OPEN STUDIO ANNOUNCEMENT

Mrs. Switzer and National Art Honor Society will be holding Open Studio time Tuesdays & Thursdays from 2:30 - 5:00 in room 243.
Anyone who wants to work on art can stay after at this time.

SEARCHING for MEANING...

Looking for Meaning in Art? Good! because that's the goal of our semester. As we explore the art elements and various art media, we will be making deeper connections to a Big Idea. Some of the Big Ideas we will delve into will be: SYMBOLS, POWER, PLACE, IDENTITY.

We may examine more Big Ideas than this, or we may just wallow in each of these until we are saturated with all the contents of their possibilities.

Get ready to dive in!!!

More Information BELOW POSTS.

Read posts for important information about what we are learning in class and chances for extra credit below. Then find information for ways to earn make-up points and how to read the Parent Viewer, followed by the Calendar with info on what we do in class at the very bottom. You can also look at the Blog Archive for additional posts.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Tagging Vs. Street Art

Is Graffiti Art? Or is it just vandalism? Graffiti's history is as old as time itself, but in modern times has evolved into a much more sophisticated form of expression. Should we make a distinction between the type of graffiti known as tagging and what could more appropriately be called street art? Is one better than the other?

Graffiti: Crime or Art Form?


Should graffiti be considered a crime or celebrated as an art form? I think to really answer this question appropriately, we need to investigate graffiti through more specific categories. People who are disconnected from hip hop culture, or don’t have at least an understanding for it, tend to generalize graffiti and look at it right away as gang related or violating property. But they do not understand that graffiti does not only consist of violating property and gang names being spray painted on a wall to claim ownership of an area, but it has developed so much to the point that graffiti pieces are being sold in art galleries for hundreds of dollars. "To an extent, some graffiti is used in a positive way to get a message across or to remember someone -- that I would consider an art form. I think when people just tag walls and stuff, it tends to look trashy." (Young, 2003). As Young explained, while some forms of graffiti may be looked at poorly, there are also other forms that have brought new light to culture and proved themselves to be worthy of being considered art. Graffiti can be categorized as three main sections which are taggingthrow ups, and bomb art.
[reposted from Elana's blog for school access]


Tagging

Throw Ups

Bomb Art


What is your opinion? Do you think Graffiti is Art? Would you consider some types of graffiti art and others vandalism? What distinguishes one from the other?
Write a comment supporting your opinion.

Leave your comment with your name and hour...


PS: Here is an article about a program in NYC where vandals are taught how and when to put their skills to good use...NY Times Paint Straight

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Intro to Art Currently

Current Unit: Heroes


Current Project: Calaveras Hero Relief Portraits

Project Description: You will create a portrait painting with elements of relief & 2-D depth that honors a personal hero.

The face will be constructed from a papier mache mask and attached to a flat surface. The surrounding flat surface will provide a painted scene with a foreground, middle ground, and background for your hero (the mask). You should use what you know about creating the illusion of depth on a flat surface to enhance the feeling of space around the figure.


DUE: November 2nd









Past Projects: Street Art Symbolic Artwork