Barbara Kruger is an American conceptual artist. Much of her work consists of black-and-white photographs overlaid with declarative captions—in white-on-red Futura Bold Oblique or Helvetica Ultra Condensed. The phrases in her works often include pronouns such as "you", "your", "I", "we", and "they", addressing cultural constructions of power, identity, and sexuality. Kruger lives and works in New York and Los Angeles. ~Wikipedia/barbarakruger

Untitled (Your body is a battleground) 1989 photographic silkscreen on vinyl 112 x 112 in. (284.48 x 284.48 cm)

Critical study Much of Kruger's work pairs found photographs with pithy and assertive text that challenges the viewer. She develops her ideas on a computer, later transferring the results (often billboard-sized) images Examples of her instantly recognizable slogans read “I shop therefore I am,” and “Your body is a battleground," appearing in her trademark white letters against a red background. Much of her text calls attention to ideas such as feminism and consumerism and individual autonomy and desire, frequently appropriating images from mainstream magazines and using her bold phrases to frame them in a new context. (Taken from Wikipedia/Barbara Kruger) Barabara Kruger, I Shop, Therefore, I am, Jenny Holzer, Untitled (Money Creates Taste Serigrph on vinyl, 1983 Projection, from Truism series, 2006

Analyze the images above. Structural Frame: How do these images relate to one another? What can be said about language and simplicity of images? How are they similar? How are they different? What design aspects do you recognize in each of them? Cultural Frame: artist, artwork, audience, world Why would these artists choose to use language and images? How do the images in their respected mediums respond to what’s going on in the world? What does typography have to do with art? Where do you see typography? Does media effect us as viewers? How about as artists? Pictures and words seem to become the rallying points for certain assumptions. There are assumptions of truth and falsity and I guess the narratives of falsity are called fictions. I replicate certain words and watch them stray from or coincide with the notions of fact and fiction. -Barbara Kruger

Vocabulary: Feminism: the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. Typography: the style and appearance of printed matter. Consumerism: the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers. Lay out: the way in which the parts of something (media) are arranged or laid out. Golden Ratio: a special number found by dividing a line into two parts so that the longer part divided by the smaller part is also equal to the whole length divided by the longer part. It is often symbolized using phi, after the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet. Rule of thirds: is applied by aligning a subject with the guide lines and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section.

Art Making! Have students choose 1 photo. Using photoshop or cut and pasting onto paper, choose a composition that shows the key point placement using the rule of thirds. Chose key phrases that speak to the image and paste over that creating a unique composition. If using photoshop, or a similar computer program, print out the final project to paste into their journal. Students using just paper will work directly into their journals. Cultural Frame: Where do you find images like this? What does the text do to inform its viewers? Why is typography so important with in culture? Is it?

Above: Barbara Kruger, Face it (yellow) 2007 "Listen: our culture is saturated with Right: irony whether we know it or not." - Barbara Kruger Barbara Kruger. Money can buy you love, 1985

Richard Hamilton, Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?, 1956

Critical Study: His 1956 Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing? collage was one of the first artworks to comment on the conditions of modern life, depicting a fantasy of an ideal scenario that everyone supposedly wished for. With images taken mainly from American magazines and re-appropriated in the name of art, the collage consists of a modern-day living room, a body builder and a burlesque dancer suggesting the perfect bodies, a tv as something every house needs, a bold use of color and much more, for a proper ovation and critique of consumerism. http://www.widewalls.ch/consumerist-culture-art-10- artworks/

Art Making! Appropriate 5 or more images on a 4x6 piece of paper. Collage them into an interesting composition. If there is excessive negative space in your composition, cut out text from magazines and papers that helps the viewer to interact with the images you’ve chosen.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Kruger http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/feminist/Ba rbara-Kruger.html http://www.artnet.com/artists/barbara-kruger/untitled-i- shop-therefore-i-am-aXB19HyZ2RQTie638E6pBQ2 http://moneyandart.tumblr.com/post/39038486193/jenn y-holzermoney-creates-taste-2006