Meaning, Mode, Medium: Modernist Musings in Printmaking

Gloria J. Brinkman, Art, Harding University High School

(Abstract PDF)

(Unit PDF)        

Abstract

The conditions of creativity are dependent on a source of inspiration, or muse. In reference to its title, in this curriculum unit students will investigate art and art making as they consider the following: Meaning…the muse, understood as motivation and as experience in art making. Modernism… the mode, referenced historically and aesthetically yet in a reframed view presented through works in The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. Medium…the print, explored as process of self discovery and avenue of critical thinking. As an avenue of artistic inquiry, processes of printmaking stimulate meaningful art making for adolescents resulting in unique solutions that are valued. In this unit selected prints in the Bechtler collection serve as both objects of discovery and as points of entry for students into a conversation about modern art and the modernist muse. Literary structures embedded in the classroom activities connect students with their grounded aesthetic in order to provide them with strategies for articulating their interests and concerns while attributing symbols to their ideas, a process that gives rise to the creative element. Thus this unit positions modernism as a lens through which students explore conditions for creativity that are instinctive to the fine arts processes of printmaking.

The conditions of creativity are dependent on a source of inspiration, or muse. In reference to its title, in this curriculum unit students will investigate art and art making as they consider the following:Meaning…the muse, understood as motivation and as experience in art making.Modernism… the mode, referenced historically and aesthetically yet in a reframed view presented through works in The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art.Medium…the print, explored as process of self discovery and avenue of critical thinking.As an avenue of artistic inquiry, processes of printmaking stimulate meaningful art making for adolescents resulting in unique solutions that are valued. In this unit selected prints in the Bechtler collection serve as both objects of discovery and as points of entry for students into a conversation about modern art and the modernist muse.Literary structures embedded in the classroom activities connect students with their grounded aesthetic in order to provide them with strategies for articulating their interests and concerns while attributing symbols to their ideas, a process that gives rise to the creative element. Thus this unit positions modernism as a lens through which students explore conditions for creativity that are instinctive to the fine arts processes of printmaking.