Variations: Conversations in and Around Abstract Painting

Variations:

Conversations in and Around Abstract Painting

RICH HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTATION AND

dissension in art throughout the twentieth

century paved the way for today’s artists to

explore a wide variety of approaches to artmaking.

Contemporary artists have used this freedom to

both embrace and reject traditions associated

with creating art. The artists included in LACMA’s

exhibition Variations: Conversations in and

around Abstract Painting all share an interest in

working in an abstract manner, a style that initially

gained traction around 1910. Working in an abstract

mode means these artists prioritize formal elements,

such as shape, form, color, and line over recognizable

subject matter. However, beyond this commonality in

emphasis, there is much diversity within the artworks

in the exhibition. The media of the artwork (painting,

sculpture, installation, video, etc.), the wide-ranging

processes by which the objects were made, and the

ideas the artists explore in their work reflect the

dynamic and varied terrain of contemporary art.

These curriculum materials provide an introduction

for teachers and students to learn about and discuss

just a few of the many approaches that living artists

utilize in their creative processes. Two of the art-

works featured in the packet, one by Amy Sillman

and another by Analia Saban, can be viewed

primarily through the lens of formalism, meaning

the way they are made and their aesthetic qualities.

The remaining artworks, by Mark Bradford and

Rachel Lachowicz, are also concerned with the

formal aspects of artmaking, but their work is

conceptual as well. They employ the ambiguity

of abstraction to explore complex issues like

community, identity, and gender. All four works

were made within the last five years and are recent

additions to LACMA’s growing collection of

contemporary art. Contemporary artworks like

these can be effective tools for exploring current

topics with students, as well as cultivating their

visual analysis skills.

The paintings by Sillman and Saban are notable for

their composition, texture, color, and other formal

aspects integral to abstract art. In the case of

Sillman’s Untitled (Purple Bottle), viewers are

compelled to appreciate the cool palette of blues

and purples and how the brushstrokes serve to

document the artist’s gestures rather than lend

themselves to a specific interpretation of the

artwork. One of the reasons artists were initially

drawn to abstraction was because they felt that

no matter how realistic the technique, the imagery

created on the surface of a canvas was a mere

representation. Rather than focusing on the illusion

of representation, these early artists emphasized the

only actual things involved in a painting—the canvas

itself and the physical qualities of the paint on the

surface. Saban’s Erosion (Geometric Cubes within

Circle: Two-Pint Perspective with Guidelines)

acts

as a contemporary example of this idea and takes it

one step further. Rather than applying paint to the

surface of the canvas in a way that would simulate

depth and texture, Saban gives the work actual

depth and texture by using a laser cutter to slice

into the canvas.

Bradford and Lachowicz also work in an abstract

manner, but with a more conceptual approach.

Looking at their artwork only in terms of its visual

qualities would neglect another important aspect of

their work, the meaning or commentary it conjures.

Bradford’s Shoot the Coin is visually stunning in the

way it evokes an aerial view of a cityscape through

layers of paper collaged onto the surface, but the

ideas behind it are equally critical to appreciating

the work. Inspired by maps, the artwork comments

on the way the U.S. highway system has cut through

neighborhoods like Bradford’s Los Angeles home-

town, creating forced divisions that ultimately

shape the way communities evolve and are

sometimes perceived. Similarly, Lachowicz’s

sculpture Cell: Interlocking Construction

(2010)

uses blue eye shadow in place of paint to create art

reminiscent of an iconic artwork made by a male

artist. By using a material associated with femininity

to reference this famous work, the artist alludes to

the exclusion of women from art history and the

continued inequities that women experience in the

art world and society at large.

These four artworks are explored in greater detail

in the following essays. Variations: Conversations

in and around Abstract Painting and its related

resources cover only a fraction of the practices and

concepts explored by artists today. However, these

curriculum materials provide a starting point for

teachers and students to begin to engage with a

contemporary art world in which no idea, topic, or

art form is off limits.

____________________________________________________________________

Credits

These curriculum materials were prepared by Elizabeth Gerber,

Sarah Jesse, Veronica Alvarez, and Michelle Brenner, and designed

reserved.

Evenings for Educators is made possible by The Rose Hills

Foundation, the Joseph Drown Foundation, and the Kenneth T.

and Eileen L. Norris Foundation.

Education programs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art are

supported in part by the William Randolph Hearst Endowment

Fund for Arts Education and the Margaret A. Cargill Arts Education

Endowment.

Untitled (Purple Bottle), 2012

Amy Sillman

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HE OVERALL COLOR PALETTE OF BLUES, PURPLES,

and grays highlighted with shades of yellow,

brown, and green in Untitled (Purple Bottle)

is representative of Amy Sillman’s distinct and

thoughtful approach to color. Upon close viewing,

one notices brushstrokes that reveal the artist’s

process, such as the gray-green paint strokes over a

section of pink salmon or the strong black lines near

the bottom of the painting. Recognizable forms such

as a blue and green bottle or pitcher coexist with

the lines and blocks of color that distinguish this

work, and the representational imagery dissolves

in and out of the abstract lines and shapes.

Sillman’s work is often characterized by an extended

exploration of the formal principles of art, including

such painterly concerns as figure, scale, and space.

Yet her materials and processes are quite varied—

she works in pencil, crayon, watercolor, and collage,

creating cartoons, diagrams, prints, and, recently,

iPhone and iPad drawings and animations. Drawing

is at the core of Sillman’s process; graphic gestures

produce both light and heavy marks across her

papers, canvases, or pages. An intuitive approach

also informs her painting process, which can include

multiple layers, constructing, deconstructing, and

reconstructing space.

Sillman acknowledges a wide variety of influences.

Many commentators have noted similarities

between her work and that of twentieth-century

painters such as Philip Guston and Richard

Diebenkorn, as well as with that of sculptor Eva

Hesse. Sillman also has spoken of the importance

of Henri Matisse’s use of color, and Willem de

Kooning’s use of transition and change in pictures

that include dissolving figures. She has said that two

extended trips to India fostered an interest in art

that was intimate, narrative, mythic, and beautiful,

and a residency in Italy allowed her to explore the

flat spaces and imperfect perspective of early

Renaissance painting.

Discussion Prompts

Research some of the artists or styles that Amy

Sillman acknowledges as influential. What

similarities and differences do you observe between

the work of these artists and Sillman’s work?

What type of mark-making do you prefer? (Types

of mark-making include drawing, painting, print-

making, collage, cartoons, digital animations, etc.)

What artists and movements do you think have

influenced you, and why?

Untitled (Purple Bottle), 2013

Amy Sillman

Oil on canvas

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Purchased with funds provided by Contemporary Friends, 2013 M.2014.26

Shoot the Coin, 2013

Mark Bradford

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ARK BRADFORD’S MIXED-MEDIA COLLAGE IS A

large-scale, densely layered work. Though

predominantly pale white and gray, it is

punctuated with areas of black, pink, blue, orange,

red, and brown alongside small fragments of text.

While the work seems to reference an aerial view of

streams, lakes, and inlets, it also appears rather

atmospheric. The textured and distressed look of

the canvas highlights Bradford’s process of layering,

scraping, and bleaching.

An interest in the divisions and intersections

demarcating the natural and the urban environment

underlies Shoot the Coin. The work is part of a

series considering the history of the US interstate

highway system. The system was championed in the

1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had

surveyed the nation’s relatively ad-hoc road system

as a member of the Transcontinental Motor Convoy

of 1919 and later experienced the German autobahn

system during World War II. In fact, the title for

Bradford’s series Through Darkest America by

Truck and Tank comes from a chapter in

Eisenhower’s memoir. Bradford is particularly

interested in how communities, including his own

in South Los Angeles, have been divided by the

highway system and the resulting physical and

psychological impact on the community. Maps of

highways, coupled with Google maps, were used as

points of reference for this work, which plays with

various changes in perspective and acknowledges

how individual memories shape our understanding

of place.

Bradford’s work includes references to both politics

and art history, and although the artist and many

art critics refer to his work as painting, he is not a

painter in the conventional sense. Instead he

creates painterly effects by working with materials

such as string, carbon paper, and billboard paper

manipulated through drawing, layering, bleaching,

caulking, sanding, and burnishing. His earlier works

primarily used materials gathered from the urban

environment, often incorporating posters advertis-

ing local businesses in his neighborhood.

Other works in LACMA’s collection represent

Bradford’s range of materials and interests. Biggie,

Biggie, Biggie (2002) combines paint, permanent-

wave endpapers, Xerox copies of endpapers, and

Bradford’s interest in African American music and

language (The title of the work is one of the refrains

from a popular song by the rapper Notorious B.I.G.).

Carta (2013) was inspired by a seventeenth-century

book of maps and trade routes by the Dutch

cartographer Joan Blaeu.

Discussion Prompts

What types of transportation do you use on a

regular basis? In what ways does your point of view

change during these trips? How does this impact

your relationship to the places you travel through

and to?

Take a walk in your neighborhood and make a list of

the images, advertisements, and objects you see or

find. What could someone conclude about your

neighborhood based on your list?

Shoot the Coin, 2013

Mark Bradford

Mixed media on canvas

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Purchased with major funding provided by Andy Valmorbida,

with additional support from Sotheby's M.2014.62

Erosion (Geometric Cubes within Circle: Two Point

Perspective with Guidelines), 2012

Analia Saban

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NALIA SABAN’S EROSION (GEOMETRIC CUBES WITHIN

Circle: Two-Point Perspective with Guide-

lines) is a painting on canvas, yet the canvas

lifts away from its circular frame, giving the work a

sculptural quality. Visible brushstrokes record the

process of applying acrylic to the canvas, yet the

texture of the work approaches that of delicate,

burned lace. This burned lace effect is due to

Saban’s use of a laser-cutting machine. The artist

begins by drawing on the canvas, and then applies

paint in differing areas of thickness. Once this is

done, she puts her resulting painting through the

laser-cutting machine, after which the parts of the

canvas with the thickest layers of paint remain

intact and the areas with lighter applications of

paint appear charred.

Saban is known for her interest in exploring

the artmaking process itself and in pushing the

boundaries of specific materials, questioning genres,

and blurring the distinctions between different

mediums. For example, she has scraped still-wet

photography prints in order to experiment with

the development process and the materiality of

photography, and has unwoven paintings in order

to create sculptural forms from their threads. For

the latter works, she says, “Usually we think of

painting on a canvas. It was interesting to think of

painting as pigment on thread.” Erosion (Geometric

Cubes within Circle: Two-Point Perspective with

Guidelines) is emblematic of her interest in laser-

burning paper and canvases. Sculptural paintings

combine organic and technological elements while

exploring traditional notions about art through her

reference to two-point perspective, which is closely

associated with art created during the Renaissance.

Other works by Saban in LACMA’s collection include

Layer Painting (CMY):

Flowers (2008), Study for

Paint (Wet) (2011), and Kohler 5931 Kitchen Sink #2

(2013). In each of these works Saban’s interest in

exploring materials, techniques, and processes is

visible. For Study for Paint (Wet) she sealed a

painted canvas in a clear plastic bag in order to

preserve the look of the wet paint. Inspired by the

abstract geometries that are part of everyday life,

she has created Kohler 5931 Kitchen Sink #2, a

model of a kitchen sink in marble placed on canvas

and hung vertically on the wall. These works

embody Saban’s interest in how one’s expectations

of a medium can be complicated through exposure

to the object’s materiality or fabrication.

Discussion Prompts

This painting seems to resemble burned lace. What

other associations does this work evoke for you?

Do you think these associations are intentionally

generated by the artist? Compare your associations

with those of your peers. Are they similar? Do any

surprise you?

In this work, Analia Saban combines a new technology,

a laser-cutting machine, with the traditional art

historical concept of two-point perspective. Create

your own unique work of art that combines modern

technology with traditional art forms or concepts.

Erosion (Geometric Cubes within Circle: Two-Point Perspective with Guidelines), 2012

Analia Saban

Laser-sculpted acrylic on canvas

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Gift of Jennifer Hawks and Ramin Djawadi, and Candace and Charles Nelson M.2012.124

Cell: Interlocking Construction, 2010

Rachel Lachowicz

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

N ELEGANT, COMPLEX, AND COMMANDING SCULPTURE,

this work is composed of more than thirty

transparent Plexiglas geometric shapes, each

filled with a different shade of blue eye shadow. The

work references both the history of abstraction and

the way individuals, especially women, use makeup

to package themselves and the image they present

to the world.

Cell: Interlocking Construction was made from

a three-dimensional sketch that was created by

placing abstract cardboard shapes over the surface

of a ten-foot paper reproduction of Kurt Schwitter’s

work Merzbau, which hung on the wall in Rachel

Lachowicz’s studio. (Schwitter’s Merzbau refers to

the immersive environment he created by incorpor-

ating sculptural elements such as grottoes, columns,

and found objects into his family home in Hanover,

Germany.). Revealing the significant roles appropri-

ation and homage play in her work, Lachowicz

states, “I want to come near things, but I want these

things to mutate to become their own hybrid that

recognizes interlocking relationships.”

Known as a conceptual sculptor, Lachowicz has

created many works that explore art of the past,

most of which was made by men. Adopting makeup

as her primary sculptural medium, she has used

humor and a feminist perspective to comment on

the exclusion and misrepresentation of women

artists in art history. Seeing makeup as a component

of her artmaking, she creates all of her own

pigments in her studio. Untitled (Lipstick Urinals)

(1992) is another work by Lachowicz included in

LACMA’s collection. Recontextualizing Marchel

Duchamp’s classic Fountain (1917), it also references

the bronze sculpture Fountain (after Marcel

Duchamp: A.P.) (1991) by Sherrie Levine, another

artist known for appropriation. By deliberately

repurposing male artists’ forms, Lachowicz

questions assumptions about materials, gender,

and authorship.

Discussion Prompts

Makeup can have many associations. It can be used

for female beautification, for a kind of mask or war

paint, as a tool for seduction, and/or as a multi-

billion-dollar consumer commodity. How do these

multiple, and perhaps competing, definitions of

makeup influence your understanding of this work?

Choose a work of art that is meaningful to you.

Think about the materials the artist used and the

message he/she was trying to convey. Next, create

a new artwork by putting the artwork you chose

in a new context or by re-creating it with different

materials. How has the meaning of the artwork

changed with the change in setting and/or

materials?

Cell: Interlocking Construction, 2010

Rachel Lachowicz

Pigment, cosmetic compound, Plexiglas

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Purchased with funds provided by Dr. Oded Bahat, Jill and Jay Bernstein, Marilyn and Larry Fields,

Dina and Eitan Gonen, Joleen Julis, Lilly and Bruce Karatz, Jean Smith and Rodnie Nelson, Eileen Norton,

Amnon and Katie Rodan, Linda and Tony Rubin, Shoshana and Wayne Blank, Susan Okum M.2014.4.1–.35

Classroom Activity

Color in a Bottle

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Essential Question How do artists use color and layering to create a work of art?

Grades K–3

Time One–two class periods

Art Concepts Color, collage, still lifes, background, foreground

Academic Concepts Art vocabulary, overlapping, layering, scale

Materials Cardboard, scissors, pieces of solid color construction paper, tissue paper,

scratch paper, specialty paper scraps, oil pastels, pencils

Talking about Art View and discuss a reproduction of Amy Sillman’s Untitled (Purple Bottle)

(2013) included in the curriculum. What do you notice first? What colors

do you see? Can you recognize any objects? If so, which ones?

Even though Amy Sillman creates art today, she is inspired by artists and

artworks from the past, like still-life paintings, a type of art that includes

both natural objects (like flowers and fruit) and man-made things (such as

baskets and bottles) placed carefully together.

What do you think was the artist’s first step? What did she put in the

background, the area of the painting furthest from us? What did she put

in the foreground, the area closest to us? How is Amy Sillman’s painting

like a still life? How is it not?

Making Art After discussing Amy Sillman’s painting, choose colors that you would

like to use in your artwork, and select the appropriate color paper. Take

time to think about how the different colors look next to each other.

After experimenting with layering the colored paper, glue it onto the

cardboard, creating a collage background for your artwork.

On scratch paper, practice drawing objects; they can be natural or man-

made. Choose two of the objects and draw them onto your collage with

oil pastels. Think about whether you want to draw your objects in the

background or foreground of your artwork. Think about how the scale

of the objects would have to be drawn, depending on where you want

to put the object (objects in the background are smaller; objects in the

foreground are bigger).

Reflection Share what colors you chose to make your artwork and the objects you

chose to include, and why. Discuss the sequence of steps you took to

create your artwork.

Curriculum Connection Find another still life from LACMA’s collection:

http://collections.lacma.org/search/site/still%2520lifes?f[0]=bm_field

_has_image%3Atrue

Consider the following questions:

What colors did the other artist use? What objects did he or she decide

to include? Are they realistic or abstract?

Compare and contrast Amy Sillman’s work with the other still life.

What are some similarities between both artworks? How did each artist

use color? Did they include similar objects? How did each artist use

scale in their artworks?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SPEAKING AND LISTENING

K.4 Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting

and support, provide additional detail. 1.5. Add drawings or other visual

displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and

feelings.

Evenings for Educators, Art in the Twenty-First Century, February 2015.

Prepared by Peggy Hasegawa with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Education Department.

Classroom Activity

Prismatic Perspectives

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Essential Questions How do contemporary artists use two-point perspective to make new art?

Grades 3–6

Time One class period

Art Concepts Line, shape, contrast, positive space, negative space, warm & cool colors,

and two-point perspective

Math Concepts Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by the properties of

their lines and angles.

Materials 140 lb watercolor paper, art tape, art tissue, brushes, water, and water cups

Talking about Art View and discuss a printed image of Erosion (Geometric Cubes within Circle:

Two-Point Perspective with Guidelines) by Analia Saban.

Saban used a laser-cutting machine to finish this artwork. How does Erosion

differ from what you might expect from a traditional painting? What shapes

can you identify in the composition? What do you think might have inspired

or influenced the artist in the making of this piece? Share your observations,

interpretations, and inferences with a partner.

Making Art Discover the artistic process of two-point perspective by creating your own

abstract painting inspired by Analia Saban. How will you transform these two-

dimensional shapes using perspective?

First draw one or two geometric shapes by placing art tape on the watercolor

paper. Draw a dot (representing the vanishing point) on each of the two upper

corners of the watercolor paper.

Create the sides of the shapes by making lines with the art tape from the corners of the shapes to

each vanishing point. Allow the tape to hang off the edge of the paper a bit to make it easier to

remove the tape later on when you’ve finished. You may use a ruler to help you make straight lines

from the corners of the shapes to the vanishing points. Do not cross over into any previously taped

areas. If you are feeling ambitious, add a third shape. The shapes and their sides will be the positive

space in the painting and the remaining background will be the negative space.

Using a paintbrush, apply water to the paper within the taped shapes first and then choose a color of art

tissue with which to fill in each shape. Place the colored tissues over each shape and then apply additional

water to the top of the tissues to allow the color to dye the paper. Do not touch the moistened art tissue or

it will stain your fingers. Fill in one side of each shape with cool colors of tissue paper and the other side of

each shape with warm colors. Each time add water to the paper first to allow the tissue to stick, apply the

tissue, then brush a small amount of water on top to unlock the color.

After the shapes and their sides have been filled with color, choose one color to fill in the remaining

negative space. Lay out paper towels next to your paper. Then begin carefully removing the tissue paper,

starting with the first tissues placed on the paper, which should be semi- dry by this point. Notice the

beautiful mixing and blending of the colors! Deposit the removed wet tissue paper on the paper towels so

they do not stain the desk. After all of the tissue paper has been removed, carefully remove the art tape.

Reflection Display the paintings in the classroom and facilitate a gallery walk. Reflect on the art-

making experience by responding to the following questions orally or in written form:

• Does your painting incorporate two-point perspective? (Show examples from your

artwork.)

• How does the contrast of warm and cool colors play a part in the look of your painting?

• What visual changes did you make along the way?

• How does the final painting compare to your original idea?

• Describe in what way(s) your painting is similar and different from the art object?

Curriculum Identify the shapes that you created. Measure the angles of the lines you drew from

Connection your shapes to the vanishing point and note whether they are acute, right, or obtuse.

Think about how the shapes and measurements of the angles you created affect the

overall artwork and present your observations to your classmates.

CCSS.VPA- VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS. 4. 2.6

Use the interaction between positive and negative space expressively in a work of art.

5. 5.1 Use linear perspective to depict geometric objects in space. 6.2.2 Apply the rules

of two-point perspective in creating a thematic work of art.

CCSS.MATH. 3.1G

Reason with shapes and their attributes. Understand that shapes in different categories

(e.g., rhombuses, rectangles, and others) may share attributes (e.g., having four sides),

and that the shared attributes can define a larger category (e.g., quadrilaterals).

Recognize rhombuses, rectangles, and squares as examples of quadrilaterals, and draw

examples of quadrilaterals that do not belong to any of these subcategories. 4.MD5

Recognize angles as geometric shapes that are formed wherever two rays share a

common endpoint, and understand concepts of angle measurement.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SPEAKING AND LISTENING.3-6.1

Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one,

in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners. 6.6 Acquire and use accurately

general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading,

writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level.

Evenings for Educators, Art in the Twenty-First Century, February 2015.

Prepared by Brooke Sauer with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Education Department.

Classroom Activity

Memory Maps

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Essential Questions How can an abstract artwork reference and address social concerns?

Grades 6-12

Time One class period

Art Concepts Abstraction, experimentation, layering, texture, mapping, text-based artwork

Cultural Concepts Gentrification, class

Materials White tempera paint; brushes; color maps and black and white photocopies

of maps of Los Angeles, Wilshire Boulevard, and Hollywood; various color

markers; bristol paper or watercolor paper; glue sticks

Talking about Art View and discuss a printed image of Shoot the Coin by Mark Bradford. Mark

Bradford creates mixed media paintings that reference mapping, the urban

environment, and social issues like fragmentation, inequality, and community.

How does Bradford’s Shoot the Coin painting evoke social issues and maps?

What are some of the various meanings that can be discussed in Bradford’s

Shoot the Coin painting?

In what ways can a map’s shape, color, and meaning influence the visual art-

making process?

Making Art Using color markers, begin by writing a short paragraph about an event

(social, political, or personal) or a memory of being/living in Los Angeles,

Wilshire Boulevard, or Hollywood—fill the paper with your text by writing

many words, repeating words, and/or writing large-sized letters. Then

choose a map that corresponds to the area you wrote about (either Los

Angeles, Wilshire Boulevard, or the Hollywood area). Apply glue to the back

of the map, being careful to NOT apply any glue to the edges around the

map. Glue the map onto the paper, covering your text completely. Let dry

for a few minutes, then, grabbing from the edges around the map, rip off

sections of the map. Alternatively, you could cut the map into sections

before you glue it down. Once this step is complete, apply a thin coat of

white tempera paint onto your entire paper. Title your artwork using words

that you wrote with marker in the artwork.

Reflection Arrange a display of all the completed artworks around the room. Ask

students to walk around looking at the artworks. What does each artwork

seem to be about? Do you get a sense of the story written beneath the

painting’s layers from the painting and its title? What meanings can be

inferred from the ways in which the map was ripped off of the paper? Have

you been in the area shown in the map? What memories do you have there?

How is your artwork similar and different to the other artworks?

Curriculum Connection This painting was inspired by Mark Bradford's interest in the history of the US

highway system promoted by President Eisenhower in the 1950s to make travel

throughout the country easier. Research when the freeway nearest your home

was built and try to find images of how the area appeared before the freeway.

Think about how the freeway has impacted your neighborhood. What has it done

to traffic? Has it united or divided your neighborhood? How so?

CCSS.VPA- VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

7. 4.2 Analyze the form (how a work of art looks) and content (what a work of art

communicates) of works of art. 8. 3.1 Examine and describe or report on the role

of a work of art created to make a social comment or protest social conditions.

9-12.4.1 Articulate how personal beliefs, cultural traditions, and current social,

economic, and political contexts influence the interpretation of the meaning or

message in a work of art.

CCSS.ELA-WRITING

7. 3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using

effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event

sequences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SPEAKING AND LISTENING

6-12.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions

(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners. 6-12.6 Acquire

and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases,

sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career

readiness level.

Evenings for Educators, Art in the Twenty-First Century, February 2015.

Prepared by Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaqua with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Education Department.

Classroom Activity

Art in Context

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Essential Questions How do an artwork’s site and materials affect its meaning?

Grades Grades 9–12

Time Two class periods

Art Concepts Site, context, photography, documentation, reproduction, sculpture,

and assemblage

Materials Plastic tubs, buckets, binders, coasters, feather dusters, masks, fake flowers,

tiles, bookends, stools, and classroom chairs.

Choose household or industrial items that reflect light, or have an unusual

texture. Common household objects and lightweight industrial materials are

ideal. They should be easy to carry, stack, and disassemble, be of a variety

of colors, transparencies and textures, and be at least as big as a textbook.

Talking about Art View and discuss a printed image of Rachel Lachowicz’s, Cell: Interlocking

Construction (2010). Even if we know nothing about the origin of an

artwork, assessing it in terms of its materiality can help us access its

meaning. Much of Lachowicz’s work is created through the use of makeup.

Cell: Interlocking Construction

is a sculpture built from stacked Plexiglass

boxes containing eyeshadow. Describe the physical qualities of eyeshadow.

What cultural connotations does makeup convey to us outside of the

context of art? What are the sites/contexts in which makeup is used

and distributed? Who uses makeup? Describe the physical qualities of

Plexiglass. In what contexts do you usually see Plexiglass? What are some

common uses for Plexiglass?

Much of Lachowicz’s work responds to canonical works of art by 20th century

male artists. How does Lachowicz’s practice encourage discussion about

influence and gender in the art world?

Cell: Interlocking Construction

puts familiar materials into new contexts/

arrangements as a means of abstracting, or defamiliarizing the materials’

original functions.

Describe the arrangement and use of the materials. How

does the quantity and scale of the materials used affect our understanding of

the work?

Describe the sculpture’s relationship to your own body in terms of

scale and proportion. Describe the sculpture’s relationship to other artwork/

objects in the gallery, and to the gallery itself. How do the other works and the

space of the gallery affect our reading of Lachowicz’s work?

Making Art Create temporary sculptural installations out of everyday objects within

designated areas of the school grounds, photograph the install, and then

promptly disassemble the work.

Form small groups in your class. Each group will be given an assortment of

objects with which to make a quick installation within a designated space.

Examine the objects carefully, noting their interiors and exteriors. As you

arrange the materials, juxtapose different colors and textures, focusing on

experimenting with the materials’ physical form rather than trying to achieve

a specific meaning.

When you’re finished, photograph your installation from various vantage

points (3–4 photos per installation) and then disassemble it. After objects are

removed from the site, you will have the opportunity to view and reflect on

the photographs in a classroom setting with a projector.

Reflection What information did the photograph retain from the installation? Which of

the objects’ qualities/utilitarian uses can be gleaned from the photographic

representation? What information did the photograph leave behind? Which

qualities of the installation could only be experienced in person?

What new information can we glean about the interior or exterior architectural

setting of the installation (carpeting, concrete, white wall, office setting)? How

does this information on site and setting affect how we read or understand

the arranged objects? What new meanings/understandings of the objects exist

through the creation of a photograph? What does the photograph say about

the objects represented? What does the photograph say about the installations

created? What does the photograph say about the person taking the photo?

Curriculum CCSS.VPA- VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

Connection 9-12.3.3 Identify and describe trends in the visual arts and discuss how the issues

of time, place, and cultural influence are reflected in selected works of art. 3.4

Discuss the purposes of art in selected contemporary cultures. 4.1 Articulate how

personal beliefs, cultural traditions, and current social, economic, and political

contexts influence the interpretation of the meaning or message in a work of art.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SPEAKING AND LISTENING

9-12.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions

(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners.

Evenings for Educators, Art in the Twenty-First Century, February 2015.

Prepared by Shalini Patel with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Education Department.