Exploring Street Art

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Exploring Street Art 

Estimated Work Load 5-6 hours

For this lesson you will need

• Internet connection and MS Teams
• Access to Lessonup link - in you LU lessons
• Note book and colour pens/pencils for annotation. 
• Previous Notes on Global Issues and BOW's 

Plan your time over a period of one week

Before you begin keep in mind

formative assessment - is FOR learning and no grade is given

summative assessment - is OF learning and a grade is given

Be able to distinguish between these two for this module. 

Begin with the end in Mind

Formative assessment - proof that you have followed the program. Your teacher will view your progress.  

Summative assessment - there is no summative assessment for this module but your work will be added to your portfolio for possible use in an Individual Oral in 2022. You may also be called upon in class to tell your views on a certain piece of art.

 

Field of Inquiry

The Greek philosopher Plutarch:

1. Was a great admirer of graffiti writing
2. Believed graffiti to be ridiculous and pointless
3. Wrote poems on the city walls of Rome
4. Developed the term ‘vandalism’ after graffiti destroyed his private property

The members of which ancient society regularly inscribed public messages on to city walls?

1. Rome
2. Maya
3. Egypt
4. All of the above

Why might some graffiti artists prefer to stay anonymous or underground?

1. Fear of retribution or punishment
2. Anonymity is part of their artistic expression
3. Legal accountability
4. hey can establish artistic comraderies and alter previous work

The Berlin Wall is a one-sided example of graffiti because:

1. All people living on the East side of Berlin thought graffiti was destructive vandalism
2. The Soviets, in East Germany, banned graffiti, and soldiers kept citizens away from the wall
3. West Germans used the wall as a giant canvas to write messages about sadness, hope, and freedom
4. None of the above

Graffiti is not:

1. a way to lay claim to a new space and territory
2. a form of questioning power
3. often about identity
4. art because it is considered a crime.

Graffiti can both beautify and destroy. Explain.

What is it about graffiti that often makes it a more powerful form of expression than words alone?

You are walking along a city street and notice an open wall covered with graffiti, or as you drive through a local town, you notice the railroad overpass has been “tagged.” What is your initial response? Has this lesson changed your thoughts about this? Describe some local graffiti you may have seen in your area of the world.

What does the future of graffiti look like? Read the quote below and respond on the following slide.

 “Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colors and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet.”

                                                                                                     (Banksy, Wall and Piece)

What does the future of graffiti look like?

What can we apply about our knowledge of postmodernism in the arts to study the form (genre and style) of Banksy?

Postmodernism questions reality and “progress”, and turns it upside down (subverts), just like Banksy subverts not only the art world but also social roles (rich vs. poor, soldier vs. little girl, snow represented as pollution)

By breaking all the rules and in the process he encourages you (“the people”) to do the same.

Subversive: changing, inverting the system, the establishment, the political power

Use of irony (visual sarcasm) and hyperbole (extreme exaggeration)

continued

• Shocking, unidentifiable, responsive “to the now”, ever-changing, dynamic (as the art is susceptible to change/being covered up by the authorities)
• Satirical 

• Pranking the art establishment, subverting then by questioning what art is/should be (illegal process, for example—“stretching the boundaries of genre and form”, for the everyman!—critiquing the art and film industry themselves, not just society)
  
• Mysterious identity (not about the artist so much as the art—Death of the Author commentary?
  

Check out the following site: 

And add Jason Saenz poster that is appropriate to your commentary

How do we know something qualifies as art?

Generally speaking people use three criteria to define if something is ART

1. Mastery of technique or skill
   
2. Audience reception
   
3. The creator’s intention

These three criteria are useful for analysing any text, visual or written.

https:

Street art is a form of communication just like any text. So think about what Banksey is aiming to communicate. What is the underlying message of these pieces? 

AND DON'T FORGET

Add your work including the art to your portfolio. This will save time next year when you are preparing for your IO .

More Info on Banksy

There are two good documentaries on the work of Banksy. 

1. Exit through the Gift Shop from 2011, by Banksy. Next slide. 

2.   Banksy and the rise of Outlaw Art from 2020. It's gotta be somewhere on the web, Prime for instance.  

If you later decide to use Street Art and Banksy in your IO or for your HL Essay in 2022, you will want to watch these. 

0