Chapter 3- "Visual images, like words in a text, have meaning because students bring meaning and experiences to them."
I agree with this quote. When looking at art, we all have different thoughts, feelings etc. When we express what we see or how the painting makes us feel, we are able to help others understand why we see what we see and why we feel the way that we feel.
Chapter 4- "As society moves from the page to the screen, from written language to multimodal ensembles, our instructional frameworks must change to meet the demands pf these new and multiple literates."I feel this quote sums up what we have been learning about in this class. Our world is changing and the way we view it and as educators we must keep up with it and adapt to those changes. Furthermore, we must know how to use these changes and how to teach them.
Chapter 5- "Some visual elements are readily recognizable as meaningful or symbolic because of conventions associated with them, and others are less obvious."I chose this quote because this is how I feel about visual images. There are some people who can look at an image and understand it right away and there are others who do not quit understand what the illustrator or artist meant by it. Sometimes we look at an image and we know exactly what it means and represents, other times we have to analysis it and put more thought into it.
2. Find an image, symbol or motif and upload it to your blog.
A Sunday On La Grande Jatte- Georges Seuart
3. Conduct a content analysis:
What do you see?
I chose this image because of all of the things going on in the picture. When I first looked at it the first thing that stands out to me is the landscape of the park before I actually focused on the people.
This image is about people relaxing in a suburban park on an island in the Seine River called La Grande Jatte.
There are people in the image, who congregate on a Sunday to enjoy being in nature.People are depicted facing sideways or straight on, which makes the entire scene seem very rigid and like toy soldiers.
Yes, I feel most art like I chose can be looked at in a different way. This painting contains characters of different ages, sexes, social classes, and occupations. However, it depicts the upper class of the French society during that time which would be the more dominate perspective.
I believe this image is has a good visual message because there are so many things to explore. For example, you can describe what is happening in this painting and ask questions---What can we learn from looking at the activities, clothes, gestures, and expressions of the figures? What kind of day is it? What do the shadows tell us? Why are most of the people gathered at the edge of the river? Are they enjoying themselves? Is there a sense of motion in the picture, if so, where?
4. Conduct a visual analysis: Use the Chapter on Elements of Art, Design and Visual composition to assist your visual analysis.
Seurat's balance is carefully positioned so that the entire work is interesting to look at. The river to the left is full of yachts and rowing boats, while this balance is matched by the closely placed large figures to the right. In the center of the work is a lot of activity, which makes the painting's center as appealing to look at as the left and the right.
What are the most important visual elements in the image? How can you tell?
Most of the important visual elements focus on the river to the left of the image. Despite the river only a taking up a small part of the painting, its busy portion draws the viewer's gaze. The figures at the front are also very close to the viewer, making the woman's dress in the front of the piece enlarged. Her and the man walking with her are the biggest figures in a painting.
In traditional painting, shadows are usually represented by the color black, Seurat was able to define his shadows by the color that they come into contact with. The skirts of the women provide the best examples for this. The clothing of the women in the center of the piece seems to be casting a blue shadow on the ground.
Like I mentioned above, I believe this painting can be looked at in many different ways because art is an expression and when you look an image, I think it is all about how it makes you feel. Depending on how you feel about it, is how it will be looked at.
What meanings are conveyed by design choices?
Seurat's robotic use of the figures and their nature showed what he saw about the French society at the time.
I liked your analysis of the image that you chose. It was very well done. I agree with you that pieces of artwork can be look at differently especially from the person's perspective that is studying the piece. I liked that you also added information about the yachts and the river. It give people an understanding of what individuals did during this time frame in the French society. I really liked looking at your image and reading your analysis.
ReplyDeleteAshley – I agree with your idea that we all have different ideas when interpreting art (honestly, when interpreting anything as we all have our own unique life experiences – education, idiosyncrasies, etc. that influence how we “see” things). As you so well state, when WE are able to express what WE interpret, we are able to help others understand what we see and how/why we see what we do. As educators, it is beneficial on so many levels to be able to help our students convey their own interpretations as part of the social learning aspect. It is also good to keep in mind, as you say, to realize that (like in so many other subjects – math comes to mind!), some may “get” ideas right away, whereas others may need to put extra effort and thought into their analysis.
ReplyDeleteAshley,
ReplyDeleteI love the image that you added to your blog. It is one of my favorite paintings! I also agree with your interpretation. Another thing I would say about this painting is how the artist used a technique called dot painting to create this painting and draw your eyes to the blended colors. You are right when you look at this image you can see different perspectives based on your mood or based on your own experiences. Some people will be drawn to the water activities while other's can relate to the the people sun bathing.
Love your image!
Nicole
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see you used a Seurat painting. I'm somewhat of a closet art nerd so I appreciate that you used such a great piece to analyze. I liked how you stated the image could be used for different teaching activities depending on the goal of the activity. I also liked the fact that your visual analysis included how the eye constantly moves across the painting, which is one of the signs of a great work of art. The one part I would add to the visual analysis would be the concentration on the element of dots. In art in general works need to have some elements to keep the viewer interested and constantly observing the work. It was good that you picked up on all the elements such as the various focal points and use of color. I also think the element of line is shown too by the lines of the landscape, the ways the subjects are looking, and the formal and informal stances of the people. Good job!
Wow! I didn't realize that there were so many "art nerds" in this class! Wonderful analysis of the painting! I like that you noticed the people in the painting look robotic. I read that he wanted the people in the painting to look modern...so making them look robotic would create a strong visual metaphor for modern people.
ReplyDelete