postmodern principles- readings

The themes of postmodern principles became more important and influential over time to me in this class. I became to realize that they what every artists does, to a certain extent and in different ways.  Also, that these themes are used commonly in High School and College. We were to read two articles: Approaches to postmodern Art-Making by Terry Barrett and Principles of Possibility: Considerations for a 21st-century Art & Culture Curriculum by Olivia Gude.

Barrett talks about how postmodern artist seek to collapse boundaries that are important to modernists and how they believe art is "high art" and above the things experienced in "low culture". Also how postmodern artist work collaborative. He also talks about Appropriating, Jouissance, Stimulating, Hybridizing, Mix Media, layering, mixing codes, re-contextualization, confronting the gaze, facing the abject, constructing identities, using narratives, creating metaphors and finally irony, parody and dissonance. 

Gude's article was interesting. She talks about playing, forming self, investigating community themes, encountering difference, attentive living, empowered experiencing and making, deconstructing culture, and reconstructing social space.

She says to consider structuring general art-making courses to introduce six areas of art-making: 

1. expressionism

2. mimesis

3. formalism

4.applied design

5. craft

6. postmodern principles.

...( from the principles he talks about, we are to pick a postmodern theme to present to the class that I will talk about in later posts) 

Surrealism

I am interested in surrealism related lesson plans because I believe it is a good opportunity for students to create art-work in their unconscious mind set.  In the reading Surrealist Games complied by Alastair Brotchie, it was said that " Surrealist games provide keys to unlock the door to the unconscious and release the visual and verbal poetry of collective creativity".  I  agree with Brotchie in a way that surrealist games practice creativity. It allows freedom with little guide lines.  Ideas for a lesson plan: ask students to think of ways to re-assemble their reality using collage elements and other mediums in their unconscious mind set. They can relate their work about themselves, people they may know and surroundings that have influenced them. I would want students to think of how they wish the world were and to create a collage element piece. It might be helpful for them to think about what they would like to surround them in their "dream world" and that it can be objects, people and locations that are meaningful, humorous or something their interested in.