Art 3 students take their course alongside Art 2 classes, but the students work independently and in a self-directed fashion. Some of our Art 3 students were also AP or IB art students that were using the Art 3 class to boost their portfolios and have extra time scheduled in the timetable to devote to their art. Others in this small group had successfully passed the Art 2 class last year and were looking to continue with their art making activities in a more advanced and challenging setting, but without having to take an externally moderated class such as AP Art and Design or IB Visual Arts. These students have much more open ended units, where they are asked to document their work and research in similar ways to the AP and IB art courses and have the opportunity to select materials, processes and ideas that they are motivated by.
"Why Art Matters": Student responses
For this unit, students investigated a range of artists that used a variety of art approaches to making artwork that was significant, important and made statements that referred to socio-political scenarios. The Art 3 students had to also make art that mattered, using this broad theme to explore the things that were important for them to explore and then share.
“Grasping Hand” Tonal chalk 65x50 cm
This artwork represents the battles of life as they come. The maze behind represents the different battles of life. As if once you conquer one task, there is another obstacle waiting for you. The artwork represents a great journey. This artwork is very important to me because it reflects my personal experiences and emotions. There is a feeling as though there is no end to the maze, to the obstacles in life. It is about grasping for help, hoping that someone will see and come to support you.
My artwork represents the journey of my life. Feeling as though obstacles are constantly being put in front of me to the point where I am grasping out for help. While life does have its twists and turns, in the end, it is a brilliant journey. The song “Experience” by Ludovico Einaudi is connected to this artwork. There are no words yet you can feel how they relate to one another. The song and the artwork go hand in hand, depicting a great journey full of many different opportunities and outcomes.
CJ C.
"Burning Down" Watercolour; ink; candle wax; recycled watercolour paper 84x 60 cm
This work is made up of 40 tiny watercolour paintings made to represent the deforestation happening in our world. As you are reading this, an area of at least three football sized fields are being destroyed by deforestation. I tried to capture snippets of different beautiful scenery put on fire by we humans. To support my statement, I made sure all the paper used in the production of this piece were sustainably sourced, as they are recycled and made in small quantities. I have also burnt the edge of the papers to further reinforce the idea. Just as our forests are in the risk of extinction, each piece of paper risked being completely burnt by the flames. Fire is a force that is difficult to control, and some of the small paintings did burn more than just the edges.
Carol J.
"Power on a Screen" 45 cm x 15cm Mixed media: digital imagery, collage, paint. I have looked at movies and movie posters and used this language in my artwork. This artwork represents pro- India propaganda in. Someone looking at this work could see a sense of greatness and potential in the destiny reflected in it. The reason that I focused on this idea was because the more that I have tried to immerse myself in my native culture, the more I feel influenced by the ‘India- first’ pride that is developed through movie posters. I found this to be an incredible interesting development, and it begged to ask the question, "do people understand the manipulations happening?". Thus this artwork was my way of showing a reflection of the emotions provoked within people, =proving there is a deeper understanding of what propaganda is, and how unassuming images like this can affect the unsuspecting and inflict upon them them many different emotions. In my case for example, I feel a strange unfamiliar sense of pride.
To be more specific, the image that I created infers upon me a feeling of uplifting confidence and sense of empowerment that the song refers to reinforcing pride in one's heritage. It is the song ‘Power’ by Kanye West that really emphasises that feeling for me. After reading this, you probably have a greater understanding of what people set out to achieve by creating movies, and subsequently their posters. The unity of people is without a doubt, a great thing. However, manipulating an audience through images such as this raises questions about the ethics of such messages.