Sarah Turgel
Can I really do that? In one of the videos, we explore some of the seemingly unsophisticated art. People who draw, what looks like, scribbles, a person who took a picture of two in-synced clocks and more. These artworks in fact take skill, but they take a different kind of skill (e.g. research, the ability to express an idea, the ability to explore new materials…)
The link below has some great tools for introducing contemporary art into the classroom and encouraging students to engage in dialogue on the subject. Art21 believes that the introduction contemporary art is powerful way to encourage creative and critical thinking across disciplines.
Tina Lin
I never thought about reading into what propelled the artist to make the work that they did, and to consider interpreting the artwork holistically – politically, emotionally, socially, etc. I think that was something valuable that I learned from watching the video because now I can understand when I’m reading the didactic panels, why they write about the artist’s feelings or life story in it, since it’s actually an important part of the experience/understanding the artwork. The artwork itself isn’t supposed to tell you or make you feel everything, the didactic is just as important or else you could completely not understand what the artwork is trying to convey. Moreover, I always thought the opposite with technique- I would look at a very technical work and not be blown away by it (because I learned sketching technique growing up), but when it came to simple looking art with colours and shape I always fell in love with the straightness and bold colours. So it was interesting to note from the video about how much technique actually goes into making straight lines like that when working with paint !