Dallas Museum of Art Technology Teacher Workshop

Janine Antoni Lick and Lather 1993 (made of chocolate and soap)

I'm attending a great workshop at the DMA designed to help teachers incorporate technology into the classroom. This workshop is focused on blogging. Blogging is so much fun! I LOVE using it in the classroom and this year I have used it more than I ever have before.

As part of this workshop, we have been exploring the Center for Creative Connections. The museum changes the focus of materials regularly and the space allows visitors to have a more tactile experience with materials that artworks are made from. There is lots of stuff to touch!

The label for this piece says: "Through intimate acts and her choice of materials that will eventually disappear, the artist confronts her relationship with herself." There is a lot to consider here: the body is constantly changing through cellular replacement and the regeneration of organs and systems; we change every single minute of every single day; these materials are common and precious (have you ever NEEDED soap or chocolate and they weren't available at that moment?); both materials are plastic (meaning they are pliable and formable) and can be either inexpensive or expensive; the sculpture uses an additive process (adding the material to create the artwork) and a subtractive process (taking material away to change the artwork); how do we use additive and subtractive processes in our lives; how successful are we in the relationships we have with ourselves? Consider these ideas in regards to your own relationship with yourself - are you:
Nurturing
Expanding
Controlling
Protecting
Questioning

What ideas or questions are generated for you?

One good food art post deserves another

Garden Bento by Sakurako Kitsa

So the Charm City Cakes post was so fun and yummy looking, I couldn't resist finding another fun food post. Really - food art is so groovy! The color, texture and edibility are all so irresistible! I'm posting another blog post that collects different food compositions. Why don't you try to make a creation of your own this coming weekend!

The Art of the Cake

Duff Goldman, Baker/Owner of Charm City Cakes

Ahhhh, the art of food. Lately I've been watching the Food Network and am truly amazed at the creations that very talented people create in the form of dessert. The Ace of Cakes is especially fun and amazing. They create really amazing cakes for all events - weddings, anniversaries, parties, celebrations for people of all ages, young and old. Their Starship Enterprise cake, an exact replica of the ship, is astounding. The post headline is a link to their website.

Their show features a few cakes in each episode and shows each baker in the process of building their masterpiece. There are many things they have to take into consideration as they created their sculptured confections (and a lot of problem solving!): how will they support different parts to keep the entire cake intact, what colors are appropriate, how do they scale the designs to be appropriate to the size of the cake, and what details will enhance the design? These cakes are truly works of art but meant to be totally consumed! In the end, each cake needs to be not only beautiful but delicious as well! Check out this link for their show on the Food Network and see some videos about their cakes.

Virtual tour of Sistine Chapel - Smarthistory

AP Art History students - please use this post to comment on the videos you watched from Smarthistory's website that are the virtual tours of the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the wall of The Last Judgment. Here is the link to the Sistine Chapel Ceiling and for The Last Judgment. Can't wait to hear what you have to say!!

Artist of the Week - Barry B. Doyle

Flamingo at Rest - Image copyright © 2007 by Barry B. Doyle, used with permission.

One of our TAG parents, Barry Doyle, is quite the artist and I asked him if I could include his work in my blog. His son Colin ('05) and Tory ('06) both attended TAG and are also very artistic!

I specifically wanted to feature his photography for my AP Studio Art students. Several are going to use photography for their concentrations this semester. I recommend that my students look at the work of other artists in order to inform their own visual vocabulary. Digital cameras have made taking pictures so exciting! You can instantly see what image you have captured, download it quickly into your computer, move it about easily or modify it with the help of Photoshop. The key element in becoming a great photographer is developing a keen eye and learning how to frame the image for a striking composition. Check out his flickr photostream to see more of his work.

Barry has a book coming out featuring his photographs of Dallas - "Dallas Iconography" will be available to purchase from Amazon soon. Here's what the Dallas Visitor's Bureau says about his upcoming publication: " Just what we've needed and a fitting tribute to our beautiful city. The versatile Dallas Iconography serves as a useful guide for visitors, a valued commemorative gift and the perfect souvenir. And besides its utilitarian function, this impressive work of fine art and design makes an elegant coffee table book. --Jay Burress, VP Sales & Marketing, Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau". I'm excited to see his book - his work is evident that talented and gifted students spring from talented and gifted parents! Kudos, Barry!!

The Facade of the Gothic Cathedral

Rose Window, Chartres Cathedral

The glory of the Gothic Cathedral - I consider these architectural structures to be incredible testaments to man's ambition, devotion and pride. They are truly incredible structures, ever soaring, reaching higher and higher into the sky. Man's engineering skills were astonishing considering the tools and technology they had back in the time we call the Middle Ages.

The link in this post's title will take you to a wonderful video that explains how to "read" the facade of a Gothic Cathedral. Very nice and enlightening. Check it out...

Smarthistory - An overview of the period 1848-1907 - AP Art History Assignment Due 2/1/09

Works Discussed:
William Holman Hunt, Strayed Sheep (Our English Coasts), oil on canvas, 1852 (Tate Britain)
Claude Monet, Boulevard des Capucines, oil on canvas, 1873 (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City)
Vincent Van Gogh, Potato Eaters, oil on canvas, 1885 (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)

Art History students - remember the timeline I gave you that mapped from the Renaissance to Contemporary art movements? Well, Smarthistory has 3 podcasts that give a brief overview of the dates listed above. I want you to listen to the first podcast and respond. Please click on this Post title to navigate to the blog site, listen to the podcast then come back to my blog and post a comment about what you learned. Be sure to have your timeline with you and chart the progress.

For your added pleasure (& entertainment!), I added links to the individual artists. You can learn all about them and see the body of their work. Just to help you track them on your ISM Timeline, Holman was a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, Monet was instrumental in the Impressionism movement, and Van Gogh is inseparable from the Post-Impressionism movement.

(This is a 4th 6 weeks homework blog assisgnment #1)

Art History DMA Late Night Modern Art Adventure

"Cathedral", 1947, enamel and aluminum paint on canvas, 71 1/2 x 35 in., Dallas Museum of Art

I HATE not getting to go to a party that I planned! And that's how it turned out for this month's DMA Late Night excursion with my Art History class. Kudos to those who went and poor me that I had this stupid virus for two days. Oh well. Anyway, I have NO IDEA what Jenny took you to see, what you did, what you said or what you thought! So I'm dying to know! As extra credit for the next six weeks, make a comment to this post and tell me about YOUR experience! What did you learn? Inquiring minds want to know.

Since I wasn't there, I decided to create my own experience and chose the Jackson Pollock that the museum owns. If you are in the mood for something fun, click on the post headline for an interactive Pollock site - you can make your OWN Pollock painting. Every time you click the mouse, the color changes. Try it - it's fun! Technology is soooooo cool - and this is a fun, fun blend of technology with an art history story!

Jackson Pollock certainly rocked the art world in the mid-twentieth century. A student of Thomas Hart Benton, Pollock tapped into his own energy for painting in a literal way. He believed that new times (this was shortly after the dropping of the bomb) required new techniques and ways of expressing ourselves. As so many other art movements, Impressionism, Cubism, Dadism, Pollock's radical way of painting and it's end result (someone dubbed him "Jack the Dripper") stirred controversy. But he was in a group of other change makers - Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning - the Abstract Expressionists. Check out this great, informative website about Pollock to get a better sense of his place in art history. To see Pollock in action check out this video made in 1951 that Pollock narrates. There is another video that features clips from the 2002 movie "Pollock" starring Ed Harris.

The Pantheon

How this place thrills me! Even before I traveled to Italy last summer and got this picture of the coffered ceiling, when I would get to the page in my art history textbook about the Pantheon, I would shiver. The innovative thinking and the flawless execution just blow me away when I think back to the building of this temple in the 2nd century A.D.

And to think I might not have made it! We had been touring Rome all day (can you imagine Rome in a day?) - the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's, the Forum, the Colosseum - I called it the Roman march. And it was hot! Marching, marching in the heat - pressing on to the next fabulous place to see. By the time we got deposited into some square, my group was exhausted. There was another group from our bus that was going to walk the few blocks to see the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. My group was pooped and wanted to have a gelato and sit. I didn't blame them one bit - I wanted to do the same.

But - this might be my only chance to see the Pantheon. How could I live with myself if I got back home and didn't make the supreme effort (that it seemed at the time) to go there? Would I ever forgive myself? NO! In a split second I knew I had to go - and was it ever worth it! The marble, the light, the sacred geometry enveloping me in its glory. It was truly a high point of my trip to Italy. The link in the Post title from the blog of Smarthistory.org is quite delightful - check it out! And, for my students, it also touches on the Hagia Sophia and the dome of Brunelleschi. Very nice!

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #18

From Spaniard and Black, Mulatto (De Espanol, Y Negra. Mulato) Attributed to Jose de Alcibar, 1760-1770, Oil on canvas, 31 x 38 1/4 in. (Art during the Colonial Era)

Ethnic mixing is not new - this work shows a common situation in colonial Mexico in which different races came together in marriage and produced a child that at that time was labeled "mulatto". The painting is a genre scene (showing an everyday happening). The woman is wearing a rebozo (see previous AcDec post about rebozos), which indicates she is of middle- or lower-class. She is cooking and gazing affectionately at husband and son. The father also gazes down on his small son with a loving expression.

The young boy is the focal point of the composition. He is lifting a brazier so his father can light his cigar. This skillful oil painting is careful in the portrayal of each subject's body positions and facial expressions. This piece (numbered 6) (you can see the label in the upper left hand corner) is one in a series that would have comprised a set. For someone to have owned a set of paintings this size, they would have been from the more wealthy social class.

The elite felt threatened by people who mixed racially, but race relationships were complicated and confusing because you couldn't always identify a person's race just from their appearance. People of European descent (and especially those from Spain) wanted to identify strongly with their white, European heritage to maintain positions of power.

Check out this PowerPoint about art in the Colonial era.

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #17

Beaker, Maya Civilization, 600 A.D., Polychrome ceramic, 7 x 5 in. (Pre-Hispanic Art)

Have you ever made a pot using the coiling technique? You role out a long snake of clay and coil it into the shape you want. Then you use water and your fingers or a tool to smooth the surfaces. It's a fun way to make a pot! The Mayan potters used this technique because they didn't have a potter's wheel. After forming the shape, they would let it dry until it was leather hard, then paint it with "slip" (minerals and earth materials mixed with water to make a kind of paint.) They know this was made in the Classic period because it has so many colors.

Two males are seated, dressed in elaborate textiles and jewelry. They have make-up and headdresses. The smoke that seems to come from the figure in the front is meant to indicate speech or communication. The heiroglyphs above their heads could detail their identity or the nature of the ritual. Hooked noses were aesthetically pleasing to them. The figures are stylized but look naturalistic.

Here's a quiz you can take about the Mayan and a beaker. See how you do! There is also what appears to be a high school PowerPoint on the web that is related to the work chosen for AcDec - check it out! Scroll down the presentation to see the beaker slide, but check out the others! It has some great information in it!

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #16

Figure in Illuminated Doorway, Rufino Tamayo, 1960, Color lithograph, 65 x 50 cm (Art after Independence)

Tamayo, though he had contact with artists such as Siqueiros and Orozco, and was aware of the work of Rivera, took a different path, made work that was rather small and not political in nature. He lived and taught in New York and in Paris. In 1960 (the date of this lithograph), he moved back to Mesico until his death in 1991. He and his wife had an impressive collection of Pre-Hispanic art and left it for a museum in Oaxaca. Another museum (Ruffino Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art) opened in 1981 and houses his work along with other contemporary artists. (There is also a PowerPoint from another high school that references the work after Independence. It has highlights about the pieces.)

This type of print is unlike the etchings in the previous posts. This is a lithograph - check out MOMA's explanation of printmaking - you will learn about 4 processes here! THIS IS A FABULOUS FLASH DEMONSTRATION OF THE PRINTMAKING PROCESS - YOU MUST CHECK THIS OUT!! (You can tell I really like this site!)

Anway - he was interested in still life and genre scenes (images of everyday activities). This female silouette in in a doorway with one hand resting on the doorframe. It seems that her head is covered by a veil and is shaped kind of like a keyhole. His palette is simple - black, white, red and shades of yellowish-browns. The featureless figure could represent common experiences at key stages in life. Modern subjects often move towards themes that have broad universality with the viewer.

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #15

Don Juan Joachin Gutierrez Altamirano Y Velasco, Miguel Cabrere, 1752, Oil on Canvas, 81 5/16 x 53 1/2 in. (Art during the Colonial Era)

This piece resides in the Brooklyn Museum. Notice the similarity in this Imperial portrait to that of Louis XIV of France by Hyacinthe Rigaud painted around 1701! Copy Cat! (In art we call it appropriation!)



What was more important in an imperial portrait was to convey the subject's status rather than an accurate likeness. (His powdered wig is a big status symbol.) He is portrayed as aristocratic with thin, refined features, long slender fingers and light skin - all traits valued by the elite in New Spain.

Oil paint on canvas was used to create this life-size portrait. Oil paints are perfect for creating tiny details. You can be sure this large portrait cost a pretty penny. Cabrera had a workshop with assistants: they helped him prepare the materials as well as paint the least important sections of the painting.

"Don Juan Joachin held the titles of the Sixth Count of Santiago de Calimaya and the Seventh Marquis of Salinas de Rio Pisuerga as well as maintaining a position of power within the Church. He was a wealthy landholder in both Europe and New Spain. His ancestors were explorers and conquistadores, and from them he ingerited the honarry title of High Governor-in-Perpetuity of the Phillipines (a purely ceremonial role)." Whew! No wonder he needed a huge picture of himself!!

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #14

Tikal: Temple of the Giant Jaguar, Maya Civilization, 731 A.D., Cut stone masonry, 144.4 ft. (Pre-Hispanic Art)

This site is located in Guatemala and was thriving in the Classic Maya time period. Unlike the previous city at Teotihuacan (which was laid out on a grid), Tikal is arranged in a more organic manner, clustered around separate courtyards. They seem to have been created on an as needed basis, without a clear master plan.

This city had pyramids, monumental palaces and thatched houses that were on earth and stone mounds. Tikal had six temple-pyramids, and though the Temple of the Giant is not the highest, it is one of the most important. The jaguar was revered as a powerful animal that demonstrated divinity and leadership. One of the Mayan leaders, Jasaw Chan K'awiil was buried in this temple and identified with the Jaguar's power. In his tomb were typical afterworld objects - containers for food and liquid as well as personal ojects made of jade and precious materials.

Here are some quotes from your AcDec Art Resource Guide, but also check out the link in the image title for a website about Tikal National Park. "...the Temple of the Giant Jaguar is constructed of rubble and limestone blocks. It is a stepped pyramid built on nine levels. The pyramid is tall and quite steep...The pyramid was probably covered with plaster, and there are indications that some elements were painted.....The pyramid was a burial site, and it contained narrow pasageways and rooms, dome decorated with fresco paintings. The small size of the passageways and rooms within the temple indicates that it was not designed to hold large numbers of people at a time......it was built during the Late Classic Period."

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #13

View of the Street of the Dead, Showing the Plaza of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan, 1-750 A.D. (Pre-Hispanic Art)

This city flourished at a time that was known as the Classic Period from 150-900 A.D. A lot of growth and development happened at this time leading the city to have great influence in the region. Because of the material culture left behind in their ruins, experts can surmise that there was a lot of trade and political domination. Teotihuacan (as well as Remojadas mentioned in a previous post) are in close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico.

The culture was sophisticated (and the 6th most populous city in the world in 600 A.D.). The city had religious and political rulers (along with the requisite warriors!) and was surrounded by peasant farmers. The Maya and Zapotec peoples had writing systems that were well developed. There were may gods that were worshipped who seem to have spun out of the Olmec deities. Some of these even became important to the Aztecs. As a result of the cultural development the people built monumental civic and ritual architecture to show their Power & Authority (a common theme in the Art History class!). We see the pyramid shape as a dominant shape for their temples and tombs (familiar???). Check out the hyperlink in the image title to go to an guide to the archeological site in Teotihuacan.

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #12

The Flower Carrier, Diego Rivera, 1935, Painting, oil and tempera on Masonite, 48 in. x 47 3/4 in., (Art after Independence)

The history of Diego Rivera (and his wife Frieda Kahlo) is a wonderful, tragic love story of two artists that had a stormy and turbulent marriage. He was an established artist when they first met (she actually took her paintings to show him as a young woman, interested in getting his approval).

He is best known as a mural painter (using the technique of fresco), but he also produces smaller artwork such as this one. His paintings were of landscapes, still lifes, portraits and genre scenes (scenes of everyday life). Perhaps because he was used to creating such large works, the figures in this piece are monumental considering the picture plane - the fill the entire surface. He uses earth tones contrasted with the bright magenta of the flowers and the white costume of the peasant. Your AcDec Art Guide suggests that "the harmonious relationship between the two figures perhaps indicates an overall balance and stability in the rural life of Mexico."

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #11

Untitled (Our Lady of Guadalupe), a page accompanying a thesis submitted to the law faculty in Guadalajara by Joseph Turibius Gonzalez et Ramirez, Francisco Aguera Bustamante, Engraver, 1796, engraving, 11.1 x 7.3 cm (image) (Art during the Colonial Era)

This particular kind of image of the Virgin Mary is specific to Mexico and is still an very important symbol of national identity. She is reported to have appeared in Mexico in 1531 just after the Spaniards defeated the Aztecs. During this time, large numbers of Aztecs were converting to Christianity.

The narrative specific to this vision of the Virgin involves a poor Aztec man , Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1471-1548). He had already converted to the Catholic religion. One day on his travels, he experienced a vision of the Virgin on a hill. She sent him to the bishop with the request for a church dedicated to her in that spot. Not surprisingly, when he delivered his story of the vision and instructions, he was spurned by Bishop Juan de Zumarraga.

Juan Diego went back to the spot, waiting to see the Virgin again. When she made another miraculous appearance, she dispatched him to find a rare species of rose that would not have normally been growing at that time of the year. He set off on his mission and wrapped the flowers in his tilma (a type of cape). The virgin arranged the garment with the flowers and sent him back to the Bishop.

When he opened his cape to reveal the flowers, a miraculous image of the Virgin appeared on his garment, and the Bishop fell to his knees and agreed to build the church at the top of the hill where there had been an Aztec temple. The power of the miracle has transferred to this symbol as the patron of the masses.

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #10

Standing Female, Jalisco, 200 B.C., Ceramic, 7 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. (Pre-Hispanic Art)

The top figure was excavated in the state of Jalisco, the bottom one in Michoacan. Both are made of clay.

The top figure is tall and thin and stylized with elastic-like arms. One of her arms rests on her waist while the other reaches in front of the body and touches the necklace she's wearing. The necklace and headdress are formed from coils of clay.

The bottom figure is short and squat and has more clay details on the figure. The four circles on her upper arms could be body adornment or scarification. She, too, has a necklace which may represent carved shells or stones.

Little is know about the purpose of these figures, though their location in mass graves indicates they were probably burial offerings. Check out more about the history of Pre-Columbian art.

Standing Female, Ancient Michoacan, 200 B.C., Earthenware, 6 x 3 in. (Pre-Hispanic Art)

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #9

Valley of Oaxaca, Jose Maria Velasco, 1888, Oil on Canvas, 41 7/8 x 63 1/4 in. (Art after Independence)

Jose Maria Velasco lived and worked in the mid-19th century in Mexico. He was trained as a painter and the style of the landscapes he painted was picturesque and idealized. He was dedicated to painting landscapes that were not only Mexican, but were also clearly identifiable to his viewers.

This painting is a large scale work from the peak of his career. He has a bird's-eye view of the valley. Natural flora and fauna are portrayed in the detailed foreground. The group of people are in indigenous dress and are of the peasant class. Notice the small wooden cross on the small hill behind the figures. Not only was Velasco a devout catholic, but religious imagery like this was common in the rural landscape.

Also we see the grid of the growing city portrayed with the use of linear perspective. He also used Leonardo's famous artistic device, atmospheric perspective (the colors in the background are more blue and the sharpness of detail is softened further away), to additionally create a vast depth of space on the two dimensional picture plane. Working with oil allowed not only for the precision of his work but also for the delicate shading of color to create this panoramic view.

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #8

Codex Huejotzingo (Painting 5), Nahua Culture, 1531, Hand-painted document on maguey (a pre-European paper)(Art during the Colonial Era)

Sometimes art techniques are used for record keeping and as a documentary tool like this Codex page. Remember that a codex is an early form of a book. This particular page is a record of the tribute provided to the court by the town of Huejotzingo. Different objects and people are arranged carefully on the page in a straightforward manner. The focal point of the composition is of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child.

This visual list of tribute shows that payment included pots of amber, gold plaques, a banner and a standard with the image of the Virgin Mary and Child, loincloths, and metal-tipped darts. The people with rings around their necks and sticks protruding are slaves. Someone who was skilled at reading the visual symbols could quickly analyze the offering.

The maguey is made by stripping the inner leaves of the agave cactus. After it is dried it has a light silvery color. The colors are made from earth pigments with details from gold leaf (which was very expensive). Whoever created this page was highly skilled in handling these materials. Check out this link from Sharon Cohen, a world history teacher in Maryland and her approach to teaching this piece in her classroom.