively omitted or surpressed (this could include critical views of the explicit curriculum such as opposing viewpoints).

SERVING THE GOAL OF LIBERATION

Within education, this means an educational experience that facilitates the identification of power / knowledge relationships within society and develops an understanding of these relationships and their impact. It encourages an investigation into local and global hegemonies - what they do and how they are perpetuated.

A liberatory educational experience should facilitate a critical, questioning engagement with identified power / knowledge relationships and the concepts contained within them (e.g. historical / scientific “facts”, use of language, the origins and validity of evidence, etc).

CULTURAL CAPITAL

Cultural capital is the particular knowledge, understanding and practice that is valued by the dominant power holders. It could also be described as the acceptable cultural and social norms of a particular society or grouping as set by the elite. This is usually evidenced through the hidden or null curricula.

RELEVANCE

It is based in the real world and facilitates the interpretation or 'reading' of the world rather than a disconnected, theoretical 'reading' of the word. Students are encouraged to investigate and develop an understanding of relevant issues that affect them instead of developing technically accurate but decontextualised knowledge. The learning process is scaffolded, actively building upon students' existing knowledge and understanding.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Darder, A., Baltodano, M., Torres, R. D., Eds., 2003. The Critical Pedagogy Reader. London: RoutledgeFalmer

Kincheloe, J. 2008a. Critical Pedagogy. 2nd ed. New York: Springer Science + Business media B.V.

Malott, C. S., 2011. Critical Pedagogy and Cognition. New York: Springer Science + Business media B.V.

McLaren, P., 2003. Critical Pedagogy: A Look at the Major Concepts. In: Darder, A., Baltodano, M., Torres, R. D., eds., 2003. The Critical Pedagogy Reader. London: RoutledgeFalmer, pp.69-96

Monchinski, T., 2008. Critical pedagogy and the Everyday Classroom. New York: Springer Science + Business media B.V.

Traditional style

I painted this digital painting using ArtRage on my iPad. I was inspired by the coming of Spring and a few beautiful days of weather recently. I was exploring how to create 'depth' and 'space' in the landscape using colour, size and composition (foreground, middle ground and background):

Abstract explorations

Pupils were again developing their understanding of abstract work. They were visually exploring the theme of 'difference' and 'contrast', looking at aspects of colour, shape, pattern and texture. They are slowly becoming more confident and 'liberated' in their abstract experiments:

Enquiry based learning

The University of Birmingham, in their publication Enquiry-based learning definition, characteristics, fundamentals and approaches (2010), states that, in order to be enquiry based, the fundamental nature of questions must be relevant to learners, open ended in outcome and necessitate that the learner build on their previous learning:

“Curiosity can be aroused through structuring tasks around real life issues that have relevance to the students”

“The task presented to the learner is structured to be sufficiently open-ended to enable a variety of responses or solutions”

“The enquiry requires students to draw on existing knowledge and to identify their required leaning needs” (University of Birmingham, 2010, p. 3)

In an art context, the research and enquiry process that stems from such questions has been defined by McNiff (2009) as “the systematic use of the artistic process, the actual making of artistic expressions in all of the different forms of the arts, as a primary way of understanding and examining experience” (p. 29). It is through the course of this process that new knowledge and understanding is developed and valuable insights are gained. This may be at an individual or more generic level depending on the nature and purpose of the question and process. However, the value of these new understandings and insights can be very significant, as McNiff (2007) explains:

“Most of us find it very difficult to let go of our habitual ways of viewing the world, and it is more than likely that we manifest the same tendencies in our dealings with others. Change and insight in the personal realm are increasingly being recognized as a key source of corresponding social change” (p. 37).

This transference of understanding from that learned through the enquiry process to the wider areas of life is particularly facilitated through arts based activities. This is highlighted by Efland, 2002, where he states that the arts “provide encounters that foster the capacity to construct interpretations. The need to interpret is necessary in life, since reliable knowledge is often unavailable or filled with ambiguous and conflicting data. The interpretation of works of art not only enables one to construct understandings about them but enables individuals to interpret other situations where life’s circumstances are uncertain or unclear” (p. 161).

REFERENCES:

Efland, A. D., 2002. Art and Cognition. New York: Teachers College Press

McNiff, S., 2007. Arts Based Research. In Knowles, G. And Cole, A. L., eds., 2008. Handbook of the arts in qualitative research. Ch 3. [online] Available at: < http://www.moz.ac.at/files/pdf/fofoe/ff_abr.pdf > [Accessed 10th March 2012].

University of Birmingham, 2010. Enquiry-based learning definition, characteristics, fundamentals and approaches. [online] Available at: < http://www.ebl.bham.ac.uk/info/EBL_characteristics_fundamentals_approaches.pdf > Accessed 14th March 2012.

More Abstract work in the classroom

I have been continuing to experiment with contemporary abstract art with some of my classes. I have been using my own abstract pieces as stimulus and working through the process with pupils, allowing them to inquire at each stage.

We recently looked at emotion and here were a few of the results:










Pupils were a bit apprehensive at the totally abstract nature of the task at first but as they began to experiment they started to enjoy the freedom of expression it allowed.

Smaller canvas

I have been exploring the smaller canvas of the iPhone. Here is a landscape I painted in ArtRage:

Abstract work in the classroom

I have been using some of my own abstract work as a basis for working with pupils at school. I have introduced them to the final abstract piece and the priginal image it was transformed from and them asked them to try and work out how it was created. I then took them through the process step by step and asked them to create their own works.

Here is an example by an 11 year old - he transformed a car into a 'Peaceful Mountain':







Here are some other example of abstract work produced by pupils in this way:

Alpine landscape - developed

I have been further developing the artwork from my previous post 'Alpine Landscape'. I was very interested in the unpredictable shapes and lines that were produced by spreading the digital 'paint' of the photo onto a coarse canvas. I wanted to focus on just the blue shapes in the background for my next work so I isolated this area:



I then imported it into ArtRage and began to explore the shapes, colour and lines I could create using the palette knife. I then filled different sections, lines and shapes. This was my first attempt:




I repeated the process a number of times until I was happy with the result:




Lastly I experimented with a range of photo editing tools to further develop the image. I really liked this effect as it reminded me of the glare of snow in the bright sun:

Ingrid Calame

(Calame, 20o8)

A fellow artist teacher recommended I look at the work of Ingrid Calame and I found her work to be very interesting both in terms of process and finished product. I thought her use of line was similar to some of my own abstract works although they come from a different starting point.

Calame uses tracing paper to map out the roads, paths and tracks beneath our feet: “She maps every spill, scuff and smudge; every blob of chewing gum, tag of graffiti or splatter of unidentifiable matter” (McLean-Ferris, 2011). She then layers the tracings and draws over them, often in different colors, to create a finished work. She is recording for a little longer the everyday traces of our presence in a unique way:

“The ground beneath our feet is always changing, but Calame offers us her traces for an extended period of time. Write your name, spill your coffee, drag your heels, crash your car: our traces are left all over the street floor. Calame's process relates both to an actual location and to a moment pulled from a moving process” (Berning, 2009). Her work is very abstract and is reminiscent of a topographical map.

On aspect of her work that I found fascinating and very inspiring was the open ended nature of her work. When layering and over drawing her tracings she would often have no idea of the final outcome, the work was very much of the moment. She states that “The final drawings are always a surprise” (Berning, 2009). This seems to me a very liberating way of working and it is something that I am beginning to explore in my own practice. For example, when transforming existing images into new, abstract pieces, I very much work on exploring and experimenting with the different visual elements as they develop in front to me. Once I begin to ‘see’ the image transform into something new, I then become more directed with more of an idea of the end result. However, I have found this open ended approach of letting the experimentation lead the work very exciting, liberating and expressive.

REFERENECES:

ArtBable, 2012. Ingrid Calame, In the Factory. [video online] Available at: http://www.artbabble.org/video/ima/ingrid-calame-factory [Accessed March 2012].

Berning, D., 2009. Artist Ingrid Calame on how she draws. The Guardian, [online] 19th September. Available at: < http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/19/ingrid-calame-on-drawing-tracing > [Accessed March 2012],

Calame, I., (2008). Image: #297 Drawing (Tracings from Buffalo, NY), colour pencil on trace Mylar, 45.7 x 66cm. Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan, NY Available at: < http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/19/ingrid-calame-on-drawing-tracing > [Accessed March 2012].

McLean-Ferris, L., 2011. Ingrid Calame, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh. The Independant [online] 18th August. Available at: < http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/reviews/ingrid-calame-fruitmarket-gallery-edinburgh-2339646.html > [Accessed March 2012].

Art Babble

This site has an excellent collection of short videos about a wide range of artists. An excellent way to introduce specific works or contemporary artists in the classroom.

http://www.artbabble.org/

Artwork for the Voicethread

Here is my piece of artwork to be uploaded to the work in progress voice thread:

Alpine landscape

I am very interested I the idea of transforming images and creating new paintings from relatively simple photos / images. I love the way they almost evolve from the shapes and the colours of the original image but take on an entirely new form. As such I have been continuing to experiment with photos I have taken and develop them in different ways.

I painted this landscape digitally, transforming it out of a very simple photo:




This was the original image:



I then altered the colour, saturation, contrast, etc using a range of photo editing apps and separated out the colour layers slightly:









I then experimented with the image using a range of different painting tools in ArtRage to create the final effect. The colours and shapes in the background suggest an Alpine scene to me which is something I will develop further.

More painting development work

I have been continuing to explore the effects I can create using 'percolate' - I like the range of circular, pointillist style textures and patterns. This time I took a painting I had done previously - The Road Home - and worked from it and the source image (which had a person in it) to create a much softer, more ethereal image. After 'percolating' the image in different ways, I then painted it further in ArtRage using a combination of pastel, airbrush, pallette knife and eraser. Here is the original painting followed by the finished development piece:







Here are some of the paintings created in the process:













I used the same technique to create these two paintings: