Educators’ Guide

SEASON TEN COVER: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Border Tuner installed at the border between El Paso and Juárez in 2019. Production still from the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 10 episode, “Borderlands.” © Art21, Inc. 2020.

Art21 Staff Tina Kukielski, Executive Director and Chief Curator Lauren Barnett, Director of Development Danielle Brock, Assistant Curator Lolita Fierro, Associate Director, Major Gifts and Special Events Ian Forster, Producer Joe Fusaro, Senior Education Advisor Meghan Garven, Development and Administrative Coordinator Jonathan Munar, Director of Digital Emma Nordin, Manager of Education Initiatives Nick Ravich, Director of Video Programming and Production Susan Sollins, Founder (In Memoriam)

Series Contributors Executive Producer: Tina Kukielski Series Producer: Nick Ravich Directors and Producers: Bryan Chang, Vicky Du, Ian Forster, Rafael Salazar Moreno, and Ava Wiland Series Editors: Byran Chang, Morgan Riles, Rafael Salazar Moreno, and Russell Yaffe Educators’ Guide Designer: Biel Studio Educators’ Guide Editor: Deanna Lee

Funders Major underwriting for Season 10 of Art in the Twenty-First Century is provided by PBS, National Endowment for the Arts, Lambent Foundation, The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Toby Devan Lewis,

The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Henri Lambert, Nion McEvoy & Leslie Berriman, and Sakana Foundation. Support for Art21’s Education programs is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Andreas Foundation, Brenda R. Potter, The Robert and Toni Bader Charitable Foundation, Maxine & Stuart Frankel, Robert Lehman Foundation, and The LeRoy Neiman Foundation.

Credits The Season 10 Educators’ Guide was written by Joe Fusaro, senior education advisor; Emma Nordin, manager of education initiatives; and Danielle Brock, assistant curator.

Copyright © 2020 Century Twenty-First the Art in from still Production Inc. 2020. © Art21, 10 episode, “Beijing.” Season Contents

Introduction About Art21 4 About this Guide 5 What is Contemporary Art? 6 Contemporary Art in the Classroom and Community 6

Cities London 8 Beijing 10 Borderlands 12

Artists Anish Kapoor 14 John Akomfrah 16 Phyllida Barlow 18 Christian Marclay 20 Xu Bing 22 Song Dong & Yin Xiuzhen 24 Guan Xiao 26 Liu Xiaodong 28 Tanya Aguiñiga 30 Richard Misrach 32 Rafael Lozano-Hemmer 34 Postcommodity 36

Glossary 38

Get Involved 40

Art in the Twenty-First Century Twenty-First the Art in from still Production Inc. 2020. © Art21, 10 episode, “Beijing.” Season

Educators’ Guide 3 About Art21

Art21 is a celebrated global leader in presenting thought-provoking and sophisticated content about contemporary art—a preeminent resource for learning first-hand from the artists of our time. Art21’s mission is to inspire a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists.

A nonprofit organization, Art21 provides unparalleled access to artists’ voices, using the power of digital media to introduce diverse audiences around the world to contemporary art and artists. For more than two decades, Art21 has changed the paradigm for teaching and learning about the creative process.

Art in the Twenty-First Century Art21 Online The first and only nationally broadcast public television series art21.org to focus exclusively on contemporary visual art and artists in the United States and around the world, Art in the Twenty-First All of Art21’s materials are available for free through the Art21 Century introduces audiences to a diverse group of established website. A growing standalone resource, the Art21 website and emerging artists working today and to the art they are features more than 200 artists in interviews, artwork surveys, producing now. production stills, and educational resources. Home to more than 60 hours of video content, the website includes full episodes from all seasons of Art in the Twenty-First Century, as well as Ten seasons have been produced for PBS (2001, 2003, 2005, 3 series distributed exclusively online: 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020). Each season contains 3 to 4 one-hour programs. Each hour features 3 to 5 artists in 12- to 18-minute Extended Play blends new original and previously segments. unreleased footage to focus on singular aspects of an To date, the broadcast series has featured 240 established artist’s process: art21.org/extendedplay and emerging artists. New York Close Up explores the lives of young artists living in New York City: art21.org/newyorkcloseup The Artists In the Art21 broadcast series, contemporary artists speak in William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible, a Peabody Award– their own words and reflect on their lives, sources of inspiration, winning one-hour film, provides an intimate look into the and working processes. The featured artists include painters, mind and creative process of the South African artist, sculptors, printmakers, photographers, installation artists, video William Kentridge: art21.org/anythingispossible artists, and new-media artists.

Watch videos and playlists on demand at art21.org. Viewing the Series All ten seasons of the Art21 series are available for viewing on- Tune in to a 24/7 curated broadcast channel at art21.live. line at art21.org. DVDs from past seasons can be purchased from ShopPBS. In addition, Art21 digital films are available to stream on YouTube and Vimeo. Art21 on PBS PBS.org presents episodes from the Art in the Twenty-First To order from ShopPBS: Century television series: pbs.org/art21 1-800-PLAY-PBS (1-800-752-9727) shoppbs.org Social Media Season 10 episodes can also be recorded during broadcast and Join Art21’s communities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: used freely for educational purposes for one year after the date @art21 of the first national broadcast in September 2020. Check local PBS station listings, as broadcast times may vary.

4 Art in the Twenty-First Century About this Guide

The Educators’ Guide is designed as a resource for planning lessons, facilitating discussions, introducing Season 10 content, and supporting further research and exploration of contemporary art, artists, and themes. Educators are encouraged to use the broadcast series, the Educators Guide, and the Art21 website in tandem to integrate contemporary art into classroom and community-based learning environments.

Getting Started Discuss Prior to introducing particular artists or themes, it may be ap- Suggested discussion questions explore ideas introduced in the propriate to initiate a broader discussion about contemporary series. Before Viewing questions establish key ideas in anticipa- art, including the expectations, associations, assumptions, and tion of viewing the artist segments. While Viewing questions questions individuals may have about art being made today. The support active viewing and encourage facilitators to pause and discussion questions and activities in this introduction provide clarify or illuminate particular ideas or vocabulary. After Viewing starting points to address some of these ideas, as well as strate- questions follow-up on key ideas and encourage viewers to gies for presenting video and online resources. synthesize prior knowledge and personal opinion with the narra- tives presented in the segment. Artist Pages Each Artist Page contains biographical information and the Create following sections: To encourage active, hands-on exploration of the ideas and materials presented in the Discuss section, these activities are About the Artist open-ended interdisciplinary opportunities for individual inter- An overview of the artist’s work and working methods, including pretations of the creative methods and interests of the featured current and past projects. artists. Suggested activities can be modified for different age levels, learning styles, and media choices. Media and Materials A synopsis of the artist’s principal media and materials, which Glossary are documented in the artist’s video segment. Featured media Selected vocabulary are highlighted in boldface throughout and materials can be cross-referenced to those used by other the Guide. Definitions can be found in the Glossary on page 28. artists in the series. An online glossary with additional vocabulary can be found at art21.org. Key Words and Ideas Additional thematic concepts connect the artist’s work and processes to those of other artists in the series and to online curricula. This section also highlights relevant vocabulary to support discussion and further inquiry.

Audience

Art in the Twenty-First Century is The Educators’ Guide and additional Teachers should preview all series’ produced for a broad range of audienc- online content introduce opportunities segments before classroom or other es and is intended to empower viewers for critical thinking and creative prob- screenings to determine whether the to articulate their ideas and inter- lem solving, relevant to students in content is appropriate for the ages, pretations about contemporary art. middle school, high school, and college. maturity levels, and learning environ- Series-related educational materials Teachers who work with students of ments of their students. Contemporary support the use of contemporary art all ages are encouraged to interpret art often explores controversial subject in K–12 classrooms, on college and material provided by Art21 to support matter, and some of the artists featured university campuses, and for adult and their individual teaching contexts. in the Art21 series present provocative community audiences. images and ideas in their work.

Educators’ Guide 5 What is contemporary art?

Art21 defines contemporary art as the work of Contemporary audiences play an active role in the artists who are living in the twenty-first century. process of constructing meaning about works of Contemporary art mirrors contemporary culture art. Often, artists say that viewers contribute to or and society, offering teachers, students, and even complete the artwork by contributing their general audiences a rich resource through which personal reflections, experiences, opinions, and in- to consider current ideas and rethink the familiar. terpretations. A cornerstone of Art21’s philosophy The work of contemporary artists is a dynamic is to allow artists to present their work in their own combination of materials, methods, concepts, words and to encourage viewers to access their and subjects that challenges traditional bound- individual abilities to consider, react, and respond aries and defies easy definition. Contemporary to visual art. art is distinguished by the lack of a uniform orga- nizing principle, ideology, or “-ism.” In a globally The artists featured by Art21 serve as creative role influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically models who can inspire people of all ages to consider advancing world, contemporary artists give voice how ideas are developed, articulated, and realized in to today’s varied and changing cultural landscape the contemporary world, and they offer educators of identity, values, and beliefs. opportunities to support diverse learning styles.

Why teach with contemporary art?

Bringing contemporary art into schools and technologies and media, the work they create communities enables educators to promote encourages critical thinking and visual literacy in curiosity, encourage dialogue, and initiate debate an increasingly media-saturated society. about the world and the issues that affect our lives. Contemporary artists address both current Art21 enables students to understand that contem- events and historical ideas. These references help porary art is part of a cultural dialogue that con- educators and students make connections across cerns larger contextual frameworks, such as ideas their curriculum and support interdisciplinary about beauty, race, personal and cultural identity, thinking. As artists continue to explore new family, community, and nationality.

Contemporary art in the classroom and community

Curiosity, openness, and dialogue are important tools for engaging with the work of contemporary artists. Beyond the question of quality—of labeling a work of art “good” or “bad”—the study of contemporary art requires a more open-ended methodology and an inquiry-based approach. Asking questions that ignite dis- cussion and stimulate debate is an important first step toward appreciating and interpreting works of art.

6 Art in the Twenty-First Century Presenting Video and from popular culture), and compare In addition to museums and galler- Preview all video content before pre- how the films approach their subject ies, where else can art be shown? senting it in a classroom or community matter and convey narratives about the How does the location or context of context. Consider viewing a single artist artists and their work and ideas. a work of art affect its meaning? profile or specific portions of different artist profiles to address particular What are the subjects, issues, and discussion questions or to anticipate a Discuss themes important to artists work- hands-on activity. Use the following questions and activ- ing today? ities to initiate conversations about Prepare viewers for what they will see. contemporary art and to prompt ideas What role does beauty play in con- Initiate a discussion or writing exercise about where art is seen, how it is made, temporary art? Does a work of art using the Before Viewing questions. and who makes it: need to be beautiful? Why, or why These questions are designed to help not? Who decides what is beautiful? viewers establish expectations about the Why is art important? What role content in the video and to solicit person- does art play in our society? What al experiences and opinions in relation to value is placed upon artists and their Create a particular idea. art, and why? Encourage students to write regularly in a journal or sketch- Ask viewers, before they watch the video, What makes something a work book to record questions, ideas, or to discuss key vocabulary words and, of art? Is art defined by particular pictures related to their art-viewing while viewing, to identify how the terms boundaries? If so, what are they and experiences. Use any of the Before are applied. how have they changed over the Viewing, While Viewing, or After course of history? Viewing questions to be completed Introduce additional resources, such in anticipation of a group discussion. as artist interviews, images of specific What is the role of the artist? How works of art, or topics found at art21. has this role changed over time? Initiate a debate based on any of the org, to support discussion and introduce previous discussion questions. Turn specific ideas or themes. How does a place—where an artist a question into a statement and lives and works—affect the art they have students develop arguments Encourage active viewing by identifying make? for and against that statement, to appropriate points for pausing, clarify- present to the class. ing, or expanding on what participants What distinguishes visual art from are seeing and hearing. other forms of visual communi- Use the Art21 series and website cation, like advertising, design, or to prepare students to view art Use the While Viewing questions or photojournalism? in museums, galleries, and other revisit Before Viewing questions or ideas exhibition venues. Discuss the dif- when relevant. Encourage participants to Who decides what a work of art ferent ways audiences can see and take notes, sketch, or consider additional means: the artist, the critic, the experience contemporary art (on questions while they watch the video. viewer? How do history and the film, on the Internet, in person, etc.) passage of time affect the meaning and reflect on how those contexts Facilitate After Viewing engagement by of an artwork? influence the way we look at and analyzing and responding to the video interpret the work. segment with relevant discussion and What are the most important skills follow-up activities. Consider ways an artist can have? View a variety of artist segments to for participants to process their ideas inspire students to write their own independently before sharing them with What materials and tools do artists artist statements or to create video the group, either by writing, sketching, or use to create art today? Have the segments reflecting their personal utilizing graphic organizers. tools for making art changed over artist profiles. time? Use Art21 themes to initiate conver- Use Art21 as a springboard to con- sation about multiple artists and their Where do artists find inspiration? nect with your local arts community. works. Compare and contrast artists, Invite a local artist, curator, collec- working methods, or interpretations of What is the difference between tor, or educator to discuss particular specific themes or topics. working alone and collaborating on artists, issues, or concepts relevant an artwork with fabricators, audi- to your students or local community. Screen a range of films about different ences, or others? artists (past and present, documentary,

Educators’ Guide 7 London

A centuries-old city transformed by skyscrapers, innovations, and a diverse citizenry, London has long been home to groundbreaking artists, from Romantic-era trailblazers Akomfrah —John like J.M.W. Turner to pioneering modernists like Francis Bacon. Buoyed by this history of artistic excellence, the artists featured in this film draw inspiration from decades of Brit- ish art while contending with the repercussions of colonialism and xenophobia, brought to light at a time of massive political upheaval in the country. This esteemed group takes on fundamental artistic principles of form and content to create sculpture, installation, video, and performance works that rethink history and subvert tradition, all while draw- ing upon the architectural and technological innovations of the twenty-first century. As collisions of old and new, their works are as layered, diverse, and dynamic as the city in which they live.

Anish Kapoor Phyllida Barlow Born 1954, Mumbai, India Born 1944, Newcastle upon Tyne, England) ARTISTS that from across your life. . life. your that across from A signature artist of his generation, the sculptor Since the late 1960s, the British-born artist Phylli- of things, you can’t shake off realizing shake off can’t things,of you Anish Kapoor poetically transforms stainless da Barlow has experimented with non-tradition- steel, stone, wax, PVC, and colorful pigment into al, modest materials like cement, fabric, plaster, transcendent and mystifying forms that provoke plywood, and metal to create colossal sculptures fundamental questions about perception, and installations that occupy, challenge, and Once you’ve understood that you’re a product a product that you’re understood you’ve Once consciousness, and spirituality. As he works in interrupt physical spaces. Barlow is inspired by

his South London studio with a team of assis- the industrial urban landscape and its process- Inc. 2020. © Art21, 10 episode, “London.” Season Century Twenty-First the Art in from still Production tants, Kapoor shares the motivations behind his es of damage and repair. The worn surfaces of ongoing explorations of concavity, scale, and the her sculptural forms intentionally reveal the immersive potential of colors like black and red. processes of their making, creating a thrillingly These aspects of his work become metaphors contradictory experience of physical threat and for both the artist and the viewer and reminders stability, of emotional alienation and connection. to go inward to understand one’s sense of self, place, and significance. Christian Marclay Born 1955, San Rafael, California John Akomfrah Born 1957, Accra, Ghana The artist and composer Christian Marclay works with the interplay of sound and images through Since the early 1980s, the groundbreaking film- a variety of media, ranging from performance to maker John Akomfrah has created enormous, printmaking, video, and collage. Marclay recounts multi-channel video installations that blend his artistic beginnings as an experimental DJ and archival and original footage and audio. His epic musician without formal training. These early works ambitiously connect the global legacies of experiments with sound and collaborations with slavery and colonialism to environmental degra- artists from a diversity of backgrounds laid the dation and his personal biography. While visiting foundation for Marclay’s “graphic scores,” his the Tate Britain, Akomfrah recounts his artistic works that visualize sound through drawing, beginnings, from his fascination with the British prints, and video and then transform those visuals Romantic painters John Constable and J.M.W. back to audio experiences and performances. Turner to his co-founding of the Black Audio Film Unexpected, playful, and often challenging, Mar- Collective. Shown shooting a new film on loca- clay’s work is an investigation into our contempo- tion in the state of Louisiana and editing footage rary visual and audio culture. in his studio in East London, Akomfrah explains, “I’m more choreographer than creator.”

8 Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 10 episode, “London.” © Art21, Inc. 2020. © Art21, 10 episode, “London.” Season Century Twenty-First the Art in from still Production

Discuss

Before Viewing After Viewing

How do you define collaboration? How do these artists collaborate? Describe the qualities that make these four artists similar to each other and how What items, values, and historic events are associated with they differ. London? Consider the Before Viewing discussion. Did the featured How does color acquire a particular meaning? Create a list artists refer to or comment on any of the traditional of colors and their popular symbolism. associations of London, and did they change your perspective on the city? Discuss why or why not. Describe how the transformation of something might lead to contemplation. Conversely, how might contemplation What colors do these artists favor? What do the colors inspire some kind of transformation? symbolize to the artists? Are these new or familiar meanings to you?

What do these artists transform? How does each artist ask us to contemplate different ideas and questions?

Educators’ Guide London 9 Beijing —Xu Bing —Xu

A city with a history of more than two thousand years, Beijing has recently become the center of shifting politics, rapid urbanization, and an economic boom, making it fertile ground for art and artists. Beginning in the late 1980s and continuing into the 1990s, a new generation of artists emerged in the city, marking the birth of contemporary art in China. Amid Beijing’s dizzying economic, urban, and cultural transformation, artists have responded to its relentless evolution with urgency and ambition, all the while contend- ing with many centuries of Chinese cultural traditions. This film witnesses the maturing of a unique contemporary-art hub and follows a multigenerational group of artists who grapple with memory, modernization, their roles in the global art world, and art’s place in their own ever-changing society. normally goes unnoticed.

Xu Bing Guan Xiao As an artist you try and say what’s As an try artist what’s you and say Born 1955, Chongqing, China Born 1983, Chongqing Province, China what pointing said, been out never ARTISTS

A pioneering Chinese contemporary artist, The sculptor and video artist Guan Xiao employs Xu Bing creates mixed-media installations juxtapositions—past and present, tradition and that subvert viewers’ ways of thinking about innovation, the natural and the industrial—to language, cultural tradition, and the lessons of create works that are discordant, astute, and our past while pointing to the possibilities of our frequently humorous reflections on the matrices future. Shown at work in his Beijing studio, Xu and radical contrasts of twenty-first-century

constructs one of his Background Story instal- life. At work in her Beijing studio, Guan combines Inc. 2020. © Art21, 10 episode, “Beijing.” Season Century Twenty-First the Art in from still Production lations, in which he places twigs, newspaper, readymade industrial materials like motorbike and scraps of plastic behind frosted glass to and automobile parts with traditional Chinese create the illusion of a Song Dynasty landscape ceramics and tree roots, creating dissonant, fu- painting. Installed so that viewers can see both turistic, and quasi-anthropomorphic sculptures. the beautiful landscape from the front of the For her multi-channel video work, the artist glass and the means of its making from the back, brings together found footage from the Internet Xu’s work asks viewers to reconcile their initial in a series of contradictory yet inexplicably reso- assumptions with what they actually see. nant tableaux.

Yin Xiuzhen Liu Xiaodong Born 1963, Beijing, China Born 1963, Liaoning, China Song Dong Born 1966, Beijing, China A leading figurative painter, Liu Xiaodong cre- ates large-scale works that dramatize the lives of Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen, two Beijing natives, everyday people: migrants, laborers, and others reflect on three decades of deeply personal on the economic and geographic margins. Best artmaking and the shared experience of living known for his live, en plein air process, Liu travels in Beijing through its unprecedented transfor- to Eagle Pass, Texas, a city on the U.S./Mexico mation. This film follows the pair as they install border, to paint a county sheriff, his friends, and the latest iteration of their collaborative project, colleagues. As he works outdoors, Liu contends The Way of the Chopsticks. In their sculptures with the natural elements to complete his and installations, both artists work with readily ambitious mural-size work, composed of loose accessible materials, like clothing, roofing tiles, brushstrokes and rich colors. The artist consid- window frames, and household objects, using ers this process a meditative one that allows him art to come to terms with their personal grief, to soften the harsh edges of the world. memories, and anxiety about the future.

10 Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 10 episode, “Beijing.” © Art21, Inc. 2020. © Art21, 10 episode, “Beijing.” Season Century Twenty-First the Art in from still Production

Discuss

Before Viewing After Viewing

How do traditions affect our lives? When are traditions Which traditions are these artists engaging with and beneficial, and when are they not? confronting? What do they have to say about these traditions? What causes cities to change over time? What specifically changes? How can art play a role in the evolution of a city? According to the artists in this episode, how has Beijing changed over time? How does their work confront this Why do artists examine the past? What do they do in their change in different ways? works of art to juxtapose the past and the present? Can you identify any artists who do this? Describe their work. What kinds of memories and histories are being examined in this episode? How do the featured artists use memory, as well as the history and future of Beijing, to fuel their work?

Educators’ Guide Beijing 11 Borderlands

A vast geography encompassing open deserts and densely populated metropolises, the

borderland between the United States and Mexico has long been a site of not only politi- Misrach —Richard cal conflict and social struggle but also intense creative ferment. Taking a new curatorial and filmmaking approach, Art21 connects and juxtaposes a group of acclaimed artists as they work along the U.S.-Mexico border, interweaving their stories to chronicle the cre- ative responses to one of most divisive moments in the history of this area. From an epic interactive searchlight installation along the El Paso–Juárez divide to a deeply personal performance at the Tijuana border wall, these artists consider the border as an open wound, a theatrical stage, a political podium, a studio, and a contradictory landscape that features both ugliness and beauty. —and global ones. ones. global —and

Tanya Aguiñiga Richard Misrach larger American about issues you Born 1978, San Diego, California Born 1949, Los Angeles, California anything that showed up there told told there anything up that showed ARTISTS

The binational artist Tanya Aguiñiga pushes A pioneer of large-format color photography, the power of art to transform the U.S.-Mexico Richard Misrach has photographed the American To me, the low desert was a place where where a place desert was low the me, To border from a site of trauma to a creative space desert for decades, examining the impact of hu- for personal healing and collective expression. man activity on the natural landscape. Creating Reflecting the cultural hybridity and commu- otherworldly images of cacti and rock forma- nity of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, the artist tions and unsettling pictures of military bombing

discusses her upbringing in Tijuana, her training ranges, nuclear test sites, and man-made fires, Inc. 2020. © Art21, 10 episode, “Borderlands.” Season Century Twenty-First the Art in from still Production as a furniture and craft designer, and her artistic for his ongoing Desert Cantos series, Misrach beginnings with the Border Art Workshop/Taller explains how “our culture stands out in very clear de Arte Fronterizo collective. Aguiñiga demon- relief in the desert.” Collectively, Misrach’s work strates how art can be both a personal “physical chronicles the places where nature and culture and emotional outlet” and a vehicle to help collide, highlighting where beauty and ugliness others “empathize and think about how we’re all exist side-by-side. connected to each other.”

Postcommodity Rafael Lozano-Hemmer Founded 2007 Born 1967, Mexico City, Mexico The interdisciplinary collective Postcommodity Known for his large-scale, interactive installa- creates site-specific installations and interven- tions, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer uses contempo- tions that critically examine our modern-day rary technologies like computerized surveillance, institutions and systems through the history and heart-rate sensors, and robotics to create partic- perspectives of Indigenous people. Influenced by ipatory experiences and platforms for public par- growing up in the southwestern United States, ticipation and connection. The artist frequently the artists Cristóbal Martínez and Kade L. Twist works in and transforms public spaces, creating revisit their 2015 public installation, Repellent awe-inspiring, poetic, and critical installations Fence, produced with previous Postcommodity Highlighting the intimate, personal relations in artist, Raven Chacon. A two-mile-long line of a public space that is otherwise systematically enormous balloons across the Arizona-Sonora dehumanizing. border, Repellent Fence symbolically sutured to- gether cultures and lands that had been unified long before borders were drawn.

12 Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 10 episode, “Borderlands.” © Art21, Inc. 2020. © Art21, 10 episode, “Borderlands.” Season Century Twenty-First the Art in from still Production

Discuss

Before Viewing After Viewing

Where do artists work? Describe the kinds of places where Discuss the different places in this episode where you saw artists can make art. artists working. How do the places where they work affect the art that they create? What do artists use as materials for making works of art? What kinds of traditional and nontraditional materials for How do borders function? What do they do? Make a list making works of art are featured in this episode? Which of the different kinds of borders that you encounter in your materials were surprising to you? Why? daily life. Describe the literal and figurative borders that these artists When do artists speak up for others who are marginalized work with. or discriminated against? Share examples of artists who do this and describe how their art works in this way. How might the work of one or more of these artists affect the lives of people at and near the U.S.-Mexico border? Describe things that you find simultaneously beautiful and ugly.

Educators’ Guide Borderlands 13 Anish Kapoor. Leviathan, 2011. PVC; 33.6 x 99.89 x 72.23 m. Photograph: Dave Morgan. ©Anish Kapoor. All rights reserved DACS/ARS, 2020.

London

Anish Kapoor | Ah-NEESH Kah-POOR |

Born Media and Materials 1954, Mumbai, India installation ABOUT sculpture Education BA, Hornsey College of Art Key Words and Ideas MA, Chelsea School of Art and Design abstraction perception concavity public art TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING Lives and Works contemplation scale London, England form site-specific illusion About the Artist —Anish Kapoor —Anish World renowned for his perception-defying Related Artists sculptures and large-scale public installations, Diana Al-Hadid Gabriel Orozco Anish Kapoor works with industrial materials like David Altmejd Damián Ortega mirror, steel, stone, and vinyl to create forms that Lynda Benglis Judy Pfaff evoke the metaphysical and challenge viewers’ Olafur Eliasson Martin Puryear ideas about physical space. Kapoor’s sublime use Katharina Grosse Pedro Reyes of concave forms, reflective surfaces, intense Mary Heilmann Robin Rhode colors, and monumental scale invites viewers Rashid Johnson Ursula von Rydingsvard to experience both collective awe and private Jeff Koons Richard Serra contemplation. He is best known for his enig- Wolfgang Laib Arlene Shechet matic large-scale works and public installations, Liz Larner Jessica Stockholder such as the famous Cloud Gate, fondly referred Liz Magor Hiroshi Sugimoto to as “The Bean,” in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle James Turrell Cloud Gate, like many of Kapoor’s works, utilizes Robert Mangold Monica Valentine reflective surfaces and captivates viewers with Elizabeth Murray its awe-inspiring scale and deceptive beauty. As artists, we conduct our educations in our educations As conduct artists, we has risk to it. just One public.

14 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

Before Viewing While Viewing After Viewing

Describe one or two colors that you Describe the colors that Kapoor is How do your associations with find powerful. Why are these colors attracted to. Why is he attracted to the color red compare to Kapoor’s powerful, from your perspective? these colors? associations?

When have you been in awe of When does Kapoor create a sense of How does Kapoor create a sense of something? Describe the context. awe, during this segment? awe? What strategies or approaches does he use? How does this compare Who decides what an object means: Which works does Kapoor find to moments when you have been the artist or the viewer? successful? Does his definition of in awe? success change? How? What do you think about when you What might Kapoor be asking us hear the word geometry? Take notes about the ways in which to contemplate through his works? Kapoor employs mirror, steel, stone, How is he directing our thinking? What do you associate with these and vinyl in his works. What does he materials: mirror, steel, stone, and do with these materials, in order to Compare Kapoor to an Art21 Season vinyl? gain our attention? 9 artist, Olafur Eliasson. How are both artists using unique materials and geometry to incite our thinking?

Reflect on the Before Viewing question regarding materials such as We think of geometry as knowable. The mirror, steel, stone, and vinyl. After interesting thing about geometry, however, viewing this segment, how does Kapoor’s use of these materials build is that when it’s taken to the nth degree of upon the associations you shared? knowing, it becomes unknowable. —Anish Kapoor

Create

Use a single color to influence the creation of a work of art or to compose a piece of music. How is your relationship to this color connected with the object or music?

The word awesome is often used to describe a wide range of things, from experiences to places to people. Think about a time when you experienced being in awe. Create a poem or short video that aims to share this feeling.

Play with geometry to create an artwork. Consider how the design influences what the audience will see, from various points of view.

Anish Kapoor. Descension, 2014. Photograph: James Ewing. ©Anish Kapoor. All rights reserved DACS/ARS, 2020.

Educators’ Guide Anish Kapoor 15 vv

John Akomfrah, Purple, 2017. Installation view at ICA Watershed, Boston, 2019. 6 channel HD colour video installation withCaption 15.1 surround sound; Dimensions variable. 62 minutes. © Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery. Production still from the Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 10 episode, “London.”

London

John Akomfrah | jon ah-KOM-frah |

Born Media and Materials 1957, Accra, Ghana installation ABOUT film Education video BS, Portsmouth Polytechnic Key Words and Ideas Lives and Works archival material legacy TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING —John Akomfrah —John London, England collaboration memory colonialism multiplicity About the Artist documentary museum A pioneering filmmaker, John Akomfrah creates history narrative multichannel video installations that critically identity political examine the legacy of colonialism, the Black layer diaspora, and environmental degradation. Akomfrah weaves together original footage Related Artists with archival material to create stirring, layered Ai Weiwei Liz Magic Laser narratives that juxtapose personal and historical Allora and Calzadilla Sally Mann memory, past and present, and environmental Edgar Arceneaux Mary Reid Kelley and human crises. During a period of political Tania Bruguera Yinka Shonibare CBE and social unrest in 1980s England, Akomfrah co- Stan Douglas (RA) founded the Black Audio Film Collective, a group Jenny Holzer Tabaimo that developed a groundbreaking experimental Alfredo Jaar Diana Thater style to center Black identity and culture within Hiwa K Carrie Mae Weems the British experience. Since then, Akomfrah William Kentridge Krzysztof Wodiczko has developed his signature multilayered filmic Barbara Kruger style, creating enormous, multichannel video installations with soundtracks of haunting musical compositions and readings from historical texts. When you’re a kid, you’re made paintings by you’re a kid, you’re When a human be to being. teach you because they but person, a Black be to teach me didn’t They a human be to me being.. taught they

16 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

Before Viewing While Viewing After Viewing

Describe your experience with What is Akomfrah’s relationship to Explain what you think Akomfrah museums. What kinds of memories museums? What did he learn while means when he describes his do you have, from seeing art growing up? realization that the museum is a in museums? “temple of whiteness.” Why does Akomfrah utilize multiple Why might an artist choose to make screens in his films? How does How is Akomfrah “more a a multi-screen film? What would seeing these multiple images at the choreographer than a creator”? inspire an artist to want to share same time affect you? multiple moving images at once? What does Akomfrah mean when Archival material is a hallmark of he describes having “voices at work, Who writes history? Who decides Akomfrah’s work. How does he instead of a voice”? which stories are given prominence? use it? How does Akomfrah’s use of water What can the sea represent? In his films, Akomfrah often uses the and the sea make you feel, when theme of water. List some examples watching his films? What do you associate with the (like ships, marine animals, ocean British Empire? Consider historical scenes, rain, etc.). Akomfrah refers to multiple and contemporary perspectives. points of view on several historical events, including Brexit, global warming, immigration, Ghanaian independence, British colonization, and transatlantic slavery. How does he confront these topics differently We wanted to raise the question of Black than a historian would? representation in filmmaking. —John Akomfrah

Create

Similar to how Akomfrah utilized Turner’s painting The Deluge when installing his film, Vertigo Sea, choose a work of art to inspire a short film that you create. When choosing this work, look for something that initiates a story you want to tell and allow your film to extend the story.

Identify a historical moment that influences our lives today. Find archival material and create a work to bridge the past and the present.

Akromfrah uses place-based metaphors, such as the sea and the desert, to comment on various topics. Choose a place that has multiple meanings to you and write a poem to describe it.

John Akomfrah. Purple, 2017. 6 channel HD colour video installation with 15.1 surround sound; Dimensions variable. 62 minutes. © Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.

Educators’ Guide John Akomfrah 17 vv

Caption

Phyllida Barlow. Sculptural Acts, installation view, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany, 2011. © Phyllida Barlow. Courtesy the artist, Haus der Kunst and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Wilfried Petzi.

London

Phyllida Barlow | fih-LID-ah bahr-low |

Born Media and Materials 1944, Newcastle upon Tyne, England installation ABOUT mixed media Education sculpture Chelsea College of Art, and Slade School of Fine Art, London Key Words and Ideas abstraction layer TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING Lives and Works color memory London, England context play damage process About the Artist decay repair Inspired by the urban environment, Phyllida Bar- form low’s sculptures marry unconventional materials such as cardboard, plywood, plaster, and cement Related Artists with vibrantly colored paint and fabrics. Her Diana Al-Hadid Robert Mangold invented forms are created through layered pro- David Altmejd Paul McCarthy

—Phyllida Barlow —Phyllida cesses of accumulation, removal, and juxtaposi- Lynda Benglis Elizabeth Murray tion—gestures that Barlow describes as “more Louise Bourgeois Gabriel Orozco functional than artistic.” The resulting massive Mark Bradford Judy Pfaff works challenge viewers’ experiences of physical Nick Cave Martin Puryear space, stretching the limits of mass, volume, and Alex Da Corte Pedro Reyes height as they tower, block, and interrupt space. Katharina Grosse Ursula von Rydingsvard Yet these works remain distinctly anti-monu- Mary Heilmann Richard Serra mental; the artist leaves exposed, unfinished Oliver Herring Arlene Shechet seams, revealing the means of the works’ making Liz Larner Jessica Stockholder and playing with the tensions between hardness Liz Magor Monica Valentine and softness, the imperious and the comic, and the painterly and the sculptural. Sculpture can take on the world we’re we’re Sculpture can take world the on and those color canliving It in. absorb industrial processes.

18 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

Before Viewing While Viewing After Viewing

Where do you encounter sculpture? List the different places where you Barlow asks, “What happens if Make a list of places where you have see Barlow’s sculptures installed, in sculpture ends up where it’s not seen sculpture in different contexts. this segment. supposed to be?” Why do you think Barlow considers this possibility What types of materials are How do processes of building and when it comes to her work? associated with sculpture? construction influence Barlow’s work? What materials does Barlow Look closely at one of Barlow’s What does the phrase “damage and use in her sculptures? How might sculptures featured in this segment. repair” mean to you? those be seen as new? How does placement, and the space around the sculpture, affect your How do childhood memories How does Barlow balance having a interpretation of the work? influence the kinds of things you family and being an artist? create? Barlow discusses her memories Barlow discusses her childhood several times during the segment. memories of London’s destruction How is memory a theme of her work? during World War II. Describe her memories. Are there allusions to those early experiences in the work she makes today?

What is the ambition of the space in the way that it becomes enclosed, and what happens if that space is explored to the maximum? —Phyllida Barlow

Create

Create a sculpture using simple materials, and install the work in a space where you think it’s not supposed to be. How does inserting your sculpture into a specific environment affect the space or the way viewers experience it?

Barlow says, “I think I have always been interested in the object that seems badly behaved.” Pick an object and depict it behaving badly, in any medium.

Barlow discusses how, while her children were young, she had only an hour or two to make art each day. Work with a time restriction to create a work of art or write a short story. How does this restriction affect your work? Is the restriction beneficial or a hindrance? Why?

Phyllida Barlow. pompom2014-3, 2014. Fabric, paper, cord; 18 1/8 x 18 1/8 x 18 1/8 in. (46 x 46 x 46 cm). ©Caption Phyllida Barlow. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Alex Delfanne.

Educators’ Guide Phyllida Barlow 19 vv

Christian Marclay. Scream (Curls), 2017. Woodcut; 31 7/8 x 38 9/16 in. (81 x 98 cm). © the artist. Photo © White Cube (Ben Westoby).Caption

London

Christian Marclay | kris-jen MARK-lay |

Born Media and Materials 1955, San Rafael, California installation printmaking ABOUT music sound Education photography video BFA, Massachusetts College of Art Key Words and Ideas Lives and Works collaboration representation TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING London, England juxtaposition sound language “turntablism” About the Artist musique concréte Marclay began his career in New York City’s East Village, where he was an early experimental DJ Related Artists and musician, creating a series of works by de- Marina Abramović Ann Hamilton stroying, collaging, and scratching vinyl records. Eleanor Antin Liz Magic Laser Influenced by musique concrète, punk rock, and Kevin Beasley Paul McCarthy the work of John Cage, Marclay collaborated Nick Cave Susan Philipsz with a variety of artists, musicians, and perform- Alex Da Corte Krzysztof Wodiczko ers during this time. The transformation of sound and musical objects into visuals and visuals back into audio experiences has been an important —Christian Marclay —Christian and ongoing part of the artist’s practice. Marclay is best known for The Clock (2010), a work for which he collaged and sequenced views of clocks from a broad range of films to create a 24-hour video installation that also functions as a timekeeper. Collectively, his works tap into and comment on the subliminal power of mass visual and audio culture. I think it’s important make to I think it’s through knowledge the discoveries people. other of

20 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

Before Viewing While Viewing After Viewing

Can sound be visual? In what ways List the moments when Marclay Earlier in the London episode, the can sound be represented visually? pairs sound with images or artist John Akomfrah asks viewers performance. to engage with works that feature What is involved when you listen to multiple images being projected something closely? How does your Pay close attention to your reactions at once. How does Marclay’s work body behave? and feelings during this segment. compare to Akomfrah’s? Describe Make notes about specific works the similarities and differences in What are some conditions for that have a particular effect on you. their processes and works. making a discovery? When have you What aspects of Marclay’s work are experienced discovering something? triggering these reactions? How might a viewer have to prepare, or be able to look at art differently, When is collaboration fruitful? What During the segment, when does in order to engage with Marclay’s are the benefits of working with Marclay put himself in a position works? others? to make discoveries? What does he do to set this up? What does he Think about the media and materials discover? that Marclay utilizes, including records, turntables, video, sounds How does Marclay make his work of things breaking, and sounds from without reading or using sheet social media. What references might music? the viewer discover when engaging with Marclay’s works?

How has Marclay’s work evolved, with respect to advances in I wanted to shift the focus, so it wouldn’t be technology? on the image but on the sound. —Christian Marclay

Create

Select an image to inspire you to create a sound or a song. Then reverse the process: choose a sound or song that inspires a work of visual art. Design a display for these two works and what inspired them.

Interpret sound as a two-dimensional artwork. Choose a sound to highlight and use any two-dimensional style to illustrate it.

Collaborate with a classmate on a multi-dimensional piece, in which sound is a focal point. Each partner will work on only certain aspects of the piece; partners should not work together on the same aspects.

Create a video or performance that not only experiments with sound but also emphasizes new or discovered sounds.

Christian Marclay. Black on Red Plop, 2014. Ink and acrylic on paper; 35 13/16 x 28 3/8 in. (91 x 72 cm). © the artist. Photo © White Cube (George Darrell).

Educators’ Guide Christian Marclay 21 vv

Xu Bing. Background Story: Dwelling in the Peach Blossom Valley. Installation view at Xu Bing: Thought and Method, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2019. ©Xu Bing Studio.

Beijing

Xu Bing | SHOO Bing |

Born Media and Materials 1955, Chongqing, China installation ABOUT painting Education sculpture BA, MFA, Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing (CAFA) Key Words and Ideas calligraphy observation TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING Lives and Works illusion surveillance Beijing, China imitation tradition language About the Artist Fascinated with visual and written languages, Xu Bing builds mixed-media installations that Related Artists simultaneously evoke and subvert centuries-old Ai Weiwei Jeff Koons Chinese cultural traditions, such as calligraphy, Louise Bourgeois Barbara Kruger wood-block printing, and landscape painting Cai Guo-Qiang Allan McCollum scrolls. The artist asks viewers to consider Vija Celmins Barry McGee how our cultural backgrounds, especially those Minerva Cuevas Bruce Nauman shaped by language, fundamentally color our Rackstraw Downes Trevor Paglen worldviews. Due to increasing artistic restric- Omer Fast Paul Pfeiffer tions following the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro- Walton Ford Shahzia Sikander tests, Xu moved to New York City, where he lived Anish Kapoor Do Ho Suh for almost two decades. Created with materials Margaret Kilgallen Carrie Mae Weems as varied as tobacco, construction debris, and surveillance-camera footage, Xu Bing’s instal- lations remain elegant and poignant, at once revering and questioning cultural traditions and challenging viewers’ preconceived assumptions. —Xu Bing —Xu Every artist carriesEvery own their them. with background cultural

22 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

Before Viewing While Viewing After Viewing

What kinds of things are imitated? What is Xu Bing’s relationship Compare Xu Bing’s work Background What reasons might people give to imitation? How does his work Story—and the way he works with for creating imitations or copies at the beginning of the segment, illusion and imitation—with the of something? When is copying Background Story, relate his balloon sculptures of Jeff Koons, another person’s work acceptable? perspective? an Art21 Season 5 artist, and with the illustrations of Walton Ford, a How might our handwriting say Make notes about the different Season 2 artist. How does each artist something about us? ways that Xu Bing approaches engage differently with imitation handwriting, calligraphy, and and illusion and for what reasons? What does the word language language. mean? How are art and language Why is using a “tactic of diversion” linked? How does Xu Bing comment on important to Xu Bing? What tactics surveillance? does he use to inspire viewers to look What is surveillance? When are you closely at the work? aware of it happening? Characterize Xu Bing’s feelings on China’s political history. Consider How might constant surveillance how he uses humor to comment on infringe on an individual’s civil difficult subject matter. rights?

Xu Bing muses on the meaning of imitating past artists and copying in China and the United States. Did his perspective change how you view Our brains are used to lazy thinking, imitation? which needs to be disrupted and rebooted, just like a crashed computer. —Xu Bing

Create

Using Background Story for inspiration, create an artwork with materials that look like completely different materials when the work is finished.

Xu Bing says, “Imitating past artists is a historic Chinese tradition.” Choose an artist from the past and include references to them in a new work. The work can be inspired by their ideas or by a different topic.

Play with language: use the characteristics of one written alphabet to create another, and rewrite a favorite phrase, quote, or poem using these new letters and symbols. How does this new language still communicate your message? Share the work with others and ask if they get a sense of the message you are trying to convey.

Xu Bing. The Grand Canal. Installation view at Common Space—The Grand Canal, Beijing Time Art Museum, Beijing, China, 2019. ©Xu Bing Studio. Image courtesy Beijing Times Art Museum.

Educators’ Guide Xu Bing 23 vv

Song Dong & Yin Xiuzhen. Chopsticks 2006 (筷子2006), 2005–2006. Stockings, thread, foam, and stainless steel (长筒袜、线、泡沫塑料、不锈钢); Set of 2, 312 x 12 x 12 in. (793 x 31 x 31 cm) each. Courtesy the artists and Chambers Fine Art.

Beijing

Song Dong & Yin Xiuzhen | song dou-ng | yin SHOO-jen |

Born Media and Materials Yin Xiuzhen: 1963, Beijing, China installation ABOUT Song Dong: 1966, Beijing, China sculpture

Education Key Words and Ideas Yin Xiuzhen: BA, Capital Normal University collaboration memory Song Dong: BA, Capital Normal University family place TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING found objects time Live and Work history tradition Beijing, China impermanence

About the Artists Related Artists Ai Weiwei Liz Magor Song Dong: Working with humble, readily acces- Allora & Calzadilla Martin Puryear sible materials, such as household objects, wood- Mark Bradford Pedro Reyes en window and door frames, and even food, Song Abraham Cruzvillegas Doris Salcedo Dong creates sculptures, installations, videos, Alex Da Corte Do Ho Suh and performance works that explore personal Nathalie Djurberg Stephanie Syjuco and collective memory, impermanence, and the & Hans Berg Fred Wilson transience of human endeavor. Rackstraw Downes Bryan Zanisnik David Goldblatt Andrea Zittel

—Song Dong Yin Xiuzhen: Working in site-specific installation Ann Hamilton and sculpture, Yin Xiuzhen uses second-hand or recycled items like clothing and domestic objects to create works that preserve personal memories in a rapidly globalizing and homogenizing world. People build cities out of desire. desire. of out build cities People cities also destroy People desire. of out

24 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

Before Viewing While Viewing After Viewing

How do you define the word home? How do Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen Discuss the ways that Song Dong describe the changes they have and Yin Xiuzhen’s projects reflect How can daily interactions experienced in Beijing? Describe the idea of home. with family inspire moments of their feelings about home. creativity? The nature of family plays a clear role Describe Song Dong and Yin in the work of Song Dong and Yin How does experiencing works of Xiuzhen’s collaborative process Xiuzhen. Discuss other artists who art, and particular places, help us to for Chopsticks. are creatively inspired by ideas about reconnect with the past? family. Take notes on the ways in which When have you collaborated with Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen connect Song says, “Once these objects are someone to make something? with the past, in this segment. turned into something new, we can Describe this experience and how meet people of the past.” What do you and your partner decided on the you think he means by this? roles you would play. How does Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen’s collaborative process compare to your own experience with collaboration, as well as other forms of collaboration that you know? Why do you think these So I don’t think art is about making artists choose to work in this way? objects. It’s more about the process: how you spend your time. —Yin Xiuzhen

Create

Use found materials at a meaningful site—such as a community center, a favorite park, or your home—to create a new artwork devoted to it.

Inspired by The Way of the Chopsticks, make a collaborative work with a partner: Pick objects (not chopsticks) with two separate pieces that work together, such as a needle and thread or a lock and key. Each partner creates one half of the object in secrecy, apart from their collaborator. After both halves are completed, reveal them to each other, and decide how they will be displayed.

Create a timeline with objects from your home, or from the home of a friend, and photograph this sculptural timeline to tell a story about the past.

Yin Xiuzhen. Trojan, 2016–2017. Steel frame, used clothes; 224 7/16 x 86 5/8 x 185 1/16 in. (570 x 220 x 470 cm). © Yin Xiuzhen. Courtesy Pace Gallery.

Educators’ Guide Song Dong & Yin Xiuzhen 25 vv

Guan Xiao. Installation view: 8 stories at Antenna Space, Shanghai. Courtesy of the artist and t Space.

Beijing

Guan Xiao | gwaan SHEE-ow |

Born Media and Materials 1983, Chongqing Province, China sculpture ABOUT video Education BA, Communication University of China Key Words and Ideas abstraction juxtaposition Lives and Works artifact readymade materials TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING Beijing, China industrial design research

About the Artist Related Artists In her sculpture and video work, Guan Xiao Ai Weiwei Brian Jungen juxtaposes discordant images, diverse cultur- El Anatsui Liz Magor al artifacts, and modern technology to create Janine Antoni Jessica Stockholder objects that are futuristic, referential, unset- Meriem Bennani Hiroshi Sugimoto tling, and humorous. Working with traditional Mark Bradford Sarah Sze Chinese sculpted tree roots, 3D fabrications, and Abraham Cruzvillegas Richard Tuttle readymade industrial objects, Guan Xiao epito- Cao Fei Ursula von Rydingsvard mizes the next generation of artists from China, Leonardo Drew Fred Wilson rooted in transnational culture and immersed in Olafur Eliasson Xu Bing our technology-fueled present. Her video works Ellen Gallagher Bryan Zanisnik mirror viewers’ experiences of the Internet and Theaster Gates personal memories, where seemingly unrelated images find inexplicable yet resonant connection. —Guan Xiao —Guan During periods of change, there’s During change, of there’s periods opportunity things. interesting do to

26 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

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What is abstraction? What forms What kinds of things does Guan Xiao How does Guan Xiao describe the can it take? abstract, or change, in this segment? contemporary art scene in China? Consider the other artists featured When is it helpful to create a plan Describe Guan Xiao’s process for in this episode. How do their before starting a new artwork? planning a new work. perspectives compare?

How do you “read” a sculpture? Describe how you might look at and Why is it beneficial for Guan Xiao to How is looking at art similar to engage with Guan Xiao’s abstract have a detailed plan in advance of and different from reading printed sculptures. executing her work? words? What traditional Chinese materials Guan Xiao says she wants viewers What kinds of materials are does Guan Xiao use? Why is this a to slowly “experience each layer” of often associated with making art, complex decision for her? her works. How does her process and especially sculpture? presentation bring this about? What kinds of objects, forms, and How does the act of juxtaposition— colors does Guan Xiao juxtapose? Describe an instance when you placing things in close proximity— found a new use for something that help us to see the details of things typically has an entirely different being compared? purpose. How does Guan Xiao push the idea of what can be used to make art, in this segment?

Guan states, “In fairy-tale worlds, When things are linked there’s an openness and acceptance of different characters and their traits. through a mysterious logic, I think it’s a more interesting world.” it’s more interesting. — Guan Xiao How do the different objects and forms that Guan Xiao incorporates affect your response to her work?

Create

Mix traditional art-making materials with industrial objects to create a work of abstract art.

Create a work of art, or a short story, that incorporates layers to reveal what’s at the heart of the work.

Find a new use for an everyday object and create an advertisement or other kind of visual message that illustrates this new use.

Juxtapose two very different objects in order to tell a story. Photograph these two objects in a variety of ways, choose the best photo, and display the picture (or the objects themselves) with a written text that describes the story.

Guan Xiao. Sesame, Keyhole, Sunset, 2020. Wood panel, poly-putty base, paint; 120 x 120 x 7.5 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Antenna Space.

Educators’ Guide Guan Xiao 27 vv

Liu Xiaodong. South, detail, 2012. Oil on canvas; 98 3/8 x 118 1/8 in. (250 x 300 cm). © Liu Xiaodong. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.

Beijing

Liu Xiaodong | lyoo SHEE-ow-dong |

Born Media and Materials 1963, Liaoning, China painting ABOUT photography Education BFA and MFA, Central Academy of Fine Arts Key Words and Ideas memory process Lives and Works place time TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING Beijing, China portraiture value system political commentary About the Artist A leading figure among the Chinese Neo-Realist Related Artists painters, Liu Xiaodong depicts everyday people Eleanor Antin Kerry James Marshall in his enormous oil-and-acrylic paintings, fore- Kevin Beasley Zanelle Muholi grounding the human dimension of global issues Jordan Casteel Catherine Opie like economic hardship, environmental crisis, Vija Celmins Robin Rhode and migration. The artist often works on site, Mel Chin Nancy Spero painting his subjects en plein air. Considered a Rackstraw Downes Stephanie Syjuco part of the New Wave or New Generation artists LaToya Ruby Frazier Jeff Wall who emerged following the end of the Cultural Katy Grannan Chris Ware Revolution and the death of Mao Zedong, Liu An-My Lê Carrie Mae Weems Xiaodong creates work influenced by figurative Tala Madani Krzysztof Wodiczko realism, a key artistic legacy still thriving in con- Sally Mann temporary Chinese art. Imbued with rawness, his paintings are composed of loose brushstrokes and rich colors, suggestive of the sometimes rough, improvised lives of his subjects. The resulting paintings are tender reminders of our humanity, where viewers can see themselves in the joys and struggles of the artist’s subjects. —Liu Xiaodong A common thingA common among artists is world. their with in love they’re

28 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

Before Viewing While Viewing After Viewing

Why does someone paint? Why What reasons does Liu Xiaodong What political moments does Liu might artists choose to use paint to share about why he paints in Xiaodong refer to in his work? How present images and convey ideas? different contexts, indoors and do these paintings ask the viewer to outdoors? reconsider these moments? What qualities make a successful portrait? In his work, how does Liu Xiaodong Compare Liu Xiaodong’s process to balance images from real life and his that of a New York Close Up featured When does the ordinary become imagination? artist, Jordan Casteel. How are these extraordinary? Describe a memory two artists’ processes similar? How of when something mundane What words would you use to are they different? In what ways do became magical. describe the portraits and scenes they amplify the voices of marginal- that Liu Xiaodong paints? ized communities? During hectic or very active situations, what do you do to What effects do Liu Xiaodong’s How does Liu Xiaodong use “ordi- become more calm? paintings have on you? nary, everyday folks” in his paintings? What in his paintings is extraordi- nary? How does Liu Xiaodong allow us to see these people in ways we may have not noticed otherwise? This world is always so black and white, Liu Xiaodong states, “Before paint- especially in politics, which leaves ing, everything seems very fierce, no room for a middle ground; either but the world after being painted becomes very calm.” In your own you’re for something or completely words, describe how Liu Xiaodong against it. But for artists, we’re always achieves this sense of calm. looking for a different path. — Liu Xiaodong

Create

Consider a place that has a contested history. Create a work that includes references to those differing views.

Use an ordinary, everyday moment to begin or inspire a work of art or music that is extraordinary. Write a short explanation of the connection between the work you created and the moment that inspired it.

Photograph a particular place and the people who live there. Choose a few of these photos and combine the images, using any approach you choose, to make a new work of art. What qualities does your combined image have that the individual images do not?

Liu Xiaodong. Green Pub, 2013. Oil on cotton duck; 86 5/8 x 88 5/8 in. (220 x 225 cm). © Liu Xiaodong. Courtesy Lisson Gallery.

Educators’ Guide Liu Xiaodong 29 vv

Tanya Aguiñiga. Tensión, 2017. Performed by Tanya Aguiñiga and Jackie Amézquita. Image by Gina Clyne. Courtesy Tanya Aguiñiga.

Borderlands

Tanya Aguiñiga | ta-nee-ah ah-geh-NEE-gah |

Born Media and Materials 1978 furniture design ABOUT installation Education performance BA, San Diego State University sculpture MFA, Rhode Island School of Design Key Words and Ideas TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING Lives and Works activism identity Los Angeles, California community narrative engagement place About the Artist craft reclamation An artist, designer, and craftsperson, Tanya design representation Aguiñiga works with traditional craft materials empathy like natural fibers and collaborates with other —Tanya Aguiñiga —Tanya artists and activists to create sculptures, instal- Related Artists lations, performances, and community-based art Edgar Arceneaux Theaster Gates projects. Drawing on her upbringing as a bina- Meriem Bennani Ann Hamilton tional citizen, who daily crossed the border from Mark Bradford Nicholas Hlobo Tijuana to San Diego for school, Aguiñiga’s work Tania Bruguera Graciela Iturbide speaks of the artist’s experience of her divided Nick Cave Hiwa K identity and aspires to tell the larger and often Mel Chin Brian Jungen invisible stories of the transnational community. Minerva Cuevas Pedro Reyes Aguiñiga began her career by creating collabora- Raúl de Nieves Robin Rhode tive installations with the Border Art Workshop/ Abigail DeVille Doris Salcedo Taller de Arte Fronterizo, an artist collective that Doreen Garner Do Ho Suh addressed political and human rights issues at the U.S.-Mexico border. A lot of my work is about visibility visibility is about work my of A lot representation: more and is about or themselves see people more having strugglestheir mirrored.

30 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

Before Viewing While Viewing After Viewing

How does one become an artist? Describe Aguiñiga’s path to How was Aguiñiga’s path to becom- (Or: What kinds of things does one becoming an artist. ing an artist similar to or different do in order to become an artist?) from what might be expected? Besides making works of art, what How does Aguiñiga encourage other things do artists do? interaction and collaboration What characteristics do artists utilizing the border wall? share? How does Aguiñiga Describe the physical borders exemplify this? that you engage with each day. What does Aguiñiga specifically do How do these borders affect your in order to draw attention to those How does Aguiñiga engage commu- movements, your actions, and your affected by the border wall? nity members and change attitudes feelings? about the U.S.-Mexico border How is craft utilized in Aguiñiga’s through her work? When does art draw attention to projects? inequities in our society? Can you Aguiñiga uses several Mesoamer- describe one or more examples? ican traditions (like the quipu and certain imagery) in her work. How What do you think of when you hear does she connect people through the word craft? these traditions?

What does touch convey that other In what ways does Aguiñiga “take senses cannot? back the fence” through her work? How might her work affect those who engage with it?

Our government doesn’t represent the feelings of the majority of Americans. —Tanya Aguiñiga

Create

Consider a culture that you identify with, research its tradition- al art forms, and use at least one to create a work commenting on a social or political issue that is important to you.

Pick a current event or issue that is important to you. Plan and execute an art project that draws attention to the cause and includes participation from the public (through creating an installation or mural, communicating to elected officials, etc.).

Write an editorial for a local newspaper or magazine that suggests a specific change that the community can make to improve equity and inclusion of all people. Share your editorial with others and advocate for this change through other channels, like social media.

Tanya Aguiñiga. Hand in Hand, 2015. From performance at the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, Asheville, NC. Image by Tanya Aguiñiga. Courtesy Tanya Aguiñiga.

Educators’ Guide Tanya Aguiñiga 31 vv

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Border Tuner / Sintonizador Fronterizo, Relational Architecture 23, 2019. Bowie High-School / Parque Chamizal, El Paso / Ciudad Juárez, Texas / Chihuahua, United States / México, 2019. Photo by: Monica Lozano.

Borderlands

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer | ra-fa-EL low-ZAH-no HEM-mer |

Born Media and Materials 1967 installation ABOUT performance Education sound BS, Concordia University Key Words and Ideas Lives and Works biology complexity TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING Montréal, Canada chemistry connection communication space About the Artist community surveillance An artist working at the intersection of architec- engagement visibility ture and performance art, Rafael Lozano-Hem-

—Rafael Lozano-Hemmer Lozano-Hemmer —Rafael mer creates participatory artworks that utilize Related Artists technology like robotics, heart-rate sensors, Allora and Calzadilla Thomas Hirschhorn and computerized surveillance tools in order to Janine Antoni Hiwa K facilitate human connection. Technologically Kevin Beasley Anish Kapoor sophisticated yet deceptively simple in their exe- Tania Bruguera Wolfgang Laib cution, Lozano-Hemmer’s spectacular, immersive Nick Cave Bruce Nauman works are often installed in public places as a Mark Dion Susan Philipsz means of transforming these sites into forums for Theaster Gates Pedro Reyes civic engagement. From an education in chemis- Ann Hamilton James Turrell try, Lozano-Hemmer’s early career in a molecu- Tim Hawkinson Krzysztof Wodiczko lar-recognition lab influenced his conceptual and practical approach to creating art. His work often invites viewers to provide a biometric “snapshot” of themselves—whether their fingerprint, heart- beat, or portrait—that the artist then transforms into a dynamic, collective landscape and repre- sentation of both anonymity and community. Many of my works involve taking a portrait involve works my of Many their or like face their a participant, of heartbeat,fingerprint or their then and making a landscape. into it

32 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

Before Viewing While Viewing After Viewing

Can a portrait become a landscape? How does Lozano-Hemmer create Lozano-Hemmer challenges the tra- How? portraits without depicting faces? ditional understanding of a portrait. How does he go about forming these After seeing his work, did your idea What does audience engagement portraits? of a portrait change? How so? How mean, in art? are biology and chemistry employed List words and phrases to describe in these works? What kinds of art are found in public Lozano-Hemmer’s Border Tuner. spaces? Describe some you have What makes Border Tuner a form encountered. Lozano-Hemmer creates of communication and interaction opportunities for large numbers of unlike the examples you described When do science and art intersect? people to experience his work. List earlier? Describe examples in which one has the types of projects he creates and influenced the other. how viewers participate with them. Lozano-Hemmer states, “As an artist, my challenge is to interrupt Describe the main forms of Which branches of science does the normal ways that the city is be- communication that you employ in Lozano-Hemmer engage with? coming homogenous.” What do you your daily life. How? think he means?

How does Lozano-Hemmer view his role as an artist? What kinds of spe- cialists does he work with to realize his ideas? I love when you have a pre-established In what ways do voices become visible notion of what you’re going to see, in Lozano-Hemmer’s work? and it’s wrong. —Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

Create

Ask a family member or friend if you may use them as inspira- tion for a special portrait, without showing their face. Utilize aspects of this person—such as their fingerprint, hairstyle, or voice—to initiate an abstract portrait inspired by one or more of these characteristics.

Invent a form of communication that doesn’t involve words or text. Try using it with friends or family members. Does this new form of communication allow you to express certain things that words and text do not? How?

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Vicious Circular Breathing, 2013. Installation view at Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 2018. Photo by: Guy L’Heureux.

Educators’ Guide Rafael Lozano-Hemmer 33 vv

Richard Misrach. Wall, near Brownsville, Texas, 2013, 2013. Edition of 5 with 1 AP. Archival Pigment Print/CP. © Richard Misrach, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, Pace Gallery, New York, and Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles.

Borderlands

Richard Misrach | Richard MIZZ-RACK |

Born Media and Materials 1949 photography ABOUT

Education Key Words and Ideas BA, University of California, Berkeley culture nature discovery place Lives and Works documentary political commentary TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING Berkeley, California investigation social justice landscape transcendence About the Artist memory —RRichard Misrach Misrach —RRichard A leading photographer of his generation, Richard Misrach explores the collision of nature and cul- Related Artists ture through his large-format color photographs. Robert Adams Graciela Iturbide Fascinated by the political and environmental Vija Celmins Alfredo Jaar transformation of the deserts of the American Mel Chin Barbara Kruger southwest, Misrach creates hauntingly beautiful Abraham Cruzvillegas William Kentridge photographs of arid landscapes that contrast Minerva Cuevas An-My Lê the natural and man-made tragedies found there: Abigail DeVille Florian Maier-Aichen floods, fires, nuclear-test sites, the U.S.-Mexico Stan Douglas Sally Mann border wall, and the traces of migrants who make Rackstraw Downes Catherine Opie the perilous journey north. Misrach began his LaToya Ruby Frazier Trevor Paglen career in Berkeley, California, in the early 1970s, Katy Grannan Carrie Mae Weems photographing the anti-war protests happening throughout the city. His ongoing series, Desert Cantos, consists of groups of photographs that depict the ecological effects of human interven- tion in the desert landscape. A more recent chap- ter, Border Cantos, captures the pathos of the 2000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico. In a funny way, our culture stands out In a funny way, in in desert. very clear the relief

34 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

Before Viewing While Viewing After Viewing

What kinds of places are you What kinds of spaces is Misrach What are the possible effects of attracted to? Why are you drawn attracted to? Why? Misrach’s photography? How might to these places? Describe their audiences engage with Misrach’s characteristics. How does Misrach’s relationship to work and be moved to some kind of the desert develop over the course action? What can the desert represent? of this Art21 segment? Why does the American desert have Can photographs change public What types of things does Misrach so many links to major historical opinion? List examples of when this consider and think about while moments? What characteristics of has happened. What kinds of things taking photographs? the desert allowed these events to can photography, as a medium, do? happen? How did Misrach’s early experience What kinds of places defy with success influence his How does Misrach put photography description? Have you been to places subsequent work? to use, in this segment? What power that are hard to describe unless one does photography have, in his work? has already been there? Where are List a few examples in which Misrach Compare Misrach’s segment to an they located? What is special about illustrates how nature and the human Art21 Season 1 artist, Sally Mann, or these places? race are colliding. a New York Close Up artist, LaToya Ruby Frazier. How does each artist use beauty to reveal dark realities?

What do you think Misrach means One of the things I’ve learned from this when he says, “Our culture stands series is that until you go see this place out in very clear relief in the desert”? for yourself, you have no idea what’s really going on there. — Richard Misrach

Create

Choose a location in your neighborhood that has a contested history. Take a series of photographs of it. In these photos, try to balance beauty with truth. While doing this project, consider Misrach’s statement: “I want to make them so beautiful that you have to look and then think about them—to really slow down and consider and think, ‘This doesn’t look right. Is it right?’”

Take a series of photographs that reveal the complexity of a particular place. Upload these images to an online slideshow and write or make an audio recording of a narrative to accompany the photos. How does your photo series and narrative expose the complexities of the place you chose?

Write an epic poem to explore and celebrate a particular place that inspires feelings of ambivalence.

Richard Misrach. Agua #1, near Calexico, California, 2004. Edition of 5 with 1 AP. Archival Pigment Print. © Richard Misrach, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, Pace Gallery, New York, and Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles.

Educators’ Guide Richard Misrach 35 vv

Postcommodity. Repellent Fence / Valla Repelente, 2015. Cristóbal Martínez, Kade L. Twist, and Raven Chacon. Installation view, U.S.-Mexico border, Douglas, Arizona—Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. ©Postcommodity. Photo: Michael Lundgren, courtesy of artists and Bockley Gallery.

Borderlands

Postcommodity | post-kuh-mod-it-ee |

Born Media and Materials Cristóbal Martínez, in New Mexico installation ABOUT Kade L. Twist, in California land art sculpture About the Artist video Postcommodity is an interdisciplinary arts collec- tive composed of Cristóbal Martínez (born in New Key Words and Ideas TEACHING CONNECTIONS TEACHING Mexico) and Kade L. Twist (born in California). activism intersect Postcommodity creates site-specific installa- collaborate investigate tions, interventions, videos, and sound works, collective place utilizing the members’ shared Indigenous lens to cross-cultural site-specific reveal the incongruent histories embedded in our history story modern-day institutions, systems, and beliefs. The identity suture

—Cristóbal Martínez —Cristóbal group often works closely with local communities indigenous tradition to create poetic installations that reimagine sites interdisciplinary of conflict as places of curiosity that foreground Indigenous culture. Postcommodity was founded Related Artists in 2007 by Twist, Steve Yazzie, and Nathan Young Ai Weiwei Jenny Holzer and acknowledges the important contributions of Allora and Calzadilla Maryam Hoseini its previous collaborators, including Yazzie (2007- assume vivid astro Graciela Iturbide 2010), Young (2007-2015), and Raven Chacon focus Alfredo Jaar (2009-2018). The collective focuses on centering Kevin Beasley Zanele Muholi Indigenous perspectives and working in response Tania Bruguera Aliza Nisenbaum to the land where their projects take place. Mel Chin Catherine Opie Minerva Cuevas Gabriel Orozco Raúl de Nieves Doris Salcedo Olafur Eliasson Do Ho Suh John Feodorov Fred Wilson Theaster Gates Krzysztof Wodiczko

Suturing is remembering. Thomas Hirschhorn

36 Artists Art in the Twenty-First Century Discuss

Before Viewing While Viewing After Viewing

What distinctions do you make How do the artists describe the How does Postcommodity enable between the terms United States term American? How does their viewers and participants to and America? Are they the same or work Repellent Fence symbolically “complicate the way we understand different? Why do you think so? stitch the people of the Americas fences”? together? Describe words and phrases that Postcommodity is an relate to the term collective. With Pueblo and Cherokee ancestry, interdisciplinary arts collective. Cristóbal Martínez and Kade Twist How does its work as a team How are borders created and are multicultural artists. How does incorporate perspectives from defined? Who makes those their Indigenous cultural heritage the experiences of the individual decisions? When do borders manifest in the collective’s work? members? change? Through its work, how does Consider the cultures highlighted in Postcommodity question borders this film. Why might Postcommodity and the influence of borders on the choose to focus on those in a public land and people? forum? How does the public repre- sentation of a culture matter?

People can’t remember what it means to be American —not as a United States citizen but as a person of the Americas — Kade L. Twist

Create

Bring together two specific places, or spaces, through a work of visual art, a poem, or a song. To inspire and inform the work, try to incorporate both the physical details found in these places and the histories of the places.

Martinez says, “Our job is to provide space for people to connect their own narratives and cultural self- determination—to allow a new public memory to be born.” Consider your own cultural history and the place where you live. Pick a place that represents the past, present, or future of your cultural group. Create an artwork to celebrate both the place and your identity.

Postcommodity. Do You Remember When?, 2012. Cristóbal Martínez, Kade L. Twist, Steven Yazzie, and Nathan Young. Site-specific intervention and mixed media installation (cut concrete, exposed earth, light, sound). Installation view, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 18th Biennale of Sydney. ©Postcommodity. Courtesy of the artists and Bockley Gallery.

Educators’ Guide Postcommodity 37 Glossary

This glossary includes both art and non-art terms. Many of these words have been defined here in the context of art but have nuanced meanings and additional significance beyond it.

abstraction artifact things exist or are created more the customary beliefs shared by The use of visual elements like An object or item of cultural or than how they look, conceptual people in a time and place. shape, color, and line as the sub- historical interest. art often raises questions about jects of artworks, in themselves. what a work of art is or can be. documentary Also refers to an artwork in which calligraphy A work of art, often a film, that the artist employs reductive or Writing or lettering, often elab- concavity provides a factual record or simplified forms that are not orate or decorative, created by The state or quality of being hol- report about people, places, or intended to convey pictorial rep- hand using a brush or pen. lowed or rounded inward, like the events. resentation or narrative content. inside of a bowl; a surface or thing civic engagement that has this shape. ephemera access Working to make a difference in Objects intended to have only The right or opportunity to use or the life of our communities and contemporary art short-term significance. Also benefit from something. developing the combination of Works of art made by living refers to paper items (like posters knowledge, skills, values, and mo- artists. Can also refer to artworks and paper tickets) that were active viewing tivation to make that difference. that address ideas or concerns originally meant to be discarded Utilizing specific activities, that are timely or characteristic but have become collectibles. The instructions, and materials while collaboration of society after the 1950s. Unlike root of the word is from the Greek viewing a video segment in order A partnership between an artist modern art, contemporary art is ephemeros (“lasting one day”). to support discussion and reflec- and another person, group, or usually not defined by a succes- tion afterward. institution to share the process sion of periods, schools, or styles. ethnography of creating an artwork. Artists The study and systematic activism often work in collaboration with a context description of the customs of Direct, vigorous action in support variety of specialists, assistants, The location, information, or time individual peoples and cultures. of or in opposition to one side of colleagues, and audiences. frame that informs how a work of a controversy, particularly with art is viewed and what it means. fabrication respect to social, political, or collage Artists often make works to The act of forming something environmental issues. The process creating an artwork respond to a particular space or into a whole by constructing, by arranging and attaching various cultural climate. If the context for framing, or uniting its parts. The advocacy objects and materials (such as pho- a work of art is changed (or recon- fabrication of a work of art often Public support for a particular tographs, pieces of paper, or fabric) textualized), the way in which the involves specialists and collabora- policy or a recommendation for to a backing support. Also refers to work is understood may change tors who work with artists to specific change(s). the product of combining various as well. realize their concepts. things to form a work of art. aesthetic convention gaze Beautiful or pleasing in appear- colonialism An established technique, prac- The act of seeing and being seen, ance. Aesthetics is the philosophy The policy or practice of acquiring tice, or device used in literature, as well as studying and scruti- or academic study of beauty and full or partial political control the visual arts, or other disci- nizing. taste in art. (The term originated over another country, occupying plines. in the 18th century.) Also refers it with settlers, and exploiting it icon to a set of principles that guide an economically. craft A symbol or image that rep- artistic approach. A general term for practices resents an idea or object and has composition within the decorative arts that a particular meaning within a ambiguity The way in which an entire art- traditionally are defined by their culture. The capacity to be understood in work is designed and organized. origins in functional or utilitarian more than one way. An ambiguous Also refers to a work of art, music, products. Can also refer to the identity word, phrase, or image presents or literature. labor or skill of an artist or artisan. Any number of distinguishing multiple meanings to the viewer. characteristics that affect how In contemporary art, ambiguity conceptual art critique one defines oneself, how one is is often considered an important A concept is an idea, born of a The activity of informed judg- perceived by others, and how characteristic that allows art to be frame of mind that can include ment or interpretation. Critique is society categorizes groups of appreciated or interpreted from imagination, opinion, and logic. an important element in looking people. multiple perspectives. Concept-based or conceptual art at, understanding, and appreci- emphasizes that the idea of the ating works of art. Artworks can illusion appropriation artwork is equal to, if not more be forms of critique, by conveying A visually misleading or percep- The use of borrowed imagery or important than, a tangible or fin- criticisms of specific ideas, opin- tually altered object or physical forms in a new work of art. ished product. Conceptual art can ions, social issues, and events. space. take many forms (such as texts, archive photographs, and videos), and culture impermanence An accumulation of historical sometimes there is no art object A system of beliefs, values, and The state of existing for only a records. at all. By emphasizing the ways practices that shape one’s life; limited period of time.

38 Art in the Twenty-First Century improvise motif and exploitation of nations or eth- social history The act of creating or perform- A recurrent or dominant image nic groups, and dynamics of race, An area of study, considered by ing spontaneously or without or theme in a work of visual or class, and gender. some to be a social science, that preparation; to make or fabricate literary art. considers economic and social something from whatever is process factors and trends as agents of conveniently at hand. multiplicity The activities, procedures, and historical change. Social history is A large number or variety. investigations that an artist un- often described as “history from Indigenous dertakes in the course of making below” because it focuses on how A term that describes the original musique concréte an artwork. a society’s people, as opposed to inhabitants of a place. An identity Music constructed by mixing its political leaders, shape history. given or reported by a person recorded sounds, first developed propaganda whose ancestors inhabited a by experimental composers in the Systematically distributed mes- surveillance country or a geographical region 1940s. sages or information, typically The monitoring of behavior, at the time when people of differ- misleading or biased, that aim to activities, or information for the ent cultures or ethnic origins ar- narrative influence the opinions or behav- purpose of influencing, managing, rived. Within the Americas, there A written or visual representation iors of people, often to promote or directing people. are more than 2,000 culturally of a story, commentary, or series a specific policy, idea, doctrine, unique Indigenous tribal groups. of events. or cause. suture A stitch holding together the installation art perception public art edges of a wound or surgical A type of art created for a specific The use of the senses of become Artwork designed specifically for, incision. Also used as a verb, to space or architectural situation. aware of something. or placed in, publicly accessible refer to the act of closing a wound Installations often engage mul- areas. with sutures. tiple senses, such as sight, smell, performance art and hearing. A public, private, or documented readymade symbolism art form that features an activity A term coined by Marcel Du- The practice of representing juxtaposition performed and/or directed by an champ in 1916 to describe a pre- something, usually invisible, The placement of two or more artist. fabricated, often mass-produced intangible, or immaterial, by using objects, ideas, or images close object isolated from its intended an image or sign. together or side by side, especially place use and elevated to the status of for comparison and contrast. This A geographical or psychological art by the fact that an artist chose tradition combination of elements may location, landscape, origin, or and designated it as such. The transmission of customs reveal new meanings and lead to spatial relationship. or beliefs through generations; the creation of a new object, idea, reclamation something that has been passed or image. political commentary The process of claiming some- on in this way. Criticism of or relevant to politics, thing back or of reasserting a layer including policies, politicians, right. transcendence The process of placing multiple political parties, and types of The state of existing beyond the materials on top of each other, government. reenactment range of ordinary experience, or of with varying transparencies, Restaging events from the past, being free from the constraints of thicknesses, or cutouts, often popular culture or the action of performing a new the material world. held together with a binding sub- The practices, beliefs, and objects version of an old event, usually stance to create a desired effect. that are dominant or prevalent through a theatrical performance. turntablism in a society at a given point in The art of manipulating sounds legacy time, as well as the activities and representational and creating new music, sound Something handed down from feelings produced as a result of Depicting the physical ap- effects, mixes, and other creative earlier generations. A set of be- interaction with these dominant pearance of people, places, or sounds and beats, typically by haviors and/or actions instituted elements. Usually disseminat- things, such as in the figurative, using two or more turntables and by a predecessor. ed through mass media, this landscape, and still-life genres of a crossfader-equipped DJ mixer. collection of ideas permeates the traditional painting and sculpture. metaphor everyday lives of large numbers of value system A visual or verbal object, idea, or people across ethnic, social, and scale The established principles, image used in place of another regional groups. Forms of popular The relative size or extent of norms, and goals that are held by to suggest a likeness or analogy culture can include music, dance, something. a society. between them. theater, books, movies, television, video games, the Internet, sports, site-specific art vantage point montage and celebrities. Artwork created for a particular A physical point of view or a An image—or, in film and music, a place or location. Site-specific art philosophical position from which sequence—composed by assem- portraiture can be permanent or temporary. a subject is considered. bling and overlapping selections The art of creating a graphic and from various sources. Originally detailed description, especially of social commentary from the French monter (“to a person. Expressed opinions about the mount”). nature of society, most often postcolonialism with the intention of promoting monument A theoretical approach to the change by calling attention to A lasting reminder of someone or aftermath and legacy of nine- a problem. Artists engage in something notable or great; most teenth- and twentieth-century social commentary through their often, a statue, building, or other European colonial rule—and es- work as a means of raising public structure erected to commemo- pecially to issues of individual and awareness and inspiring dialogue rate a person or event. national identity, the subjugation about pertinent issues.

Educators’ Guide 39 Get Involved

Screenings Art21 Education Additional Resources

Art21 Screening Society Art21 Educators Art21 Video Host a free screening of one episode A year-long professional development art21.org from the tenth broadcast season of initiative designed to cultivate and All of Art21’s films, including digital series Art in the Twenty-First Century from support K–12 educators interested in and all ten seasons of Art in the Twenty- October 3 to December 31, 2020. As part bringing contemporary art, artists, and First Century, are available to watch for of the Screening Society, Art21 offers themes into their classrooms. free online. high-definition downloads, a screening guide, an education guide, and press Art21 Ambassadors images and logos. Museums, schools, Art21 presents workshops for teachers community-based organizations, in partnership with schools, school libraries, and individuals are encouraged districts, and museums. Workshops to host screenings that are free and introduce multimedia resources Screening Guide open to the public, which aim to inspire and related strategies for bringing new audiences with contemporary contemporary art, artists, and themes art and alert local communities about into classroom and community learning. the Fall 2020 PBS broadcast. More info at art21.org/screening-society Art21 Guides SEASON TEN Both Educators’ Guides and Screening Season 10 Screening Guide Independent Screenings Guides are available online for all ten sea- art21.org/guides Should you or your organization be sons of Art in the Twenty-First Century The Season Ten Screening Guide interested in screening an episode or and a growing list of Educators’ Guides contains event ideas, discussion segment from seasons one through on artists featured in digital series. In questions, and helpful information ten of Art in the Twenty-First Century, addition, the “Learning with Art21 Guide” for your free screening event. please contact us at art21.org/licensing contains tips on initiating a discussion around contemporary art. Find all the Art21 Guides at art21.org/guides

40 Art in the Twenty-First Century