The first lesson that I chose to do my material research for was the project inspired by Cindy Sherman. The goal of the lesson is to take an object or thing and change the meaning of it through the things that is surround by or placed near.

Student 1 was inspired by how the meaning of a ballon can change so quickly. In one image it is seen on the floor of a celebration, giving it a happier meaning. The image of the ballon floating in the sky changes the meaning because we now see that ballon floating away, which often has sad connotations that go along with it.

Student 2 wanted to explore how masks can be seen in different ways. In the first image we see someone with their mask not being properly warn and they are seen sneezing. This makes the purpose of the mask useless. In the image to the right we see the mask being properly warn and doing the job that it was meant to do.

Student 3 was interested in public transportation and how they found a bus stop that has been abandoned. This once useful place has become overtaken by nature completely changing its meaning. In the left image we see a bus stop that is used daily and has signs of human life like the smiley face drawn on the glass.

The second lesson I decided to do material research for was the one inspired by Tara Donovan and Willie Cole. She uses everyday materials to create large scale sculptures. Obviously I do not have the space or the materials to make sculptures that resemble the scale of hers, but this way students can explore how different recycled materials can be used to create a sculpture the is inspired by nature.

Student 1 was inspired by brain neurons and how they can be Q-tips can be used to portray this design. It is interesting to see how the negative space is effected by shadows and how they all interact with one another.

Student 2 is from the city and wanted to create a city scape out of egg cartons and cardboard in order to get the feel of the city skyline.

Student 3 loves to garden and sees how much tin foil is put to waist. She figured that she could make a sculpture to put in her garden at home that resembles a sunflower. She used various forms of tin cooking sheets and the sheets of foil, to create her design.

The big idea for my learning segment is “recontextualize.” Recontextualization is something that students can use to investigate how context can change in the art world. Objects are often moved or show off different representations of a group of people or things and we can investigate how such meanings change as the context also changes. Combining location, other objects, and other subject matter will allow for students to explore how we view everyday objects as well as societal changes. All of the artists I chose recontextualize there subject matter in someway, giving students the chance to learn about their stories and process of creating to then create their own works of art.

My mentor artist is Barbara Kruger. She creates photo collages with bold red text and Kruger often focuses on themes like feminism, politics, social rights, and consumerism. For my lesson plan, my students would first do research on a contemporary issue that they would like to learn more about. Some examples could be how social media plays a role in mental health or how there is still a wage gap in America. They would then make a series of three collages on photoshop. The main materials for this assignment would be adobe photoshop and a computer. Students will also need a search engine of some sort or access to social media platforms in order to find current images that they can incorporate into their pieces. In order to show what this will look like through the use of photoshop, I created three of my own projects that all consist of different meanings in order to get students thinking about some of the possibilities. Students can also gain photoshop and graphic design skills throughout this assignment while also connecting it to advertising real world issues.

After students are done with photoshop they would print their collage out. The student must chose a color and font for their box text that they believe will go best with their image and contemporary issue. They can also add some variations of color but must include some black and white within the project. The dimensions depends on the image size, but there is a minimum of 8×11 inches.

Below I will show my own examples of what some project can look like. It has been 4 years since I have used photoshop ,so this was definitely a new thing for me to try out. Even though it took a long time to understand how things worked I really enjoyed getting to make my own collages.

Student #1: Student number one has recently noticed how advertising for various products has become a frequent thing on her social media platforms. She constantly feels pressure to buy these products and wanted to make a collage about how woman throughout the decades have been targeted to buy makeup products in order to feel pretty.The screenshot is from the original idea that I had but I wanted to diversify the projects more so I re-did each prototype for material research.

Student #2: This student created a collage inspired by the 1960’s home and how we used to live in a patriarchal society. They wanted to break the norms and also include a pride flag to counter the ways of the past. They want to show that people can be proud of who they are and not hide in todays society.

Student #3: This student wanted to show how women have been able to change in the work force and hold positions of power. They chose to place a woman wearing pants to signify the changes in society and about what is expected in the workplace. They placed a modern woman in-between two women from the 60’s. They came up with the quote “Women are resilient” because they often feel like women are not told they are strong enough. They want to fight that and show how strong women truly are.

Overview: Barbara Kruger was a conceptual and contemporary artist who was born in Newark, New jersey in 1945. She studied at Syracuse University and then attended Parsons School of design. She first got a job as a graphic designer and she used this background in design throughout her work. Her peak popularity was mainly during the 1980’s where she would use found photographs to create collages. These collages used made-up text and images from magazines that focus on consumerism and advertising. She used black and white images to convey her ideas and layered the bold and normally red text on top of said images. Her captions often speak to the viewer about the struggle for power and control. Her text and image combinations also question the viewer about feminism, consumerism, classism, and individual autonomy. She now currently lives and works in New York and Los Angeles, and has exhibited across the globe. 

Question 1: Why do you think Barbara Kruger combined the black and white photos with red box text?

Answer 1: I believe that that the color red can signify emotions such as anger or danger. For example a warning or a stop sign is normally red and it is a color that pops out at the viewer.

Answer 2: I find red to be a color that captures the viewer’s attention and when against a colorless background it allows for the eye to move from the text and then your focus shifts to the image associated with it. 

Answer 3: Barbara Kruger had a background in design and with these black and white images from magazines she could play with words and bold text to provoke different emotions among the people that view her pieces. 

Question 2: In Barbara Kruger’s piece Untitled, (Questions), from (1990/2018) she asks questions within her piece. What do think could be some of the bigger ideas that she is trying to get at with the questions asked?

Answer 1: I think her questions are trying to ask the question about social and political issues. She is trying to get at the bigger ideas behind politics in society especially in her goals of confronting the viewer about power struggles. 

Answer 2: She could be trying to get the viewer to ask questions about power relations, and I see this especially through this piece, because she asks the question “who is beyond the law?” which is an interesting power play.

Answer 3: It could also be about public engagement or social justice. I think she is trying to get the viewer as involved as possible and the questions are in such large text that it doesn’t really give the viewer a choice but to be confronted by the questions.

Question 3: Barbara Kruger often confronts the viewer with stereotypes in today’s society. What are some stereotypes you would confront if you were the artist? 

Answer 1: I would talk about how there is still a wage gap in today’s society and make a collage that confronts those issues. She also critiques social aspects of society and can use that to be a vehicle for change.

Answer 2: If I were the artist I would talk about how schools do not always accommodate students with special needs and how we could better school environments by making sure that all students feel supported. 

Answer 3: I would make commentary on how social media has recently been affecting the mental health of today’s youth. 

Question 4: The brand Supreme was inspired by her work. She later sued the company for appropriating her style. Many artists are inspired by others, but do you think there is a boundary that should be set?

Answer 1: I think it is really important to take inspiration from other artists, but Supreme did take a lot of her ideas. Boundaries should definitely be set and maybe there could be copy write laws to help protect the artist.  

Answer 2: I think as an artist we want to inspire others to create, but not copy. As an artist I would feel personally hurt and betrayed if someone stole my work. It feels almost like a crime.

Answer 3: A boundary should be set because it is not fair for Barbara Kruger and many other artists to go through feeling like something you created was stolen. As an artist you should be proud of your work because you made it, and as an artist you should be inspired by others and create similar work, but not copying. 

Question 5: How can Kruger’s visual media art influence people’s views and behaviors?

Answer 1: By having pieces with large text on buses or buildings it grabs peoples attention. Her larger pieces do not normally use photos with the text, but the way that the text is organized in black and white font grabs the viewer’s attention.

Answer 2: Kruger’s art can influence young people because many younger generations have joined social media platforms and her imagery targets how advertising can skew our ideas of society and consumerism. 

Answer 3: Her work could influence behaviors because someone could see her artwork and confront themselves with her questions or sayings, and then realize that they play a role in the issues that she is trying to address. Her work could be used as a catalyst for making people question their roles in society.

For the Peer Interview Comic my the person who I interviewed was Drew. She decided to teach me about the process of cleaning the dishes. Luckily, she has a dishwasher at her house and she went over her process. I had first started with seven steps, but then decided I wanted to include a few more close-up slides. It was challenging at first because I had to add a step at then end to show the end result and you can see when comparing the draft and the final result the differences that were made.

When teaching my partner how to make coffee with an aeropress I realized that I needed to make a quick list myself to then be able to explain it properly. There were a few moments when I realized I missed a step and I did not want to confuse my partner so I went back through each step to make sure they understood the correct sequence. My partner depicted my process accurately in the end and had

drawn out really great visuals to help understand the process.

I didn’t have to make any corrections for my partner, but I did have to go through and explain it once more to

make sure she understood. I would include some type of text to make the explanation clear. Without some sort of visual and text, it can be hard for the viewer to understand.

Overall, I really enjoyed this project and I really want to implement this type of process in my future classroom!

1. Barbara Kruger: Takes photographs and layers them to male aggressive text pieces. These are mostly black and white with red text. Her work appears in many commercial spaces and the images are asking questions about feminism, consumerism and many other ideas.
2. Diana Al-Hadid: She is an artist based in New York who creates large sculptures and wall hangings. She plays with investigating various materials and often references art history in her pieces.
3. Theaster Gates: Theaster Gates is a Chicago based artists, who looks at how urban planning can transform communities. He takes abandoned buildings and transforms them into buildings to then finance the rehabilitation of cities.