Arts in the Age of Division & the Classroom

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

When Prof. Ye started showing his powerpoint slide about Daoist influenced art: landscaping, monochromatic literati, fans, calligraphy; I was excited. I have covered the China unit in my class and went over with my students about the time when the states were divided. Although the arts weren't adeptly covered in the adopted textbook, I introduced a broad idea of the poetry, painting, and sculptures that flourished during this time. I also had the students create Chinese 'art'ifacts where they could either sculpt, paint, make court fans, or create 'porcelain'. My students had to write a brief synopsis of what their artwork included and what religion influenced their piece. (I covered Confucianism, Daoism, & Buddhism) Overall, I was proud of the work that my students created. They were certainly masterpieces of art.

[Anonymous]

Art has always fascinated me, and I love impressionist, especially Monet.
Ironically, I never seemed interested in Asian Art. Until oneday I took a drive down to Lagoona Beach and visited the art galleries there, and saw some beautiful artwork done by Chinese artist. The colors were so vivid and their focus on detail was amazing. That day I gained a new appreciation for Chinese artist. I am sorry that I do not remember the names the artist.
Consequently, Pro.Ye's presentation only opened up a new interest in Chinese Art. The stories behind the paintings and the colors used. I also did not realize that even in calligraphy, each artist had their own style. Calligraphy in itself is a treasured art and seems very difficult to discipline oneself to learn it the Chinese style.
I am looking forward to introducing Chinese Sonnets to my World Lit class. That is going to be an interesting and fun experience.[Edit by="cori on Mar 19, 9:32:32 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I too, LOVE art. And Ironically the Impressionist movement is my favorite, and my artist being Monet. In addition, I've always loved the artistry in Asian art as well. The great thing that you may not know that I never connected until one fateful trip to Paris and Giverny (Monet's home and gardens) I learned that the two are very connected, especially some of the Daoist ideals. The Impressionists held Asian art high within their circles. It was Asian art that they studied and not the Grand Italian and French Masters they were rebelling against.

When I walked into Monet's house and workshop he had beautiful Asian pieces in these beautiful monochrome blues and blacks. I don't know who's works they were but i could trully see the connection being made between these two wonderful worlds that no one would have ever thought could be influential pieces.

Think of the Impressionist's ideals. The goal is to paint the light and the absence of it (shadows), the building and so is not important. It is how the light plays and changes the colors of the object. It is reducing the object down to its most simple ideals what is it madeof, its colors are created by the changing light. SIMPLE, no?

[Anonymous]

I so am looking forward to visiting Paris and Monet's home. What a beautiful experience!
How interesting to note the relationship between Monet and Eastern arts.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the information. This summer, Paris is one of the places I will be visiting while on my honeymoon, my future husband and I will be visiting Monet's home and now I feel like having known this information ahead of time allows me a opportiunity to appreciate it even more.

[Anonymous]

Ms. Samel,

it's been over a semester since I visited your classroom and saw your students working on Asian arts and crafts. I remember thinking how wonderful it was that students not only learned about the art in Asia, but also had the OPPORTUNITY to create it! It is very rare, especially at our school, to see teachers expand and go beyond the content. The students were having fun and they were learning. Today, six months later, I still see students walking around with some of the court fans they created in your class. Your 7th grade honor's class from last year, who is now my 8th grade honor's class, still talk about the fun they had creating sculptures, paintings, fans, and other artifacts. The best part? Well the best part of this is that they recall the China Unit you covered with them, and they still talk about the landscaping, monchromatic literati, and the calligraphy. According to Mr. Kashefipour, the surveys the students filled out at the end of the semester highly praise your class and the wonderful projects they worked on. The key is INTERACTIVE LEARNING and I am very glad to see at least some of the teachers at our school incorporate such activities in the classroom. Good JOB![Edit by="rflores on Jul 27, 8:58:19 PM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="rflores on Jul 27, 9:00:38 PM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="rflores on Jul 27, 9:51:15 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I commend you for taking the time to recreate Asian arts in the classroom!! Unfortunately these days it is too easy to get wrapped up into the testing crunch, and focus on the daily grind of school. Not only is recreating arts a lot more intersting and fun, but its great for way to absorb and learn teh information, as Im certain your students will be much more likely to remember that lesson, than had you had them write a few paragraphs on it. While I do integrate many projects and art in the classroom, its been a few years since I have had my students recreate art from an area that they are studying. This is something I will be sure to do more of in teh future.

[Anonymous]

I definitely agree that the arts are important but we often do not have enough time for them in our classroom. I took a seminar called Creativity in the classroom by Inner city arts and teaches teachers how to incorporate arts into the classroom by linking the arts with other disciplines as well. I myself had brought in Buddhist and Taoist music when teaching about chinese philosophies to my students. Even if we don't have it for visual arts such as painting or drawing, we can incorporate music into the curriculum more easily.

[Author]

Posts