Tag: Unit One Summary

Unit 1 Summary

 

When we say the word “art” we are describing any form of human activity ranging from music to sculptures and paintings. Some of the various forms of art are: music, paintings, dance, architecture, drawing, photography and ceramics.  Individuals connect with a piece of art using their thoughts, emotions, beliefs and ideas. This course has allowed me to find different ways to acknowledge numerous forms of art. Whether it be paintings, sculptures, graffiti, music or architecture artists use different techniques to create a work of art and their work should be recognized. Through this first unit of this class I have learned about formal analysis, pedology and the key aspects that make art significant. Before taking this class, I thought that art was made up of the different paintings and ancient artifacts presented in museums. Now that we’ve finished the first unit I have learned a significant amount about the different ways we analyze art and the different characteristics used by artists to make their artwork impactful. This new analytical way of analyzing has allowed me to recognize the different skills artists use in their work. The different designs and key elements that shapes their work.

Formal Analysis is an assessment of visual elements that construct sculptures or any given art work. It is important to use formal analysis to describe a piece of art work because it pin-points each element illustrated and expresses the meaning of each element. The components of formal analysis are: line, shape and form, space, color. texture. Lines can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal, thick, thin, curved, and thick or thin. These lines allow artists to compose pieces that communicate to the viewer by creating various images using different techniques. Shapes and forms of objects bring life to a two dimensional object and allow viewers to better interpret the work. Space in art brings a two dimensional object to a three dimensional state through a feeling of depth and use of shadowing techniques. The three main characteristics of color are hue (red, blue, green, etc.), value (how light or dark it is) and intensity (how bright or dull it is). Color allows artists to depict emotions or playful meaning through their work. Texture brings surface value to art work. If the art work is two dimensional texture allows artists to illustrate how the object would feel in reality. All of these elements define art work and allow us to fully understand a piece of art work.

Pedology and Power was another topic covered in this Unit. To Freire, the banking model is described as a knowledge holder sharing knowledge to a knowledge receiver without any feedback from the receiver. This is known as the standard classroom model in which a teacher shares his or her knowledge with students as they feed off that given information.  This allows the teachers (knowledge holders) to be empowered because they hold the knowledge that is being given or distributed to the knowledge receivers.

Unit 1 Summary

A lot was learned from Unit 1; but the one that stood out the most was the Banking Model. It simply can be described as “depositing” knowledge into the student so they could understand the subject matter. Throughout a persons life, as a kid they underwent such a process in order to grasp subjects and topics. The process is centered around an authoritative figure giving out information for the students to study and prepare when they are going to be tested on what they remember. It hinders the individual who seeks alternative methods of solving problems, but helps the students who follow the rules strictly and remembers very well.

Another thing that I learned in this Unit that always fascinated was how people could examine a painting and can analyze multiple aspects that contribute to it just by using Formal Analysis. Spacing within a painting can give depth and a sense of where the figures. Also the coloring of certain figures taking a specific action. Usually insidious figures are painted with much darker colors, and innocent figures painted with bright colors. These are just a few examples of many other methods of analyzing paintings, to better grasp the general idea and the message it conveys.

Unit 1 Summary

Unit 1 was about the pedagogy and power, banking model, and formal analysis. The Banking Model is described as teachers simply passing on an idea to the students. The teachers talk and lecture while the students are quiet and receive the information. I have experienced this type of model many times in high school. Some teachers I had would not care to listen to anything the students had to say. They would think everything that they said was correct. I think this model has more negative aspects rather than positive. You might be able to learn something but it’s not the most effective and long-term method of teaching. I think its very important for teachers to engage and encourage their students to speak up in class. This helps a lot of students learn better. The pedagogical approach to any subject must be important when you want someone to learn. For example, if you’re teaching drawing you shouldn’t just put a fruits basket in front of the students and expect them to know how to draw. You would have to teach them the basics first.

Another thing we learned is formal analysis. Formal analysis is not only describing the art but also showing and understanding what the artist is trying to convey, visually. Everybody has different ways of looking at things so our own interpretation of art will have a play in what we think it means. When focusing on formal analysis, there are some characteristics we use: color, line, space and mass, scale. We also look at the composition of the art. Composition means how the artist combines all these factors in their work of art. We also use the historical context of an artwork. It relates to the things that happen during the time the art was made. It serves to give us a better understanding of the art and show why the artist decided to make this artwork.

It’s very interesting that you can learn so much about an artwork from its historical background. I never knew how to analyze an artwork before but after learning some basics on formal analysis it has become easier. When looking at the Titian Venus of Urbino, I noticed that a lot of warmer colors were used as opposed to cool or neutral colors. Colors like pink and red were used a lot. Another technique that was cool was looking at the way the artist catches your eye from the direction of lines. They guide your eyes intentionally from left to right. I personally thought that was interesting and cool how an artist can make you do that. Also, learning of the historical background of the painting really put it into a perspective of why the art was made.

Unit 1 SUMmary

I came into Art History thinking that it was going to be one of those straightforward and factual classes; when it’s actually one of the most ambiguous classes that I have because it’s so heavy on interpretation and not at all what I expected, in a good way. My initial idea was the this class would be really heavy on reading and brushing up on facts about artists and paintings, how they came about, and what they mean or symbolize. And although some of it is, I didn’t think it would be focused on the visual aspect of the art and the history combined.

Two things that we have learned about that are actually manifested in the classroom are critical pedagogy and formal analysis:

 

 

Critical pedagogy (also identified as the Banking Method) is a structure in classrooms in which knowledge is “deposited” (Freire 72) into the students and they sit there passively while the teacher serves as the dominant or authoritative figure in the classroom. I appreciate my class because I feel like this isn’t necessarily the case.The class is very inclusive and student-dependent whether that means letting students lead discussions or letting students decide on a due date. We also all actively participate collectively. Yes, we’re all sitting while Professor Shaw teaches standing but sometimes she even sits with us or makes it feel less pressured of a typical school environment.

Another thing we learned about was Formal Analysis, which is a visual examination of a piece of art. From lines, color, scale, dimension- it’s all used to make something of a visual piece. Formal Analysis is used to get at a bigger meaning of the art, what it may tell us, and how it may affect the viewers that see it. We put this method to use in class everyday during lectures, we use formal analysis collectively along with the professor and establish a significance of the piece of art Professor Shaw introduces to us. Using Formal Analysis helps the class be more open to interpretation as it’s never just black and white. There’s never just one simple answer, and that in turn, requires us to think a lot, actively.

After being in Art History for a couple of weeks now, my initial ideas of the class are now reshaped, as I see- and as ironically as it sounds- that this class, focused on the deeper meaning of things requiring open interpretations, is also very open to interpretation itself.

It’s one thing to learn about something just to recite it later on, but to apply it in class makes it more real.

Unit One Summary

In Unit One, there were many things that I’ve learned. First, I learned about formal analysis. In formal analysis, the viewer looks at the visual components of the work of art. Some components of formal analysis includes color, line, scale, and space/mass. In color, I would examine how the artist uses the range of colors (from warm to cool) in the work of art. In line, I would examine how the artist uses smooth continuous lines or broken lines in a painting. In scale, I learned that an artist uses this component to indicate the importance of a figure. In space and mass, I learned that these two components mainly refers three dimensional works of art and to the weight of the artwork.

I also learned about the banking model/concept. This model was created by Paulo Freire. The model was created for educational purposes and it basically stated that teachers knew everything and that students didn’t know anything except what the teachers told them. In my opinion, the model was created to lift up teachers and degrade students. The model stripped students in expressing themselves and their creativity. I believe many people has experienced this model at least once in their years of schooling. The teacher would know the material but not know how to teach it. This caused students to then space out or fall behind and possibly fail the class.

Lastly, I learned about art in the Ancient World. In the Ancient World, I learned that in most works of art, the king was always the biggest figure in the entire piece. My favorite work of art was the “Standard of Ur”. It was cool to see the various layers in which the work was portrayed. Seeing both sides that told two different stories was also nice to see. It was also great that it has many colors instead of one specific color. One side of piece was about social class and status. You could easily distinguish the different classes from laborers (who were at the bottom) to the king and his wise men (who were at the top). On the other side, it showed a battle scene in where there were enemies who trampled by chariots and people who were taken into prison.

Overall, I learned a lot in Unit One. I learned the various ways to view a piece of art. The many components that goes into evaluating a work of art is important because not all artworks are the same even if they were in the same time period. I then learned about the banking model which really empowers teachers and students have a disadvantage in showing their capabilities. From the banking model, we finally moved on to the Ancient World. I saw the different works of art that the people of Mesopotamia and Egypt did. It was interesting to see how the pieces of art flowed as time went on.