The 7th and 8th grade mixed media class has explored the concept of a big idea in the work of several artists including: Deborah Butterfield, Anselm Kiefer, Banksky, and Zac Freeman. They are currently working on developing their own individual big ideas, and planning several works of art to explore these ideas.
Below is an outline of the process that these students are going through.
So . . . What’s The Big Idea?
A big idea is a recurring subject or idea that runs throughout much of an artist’s work.
An artist’s big idea guides him or her through the artistic process and helps give meaning to the artist’s body of work.
You are going to develop your own big idea through your next three pieces of artwork. Your first step will be to decide on your idea. There are many ways to approach this. It should be something that interests you enough to want to explore and develop this idea over the next several weeks. You may even decide to continue to work with this idea after you have finished the three required pieces for this series. Your idea could be an animal, type of artwork (i.e. portrait, landscape, fashion, graffiti, etc.), a story, a current or historical event, or an environmental issue.
In order to begin the process of creating a big idea, begin by listing at least 5 possible ideas that you might want to explore. Then, in the next column, list brief descriptions for artwork that you might create to explore each idea.
Ideas /Artwork to explore this idea -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project #11) Write a detailed description of your art project. What will your composition include? What style will you use? What techniques do you plan to utilize (i.e. monochromatic painting, printmaking, abstract painting, papier-mâché, collage, assemblage, etc.)?
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2) What is your intended meaning for this work of art? How does this piece help develop and explore your big idea? Is it an illustration, social commentary, a historical piece, or none of these? If it is none of these, then, what is it?
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3) List all materials that you will need to complete this assignment. Think about this carefully. If you do not list it, don’t expect it to be available.
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Create a schedule for completing this work of art. What will you need to accomplish each day?
You are creating a series. All of your pieces may not require the same amount of time. It is possible that some may only take three days to complete, while others may take eight.
Day 1
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Day 2
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Day 3
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Day 4
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Day 5
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Day 6
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Day 7
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Day 8
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