1. For my art piece, I chose Anten-nalope by Nam June Paik. It’s an installation piece made up of found televisions and television-related objects that form a primitively designed animal. The main theme that I got out of the piece was that our most recent generations are more familiar with whatever is on TV as opposed to the wildlife around them. Many of us place so much importance on technology – specifically television – that you would think it’s something with a pulse. But to me, it’s more than a statement about how technology runs our lives; it’s also showing that through this obsession, we trivialize the lives of other species. Perhaps this is because wildlife is more primitive than humans are. I mean, why care about other species when they can’t even appreciate the joys of Sunday night programming on HBO? It’s a critique of how technology changes society’s values.
2. If I had to utilize an art lesson, I would start out by discussing the piece with the class so the students have a chance to ask questions about the installation and come up with their own interpretation about its meaning. Then I would discuss Nam June Paik and how the piece fits in the context of his other work. This would give the students an opportunity to see how the artist’s meaning compares to their own, hopefully provoking more questioning and deeper thinking. Finally, I would have them create a project in which they use found objects (they don’t have to be technological) to create a piece that says something about our values as a society.
3. 1. What does the piece say about our values as a society?
2. How does knowing when the piece was created help to understand it?
3. Does the piece make you reconsider how much time you spend with technology versus how much time you spend in nature? In what ways?
Paik's work seems to be very popular in our class and I can see that you have interpreted some of his big ideas really well especially when you discuss our relationship to technology and how it mediates our relationship to living beings/"Many of us place so much importance on technology – specifically television – that you would think it’s something with a pulse. But to me, it’s more than a statement about how technology runs our lives; it’s also showing that through this obsession, we trivialize the lives of other species." You ask some really good questions here but I would like to know how you would connect Paik's work to Nick Cave. They both have some ideas in common such as thinking about objects and materials and their meaning. They both also juxtapose cultural imagery ( pictographs on Paik and tribal influences on Cave) in new inventive ways. We want our students to invent something new.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your interpretation of the Anten-nalope. You talked about what it meant beyond just the big idea nature vs technology. And your interpretation made me think of other ways I could use this piece in a lesson..
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think your idea for a lesson is really good. I think that maybe I would limit the project idea from "create a piece that says something about our values as a society" to either a certain value or maybe how one value affects another.
Look at what Walker sys about boundaries and limitations in chapter 5. Students need constraints to be more creative. I agree with Beccah to limit the social value under discussion so that they can focus.
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