1.) Big Idea: Identity

Jamie Marie Wilson

Title of Lesson: Identity Relief

Lesson plan # 1 (3D)

Class title and ages: Art concepts: grades 11-12

Number of days to teach lesson: 5

2.)

Purpose: Students will create a three dimensional piece of artwork that explores personal identity through the use of symbolism. They will view and take part in a discussion about the works of Frida Kahlo, Shirin Neshat, and Sergei Isopuv as well as read the article “Cultural Identity is Constructed and Challenged by Stereotype”(homework), and fill out the “Who Am I” worksheet. They will plan out their ideas through sketching. All of which will assist them in developing an understanding of what identity is and how they can make art about it. Finally, they will participate in mask making with classmates and incorporate various art techniques to create their sculptures’.

3a.) National Art Standards:

#1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes

#2: Using knowledge of structures and functions

#3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas

#4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures

#5: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others

#6: Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines

3b). The Universal Constructs of the Iowa Core Curriculum:

· Critical thinking

· Complex communication

· Creativity

· Collaboration

· Flexibility and adaptability

· Productivity and accountability

3.) Objectives:

1. The students will create a plan through sketching out of their relief sculpture, after completing the worksheet, reading the articles. (National Standard: 1; 2 and US: critical thinking; collaboration)

2. Students will use color, image and composition in order to communicate a significant aspectof their personal identity. (National Standard: 3; 4 and UC: creativity; critical thinking)

3. Students will work with plaster to effectively by make a mask of a classmate. (National Standards: 2; 6 and UC: flexibility and adaptability; collaboration)

4. Students will convey an understanding of color, focal point, repetition, texture and balance. (National Standards: 2 and UC: complex communication)

5. Students will combine elements of art (e.g. sculpture, painting, found object, and mixed media) to create a wall relief sculpture. (National Standards: 1; 2 and UC flexibility and adaption)

6. Students will reflect on their sculptures by participating in a group critique and completing a self-evaluation rubric. (National Standard 5 and UC Complex communication, Collaboration, and Productivity and accountability)

4.) Materials: From Dick Blick Art supply. Order online- 20% off orders of $199. Free shipping on orders over $150.

http://www.dickblick.com/?wmcp=google&wmckw=[dick%20blick]&wmcid=adwords&cid=psgex072611171&gclid=CPTNn4bHkKsCFSUEQAodyEgstw

· Plaster bandages cut into 1"x4" rectangles- 4 yrds. /$6.36 per roleor invest in 250 yrd. box for $76

· Reusable plastic face forms- for those students that don’t want to have one made of them. They can experience working with plaster on these pre formed masks. $1.99/each x 4= $7.96

· Containers for water- available in the classroom

· Masking tape- Wal-Mart $8.88 per 3 roles

· paper towels- available in the classroom

· Vaseline- Wal-Mart $2.00 for a large container

· Face soap (hypoallergenic) $2 per bar

· Scrap plywood- from home or donation. Can also be purchased at Menards for 4’x8’ piece for $ 18.00

· Primer paint (Kilz brand)- Wal-Mart - $18.96 per gallon

· Chromacryl brand Acrylic paint- set of 12 pints is $52.00

· Material scraps- donation

· Wall paper-donation

· Magazines- donation

· Staple gun- from home- was $20

· Found objects (brought from the students home)

· Also. have things available in the classroom. Found objects collected by the art instructor or from nature.

5.) Interdisciplinary connections:

This lesson will be connected to Social studies through the exploration of how artists and the students identify themselves through their culture or religious practices, and Psychology-through the exploration of what a student’s identity says about them and how it affects them psychologically.

6.) Artists/ imagery:

Frida Kahlo

“Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Humming-bird”

“The Love Embraces the Universe”

“Self-Portrait as a Tehuana (Diego on My Mind)”, 1943

· Frida Kahlo was born 1907

· She is a celebrated Mexican painter whose self-portraits are emblematic of national and indigenous tradition.

· Feminist- uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form

· Married to the muralist, Diego Rivera. They had a stormy relationship.

“Tree of Hope”, 1946 and Photo of Frida in the hospital, 1944

· Kahlo uses duality a lot in her work.

· She suffered lifelong health problems, many of which stemmed from a traffic accident when she was 18

· Kalho said about her self-portraits, "I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best." 

“The Two Fridas”, 1939

· Shortly after her divorce from Diego Rivera, Frida completed this self-portrait of two different personalities.

· On the right, the part of her, which was respected and loved by her husband, is the Mexican Frida in Tehuana costume. In her hand she holds an amulet bearing the portrait of Diego as a child.

· On the left, a more rather European Frida in a lacy white Victorian wedding dress, the Frida that Diego abandoned.

· The hearts of the two women lie exposed a device Frida often used to express her pain. The unloved Frida's heart is broken while the other Frida's heart is whole.

Shirin Neshat

“Women of Allah”

· Shirin Neshat is a contemporary artist from who uses herself as a subject matter.

· This body of work entitled “Women of Allah” addresses the social, political and psychological dimensions of women's experience in contemporary Islamic societies.

· Her work recognizes the complex intellectual and religious forces shaping the identity of Muslim women throughout the world. Using Persian poetry and calligraphy she examined concepts such as martyrdom, the space of exile, the issues of identity and femininity.

Sergei Isupov

· Sergei Isupov is a Ceramic artist

· From Russia, born in 1963, lives in the U.S.

· He is from a family of artist. His mother is a well-known Ceramic Folk artist and both his father and brother are painters.

· Called an erotic surrealist, he draws on personal experiences to create these autobiographical sculptures.

7.) Visual Culture connection:

See ppt. images and appendix a. for the article “Cultural Identity is Constructed and Challenged by Stereotype”

8.) Reading across the curriculum:

See appendix a. for the article “Cultural Identity is Constructed and Challenged by Stereotype”

9.) Lesson procedure:

Day (1): Introduction (***what I am saying is in italics, while what I am doing is in normal text.)

We are starting a new unit about identity today. We will be doing three different projects that address this subject in different ways. This project will cover our 3-Dl faction of this and address self-identity. In the first project you will create a relief sculpture that incorporates a mask of your own face. A relief is a kind of sculpture that comes out of the wall. There is high relief, which comes out a lot and low relief that is very shallow. Your sculptures will be somewhere in the middle.

Can anyone tell me what they think identity means? Can you give me an example of something that might be used to represent identity? How do you define yourself? Can you think of any symbols, colors or design elements that could can be used to say who you are?”

First you will be making plaster casts of each other’s faces. You will then take the mask of your own face and affix it to a piece of wood using a staple gun, and paint the entire thing white. This will give you a good blank slat to work from. Before you start work on these relief sculptures, you will sketch out a plan of what you will be doing. Then you will transfer your ideas to your relief sculpture of your face. Finally, we will set them all up and take a look at them. You will also have a chance to assess your own work.

Now I am going to show you some images by artists who use the subject of personal identity in their work. (Show ppt.)

Day (1): Studio time

Well, for the sake of this lesson and the 2 that follow in the coming weeks, we are referring to identity as distinguishing characteristics of an individual’s personality that shape who they are. As young people you are just starting to come to grips with the daunting task of figuring this out. So let’s first, fill out the handout entitled “Who am I?” (Appendix b.) Make sure to keep what you have written to yourself. These are to be used for personal reflection and a tool for you to start thinking what type of elements you want to include in your relief sculpture. They will not be shared with others. These questions can be difficult to answer. There is no right or wrong answer. Don’t think about them to hard. The class fills out worksheet. Remind students to answer honestly and keep their work to themselves.

Day (1): Closure

I am handing out an article called “Cultural Identity is Constructed and Challenged by Stereotype”. Read this and bring some interesting points about the article to talk about next time. Think about the things we have talked about and come prepared to get your hands dirty next time. We will start to make our facemasks next time, so I suggest you bring a bandana or hat to keep the plaster out of your hair. I will be providing tape, which can be placed along your hairline if you can’t find anything or forget. Also, I recommend that you not where anything to nice as the plaster may get on it.

Day (2-4): Introduction

Come on in and get seated quickly and quietly. We have a lot to go over today. So what did you think of the article? Can anyone give me some insight to what it was about? Have some questions ready to ask the students about the article. Then call on a couple of students to see what they thought. Have materials set out so they can get started as soon as your introduction is done. Today we will be starting making our masks. We need to get together in groups of 3 to a table.

Day (2-4): Studio time

If a student has issues with having a mask made of their face have them use, a plastic form to make their mask. The students will work in groups of three. One student lies on the table, while the other two students each produce one half of the face mask. This will ensure that the masks are finished and dry enough to take off in one class period. Quickly show them how to do all this on a face form before they get started on each other, so you won’t have to repeat your instruction. Walk around the room assisting where needed.

1. Prepare your work area and materials. Cover any surface you don’t want to get messy and cut plaster bandages to approximately 1”.

2. Have your subject lie down on the table or floor after putting a bandana or painters tape on their hair line to keep the plaster out.

3. Rub petroleum jelly all over the subject’s face, making sure to thoroughly cover any areas with hair to prevent sticking.

4. Begin the first layer of plaster application by dipping one strip at a time into warm water and then applying it to the face by smoothing it on like a sticker.

5. Create an outline of the face and under the chin first. This will help your mask edges stay neat and clean. Since this mask will be affixed to a piece of wood, add a 1” flap to either side of the mask where the ears are.

6. Take special care when applying strips to the eye, mouth and nose area so as not to get plaster in them or cut off air supply.

7. Cover the rest of the face with a couple of layers of bandages.

8. Allow the mask to set up on your subjects face. It will warm up slightly while it hardens.

Day (2-4): Closure

The students who are having their masks done can continue to lie on the table until the mask dries. The other students must clean up. When the mask begins to feel itchy have the subject begin to wiggle their facial feature to loosen it up. When it no longer feels stuck, gently slide your fingers under the mask and lift it off. Place removed mask on a drying rack until next class period.

If someone finishes early have them begin to sketch out their ideas. Make sure the masks have names on them. Things to think about when doing your sketching are color, what colors do you feel akin to? Focal point, what do you want people to focus their attention on and see first. Repetition can be achieved by repeating elements in your work. How can this be helpful in getting your message across? Texture can be added to your work as by adding elements of found objects or mix media. Balance, is another factor to think about. Picture your piece of art as a teeter totter. Placing a lot of stuff on one side without balancing it out could cause your work to seem heavier on one side than the other.

Day( 5): Introduction

First have them affix their mask to the board with a staple gun, and then paint the whole thing with the primer paint. While they are doing that discuss how their sketches are going. You should have a pretty good idea what you want the ground level of your relief sculpture to look like. We have discussed the use of color, focal point, repetition, texture, and balance. Are there any questions? While you are priming your pieces I will be coming around to check out your ideas.

Day (5): Studio time

Have them spread newspaper on tables and show them how to affix their mask to the board. Have them consider placement carefully, because that is where it is going to stay. They will also finish up their sketches. After you’ve got your masks attached to your board you can take it to the painting station. Put an even coat over the whole thing.

Day (5): Closure

Students will put their sculptures on the rack to dry. Clean up your work areas and wash out your brushes. Be ready to work on the final steps of their relief next class period.

Day (6): Introduction

Some students may still be completing their drawings or priming their sculptures due to absences. Today we will be decorating our sculptures with paint, images and found objects that you may have brought in. I have a bin of odds and ends that you can use. I also have some material here and other things that could be used for texture and decoration.

Day (6): Studio time

Get your sculptures off the rack. I will be circulating around the room to answer any questions and discuss design ideas you have. Does anyone need anything right away? Help those students that are behind with any instruction they may need. Have a hand out or have the design elements posted in the room, so they will be available for reference by the students.

Day (6): Closure

Have everyone pick up their materials and put them away, and store their sculptures back on the drying rack. Are there any questions? Next time you come your paint will be dry and you can begin to add other dimensions to your sculptures that can add greater depth to the idea of identity. Continue to think about the design elements that we discussed- color, focal point, repetition, texture, and balance. In the back of your mind think about what else you want to add to your sculpture. We will be finishing up on this next class time, so if you have a lot left to do, you should think about coming in to work on them after school or during study hall. Make sure to bring any material that you want to add to your sculpture next time.

Day (7): Introduction

Hi guys come on in and get settled. Does anyone have any questions or need any help right away? Otherwise, I will be visiting each of you in turn.

Day (7): Studio time

The students continue to work on their sculptures the entire class period. Walk around the room helping students craft their ideas. Remind students periodically to stay on task and that these need to be completed soon.

Day (7): Closure

We only have a 15 minutes left of class, so you should be putting the final touches on you piece. In 5 minutes you need to pick up and put away. Do you have any last minute questions? We will have a few minutes at the beginning of our next class if you need to make any last minute adjustments to your piece before we look at these in class.

Day (8): Introduction

All right, get your sculptures out. I am going to give you 15 minutes to do any tweaking and fine-tuning that you may need. I am going to pass around a self-evaluation form. Read it carefully and grade yourself honestly.

Day (8): Studio time

Pass evaluation forms out. Give them 15 minutes to work. Okay, times up so stop what you are doing. Bring your sculpture up here and lean them against to calk board. So what do you think? What was the hardest part of this lesson/what was the easiest? What were some challenges working with plaster? Tell me about working with each other to make art. Was it hard to think about your identity in terms of how you could represent it in a piece of art? Look at each piece in turn and ask the student to discuss what they are saying about themselves.

Put your sculptures back on the storage rack and make sure your name is easy to find on them.

Now, please return to your seats and fill out your evaluation form in you haven’t already. There is room at the bottom for you to leave me comments. I am interested in what you think of this project. Remember to be nice; I am still your teacher after all.

Day (8): Closure

Next time you are with me we will be starting a new project on identity. See you then. Oh, I should have these graded by then, so you will be able to take them home.

10.) Assessment/Evaluation

During class, have everyone set their relief sculptures along the wall, so they can be viewed all together and then separately. Discuss each one in turn. Ask the class, what do you think this piece of art says about…? Ask questions like…Are you satisfied with the work you did? Did you have any trouble thinking of ways to represent thinks about yourself in your work? What would you change or do differently next time? See appendix c.

11.) Resources:

1. Article: CULTURAL IDENTITY IS CONSTRUCTED AND CHALLENGED BY STEREOTYPES, Raymond ROCA, March 2006.

2. Fredo Kahlo images:

a. "Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Humming-bird"

· http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1e/Frida_Kahlo_%28self_portrait%29.jpg

b. “The Love embraces the Universe”

· http://www.google.com/imgres?q=Frida+kahlo+self+portraits&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=ytC&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=978&bih=852&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnso&tbnid=possAXHLruFUoM:&imgrefurl=http://www.sell-art.net/frida-kahlo/&docid=IQYr6lg2AGBTuM&w=500&h=595&ei=r49vTqipJeHDsQK3kLzhCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=358&vpy=473&dur=71&hovh=245&hovw=206&tx=144&ty=141&page=2&tbnh=144&tbnw=119&start=17&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:17

c. Kahlo, Self-Portrait as a Tehuana (Diego on My Mind), 1943

· http://artseverydayliving.com/blog/2011/07/artist-day-through-artists-eyes/

d. Tree of Hope, 1946

· http://www.artchive.com/artchive/K/kahlo/kahlo_tree_of_hope.jpg.html

e. The Two Fridas, 1939

· http://www.amybrown.net/women/frida.html

3. Shirin Neshat images: Woman of Allah series.

· http://artspeak.ca/exhibitions/event_detail.html?event_id=67

· http://www.agero-stuttgart.de/REVISTA-AGERO/ARTICOLE%20IN%20LIMBI%20STRAINE/Cultural%20identity%20de%20RR.htm

4. Sirgei Isupov images:

· http://www.ferringallery.com/lenox/isupov_sikora.htm

· http://www.google.com/imgres?q=sergei+isupov&start=151&num=10&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=978&bih=852&tbm=isch&tbnid=RXmSRS_K368mWM:&imgrefurl=http://www.oocities.org/tanushishechka/ceramics/isupov.html&docid=b5ukoZ8SuYfsrM&w=350&h=234&ei=updvTt7vFsqmsALBuNi4CQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=662&vpy=203&dur=5071&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=149&ty=97&sqi=2&page=9&tbnh=137&tbnw=190&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:19,s:151

· http://www.google.com/imgres?q=sergei+isupov&start=20&num=10&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=978&bih=852&tbm=isch&tbnid=SdxkApvQEV2mUM:&imgrefurl=http://www.iheartmyart.com/page/307&docid=99ttEV-Yc4-33M&w=400&h=317&ei=updvTt7vFsqmsALBuNi4CQ&zoom=1

Appendix A.

CULTURAL IDENTITY IS CONSTRUCTED AND CHALLENGED BY STEREOTYPES

Raymond ROCA

 

Cultural identity can be defined as the identification of a given group or culture, and the individuals within that culture, with a series of shared values and norms. Traditionally, stereotypes have often been used to bring about a stronger and more unified sense of cultural identity, since their oversimplified and generalised nature is a key element in strengthening individual identification with shared values and norms. The postmodern period, however, saw an increasing amount of openness and pluralism regarding cultural identity, influenced in part by the globalisation of culture and the worldwide civil rights movement. This led to a subversion of traditional identities and the stereotypes that supported them.

 

Artists have played a significant role in this process, by creating works that often recontextualise stereotypes, placing them in non-traditional and contradictory contexts with the aim of challenging existing cultural identities and, in the process, creating new sets of values – that is, constructing new cultural identities. These new identities were influenced by a number of issues relevant in the postmodern period, such as feminism, consumerism, globalisation, minority and indigenous rights, and sexual and gender identity. Such issues are reflected in the works of two key artists of this period: Barbara Kruger and Yasumasa Morimura, as well as the works of Margaret Preston, which predate the postmodern period but also explore the notion of cultural identity.

 

Barbara Kruger is one of the most well known artists that use stereotypes to challenge cultural identity. In her works, Kruger juxtaposes archetypal images of traditional identity with provocative and often satirical text. The text, as well as the context in which the works are placed in, seek to subvert the values and norms that the stereotypical images allude to, and in the process create a new, postmodern cultural identity. Kruger’s visual techniques, inspired significantly by advertising, also provoke the audience into questioning the extent to which their cultural identity is constructed by mass-media stereotypes. As Italian critic Federica Vannucchi writes in her appraisal of Kruger, the function of her work “is to make us think about social and political questions, about the stereotypes and clichés created by our society.”

 

One of the best examples of Kruger’s work is We don’t need another hero (Plate 1), a billboard poster created in 1987. During this time, both the United States and the United Kingdom saw a rise in the popularity of right-wing politics, with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan using nationalism and militarism as key strategies for re-election, and the US invasions of El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua taking place. The second-wave feminist movement, which had come about at the same time as the postmodern period, from the 1960s onwards, felt that these conservative undercurrents in politics could bring about a resurgence in traditional values and hence undermine the progress in women’s rights achieved throughout the 1970s and early 1980s.

 

 

Plate 1: We don’t need another hero by Barbara KrugerPhotographic silkscreen on vinyl 277 x 533 cm 

In We don’t need another hero, the central image is reminiscent of war propaganda posters, making a comment on the political context of growing militarism in the late 1980s, while also alluding to the traditional gender roles that construct males as powerful and dominating. In the image, the young boy is portrayed as the archetypal male hero, exhibiting his strength to the girl, who glances at him in awe and submission. Through this, Kruger shows the power and influence of such stereotypes in constructing traditional cultural identity from an early age, particularly through their use in the mass media and advertising. The image is augmented by the caption “We don’t need another hero”, which is presented in bold typography on a red background, once again alluding to propaganda advertising. This statement, which seems to come from a male perspective, further highlights the traditional, patriarchal notion that only men should be seen as heroes, and that another hero, in the form of a woman, is not needed.

 

By recontextualising propaganda advertising techniques in a postmodern context, and presenting the associated stereotypes to the audience in a confronting and direct way, Kruger seeks to subvert the very culture that the image and the caption exemplify. She also seeks to criticise the advertising industry’s stereotypical portrayals of women, making audiences realise the prejudice associated with such traditional views of gender roles. In this process, Kruger consequently constructs, or at least attempts to propose, a new cultural identity, based around the notion that strength and heroism belong to women as well as men.

 

Another work that seeks to challenge traditional notions of women and their gender role isYour body is a battleground (Plate 2), a photographic silkscreen created by Kruger in 1989. This work was launched to support the organisation of a large pro-abortion march in Washington, DC, on April 9, 1989, which in turn came about in response to growing calls from conservative politicians that abortion should be restricted. In her work, Kruger suggests that stereotypes, such as the image of the female model, which seems to be taken from an advertisement, have played a key role in the traditional perception of women as objects. This is depicted visually by the division of the picture in two halves, which not only represents the binary controversy over abortion, but also shows the way in which the media has promoted the feminine archetype as an image of symmetrical, commodified beauty, without further social significance. This objectification, Kruger argues, has led to a culture in which women’s rights, including abortion, are not valued and cannot be taken for granted. As she explains, “we, as women, are spoken of but never addressed. We are never a subject, we are always an object.”

 

Plate 2: Your body is a battleground by Barbara Kruger, Photographic silkscreen285 x 285 cm Completed in 1989 

Through her use of media stereotypes outside of an advertising context, Kruger accordingly seeks to challenge the values of patriarchal society regarding abortion, making the audience question their validity in a postmodern context. In order to construct this new set of values, Kruger herself uses a slogan reminiscent of advertising: “Your body is a battleground”, which addresses the work’s female audience directly and contrasts with the clichéd, balanced image of the female model.

 

Despite her widespread feminist activism, Kruger’s art does not deal solely with the theme of women’s rights and gender roles. In many of her works, she seeks to challenge the consumerist culture of an increasingly mass-market society, as can be seen in I shop therefore I am (Plate 3), created in 1987. Through the use of the caption “I shop therefore I am”, which is the most prominent element of the work, Kruger suggests that consumer culture and society’s increasing value for material goods are influenced significantly by advertising stereotypes. Kruger’s use of this cliché provokes audiences into questioning their own values in regard to consumer culture, and into considering the extent to which they are influenced by media stereotypes glorifying consumerism, such as the work’s caption. I shop therefore I am can also be read from a feminist perspective, where it comments on the fixed idea, often portrayed in advertising, that women have a weakness for shopping and define themselves in terms of this activity. Under this interpretation, the work challenges the artificial, stereotypical notion of universal female identification consumerism, and encourages audiences, particularly males, to form a more complex and realistic view of female cultural identity.

 

The subversion of existing cultural identities is also a major theme in the practice of Yasumasa Morimura, a contemporary Japanese artist currently living in New York. Morimura’s works deal predominantly with intercultural exchanges, particularly those between the East and the West, in the context of increasing cultural and economic globalisation and communication. Morimura is best known for his appropriation of elements of popular culture, including stereotypes, which are often placed in contradictory, unnatural contexts, and hence seek to challenge and question traditional cultural identity, while simultaneously exploring an international, postmodern identity.

 

One of Morimura’s most famous works is After Brigitte Bardot 2 (Plate 4), a photographic composition which was completed in 1996, and is part of the Self-portrait (actress) series. The main subject of the photograph is the figure of Brigitte Bardot, wearing shiny hot pants and boots, and sitting astride a Harley Davidson, all of which are stereotypical images of Western – more specifically, American – popular culture. The image, however, is taken out of its natural context, as Bardot is placed in a typical streetscape of downtown Osaka, and her face is replaced by that of the artist himself (hence the name of the series, Self-portrait – actress).

 

 

Plate 3: I shop therefore I am by Barbara KrugerPhotographic silkscreen285 x 287 cm Completed in 1987 

By juxtaposing these two stereotypical images of widely-differing cultures, Morimura seeks to show their interaction in a postmodern world of increasing globalisation and multiculturalism. The resulting visual dissonance, which is almost comical, implies the superficiality of national stereotypes in a highly-complex globalised context, and challenges the idea that cultural identity is defined by a set of a national icons, such as the narrow neon-lined streets of Japan or the Hollywood stars and Harley Davidsons of the USA. Instead, it can be argued that Morimura seeks to construct a new international identity, defined by a strong tendency for intercultural exchange. By placing himself, a non-European male, in the place of Brigitte Bardot, a European female, Morimura further subverts traditional perceptions of American cultural identity, particularly the role of ethnicity and/or race is constructing this identity. Morimura’s Bardot is Asian, while maintaining her stereotypical American characteristics, and is hence a product of a new cultural identity that transcends national barriers.

Morimura’s After Brigitte Bardot 2 is also significant from a post-colonial perspective. By placing an American icon as prominent as Brigitte Bardot in a Japanese context, Morimura seeks to challenge the notion of Western hegemony and its global economic colonisation and imperialism. The use of a Hollywood media stereotype – Bardot on her motorcycle – also makes an allusion to the fact that such icons were used, and continue to be used, as key elements of the Western (pop)-cultural domination that Morimura seeks to challenge. His work can hence be seen almost as a reverse colonial conquest of the East over the West, alluding to a new global cultural identity where the Eastern World, and particularly Japan, has increasing influence, in the context of that region’s economic growth and cultural appeal.

 

Plate 4: After Brigitte Bardot 2 by Yasumasa MorimuraGelatin silver print Completed in 1996 

Another of Morimura’s works that explores Western perceptions of Eastern culture is Portrait (Futago), created in 1988 (see Plate 5). In this work, Morimura appropriates Édouard Manet’s Olympia (Plate 6), one of the key symbols of Western cultural tradition, and places himself as both the nude Olympia and the black maid. The art critic Norman Bryson argues, in his essay “Three Morimura Readings”, that Morimura’s cross-dressing and contextualisation as a woman challenges the Western colonial construction of “Asia as female”, and Asian males as effeminate. By overtly displaying this stereotypical perception in his work, and appropriating it in a traditional Western context, the artist makes Western audiences question and re-evaluate their perceptions of Asian cultural identity.

 

Plate 5: Portrait (Futago) by Yasumasa MorimuraGelatin silver print Completed in 1989 

Portrait (Futago) also seeks to challenge traditional perceptions of sexual minority cultures. As a gay artist, Morimura uses cross-dressing in his placement as Olympia, in order to highlight the stereotype of gay people as effeminate. By conforming to this stereotype in his work, Morimura explores the way in which his own cultural identity is constructed by generalised social conventions and labels. At the same time, it is obvious that Morimura’s Olympia is a male figure, hence highlighting the artificiality of such stereotypes and challenging their validity. Additionally, the placement of Morimura as a woman destabilises the notion of fixed, binary gender roles of male and female that is prevalent in existing culture, and instead constructs a new, more elastic gender identity, where stereotypes of male and female are subverted.

 

Plate 6: Olympia by Édouard ManetOil on canvas 130.5 x 190 cm Completed in 1863 

The use of stereotypes, icons and symbols in order to challenge the predominant cultural identity and construct a new one has been a defining characteristic of the postmodern period, but it must be understood that this technique has also been used, if less daringly, in previous art periods. One such example is the work of Australian artist Margaret Preston, whose late works of the 1940s have a number of postmodern undertones, particularly due to her intention of incorporating symbols of Aboriginal identity into her art, and hence aiming to integrate Aboriginal histories and narratives into a broader Australian culture.

 

Plate 7: Flying over the Shoalhaven River by Margaret PrestonOil on canvas 51.6 x 51.6 cm Completed in 1942 

Preston’s attitudes towards Australian cultural identity can be seen most prominently in her paintings of the early 1940s. In Flying over the Shoalhaven River (Plate 7), she paints a fairly typical Australian landscape, yet uses colours and marks reminiscent of Aboriginal art, such as the browns and maroons of the hills, and the broken lines representing the trees in the distance. In this work, Preston explores and questions one of the most well-known stereotypes of Australian culture in the 1940s – that of the rugged Australian bush, embodying Australian identity and providing a sanctuary from the complexity and stress of urban society. Through her incorporation of Aboriginal elements in such a potent symbol of Australian culture, it can be argued, particularly from a postmodern view, that Preston seeks to subvert the bush’s “European Australianness”, accentuating the importance of Aboriginal culture in the creation of an Australian national identity and challenging the idea that Australian culture belongs solely to those of European origin. Her intentions of constructing a new cultural identity for Australia, one that challenged traditional values and norms, is best described by her own statement from 1941, when she wrote, “I am humbly trying to follow them [Aboriginal people] in an attempt to know the truth and paint it, and so help to make a national art for Australia.”

 

Other key paintings of Preston’s Aboriginal period are Aboriginal Still Life (Plate 8), The Brown Pot and Aboriginal Landscape, all of which create an intercultural relationship through their combination of European forms and stereotypes of national identity, on one hand, and Aboriginal colours and patterns, on the other. In Aboriginal Still Life, for example, Preston places a still-life composition of flowers and plants as her main subject – a decidedly European-influenced technique – but juxtaposes this with emblematic Aboriginal cultural artefacts in the background. A similar composition can be seen in The Brown Pot, which is also a still-life painting that uses Aboriginal-inspired ochres and browns as its main colour scheme. These subtle cross-cultural portrayals further show the complexity of Australian national identity, a complexity that was acknowledged by few in an era still dominated by colonialist perspectives of archetypal Australian culture. As Julie Hewington, the head of the Australian Art division at the Queensland Art Gallery stated in 2005, “This ambitious experiment was ahead of its time and its audiences… [it] is an early emblem for the artistic ‘meeting’ that Margaret Preston pioneered between the two [European and Aboriginal] cultures.”

 

Plate 8: Aboriginal Still Lifeby Margaret PrestonOil on canvas 43.6 x 48 cm Completed in 1940 

Despite her intentions of creating a new, more inclusive culture, Preston’s works are viewed by some as condescending to Aboriginal culture, particularly as she didn’t incorporate any Aboriginal people in her works, only stereotypical objects and artistic techniques. Numerous critics, such as Elizabeth Butel and Djon Mundine, have questioned whether, through her trite, European view of Aboriginal culture, Preston is not, in fact, constructing a misleading identity that portrays indigenous people as inferior, and as artefacts that are part of Australian culture, but not active participants. The art historian and curator Djon Mundine asked whether Preston’s works symbolise “the passing of Aborigines, perhaps”, while the postmodern artist Narelle Jubelin appropriated her work in a series about the art of Australian cultural colonisation. It is important, however, to read Preston’s work in the context of the times she created it, when Aborigines were still seen as “prehistoric” and “uncivilised” by most of Australian society. In any case, Preston did succeed, ahead of her time, in attempting to bring Aboriginal culture to the attention of non-indigenous society, hence aiding its inclusion into the concept of Australian national identity.

 

By examining the practices of various artists that worked throughout the postmodern period, or that demonstrated postmodern techniques, it can be seen that this period of great change in the art world led to a comprehensive challenge of the traditional values and norms of society, values and norms that were often constructed through stereotypes. Through the recontextualisation and appropriation of these traditional stereotypes, artists such as Barbara Kruger, Yasumasa Morimura and Margaret Preston have been active participants in subverting existing cultural identity and making audiences question the validity and value of such an identity in an increasingly pluralistic and heterogeneous world. In this process, such artists have also incorporated the histories and narratives of various groups that had previously been marginalised by these existing systems of values and norms, be they women, LGBT people, indigenous people or non-Western ethnicities. Thus, they have attempted to create a cultural identity that is arguably more complete, inclusive and diverse, in the context of a globalised and culturally-interconnected postmodern world.

 

Raymond ROCA

March 2006

Appendix b.

Who Am I?

1. What makes me unique or different from others?

2. How am I the same as others my age?

3. What qualities about myself do I love?

4. What things about myself would I like to improve?

5. What symbols would I use to represent myself?

6. What are some colors that I could use to represent myself?

7. How can I use focal point, balance, repetition, and texture in my art to say something about who I am?

8. How do I spend my free time?

9. What are my hobbies?

Appendix c.

Assessment form for Mrs. Wilson’s Art Class

Name: ______________________________________Grade: _____ Date: __________

Assignment: Students will create a three dimensional piece of art work that explores identity through the use of symbolism. They will view and take part in a discussion about the work of Fredo Kahlo and Shirin Neshat, read the article “Cultural Identity is Constructed and Challenged by Stereotype”(homework), and fill out the “Who am I” Worksheet, which will assist them in developing an understanding of what identity is and how they can make art about it. Finally, they will participate in mask making with classmates and incorporate various art techniques to create their sculptures’.

Circle the score for each criterion of Excellent Good Average Needs Rate Teacher’s

this project that best represents Improve- Yourself Rating

the student’s work done to the ment

best of the students ability.

Composition and design4 3 2 1

1. Is the work well thought out and planned?

Creativity 4 3 2 1

2. How original and innovative is the work?

Fulfills Assignment 4 3 2 1

3. How well does the work represent the objectives

Required in the lesson?

Care and Effort 4 3 2 1

4. Does the work have few mistakes that distract from

the unity and effectiveness of the work as a whole?

Growth and progress 4 3 2 1

5. Does the work show creative growth and progress

from previous assignments in terms of skill, design and

application of idea?

Work Habits 4 3 2 1

6. Did the student stay on task and complete the

work in an appropriate amount of time?

Totals:

· Student comments:

· Teacher comments:

·