I recently stumbled upon this guy's work - Yrjo Edelmann http://www.nordstamp.com/pub.dir/edelmann1.html . Your question about the Erased DeKooning made me think of Edelmann's work and some of the reviews of his work.
Jan
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From: Saragant@aol.com [mailto:Saragant@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 9:19 PM
To: ArtsEdNet Talk
Cc: Saragant@aol.com
Subject: Sketchbooks- my solution
I have been reading the sketchbook thread with interest. I too was encountering the sketchbook heeby-jeebies with my HS kids last semester and got fed up. The sequence of events that followed is amazing.
My Art and Technology kids had had my Art I class with weekly required sketchbook assignments. I asked my Art and Tech kids one week early in the semester to surf 'about.com' in the tech links and find an artist/photographer/webmaster/author of an art and tech article etc (SOMEONE!!) that they approved of or whose work they liked etc. They were to contact this person if an e-mail was available and ask them about their work, if they used a sketchbook etc. I think my directions after that were something along the lines of recounting their experience and the responses they got, if any. Some of them STAPLED in their original e-mail along with a few sentences. Obviously the art & tech connection online that I had wanted them to experience was lost on them!!
Somewhere in there Judy was posting journaling or sketchbook links (THANK YOU JUDY!) and I started cutting and pasting links for my students, and searching for sketchbook links that show Leonardo's books etc.
I gave them a paper with a bunch of links and the next assignment. I started giving them required daily reflections in their sketchbooks and asked them to check at least 5 of the sites. They could print stuff out and put it in their SB in a creative way, and had to write about their experience. How did looking at all these sketchbook sites make them feel? How did they think they could change what they had been doing? Some kids spent a class period printing out sketchbook stuff and learning to put it in their SB as a reference, and starting treating their SB as a sort of journal. They didn't like having to write in their SB at first, but their reflections really grew in depth and analysis. One student fell in love with a site that has tons of thumbnails that you can click on to see a page- she must have looked at every page of about 4 or 5 SB's. I e-mailed the artist to tell him how radical a transformation her SB was becoming after looking at his work. She had learned the "art" of the doodle, carrying her SB everywhere. She used her SB for everything- poetry, sketches, doodles, etc. The artist and I have had several IM conversations online. He is an MFA student in CA. He has worked on "Hey Arnold" and "Invader Zim". He is thrilled that his doodles- these pages of his are amazing- have influenced some of my kids.
NOW- second semester, same girl has to pick someone she looks up to for her Art II Chuck Close enlarged portrait project. They have to pick someone they are influenced by, look up to, respect, etc. Guess who she picked?! I had to e-mail him and ask for a head shot. He said no one has ever asked for a picture he didn't draw before!
I would suggest for those of you struggling- keep giving the drawing assignments, but also give some sketchbook surfing assignments, or some fun analytical stuff. I also told the Raushenberg/DeKooning story one week- gave them a handout with the story of how R erased DeKooning's art and called it "Erased DeKooning." They had to query 5 people about whether or not they thought it was art, and recount their experiences in their sketchbooks. Corey (our new artist friend!) calls his SB a "portable laboratory." They had a lot of fun with that, and it got some great discussions going outside of the art room.
Also- have you spent a class period having them decorate their covers? I told mine to bring in pictures and magazine pictures, words, etc that express who THEY are. We spend a class period decorating. I also provided tissue paper and magazines. If they brought in photographs we didn't brush over it with glue/water but I told them they could get contact paper and use that to keep the photo's down. The decoration stuff really helps them take 'ownership' of their SB's and take pride in them.
The web site I mentioned is www.indigoskynet.com. He said he was going to post new stuff this weekend too. I think I got this from Judy or someone on this list- thanks so much!
This whole thing has been so much fun, and a great learning experience for all of us- I am focusing on it in my "Portrait of Teaching Over Time" entry for National Boards!!
Good luck and if anyone wants more info let me know.
Sara in NC
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