Remembering and Reimagining
Victor Ekpuk: Drawing Metaphors
Sawhill Gallery exhibit, James Madison University
August 22 – October 2, 2011
Emilia L. (JMU preservice student) &
Stephanie Danker ([email protected])
Lesson Theme / BIG Idea: Remembering and Reimagining
Grade level: 7th grade
Time: 50 minute periods 5 class periods
Lesson Overview:
In this lesson, students will start to understand how artists represent and communicate human experience as visual metaphors. Students will reflect on their own experiences, choosing a personal experience or memory to represent and reimagine. They will select an object that will serve as a metaphor for the experience. We will analyze Victor Ekpuk’s Dream Journey as a class, looking at how he used the method of contour line drawing to represent a memory. We will then reimagine his drawing through a collaborative class performance art.
Students will create contour drawings of their metaphoric objects. They will then create a second drawing to serve as their final product, reimagining the object as Victor Ekpuk did. They will focus on how the contour line of the object connects to the experience and communicates the emotion of the experience.
To further reimagine the experiences in another art form, we will collaborate with a music class that meets at the same time. Teachers will assign partner groups consisting of one art student and one music student. The art student will explain their drawing and experience to the music student, and collaboratively they will compose a 20-30 second musical composition that traces the contour of the drawing, and captures the experience. The music student will notate the composition, and digitally record the piece. The end product will be a digital multimedia clip showing the final image with the interpretive music. These could be combined into one iMovie with all class compositions. There could also be a culminate event, where the music students would perform their compositions live, in front of the projected image they interpreted.
Visual Culture Component/RELEVANCE:
· Students will be discussing how the process of remembering and reimagining occurs, and how artists represent their memories in that way. Often, when we reimagine and remember, our memories and perceptions are altered. We may remember the things that affected us most, and often there are miscommunications and disassembled facts when it comes to memory.
· Students can relate to this miscommunication by discussing the subject of rumors, and how they are spread, and altered. This happens often in middle and high school, and is usually a very prevalent issue for these age groups.
A way to understand this better is to play the game telephone, where the students line up shoulder-to-shoulder, and a sentence is whispered in the first student’s ear. This student proceeds to whisper it to the next, and it goes down the line. The last student will say aloud what the sentence was, and the sentence is usually altered completely, explaining how information can change from person to person.
This effect is ultimately what the students should be doing in their reimagination of their metaphor in the final drawing. Students should be altering their initial drawing in a way that is almost subconscious, just like these miscommunications.
A more detailed instruction of this game can be found at
http://peer.hdwg.org/sites/default/files/2%20ActiveListening-CommunicationSkills-Peer_Training.pdf
with discussion questions including: How often do messages like this change in every day life?
Another discussion of how visual culture is connected:
"Studies of visual metaphors used for rhetorical purposes generally concentrate on advertising. A familiar example is the technique of juxtaposing a picture of a sports car . . . with the image of a panther, suggesting that the product has comparable qualities of speed, power, and endurance. A variation on this common technique is to merge elements of the car and the wild animal, creating a composite image. . . ."
http://grammar.about.com/od/tz/g/vismeterm.htm
Students could discuss or research examples of visual metaphors in pop culture and advertising, and marketing ploys to lure them into purchasing products.
Consider showing students the first 1:20 minutes of this performance art video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XaRxUvSyRE
Performance art metaphor: Out of the box by Mr. Annabellee
Discuss: What is the box a metaphor for? What might it symbolize for the girl to come out of the box?
Virginia Standards of Learning:
Fine Art
The standards for grade seven continue to emphasize exploration, analysis, and investigation of the creative process. Students will develop technical skills that empower them to communicate ideas visually, with the focus on realistic representations of their environment. Students will acquire knowledge that permits them to identify art styles and the periods to which those styles belong. In addition, students will become aware of a variety of art careers that they may consider. They will develop inquiry skills and vocabulary as they explore the meaning of works of art, using analysis of subject matter, themes, and symbols. Students will develop an increased awareness of the nature of art and of their relationship to it as they explore the meaning and value of works of art.
Visual Communication and Production
7.4 The student will use line variations, including directionality, width, and implied line, to create contrasting qualities in a composition.
7.7 The student will create contour line drawings that demonstrate perceptual skill.
7.11 The student will create works of art by representing and interpreting ideas from other fields of knowledge.
7.14 The student will use problem-solving skills to create a work of art that communicates ideas or emotions.
Cultural Context and Art History
7.16 The student will identify styles and themes in contemporary and historical works of art.
Judgment and Criticism
7.20 The student will understand the use of personal information, artist intent, cultural influences, and historical context for interpretation of works of art.
7.24 The student will compare and contrast personal experiences with the life experiences depicted in works of art from other cultures.
Music
The middle school general music standards involve students in a higher level of music concepts and the further development of music skills through singing, playing instruments, moving, and listening. The standards encourage the reading of music notation and the assimilation of previous music study toward understanding the mechanics of a music score. Students will explore the creative and expressive aspects of music through composing and arranging. Evaluation of music performances will allow students opportunities to apply music knowledge and experiences to new situations.
Performance and Production
MS.1 The student will read and perform rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic patterns.
Cultural Context and Music Theory
MS.5 The student will investigate musical sounds, forms, styles, and genres through listening, discussing, writing, and performing.
Aesthetics
MS.9 The student will identify and compare the relationships between music and other disciplines.
Computer / Technology
Technology Communication Tools
C/T 6-8.9 The student will use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences
· Choose the appropriate tool, format, and style to communicate information.
· Independently use technology tools to create and communicate for individual and/or collaborative projects.
· Produce documents demonstrating the ability to edit, reformat, and integrate various software tools.
Writing
7.8 The student will develop narrative, expository, and persuasive writing.
· Apply knowledge of prewriting strategies.
· Elaborate the central idea in an organized manner.
· Choose vocabulary and information that will create voice and tone.
· Use clauses and phrases to vary sentences.
· Revise writing for clarity and effect.
· Use a word processor to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish selected writings.
Lesson Objectives:
Students will:
1) Discuss and reflect on the use of metaphor to represent a memory and the way artists do so in their artwork, with an emphasis on the artist Victor Ekpuk and his piece Dream Journey.
2) Reflect on a personal memory and how they can recreate using metaphor and contour line.
3) Create a final drawing of a metaphor by reimagining a memory.
4) Participate in a collaboration involving music and art students, and in pairs use the final drawing to inspire a short musical composition.
5) Investigate the connection between the way musical artists and visual artists reimagine and reinterpret memories and ideas.
Vocabulary Words for Visual Analysis: (in the order they will be introduced)
· Contour line – A contour is the line which defines a form or edge - an outline. Contour drawing follows the visible edges of a shape. The contour describes the outermost edges of a form, as well as dramatic changes of plane within the form.
· Memory – The mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experience; the power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through associative mechanisms.
· Reimagine – to form a mental image of something in a new way; to think or believe about something in a new way.
· Metaphor – something used to represent or resemble something else; symbol; a direct connection between a person (or thing) and a description of that person (or thing).
· Performance art – a collaborative art form originating in the 1970s as a fusion of several artistic media, such as drawing, film, video, music, drama and dance.
· Composition – the harmonious arrangement of the parts of a work of art in relation to each other and to the whole. In music, a composition can be comprised of many elements including voice, instruments, and style. In an artwork, the composition involves use of the elements and principles, and the message the artist wants to create.
Historical/Cultural/Artist Information:
From the Sawhill Website (http://www.sawhillgallery.com/ekpuk.html):
In Drawing Metaphors, award-winning Nigerian American artist Victor Ekpuk explores the relationships, challenges and responses to changes that characterize the human condition.
This solo exhibition continues Ekpuk's exploration of drawing as an independent genre that is not a support for painting, some of these drawings are realized in traditional media like pastel and graphite while others are through the digital process.
Unique to Ekpuk's art is his use of nsibidi, an indigenous African system of writing that employs graphic signs and code to convey concepts.
In his compositions, Ekpuk combines nsibidi signs with contemporary symbols and invented pseudo-writings that evoke the idea of writing, where legibility and illegibility become metaphors.
From the Victor Ekpuk Website (http://web.me.com/ita5/www.victorekpuk.com/you_be_me.html):
Over the cause of time, these experiences have resulted in compositions that inquire about my intellectual, emotional, physical and metaphysical relationships with my fellow man. In these days of fear and wars, tolerance should not only be about accommodating the few differences in others, but recognizing and embracing our many similarities. If we only stop to look, we might see our laughter, love, fear and pain in another's eyes. Perhaps then we may grant others the respect, kindness and freedom that we are willing to allow our own kind and ourselves.
Victor Ekpuk, 2006
From exhibition catalogue; “Inspired by Spinoza”, published by Vrije Academie, The Hague, The Netherlands, 2006
Ekpuk images can be downloaded from Sawhill Gallery’s website for educational purposes: http://www.sawhillgallery.com/ekpuk.html
Image Descriptions:
Dream Journey (2005)
This image shows Ekpuk’s use of line to create a metaphor for his “Dream Journey”. The print shows that the artist recreated a memory of a dream that he had represented using line and shading. Although this is different from many of Ekpuk’s pieces because of its lack of color, the choice of gray emphasizes his personal memory.
Questioning Strategies:
Beginning Discussion Questions (On Memory):
· Why is memory important?
· How do memories (good and bad) affect personal relationships?
· Thinking of a memory that affected a personal relationship… What went wrong? Think about what you learned from the situation.
· Reimagine the memory. What could have been done differently to ensure better communication?
Dream Journey Questions:
· First, can anyone tell me what kind of line this is?
· Why do you think Ekpuk decided to use a continuous line?
· Why is there a line that is not connected? What do you think the shading means? What about the symbol in the upper right?
· What do you think the different parts of the line represent about his dream?
· What could this dream be about?
· What do you usually feel when you wake up from a bad dream? A good one?
· How do you think the artist decided to recreate his drawing this way?
Closing Discussion Questions:
· How is the theme of Remembering and Reimagining related to art?
· What other subject areas could this theme relate to?
· What are contour drawings and what makes them different than other types of drawing?
Day 2:
Beginning of Class:
· What is the difference between a metaphor and a simile?
· Can you give an example of a metaphor?
· How did you choose your object as a metaphor for your memory?
Reimagining Ekpuk’s Drawing (performance piece):
· How could we as a class reimagine Dream Journey as a performance?
· Can contour lines be drawn using one continuous piece of yarn?
· How did we reimagine Victor Ekpuk’s drawing?
· What was this collaborative activity like?
· Was it a performance of sorts?
· How is this similar or different from theater / drama?
· How can we better reflect on and understand our experiences and memories through metaphor?
· How do metaphors enable us to reimagine our experiences?
Day 3:
Beginning of Class after listening to music class’ reinterpretation of Dream Journey:
· How does the musical composition compare and contrast to our interpretation of Ekpuk’s drawing?
· How do you think musicians re-imagine with sound instead of line?
Day 4:
Beginning of class discussion of collaborative project (with music and art students):
· (After reviewing both class collaborative projects on Dream Journey) What similarities do you see in the music and art pieces our class created? Differences?
· How do you think music and artwork hand in hand?
· How do you think musicians and artists can inspire each other?
Day 5:
Concluding Discussion
· Do you think using a metaphor to represent your memory is more powerful than representing it literally? Why?
· How do you feel about the version where you reimagined your drawing compared to the original?
· What do you think about the collaboration of music and your artwork? Do you think it resonates with the message of your artwork?
Lesson Procedures:
Day 1:
Day 2:
With Dream Journey large on the screen, tape down an end of black yarn on the floor (starting with the very bottom line point—representative of a nose in the image—Have a piece of gray paper cut the shape of the bottom shape of the drawing. This shape could have been given to a student to put on the floor. Instruct that student to put the paper on the floor, tape down, and then tape the black yarn on top of the gray paper to start the yarn contour line drawing / performance). Wind the yarn around, taping on the floor to create the circular movement representing the nose. Verbalize the meaning of the lines as you are moving, and how the continuous line could be a metaphor for a Dream Journey. Continue the yarn line to a student at the opposite side of the circle, recognizing that the line drawing should not be straight (tape down as you go). Have students keep referring to the image on the screen and start directing you to reimagine the drawing as a yarn contour on the floor. Invite students to take over your position once they get the hang of it. (This representation might be more literal at first—to how the art on the screen appears, but moves toward understanding how the drawing is a metaphor through discussion while creating.) Give 13 students each a piece of 6”x 2” black paper. Once the eye is established on the floor, invite those students one at a time or in pairs (depending on time) to each come and tape down their paper to create the eye lashes. Students can be encouraged to reimagine the lines if they wish to change them from what they see in the Ekpuk image. For example, perhaps the class would decide that the “eyelashes” should be curled before taped down. (This activity may be one you’d want to document through video or pictures as it is happening.) Definitely take a picture of the final reimagined “drawing” at its completion before it is removed. (25 minutes)
Day 4:
· Discuss with the music teacher which classroom the collaboration will take place in. The art students will be collaborating with the music students, and should be paired beforehand in order to ensure that the pairs will work well together.
· When beginning the class, have a discussion with music and art students, with the music teacher leading discussion as well. Refresh the class by showing the slideshow of the performance piece by the art students and listening to the composition made by the music class. Discuss the process and how the reimagination took place. Ask students how they chose what lines and sounds they chose to make? How do the lines and sounds correlate? (10 minutes)
· Introduce the project to students. The music students will be discussing the final drawing that their partner created, and how they came up with their composition and metaphor. They should also discuss the memory itself, and what they felt and remembered. The music student will be creating a 20-30 second piece to represent their partner’s memory and drawing. The art student should assist with the creation of the music piece. (10 minutes)
· Split up the groups into two, and keep half of the pairs in the art classroom, and send half to the music classroom. The pairs should have their discussion and begin planning their composition. (Remainder of the class)
Day 5:
· The students will have the entire class as a work session to create the musical composition, and finish up drawings if any need to. By the end of class, a recording should be made 20-30 seconds long using iMovie. Along with the music teacher, walk around and assist students and ensure that they are staying on task and understanding the assignment. Students may need assistance in using iMovie, so make sure to be available for help.
· If students finish early: Work on writing an artist statement collaboratively with the music student explaining the two works of art and the process that the pair went through to collaborate. The art student should explain the importance of the metaphor that they chose, and the memory that they were reimagining. The music student should explain how they reinterpreted the memory as well using sounds in their composition. Students should write 1-2 paragraphs minimum, and this statement could be used in the iMovie showing all the works/during the presentation it could be used as a slide before the artwork is shown and the music is played.
Materials and Preparation:
For beginning of lesson / planning:
· Sketchbooks
· Pencils
For collaborative performance art:
· A skein of black yarn
· A few pieces of gray construction paper (for ovoid shape in performance art)
· Clear tape (one roll)
· 6” x 2” black paper (13 pieces for each class doing performance art)
For final drawing:
· 18” x 24” 80 lb. white drawing paper (for final drawings)
· Black Sharpies (fine point)
· Colored chalk pastels (used sparingly at end)
Resources:
Images:
http://www.sawhillgallery.com/photos/victorekpuk/dreamjourney.png
Dream Journey
Ekpuk, V. (2007). About my work. Retrieved from http://web.me.com/ita5/www.victorekpuk.com/about_my_work.html
Sawhill Gallery. (2010). Victor Ekpuk: Drawing metaphors. Retrieved from http://www.sawhillgallery.com/ekpuk.html
Virginia Department of Education. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/index.shtml
Special populations:
· ESL accommodations can be made by rephrasing questions, directions, and explanations. The teacher should make sure that there is understanding within the entire classroom when giving instructions and having discussions.
· The students will be working in groups for the collaborative aspect of the project. The art and music teacher will have paired students beforehand, so the teachers could place an ESL student another student that would work very well jointly.
· The final drawing project involves contour line, and students will receive practice before even beginning their final drawing with thumbnail sketches, as well as practicing with the different medium of yarn collectively with the class.
Extra Materials:
Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) Facilitation 101:
From http://www.vtshome.org/what-is-vts/a-vts-discussion
Visual Thinking Strategies uses art to foster students' capacities to observe, think, listen and communicate. In VTS discussions, teachers support student growth by facilitating discussions of carefully selected works of visual art.
Teachers are asked to use three open-ended questions:
3 Facilitation Techniques:
Students are asked to:
Extension Activity:
For those inclined towards music, have students look at Foghorns by Arthur Dove. In a paragraph, write how he has created a metaphor for the experience of being outside—hearing foghorns—through shape. Create a musical rendition of this painting using objects in the classroom. Perform for the class.
Evaluation:
Victor Ekpuk Lesson: Remembering and Reimagining
Student Name _______________________________________________
Date ____________________________________________
The teacher will rate the student out of 18 points total with each objective being rated 3 points for excellent, 2 for average, and 1 point for a need for improvement. Students will be introduced to these objectives before the project.
1. Discuss and reflect on the use of metaphor to represent a memory and the way artists do so in their artwork, with an emphasis on the artist Victor Ekpuk and his piece Dream Journey.
3*= Student openly participated and added new ideas in discussion of visual culture, artist information and historical information.
2*= Student answered questions, but with no detail or ideas.
1*= Student did not participate at all or show any attention.
_______________________ / 3
2. Reflect on a personal memory and how it can be recreated using metaphor and contour line.
3*= Student openly participated in the discussion of metaphor and brought a personal memory and metaphor into class to create a drawing.
2*= Student participated, but did not bring in any ideas or a metaphor into class.
1*= Student did not participate at all or bring in materials and ideas.
_______________________ / 3
3. Create a final drawing of a metaphor by reimagining a memory.
3*= Drawing was completed and had been worked on fully with a well-thought out idea.
2*=Drawing was not completely resolved, but does reflect a reimagined memory through metaphor.
1*= Drawing was not worked on completely and does not represent a reimagined memory through metaphor.
________________________ / 3
4. Attitude and Work Effort
3*= The student was focused and worked hard on the project with a positive attitude.
2*=The student did not work hard to complete project on time, and was a disruption.
1*= Project was not completed due to disruptive behaviors.
________________________ / 3
5. Participate in a collaboration between music and art students, and in pairs use the final drawing to inspire a short musical composition.
3*= The student participated in collaboration with a good work ethic/respect and assisted in the creation of a musical composition.
2*= The student did complete the drawing to inspire musical composition, but did not work effectively with his / her partner.
1*= The student did not assist at all in the musical composition and did not produce a final drawing to assist his / her partner.
________________________ / 3
6. Investigate the connection between the way musical artists and visual artists reimagine and reinterpret memories and ideas.
3*= The student participated in discussion and performances to investigate the way artists reimagine and reinterpret memories and ideas, and completed a final product of a drawing along with a short (20-30 second) musical composition.
2*=The student participated in discussion and class performances, but did not create a final product that shows the investigation of the way musical and visual artists reimagine and reinterpret ideas.
1*= The student did not participate in the discussion or class performance, and did not create a final product.
________________________ / 3
Sawhill Gallery exhibit, James Madison University
August 22 – October 2, 2011
Emilia L. (JMU preservice student) &
Stephanie Danker ([email protected])
Lesson Theme / BIG Idea: Remembering and Reimagining
Grade level: 7th grade
Time: 50 minute periods 5 class periods
Lesson Overview:
In this lesson, students will start to understand how artists represent and communicate human experience as visual metaphors. Students will reflect on their own experiences, choosing a personal experience or memory to represent and reimagine. They will select an object that will serve as a metaphor for the experience. We will analyze Victor Ekpuk’s Dream Journey as a class, looking at how he used the method of contour line drawing to represent a memory. We will then reimagine his drawing through a collaborative class performance art.
Students will create contour drawings of their metaphoric objects. They will then create a second drawing to serve as their final product, reimagining the object as Victor Ekpuk did. They will focus on how the contour line of the object connects to the experience and communicates the emotion of the experience.
To further reimagine the experiences in another art form, we will collaborate with a music class that meets at the same time. Teachers will assign partner groups consisting of one art student and one music student. The art student will explain their drawing and experience to the music student, and collaboratively they will compose a 20-30 second musical composition that traces the contour of the drawing, and captures the experience. The music student will notate the composition, and digitally record the piece. The end product will be a digital multimedia clip showing the final image with the interpretive music. These could be combined into one iMovie with all class compositions. There could also be a culminate event, where the music students would perform their compositions live, in front of the projected image they interpreted.
Visual Culture Component/RELEVANCE:
· Students will be discussing how the process of remembering and reimagining occurs, and how artists represent their memories in that way. Often, when we reimagine and remember, our memories and perceptions are altered. We may remember the things that affected us most, and often there are miscommunications and disassembled facts when it comes to memory.
· Students can relate to this miscommunication by discussing the subject of rumors, and how they are spread, and altered. This happens often in middle and high school, and is usually a very prevalent issue for these age groups.
A way to understand this better is to play the game telephone, where the students line up shoulder-to-shoulder, and a sentence is whispered in the first student’s ear. This student proceeds to whisper it to the next, and it goes down the line. The last student will say aloud what the sentence was, and the sentence is usually altered completely, explaining how information can change from person to person.
This effect is ultimately what the students should be doing in their reimagination of their metaphor in the final drawing. Students should be altering their initial drawing in a way that is almost subconscious, just like these miscommunications.
A more detailed instruction of this game can be found at
http://peer.hdwg.org/sites/default/files/2%20ActiveListening-CommunicationSkills-Peer_Training.pdf
with discussion questions including: How often do messages like this change in every day life?
Another discussion of how visual culture is connected:
"Studies of visual metaphors used for rhetorical purposes generally concentrate on advertising. A familiar example is the technique of juxtaposing a picture of a sports car . . . with the image of a panther, suggesting that the product has comparable qualities of speed, power, and endurance. A variation on this common technique is to merge elements of the car and the wild animal, creating a composite image. . . ."
http://grammar.about.com/od/tz/g/vismeterm.htm
Students could discuss or research examples of visual metaphors in pop culture and advertising, and marketing ploys to lure them into purchasing products.
Consider showing students the first 1:20 minutes of this performance art video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XaRxUvSyRE
Performance art metaphor: Out of the box by Mr. Annabellee
Discuss: What is the box a metaphor for? What might it symbolize for the girl to come out of the box?
Virginia Standards of Learning:
Fine Art
The standards for grade seven continue to emphasize exploration, analysis, and investigation of the creative process. Students will develop technical skills that empower them to communicate ideas visually, with the focus on realistic representations of their environment. Students will acquire knowledge that permits them to identify art styles and the periods to which those styles belong. In addition, students will become aware of a variety of art careers that they may consider. They will develop inquiry skills and vocabulary as they explore the meaning of works of art, using analysis of subject matter, themes, and symbols. Students will develop an increased awareness of the nature of art and of their relationship to it as they explore the meaning and value of works of art.
Visual Communication and Production
7.4 The student will use line variations, including directionality, width, and implied line, to create contrasting qualities in a composition.
7.7 The student will create contour line drawings that demonstrate perceptual skill.
7.11 The student will create works of art by representing and interpreting ideas from other fields of knowledge.
7.14 The student will use problem-solving skills to create a work of art that communicates ideas or emotions.
Cultural Context and Art History
7.16 The student will identify styles and themes in contemporary and historical works of art.
Judgment and Criticism
7.20 The student will understand the use of personal information, artist intent, cultural influences, and historical context for interpretation of works of art.
7.24 The student will compare and contrast personal experiences with the life experiences depicted in works of art from other cultures.
Music
The middle school general music standards involve students in a higher level of music concepts and the further development of music skills through singing, playing instruments, moving, and listening. The standards encourage the reading of music notation and the assimilation of previous music study toward understanding the mechanics of a music score. Students will explore the creative and expressive aspects of music through composing and arranging. Evaluation of music performances will allow students opportunities to apply music knowledge and experiences to new situations.
Performance and Production
MS.1 The student will read and perform rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic patterns.
Cultural Context and Music Theory
MS.5 The student will investigate musical sounds, forms, styles, and genres through listening, discussing, writing, and performing.
Aesthetics
MS.9 The student will identify and compare the relationships between music and other disciplines.
Computer / Technology
Technology Communication Tools
C/T 6-8.9 The student will use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences
· Choose the appropriate tool, format, and style to communicate information.
· Independently use technology tools to create and communicate for individual and/or collaborative projects.
· Produce documents demonstrating the ability to edit, reformat, and integrate various software tools.
Writing
7.8 The student will develop narrative, expository, and persuasive writing.
· Apply knowledge of prewriting strategies.
· Elaborate the central idea in an organized manner.
· Choose vocabulary and information that will create voice and tone.
· Use clauses and phrases to vary sentences.
· Revise writing for clarity and effect.
· Use a word processor to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish selected writings.
Lesson Objectives:
Students will:
1) Discuss and reflect on the use of metaphor to represent a memory and the way artists do so in their artwork, with an emphasis on the artist Victor Ekpuk and his piece Dream Journey.
2) Reflect on a personal memory and how they can recreate using metaphor and contour line.
3) Create a final drawing of a metaphor by reimagining a memory.
4) Participate in a collaboration involving music and art students, and in pairs use the final drawing to inspire a short musical composition.
5) Investigate the connection between the way musical artists and visual artists reimagine and reinterpret memories and ideas.
Vocabulary Words for Visual Analysis: (in the order they will be introduced)
· Contour line – A contour is the line which defines a form or edge - an outline. Contour drawing follows the visible edges of a shape. The contour describes the outermost edges of a form, as well as dramatic changes of plane within the form.
· Memory – The mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experience; the power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through associative mechanisms.
· Reimagine – to form a mental image of something in a new way; to think or believe about something in a new way.
· Metaphor – something used to represent or resemble something else; symbol; a direct connection between a person (or thing) and a description of that person (or thing).
· Performance art – a collaborative art form originating in the 1970s as a fusion of several artistic media, such as drawing, film, video, music, drama and dance.
· Composition – the harmonious arrangement of the parts of a work of art in relation to each other and to the whole. In music, a composition can be comprised of many elements including voice, instruments, and style. In an artwork, the composition involves use of the elements and principles, and the message the artist wants to create.
Historical/Cultural/Artist Information:
From the Sawhill Website (http://www.sawhillgallery.com/ekpuk.html):
In Drawing Metaphors, award-winning Nigerian American artist Victor Ekpuk explores the relationships, challenges and responses to changes that characterize the human condition.
This solo exhibition continues Ekpuk's exploration of drawing as an independent genre that is not a support for painting, some of these drawings are realized in traditional media like pastel and graphite while others are through the digital process.
Unique to Ekpuk's art is his use of nsibidi, an indigenous African system of writing that employs graphic signs and code to convey concepts.
In his compositions, Ekpuk combines nsibidi signs with contemporary symbols and invented pseudo-writings that evoke the idea of writing, where legibility and illegibility become metaphors.
From the Victor Ekpuk Website (http://web.me.com/ita5/www.victorekpuk.com/you_be_me.html):
Over the cause of time, these experiences have resulted in compositions that inquire about my intellectual, emotional, physical and metaphysical relationships with my fellow man. In these days of fear and wars, tolerance should not only be about accommodating the few differences in others, but recognizing and embracing our many similarities. If we only stop to look, we might see our laughter, love, fear and pain in another's eyes. Perhaps then we may grant others the respect, kindness and freedom that we are willing to allow our own kind and ourselves.
Victor Ekpuk, 2006
From exhibition catalogue; “Inspired by Spinoza”, published by Vrije Academie, The Hague, The Netherlands, 2006
Ekpuk images can be downloaded from Sawhill Gallery’s website for educational purposes: http://www.sawhillgallery.com/ekpuk.html
Image Descriptions:
Dream Journey (2005)
This image shows Ekpuk’s use of line to create a metaphor for his “Dream Journey”. The print shows that the artist recreated a memory of a dream that he had represented using line and shading. Although this is different from many of Ekpuk’s pieces because of its lack of color, the choice of gray emphasizes his personal memory.
Questioning Strategies:
Beginning Discussion Questions (On Memory):
· Why is memory important?
· How do memories (good and bad) affect personal relationships?
· Thinking of a memory that affected a personal relationship… What went wrong? Think about what you learned from the situation.
· Reimagine the memory. What could have been done differently to ensure better communication?
Dream Journey Questions:
· First, can anyone tell me what kind of line this is?
· Why do you think Ekpuk decided to use a continuous line?
· Why is there a line that is not connected? What do you think the shading means? What about the symbol in the upper right?
· What do you think the different parts of the line represent about his dream?
· What could this dream be about?
· What do you usually feel when you wake up from a bad dream? A good one?
· How do you think the artist decided to recreate his drawing this way?
Closing Discussion Questions:
· How is the theme of Remembering and Reimagining related to art?
· What other subject areas could this theme relate to?
· What are contour drawings and what makes them different than other types of drawing?
Day 2:
Beginning of Class:
· What is the difference between a metaphor and a simile?
· Can you give an example of a metaphor?
· How did you choose your object as a metaphor for your memory?
Reimagining Ekpuk’s Drawing (performance piece):
· How could we as a class reimagine Dream Journey as a performance?
· Can contour lines be drawn using one continuous piece of yarn?
· How did we reimagine Victor Ekpuk’s drawing?
· What was this collaborative activity like?
· Was it a performance of sorts?
· How is this similar or different from theater / drama?
· How can we better reflect on and understand our experiences and memories through metaphor?
· How do metaphors enable us to reimagine our experiences?
Day 3:
Beginning of Class after listening to music class’ reinterpretation of Dream Journey:
· How does the musical composition compare and contrast to our interpretation of Ekpuk’s drawing?
· How do you think musicians re-imagine with sound instead of line?
Day 4:
Beginning of class discussion of collaborative project (with music and art students):
· (After reviewing both class collaborative projects on Dream Journey) What similarities do you see in the music and art pieces our class created? Differences?
· How do you think music and artwork hand in hand?
· How do you think musicians and artists can inspire each other?
Day 5:
Concluding Discussion
· Do you think using a metaphor to represent your memory is more powerful than representing it literally? Why?
· How do you feel about the version where you reimagined your drawing compared to the original?
· What do you think about the collaboration of music and your artwork? Do you think it resonates with the message of your artwork?
Lesson Procedures:
Day 1:
- Introduce theme of remembering and reimagining. As a class, ask students what it means to remember something. Why is memory important? How do memories (good and bad) affect personal relationships? Give an example. (5 minutes)
- Think, pair, share: Give students a chance to discuss a memory that has affected a personal relationship or friendship with someone. In their sketchbooks, give students time to reflect by writing down a memory. Then, have them share with a partner. Invite students to share with the class what they have discussed. (8 minutes)
- Reimagining: Direct students to now think of a time when you have had a misunderstanding or miscommunication with someone close to you (friend, family member, teacher, etc.). What went wrong? Think about what you learned from the situation. Reimagine the memory. What could have been done differently to ensure better communication? Think, pair, share. (10 minutes)
- How does this relate to art? Often, artists create art that is inspired by personal memories—of events in their lives or visual representations of how they felt about those events; of significant people or things in their lives or visual representations of how they felt about those people or things; of places they have been or wish to go (actual or imaginary), or visual representations of how they feel about those places. Artists sometimes also reimagine these memories, and create art about what could be. (2 minutes)
- Introduce artist Victor Ekpuk by showing a few slides in a ppt. Slide 1: image of the artist, with a quote. Give personal background of the artist. Slide 2: map of the world. Show where Nigeria is in relation to the United States. (5 minutes)
- Slide 3: Dream Journey. Lead students through a visual analysis of this image. (Refer to Visual Thinking Strategies in Extra Materials Section.) Introduce contour line and how it is prevalent in Dream Journey. How does this method of drawing represent a thought? (10 minutes)
- Have students revisit the personal memories they thought of in their think, pair, share time. Instruct students that they will each choose one significant life experience that they have had (a memory) to focus on for this project. They will need to think of an object that would represent that memory. (5 minutes)
- Instruct students to put away materials (sketchbooks). (2 minutes)
- Closure for the day: How is the theme of Remembering and Reimagining related to art? What other subject areas could this theme relate to? What are contour drawings and what makes them different than other types of drawing? Give homework assignment. Homework: Find an image of the object you have selected to represent the personal memory you have chosen (photograph or from the web), or bring in your object tomorrow (if it is small). Remind students that this must be a school appropriate image or object. (3 minutes)
Day 2:
- Begin by reviewing the theme and artist that was introduced yesterday. Students should have sketchbooks, pencils and their homework (image or object to represent experience) at their tables. Introduce the idea of metaphor (show ppt—Slide 4 with definition of metaphor). Ask students to come up with some examples of metaphor. Show ppt Slide 5 of examples with visual representations. What is the difference between a metaphor and a simile? (5 minutes)
- In sketchbooks, have students create a quick contour drawing of their object to represent their experience / memory. Stress that students should not pick up their pencil while drawing, and should keep their eye on their object. One continuous line should be used. For those who finish their drawing before others or those who forgot to bring their image or object: write in their sketchbooks how the representative object they chose is a metaphor for their memory. (7 minutes—display digital timer on screen, so students are aware of how much time remains)
- Transition into group activity. Now that you have created a drawing that serves as a metaphor for your experience, we are going to engage in a collaborative activity to reimagine Victor Ekpuk’s metaphoric drawing of Dream Journey. Put Dream Journey image on screen—Slide 3. Ask students to clean up quietly, putting away their sketchbooks and pencils. The table that does so the fastest and quietest will be rewarded by moving first. Eventually, they will all move over to an area in the room that is more open, without desks or tables, but so that they can still see the image on the screen. Students should form a circle, and quietly wait for instruction. (3 minutes)
- Once all students are in a circle and quiet, continue. We are going to talk about how contour lines can be represented in space. How could we as a class reimagine Dream Journey as a performance? Can contour lines be drawn using one continuous piece of yarn?
With Dream Journey large on the screen, tape down an end of black yarn on the floor (starting with the very bottom line point—representative of a nose in the image—Have a piece of gray paper cut the shape of the bottom shape of the drawing. This shape could have been given to a student to put on the floor. Instruct that student to put the paper on the floor, tape down, and then tape the black yarn on top of the gray paper to start the yarn contour line drawing / performance). Wind the yarn around, taping on the floor to create the circular movement representing the nose. Verbalize the meaning of the lines as you are moving, and how the continuous line could be a metaphor for a Dream Journey. Continue the yarn line to a student at the opposite side of the circle, recognizing that the line drawing should not be straight (tape down as you go). Have students keep referring to the image on the screen and start directing you to reimagine the drawing as a yarn contour on the floor. Invite students to take over your position once they get the hang of it. (This representation might be more literal at first—to how the art on the screen appears, but moves toward understanding how the drawing is a metaphor through discussion while creating.) Give 13 students each a piece of 6”x 2” black paper. Once the eye is established on the floor, invite those students one at a time or in pairs (depending on time) to each come and tape down their paper to create the eye lashes. Students can be encouraged to reimagine the lines if they wish to change them from what they see in the Ekpuk image. For example, perhaps the class would decide that the “eyelashes” should be curled before taped down. (This activity may be one you’d want to document through video or pictures as it is happening.) Definitely take a picture of the final reimagined “drawing” at its completion before it is removed. (25 minutes)
- Debrief the experience with the students in the space. (This can also serve as the class closure.) How did we reimagine Victor Ekpuk’s drawing? What was this collaborative activity like? Was it a performance of sorts? Discuss how performance art is something that is typically experienced in live environments with an audience, and sometimes invites participation from the audience. How is this similar or different from theater / drama? How can we better reflect on and understand our experiences and memories through metaphor? How do metaphors enable us to reimagine our experiences? (8 minutes)
- As students are moving back to their seats to wait for the bell to ring, ask a few students to help remove the “drawing” from the floor. Have them remove the tape from the yarn—throwing the tape in the trash, but keeping the yarn to use with the next class. Remind any student who forgot their image today that they must bring it tomorrow. If they do not, they will lose points for the assignment. (2 minutes)
- Begin class with a split image on the screen—Victor Ekpuk’s Dream Journey and a picture of the class’ reimagined version of the drawing from the day before (ppt Slide 6—note: there should be a slide for each class, because of the variety of their interpretations. Make sure you indicate the class period on the slide to avoid confusion).
- (Plan ahead—introduce idea a few weeks in advance—to collaborate with the music teacher at your school. Ask the music teacher if he/she would practice the same performance piece with the music students in the class during the same period. The teacher should have already showed the corresponding music class the Ekpuk image, and created a performance piece of their own. The music performance piece should be created by using the lines in Dream Journey to inspire sounds.
- The music teacher should ask the same questions by following the lines in the drawing and questioning students on what sounds represent and reflect the emotions Ekpuk is trying to portray in his metaphor. The final result should be a musical composition representing the piece reimagining Ekpuk’s piece, and it should be recorded to share in the art classroom.
- Play the recorded music or video as students look at the images on the screen (or look at a small thumbnail glued into their sketchbooks) of Dream Journey.
- Discuss how music is related to art, and how musicians also create work based on the theme of remembering and reimagining. Questions to ask include: How does the musical composition compare and contrast to our interpretation of Ekpuk’s drawing? How do you think musicians re-imagine with sound instead of line? (8 minutes)
- The performance piece that the art students have created should be documented by photographs to show the process the students went through when recreating Ekpuk’s piece using yarn. These photographs will also be shown to the music students before both classes collaborate.
- Ask the students to show which thumbnail they have chosen to recreate, and distribute the paper and a pencil so that they can plan out their composition first. Once students have their drawing transferred onto the 18” x 24” paper, give them a fine point black sharpie to draw their lines, and the chalk pastel of their choice. The students will have the entire class period to finish their drawings.
Day 4:
· Discuss with the music teacher which classroom the collaboration will take place in. The art students will be collaborating with the music students, and should be paired beforehand in order to ensure that the pairs will work well together.
· When beginning the class, have a discussion with music and art students, with the music teacher leading discussion as well. Refresh the class by showing the slideshow of the performance piece by the art students and listening to the composition made by the music class. Discuss the process and how the reimagination took place. Ask students how they chose what lines and sounds they chose to make? How do the lines and sounds correlate? (10 minutes)
· Introduce the project to students. The music students will be discussing the final drawing that their partner created, and how they came up with their composition and metaphor. They should also discuss the memory itself, and what they felt and remembered. The music student will be creating a 20-30 second piece to represent their partner’s memory and drawing. The art student should assist with the creation of the music piece. (10 minutes)
· Split up the groups into two, and keep half of the pairs in the art classroom, and send half to the music classroom. The pairs should have their discussion and begin planning their composition. (Remainder of the class)
Day 5:
· The students will have the entire class as a work session to create the musical composition, and finish up drawings if any need to. By the end of class, a recording should be made 20-30 seconds long using iMovie. Along with the music teacher, walk around and assist students and ensure that they are staying on task and understanding the assignment. Students may need assistance in using iMovie, so make sure to be available for help.
· If students finish early: Work on writing an artist statement collaboratively with the music student explaining the two works of art and the process that the pair went through to collaborate. The art student should explain the importance of the metaphor that they chose, and the memory that they were reimagining. The music student should explain how they reinterpreted the memory as well using sounds in their composition. Students should write 1-2 paragraphs minimum, and this statement could be used in the iMovie showing all the works/during the presentation it could be used as a slide before the artwork is shown and the music is played.
Materials and Preparation:
For beginning of lesson / planning:
· Sketchbooks
· Pencils
For collaborative performance art:
· A skein of black yarn
· A few pieces of gray construction paper (for ovoid shape in performance art)
· Clear tape (one roll)
· 6” x 2” black paper (13 pieces for each class doing performance art)
For final drawing:
· 18” x 24” 80 lb. white drawing paper (for final drawings)
· Black Sharpies (fine point)
· Colored chalk pastels (used sparingly at end)
Resources:
Images:
http://www.sawhillgallery.com/photos/victorekpuk/dreamjourney.png
Dream Journey
Ekpuk, V. (2007). About my work. Retrieved from http://web.me.com/ita5/www.victorekpuk.com/about_my_work.html
Sawhill Gallery. (2010). Victor Ekpuk: Drawing metaphors. Retrieved from http://www.sawhillgallery.com/ekpuk.html
Virginia Department of Education. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/index.shtml
Special populations:
· ESL accommodations can be made by rephrasing questions, directions, and explanations. The teacher should make sure that there is understanding within the entire classroom when giving instructions and having discussions.
· The students will be working in groups for the collaborative aspect of the project. The art and music teacher will have paired students beforehand, so the teachers could place an ESL student another student that would work very well jointly.
· The final drawing project involves contour line, and students will receive practice before even beginning their final drawing with thumbnail sketches, as well as practicing with the different medium of yarn collectively with the class.
Extra Materials:
Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) Facilitation 101:
From http://www.vtshome.org/what-is-vts/a-vts-discussion
Visual Thinking Strategies uses art to foster students' capacities to observe, think, listen and communicate. In VTS discussions, teachers support student growth by facilitating discussions of carefully selected works of visual art.
Teachers are asked to use three open-ended questions:
- What's going on in this picture?
- What do you see that makes you say that?
- What more can we find?
3 Facilitation Techniques:
- Paraphrase comments neutrally.
- Point at the area being discussed.
- Link contrasting and complementary comments.
Students are asked to:
- Look carefully at works of art.
- Talk about what they observe.
- Back up their ideas with evidence.
- Listen to and consider the views of others.
- Discuss many possible interpretations.
Extension Activity:
For those inclined towards music, have students look at Foghorns by Arthur Dove. In a paragraph, write how he has created a metaphor for the experience of being outside—hearing foghorns—through shape. Create a musical rendition of this painting using objects in the classroom. Perform for the class.
Evaluation:
Victor Ekpuk Lesson: Remembering and Reimagining
Student Name _______________________________________________
Date ____________________________________________
The teacher will rate the student out of 18 points total with each objective being rated 3 points for excellent, 2 for average, and 1 point for a need for improvement. Students will be introduced to these objectives before the project.
1. Discuss and reflect on the use of metaphor to represent a memory and the way artists do so in their artwork, with an emphasis on the artist Victor Ekpuk and his piece Dream Journey.
3*= Student openly participated and added new ideas in discussion of visual culture, artist information and historical information.
2*= Student answered questions, but with no detail or ideas.
1*= Student did not participate at all or show any attention.
_______________________ / 3
2. Reflect on a personal memory and how it can be recreated using metaphor and contour line.
3*= Student openly participated in the discussion of metaphor and brought a personal memory and metaphor into class to create a drawing.
2*= Student participated, but did not bring in any ideas or a metaphor into class.
1*= Student did not participate at all or bring in materials and ideas.
_______________________ / 3
3. Create a final drawing of a metaphor by reimagining a memory.
3*= Drawing was completed and had been worked on fully with a well-thought out idea.
2*=Drawing was not completely resolved, but does reflect a reimagined memory through metaphor.
1*= Drawing was not worked on completely and does not represent a reimagined memory through metaphor.
________________________ / 3
4. Attitude and Work Effort
3*= The student was focused and worked hard on the project with a positive attitude.
2*=The student did not work hard to complete project on time, and was a disruption.
1*= Project was not completed due to disruptive behaviors.
________________________ / 3
5. Participate in a collaboration between music and art students, and in pairs use the final drawing to inspire a short musical composition.
3*= The student participated in collaboration with a good work ethic/respect and assisted in the creation of a musical composition.
2*= The student did complete the drawing to inspire musical composition, but did not work effectively with his / her partner.
1*= The student did not assist at all in the musical composition and did not produce a final drawing to assist his / her partner.
________________________ / 3
6. Investigate the connection between the way musical artists and visual artists reimagine and reinterpret memories and ideas.
3*= The student participated in discussion and performances to investigate the way artists reimagine and reinterpret memories and ideas, and completed a final product of a drawing along with a short (20-30 second) musical composition.
2*=The student participated in discussion and class performances, but did not create a final product that shows the investigation of the way musical and visual artists reimagine and reinterpret ideas.
1*= The student did not participate in the discussion or class performance, and did not create a final product.
________________________ / 3