OR…TALKING ABOUT ART

Elementary Art Criticism

Elizabeth Bure, Artist Teacher, Barrington, IL

PISSED!

When kids walk in the art room and find out that they are

talking about art and not“Doing Anything”

They immediately become…..

The process of art criticism involves 4 actions.

They are: describe, analyze, interpret and decide.

Some guidelines to help are below:

Describe - what things are in the painting? Think of things like clothing, environment, etc.

Analyze - how are the elements of art (line, shape, form, texture, space, color and value) are used? How are the principles of unity pattern, rhythm, variety, balance, emphasis and proportion used?

Interpret - what is the artist trying to say to you? What is going on in the picture or artwork?

Judgement- What do I think about this artwork? Do I like it? Why or why not?

Here’s what the process looks like:

Pretty when all you want to do is GET THE: Paint

CLAY! Wire or even just the markers!And the LAST thing you want to

do is sit in a chair and talk! ICK!

BORING

But kids need to be able to communicate about art and visual culture, especially as the world becomes increasingly more VISUAL!

Is it possible to trick them into thinking that this talking about art thing is fun?

I don’t know……but I’m giving it my best shot…..

Enter.......

“Spiral art criticism”“Mad ART libs” and...“Magnetic poetic aesthetics”

3 games intended to trick kids into thinking art criticism is more fun than

clay.

(when really, we all know that nothing is better than clay.)

Spiral Art Criticism In this game, kids are given a fun-

looking spiraling worksheet and are asked to complete JUST 4, or 8, or 12 of the prompts….

(depending on their level)

They are asked to do the ‘s first, the ‘s second, the ‘s third, and the ‘s fourth.

(these symbols stand for 1, 2, 3, and 4 in my art room)

The ‘s are DESCRIBING prompts….The ‘s are ANALYTICAL prompts….The ‘s are EVALUTATIVE promts…..And, the ‘s are prompts requiring JUDGEMENT.

A WORD BANK is provided to help them along

The word bank is also divided into words used for each of the 4 steps in the art criticism process!

Some Sample description prompts are: I see……… It looks like….. It reminds me of….. The mood is…..Some Sample word bank items are: Subjects: people, animals, boats, bicycles,

fruit, creatures, rainy day, bright sunshine, a useful object, etc.

Action: playing, eating, dancing, sleeping Something I once saw…… Moods: cheerful, exciting, fun, peaceful,

thoughful, sad, angry, lonely

Some Sample analytic prompts are: I see……… It looks like….. It reminds me of….. The mood is…..Some Sample word bank items are: Subjects: people, animals, boats, bicycles,

fruit, creatures, rainy day, bright sunshine, a useful object, etc.

Action: playing, eating, dancing, sleeping Something I once saw…… Moods: cheerful, exciting, fun, peaceful,

thoughful, sad, angry, lonely

Analyze - how are the elements of art (line, shape, form, texture, space, color and value) are used? How are the principles of unity pattern, rhythm, variety, balance, emphasis and proportion used?

Some Sample description prompts are: I see……… It looks like….. It reminds me of….. The mood is…..Some Sample word bank items are: Subjects: people, animals, boats, bicycles,

fruit, creatures, rainy day, bright sunshine, a useful object, etc.

Action: playing, eating, dancing, sleeping Something I once saw…… Moods: cheerful, exciting, fun, peaceful,

thoughful, sad, angry, lonely

Some Sample description prompts are: I see……… It looks like….. It reminds me of….. The mood is…..Some Sample word bank items are: Subjects: people, animals, boats, bicycles,

fruit, creatures, rainy day, bright sunshine, a useful object, etc.

Action: playing, eating, dancing, sleeping Something I once saw…… Moods: cheerful, exciting, fun, peaceful,

thoughful, sad, angry, lonely

Magnetic Poetic Aesthetics!An inter-active art criticism activity engaging kids in the use of:

*Rating Scales

*Movable word banks

*Drawing overlays

* “Telephone”

Magnetic Poetic Aesthetics!Using RATING scales

On a scale of dark to light I’d place this artwork:

On a scale of happy to sad I’d place this artwork:

On a scale of exciting to calm I’d place this artwork:

light dark

happy sad

exciting

calm

On a scale of dark to light I’d place this artwork:

On a scale of happy to sad I’d place this artwork:

On a scale of exciting to calm I’d place this artwork:

light dark

happy

sad

exciting

calm

Here’s how we might rate Edvard Munch’s“The Scream”……………..

How do you BEGIN talking about an artwork with a group of children?

Magnetic Poetic Aesthetics!

Using MOVABLE word banks(kids can also type in new words with powerpoint

or write new words using the smartboard)

smooth

colorfulldark bright

Movement

light

cheerfull

shadow

peaceful

highlight

line

monochromatic

sad

textured

Geometric shape

drearypattern

Organic shape

Free-form shape

darklight

3-D

shadowhighlight

dull

static

FOCAL POINT

Magnetic Poetic Aesthetics!Example: Using MOVABLE word banks

(kids can also type in new words with powerpoint or write new words using the smartboard)

smooth

colorfulldark bright

Movement

light cheerfull

shadow

peaceful

highlight

line

monochromatic

sadtextured

Geometric shape

drearypattern

Organic shape

Free-form shape

darklight

3-D

shadowhighlight

dullstatic

FOCAL POINT

Telephone! There is one priceless artwork in a flooding warehouse full of pictures!

Describe it to the finder in the warehouse so they can

save it from the coming flood!

TELEPHONER: Describe artwork to findersFINDERS: Listen to Telephoner’s Description

Telephoner tells teacher which painting she will describe secretly while FINDERS close their eyes.

Sources:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_four_steps_of_art_criticism