Lesson for September 18, 1999: Cultural Focus

Mixed Media Album Covers

Theme Narrative Grade Level Sr High Class Size 10-15 Time 50 minutes

National Visual Arts Standards  (9-12) 1b Students conceive and create works of visual art that demonstrate an understanding of how the communication of their ideas relates to the media, techniques, and processes they use.  (9-12) 2c Students create artworks that use organizational principles and functions to solve specific visual arts problems.  (9-12) 3a Students reflect on how artworks differ visually, spatially, temporally, and functionally, and describe how these are related to history and culture.  (9-12) 5a Students identify intentions of those creating artworks, explore the implications of various purposes, and justify their analyses of purposes in particular works.  (9-12) 6a Students compare the materials, technologies, media, and processes of the visual arts with those of other arts disciplines as they are used in creation and types of analysis. Illinois State Goals, Learning Standards and Benchmarks  25.A.4 Analyze and evaluate the effective use of elements, principles and expressive qualities in a composition/performance in dance, drama, music and visual arts.  26.B.4d Demonstrate knowledge and skills that communicate clear and focused ideas based on planning, research and problem solving.  25.B.4 Analyze and evaluate similar and distinctive characteristics of works in two or more of the arts that share the same historical period of societal context. Comprehensive Components Addressed:  HC, AC, PF, AM Domains Addressed  C6

OVERVIEW Students will create multimedia album covers inspired by their favorite musical artist.

RATIONALE By creating album covers students will understand how to combine multiple media. By comparing music and album covers students will understand how music and art may influence each other and create meaning.

Art Making Processes and Techniques  Multimedia – watercolor, oil pastel, tape transferring of images, collage Visual Art Concepts Addressed  Layering, juxtaposition, recontextualization Student Pre-Requisite Skills/Knowledge  Basic understanding of handling pencil, watercolor and oil pastels. Instructional Methods  Direct instruction, teacher demonstration, hands-on student involvement, independent student work

LESSON OBJECTIVES As a result of this lesson, students will be able to: Historical/Cultural  Students will orally describe how culture is both reflected and influenced by music and album design in different periods of time. (9-12) 3a, 25.B.4, C4 Art Criticism  Students will orally give at least one example of the way in which they successfully used layering, juxtaposition, and recontextualization to create tone and mood in their album covers and how they interact with the music. (9-12) 5a, 6a, 25.A.4, C6 Philosophical Frame  Students will determine the interactive relationships between visual and musical arts giving at least one example orally. (9-12) 6a, 25.A.4, C4 Art Making  Students will create a 12 x 12 inch album cover inspired by a musical group or artist and the culture of that artist. The art must use at least two different media from the given list to express meaning, tone and mood. (9-12) 1b, 2c, 26.B.4d, C5

TEACHER MATERIALS  Laptop  Teacher example   Slideshow of album cover  Demo material (extra paper) images.

STUDENT MATERIALS  Mat board or Reaves  Oil pastels  Copies of various B&W BFK  Clear packing tape. images  Regular pencils w/ eraser  Watercolor brushes  Sketch paper  Sharpies (extra fine and  Old magazines  Watercolor pallets fine)

VOCABULARY  Multimedia: using more than one media within an art piece  Mood: Emotion reflected in or invoked from an art piece.  Appropriation: Using iconic images in unique and meaningful or ironic ways.  Layering: Overlapping of objects, colors and textures to create a more visually interesting piece.  Recontextualization: Placing familiar subjects and objects within a new context thus changing their traditional or original meaning.

ARTISTS  Andy Warhol: The Velvet Underground album cover design – screen print.

LESSON ACTIVITIES

Set Induction T i m e  Can you think of a time when listening to music changed the way you looked at 2 something? m  Can you think of a time when what you were looking at or the environment influenced i how you listened to music? n s Instruction T i m e  The teacher will show the class a PowerPoint of several examples of album covers and tell the students when they were made and with what media. She will then show the 5 covers a second time with a song from that album playing. The teacher will ask students, m “Was the music what you were expecting given the album cover style and content? Did i the music change the meaning of the album cover artwork? If so, in what way?” n  The teacher will explain that they will be designing original album covers for a band they s like. The teacher will ask students how familiar they are with each of the mediums and proceed to demonstrate each one. The teacher will specifically show students how to do tape transfers with laser printed images (cover an image with tape, rub it with something to get the air bubbles out, immerge it in water, wait 5 minutes, rub off the wet paper). Students will be advised that the tape should be added last since there aren’t many 5 mediums that stick to the tape. The students will have a choice of Sharpie, watercolor, oil m pastel, and collage, and will be encouraged to use at least two different mediums. i  Students will be given scratch paper to make 2-3 thumbnail sketches of ideas before n setting to work. The teacher will ask students to use pencil to lay out their composition s first before putting anything on the page. Students will work independently on their 12x12 inch cover designs. They will be given 14x14 inch paper with a 12x12 inch square drawn in the center. Students will be expected to use artists tape to tape down the paper along the edges onto their desks.  Clean up: Wash off brushes, dump dirty water, and throw away paper scraps.

3 0 m i n s

5 m i n s Lesson Closure T i m e  What music were you thinking of when you designed your album cover? How do you 3 think your album cover design could influence the music’s meaning or tone? m i n s Independent Practice/Homework  Finish album cover if not finished in class.

ACCOMODATIONS FOR SPECIFIC DIVERSE LEARNERS Adaptations and Accommodations  The teacher will bring adaptive brushes, scissors, and pencil grips for students with fine motor control issues. Enrichment and Extensions  The teacher will demonstrate color-blending techniques with watercolor and oil pastel. Activity for Early Finishers  The students will design an original font for the band and album name that corresponds with their album design.

OBJECTIVE-DRIVEN ASSESSMENTS Historical/Cultural  Students orally described how culture is both reflected and influenced by music and album design in different periods of time. Art Criticism  Students orally gave at least one example of the way in which they successfully used layering, juxtaposition, and recontextualization to create tone and mood in their album covers and how they interact with the music. Philosophical Frame  Students orally analyzed the interactive relationships between visual and musical arts giving at least one example. Art Making  Students created a 12 x 12 inch album cover inspired by a musical group or artist and the culture of that artist. The art must use at least two different media from the given list to express meaning, tone and mood.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS  Music: Connecting the elements of visual and musical arts through tone and mood. Understanding the relationship between album covers and music.

REFERENCES

* Developed and written by Anna Gizzi, Art Education, Illinois State University, 2012 *