Curriculum Sketch III: Nature

T H E E X P E R I E N C E O F P L A C E:

N A T U R E

E N D U R I N G   I D E A

R e l a t i o n s h i p

Q U E S T I O N S

• How does place make us who we are?
• What is our relationship with nature?
• How do we interact with nature?
• How has that relationship been created?
• What is our responsibility in relationship to nature?

R A T I O N A L E

The natural world is a vital part of human existence. As we engage with it through art, we will be better prepared to be responsible as we use the earth and it's resources. Nature can also be an access point to spirituality that students may not otherwise engage with or include in their art. (See Sally Mann)

L E A R N I N G   G O A L S

• Students will have meaningful engagement with the natural that they will translate into art ma

• VA:Cr1.2.Ia: Shape an artistic investigation of an aspect of present day life using a contemporary practice of art
• VA:Cr1.2.IIa: Choose from a range of materials and methods of traditional and contemporary artistic practices to plan works of art
• VA:Cr2.1.IIIa: Experiment, plan, and make multiple works of art and design that explore a personally meaningful theme, idea, or concept.

K N O W L E D G E

• Nature is psychologically beneficial: "Green is Good for You"
• Ways to reduce the harm we do to the environment
• Art about  and with Nature:
• Hudson River School:  
• Andy Goldsworthy
• Cai Guo-Qiang 
• Mark Dion
• Alisha Anderson

A C T I V I T I E S

• Go to and photograph or draw a natural place that is meaningful in your life or influenced you in some way.

• List as a class or in sketchbook ideas about nature.
• Collect art about nature online.
• Live with nature. Bring a rock, plant, animal (safely and with permission) into the classroom and invite students to do the same.
• Go on a walk and collect natural items that talk about your relationship with nature.
• Go on a nature walk and identify a plant that you will conduct further research about
• Build a container out of natural material.

An egg, emptied carved and sanded.

• Field trips to local nature areas where we will paint/draw the landscape.
• Watch a movie and think about how nature is portrayed (Avatar, Pocahontas, The Martian, An Inconvenient Truth, Life of Pi, King Kong, Food Inc., etc.)

B I G   P R O J E C T

Create a sculpture of natural material that will somehow change over time and communicate your personal connection to nature.

P R O T O T Y P E

Mix of clay dirt and seed pressed into mold of legs.

I grew up barefoot in the summers. The bottom of my bed as a little kid was often kind of dirty from my feet. But through that connection growth is possible. My feet are tough and was more sensitive and aware of my surroundings.

Eventually this sculpture will deteriorate, planting the seeds.

Natural Container

Emptied, cut, and sanded egg shell

Natural Place

I grew up in a city but in this storm drain creek
 I could pretend I was deep in the woods. 

Make-shift plank bridges, rock islands, and forts. 
Wild onions, blackberries, and mulberries. 
Creek-bed clay pots and leaf boats.
Frogs, tadpoles, and skeeters.
Raccoons and fish.
Moss and flowers.
Deer hoof prints.
Mosquito bites.
The Creek.

Curriculum Sketch II: Mandala

T H E E X P E R I E N C E O F T I M E:
Transcience and the Spirit

E N D U R I N G   I D E A

Perspective

Q U E S T I O N S

• What is the difference between religion and spirituality?
• Talking about: What is a thought? 

• How do we experience time?
• How do we know that time has passed?
• How does our perspective of time influence how we experience things?
• How do you feel when you are waiting?
• How does change influence your understanding of time? (physical, natural, etc.)

R A T I O N A L E

Perspective influences interpretation.

When we recognize our perspective we can better understand our interpretation.
It is important that students understand what spirituality is and the role it has in culture and health. Spirituality is rarely addressed anywhere else in school

L E A R N I N G   G O A L S

• Students will recognize how their culture influences their perspective of time.
• Students will recognize how their physical state affects their mental and emotional state (through meditation).

• VA:Cr1.2.Ia: Shape an artistic investigation of an aspect of present day life using a contemporary practice of art
• VA:Cr1.2.IIa: Choose from a range of materials and methods of traditional and contemporary artistic practices to plan works of art
• VA:Cr2.1.IIIa: Experiment, plan, and make multiple works of art and design that explore a personally meaningful theme, idea, or concept.

K N O W L E D G E

• Time based art - time as an element of the art
• Video, audio, slides, performance, etc.
• EXAMPLES
• *** Sometimes Making Something Leads to Nothing by Francis Alys

• CROSS CULTURE: Tibetan Sand Mandala, Navajo Sand Painting 

• Interdisciplinary:  
• Social: Time Perspective
• Psychological ideas/concepts: The Secret Powers of Time

A C T I V I T I E S 

• Rituals: Identify a daily ritual of yours and create a work of performance art or video art that includes that ritual.
• Daily meditation: Each day a student will lead the class in a meditation. 
• Using collage methods create a mandala to explore spirituality.

B I G   P R O J E C T
Create a mandala that uses time as a factor. (Might it naturally decompose? Do you have to deliberately destroy it?). Document the creation and destruction.

EPHEMERAL MANDALA

C R E A T I O N

D E S T R U C T I O N

 

Response to Chapter 2 of Teaching Artist Handbook

How Will I Teach?

A Collection of Gatherings

• "Becoming an artist" is NOT becoming a "professional" artist alone.
• THUS: all my students are artists. (Am I treating them as artists? Do I treat their work/opinions/input seriously? Am I invested in what they make?)
• Learning "non-art related" skills happens best "when one actually makes art"
• THUS: my job is to enable actual creation of actual art.
• I can do this by asking on a daily basis (maybe on a poster where I will see it everyday or through out the day in the classroom:
• Would I want to do this project?
• Is their "mis-behavior" getting in the way of the art making?
• Are the "rules" relevant to making art?
• Does the space encourage art making?
• Do I treat and talk about their work as art or just assignments?
• Do I encourage discipline integration as the natural participator it is?
• Am I introducing and exposing my students to a generous variety of exemplars?
• Does the work all look the same?
• Am I in the way?

Collage Artist

JOHN STEZAKER