Art Explorer 3: Art or Not Art? That is The Critique.

Cheetos? Rocks? Cheetos and rocks TOGETHER? 

So everyone (or almost everyone) has heard of Cheetos and associates them with words such as, snack, cheezy, crunchy, orange, messy and so on...  But never have I heard of Cheetos being associated with rocks?  This artist has done the unthinkable (at least to me)...taking two opposite materials and combining them.

To be honest, I walked right passed this piece of art.  Then one of my friends stopped and said, "Hey, look at this".  I turned and in the middle of the room, I saw a pile of rocks...I thought, this cannot be art.  Then I looked closer and realized there were Cheetos underneath.  At first, I thought that someone dropped a bag of Cheetos and just swept them under the rocks.  However, after carefully looking at the sculpture I realized they weren't in just one location, they were under the ENTIRE sculpture. A light bulb goes off...the Cheetos are meant to be there! Why? I don't really know. So, I ask around...then I realized that no one really understands it.

     During the tour, Patricia stopped at this piece and got us to really think and explore the concept behind it.  Again, to be completely honest, I got nothing (and I still don't really understand it).  On the other hand, one student suggested that maybe it's a representation of how society is covering up the junk in the world.  Patricia goes on to explain that the Cheetos are in fact real, but the rocks are fake (each rock was hand-painted by the artist). For this exact reason, the word of the week is TEXTURE.

     Texture, "refers to the surface quality of a work of art" (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 144). The textbook also states that texture can be actual or implied.  An actual texture is something that is real and genuine, while an implied texture is one that is "fake" or created. This sculpture is a combination of both; the actual texture is the Cheetos and the implied texture is the rocks.  The rocks were so well painted that they actually seemed real; the artist carefully airbrushed each rock to get that pebbled look. 

     Once we found out that the rocks were indeed fake and the Cheetos were indeed real, Patricia asked us what the artist might be trying to say by using these textures. Personally, this new information didn't really effect my opinion...I couldn't find a deeper meaning...all I saw was rocks and Cheetos.  However, my fellow classmates had a lot to say about this and I quote, "maybe the artist is trying to convey the aspect that appearances can be deceiving".  I can see where this statement comes from, but I do not necessarily understand it.  The aspect that I cannot understand is why Cheetos? Why not different candy wrappers? or Why not other junk like plastic and waste? The Cheetos element honestly baffles me (but that might just be how I feel). Actually, it's not just me, apparently other people don't understand it...online, one person commented on the above picture, it read, "maybe the AGO cleaning staff was simply sweeping the cheesies under the rocks after a party". I think the Cheetos just throw people off.  

     If it isn't clear by now, I will just say it...I don't necessarily like this sculpture.  Maybe I don't like it because I don't understand it, but I am not saying that it isn't art.  Because who am I to say that it does or doesn't qualify as art? That's not what I'm doing, I am just stating my opinion and giving reasons behind it.  The reason why I chose this sculpture was not to "rip into it" or "trash it" it was merely because even though I didn't understand it, a lot of people had many things to say about it. I find it fascinating that someone can look at this sculpture and interpret it in a much deeper representation of life. On the other hand, I am not one of these people, as I STILL don't "get it". 

What's your take? Love it or hate it?

**Note to Future Educators**

Remember to incorporate a variety of textures in art activities, from wet paint to hard crayons, puffy shaving cream to sticky glue and rough sandpaper to smooth construction paper. Giving children a range of textures will allow them to truly explore their creative abilities.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: 
Never judge a child's art, by focusing on the end product; instead, emphasize the process and hard work that went into making that creation.

Art Explorer 2: Instant Sculpture: MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

This week we were asked to create a sculpture out of "found household objects". I was sitting at my desk, looking around, thinking a million things...What should I make? What should I use? How should I create it? What will be my word?  I went through countless ideas, analyzing them with these questions.  After god knows how long, I stopped.  Out of the corner of my eye a saw a jar full of change (Canadian and European) and thought maybe, just maybe, I could use that! I poured out the jar of change and started fooling around.  The first word that popped into my mind was BALANCE.  Why balance? Because money is something that most people have or ALL people WANT to have. It's a constant struggle balancing spending money with saving money (trust me I know)!!

Balance.

According to Art & Creative Development for Young Children, balance is "when forms appear to be in proportion to each other" and it's achieved by either being symmetrical or asymmetrical (Schirrmacher and Fox, 2009).  In other words, balance is a state of equilibrium that is either formal or informal.  Symmetrical or "formal" is a type of balance where shapes are evenly balanced around some point. Asymmetrical or "informal" is the opposite; a type of balance where objects are not evenly balanced from a point. For this specific sculpture I used both types. How, might you ask? Well, I shall explain...

Closer look at the balancing element.

Starting off, the structure was symmetrical. I evenly distributed the coins from a point in order to maintain balance. However, you might say I got "cocky" and kept going when I should of stopped.  At a certain point the top coins came tumbling down, causing the structure to now become asymmetrical. I decided to leave the structure as it was, representing the constant struggle balancing money.  When should you keep going and when should you say, enough is enough?

As you can see, those are the fallen coins in the back.

 I can relate to this representation, as I, myself, occasionally struggle balancing money.  Currently, I have been working hard to save money for a summer trip. I've been working not only more shifts, but also longer shifts and I even worked full-time during winter break.  Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time actually SAVING that money.  I am continuously spending money...going out for dinner, going to the movies, going to clubs/bars, and shopping (for things that aren't needed).  I need to find a balance by asking myself...When is it enough?

SO, balance is not only an element of art, but it an element of everyday life!

**Note to Future Educators**
Remember to BALANCE the use of process and product art activities within the classroom.

Art Explorer 1: My Creative Inspiration

The word is, CREATIVITY.

That is spelled, c-r-e-a-t-i-v-i-t-y. 

The meaning is, the potential to explore, interpret and understand yourself and the world in any way that satisfies you! 

Creativity is endless and it is different to each individual. One may express their creativity through music, dance, art or even storytelling and these are just a few of the obvious.  You have to remember that almost everything requires some aspect of creativity, even writing and math!!  The possibilities to be creative are never ending and undefined. All in all, I believe, YOU determine your creative ability, because it is an expression of your beliefs, values, opinions and ideas that are constantly changing and evolving. 

     To be completely honest, I never thought of myself as a "creative being".  I always wanted and wished to be creative, but I never learned to play an instrument or read music, I didn't have the rhythm to be a dancer and I was definitely not artistic.  Growing up I believed that these three categories, music, dance and art determined creativity. Although I did not excel in neither category, I was determined to find my creative streak. I found inspiration in one of my many uncles, who I believe to be extremely artistic.

     I remember going to my uncle's house, and looking at his drawings and paintings and thinking to myself, "Wow, I wish I could be that creative". He was and still is a very artistic person and when I used to look at his artwork, it empowered me to believe that somehow I could be that creative.  One day, within minutes, on this square piece of drywall he created this beautiful drawing of a Greek column. Just looking at it made me want to try and draw one, so I picked up a piece of drywall and started.  As I was drawing, I remember looking to my uncle's creation, trying to copy each line and curve.  In the end, my drawing looked nothing like his.  I realized that although drawing wasn't "my creative thing", I did have a one, I just hadn't discovered it yet.

Here is the Greek column and a few other drawings that my uncle has created...

    
     Over the years, I came to a new definition of creativity, which is the definition described to you in the beginning of this blog. I don't know the exact moment or time that I came to this realization, but what I do know is that this new understanding of creativity had no limits.  With this new knowledge, I started to explore the world of photography.  I had always been interested in photography, but I considered it as a hobby rather than a creative escape. This recently changed and it all started with one picture. One picture, which included my grandma, my two siblings, my two cousins and I.  As I was looking through an old album I stumbled upon this particular picture. I paused on it for a while, examining it.  There is nothing physically striking to the picture, it is merely an old picture from a wedding that includes all the grandchildren with their grandmother.  However, since my grandmother had recently passed away there was emotional significance to the picture and it was probably the last picture of all of us together.
     From there I developed a curiosity about photography and started to explore picture taking and collages.  Of course, some photographs can be strikingly straightforward in their beauty, but for me, the story behind the photograph is where the creativity takes place.  A photograph is a caption, a caption of time and whoever stares long enough will see and experience its creative story.  As the famous saying goes, "A picture says a thousand words".

The picture that started it all... 

**Note to Future Educators**
Remember that every child is creative in their own unique way! So, encourage them to find their creative escape and explore the world!!