Lesson video

Hello everyone, how are you? I hope you're feeling really great.

My name's Ms. Afzal.

I'll be your art teacher today.

Our lesson is called Art Can Change the World, Text-Based Art, and it comes from the unit of work, An Overview of Art.

It's gonna be quite a practical lesson.

We are gonna get into creating some of our own text-based art.

I hope you are ready and got some focus and enthusiasm, let's begin.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can create a slogan-based artwork to influence change.

We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through each of them.

They are cause, slogan and block lettering.

Cause is a belief, goal or movement that someone cares about deeply and is willing to support and defend, slogan, that's a short and catchy phrase that can promote an idea, message or product, and block lettering, a style of text where each letter is written separately and clearly using the capital letters of the alphabet.

These are our key words, cause, slogan and block lettering.

Our lesson is called Art Can Change the World, Text-Based Art.

And it has three parts to it, art that influences change, slogans that communicate change and styles that impact the viewer.

Let's get started with art that influences change.

Well, here's a question for you.

Can art influence change in the world? Here are some different views.

"Yes, if it has a powerful enough message, I think it can.

"I don't think so.

I think art is about looking at something nice." "I think all art is different, so it depends on the artist's intention." Over to you, do you agree with any of these views or do you have a different view? Can art influence change in the world? Pause the video here and discuss with someone nearby.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Art can influence change.

One way artists are able to do this is through creating artworks related to causes.

A cause is a belief, goal or movement that a person cares about and is willing to support and defend.

Pause the video for a moment and show someone nearby, what is a cause that you care about, a belief, a goal or movement that you care about, that you support that you're willing to defend? Thanks for sharing.

And now take a look at this image on the screen.

What cause do you think this artwork is related to? Pause the video and share.

Let's hear from Lucas.

"My artwork is related to a technological cause.

I'm concerned about the reliance people have on their computers to find information.

There are other ways such as books, conversations, and visiting places." Yeah, interesting to hear about that, thanks, Lucas.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What is the name given to a belief, goal or movement that someone cares about deeply? Is it A, a theme, B, a concept, C, a cause, or D, a vision? Pause the video and share with someone nearby.

Well done if you selected cause.

Artists make artworks about causes for many reasons, including, I'll give you one to begin with, to celebrate.

What other reasons do you think there may be for an artist to make artworks about causes? Pause the video and come up with some ideas.

Okay, hopefully you came up with some of these ideas.

So artists make artworks about causes for many reasons, including to celebrate, to express personal beliefs, to bring joy, love that one, to warn, to raise awareness, to inspire change, and to give a voice to the voiceless.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Let's go back to Lucas.

"The reason I created this artwork was to inspire change.

I did this through using a bright, joyful colour and use lines to project the text to create a sense of energy and enthusiasm." Yeah, I think you've achieved that, Lucas.

Check for understanding, true or false, all artworks about causes are created to warn audiences? Pause the video while you decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

There are many reasons why artists make artworks about causes, including to bring joy, to celebrate and to inspire change.

Handspring Puppet Company used a puppet to communicate their cause.

The 3.

5 metres tall puppet is of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee called "Little Amal." It has travelled to 166 towns and cities in 17 countries to raise awareness of the huge number of children escaping war and violence.

It highlights that each refugee has their own unique story and should not be forgotten.

I remember seeing "Little Amal" once walking through the streets of my city, and it was very moving.

Thousands of people gathered and lined the streets to see her, and it really raised awareness for this cause.

Dr.

Zigs manufacture eco-friendly and ethical giant bubble toys.

The idea was developed by Paola and her husband Danny, inspired by their son's love of bubbles.

They run the campaign "Bubbles Not Bombs." The cause helps children living in difficult situations, such as refugee camps.

They send bottles of bubbles to bring joy and fun to children's lives.

Arahmaiani Feisal is an artist who uses joyful colours to engage the viewer in her works about social causes.

In her work, "I love you, small," from 2010, she uses playful and colourful cushion like forms to create the Arabic alphabet.

The use of bright colours and soft forms was used to celebrate the joy of the Arabic language and culture.

Aisha is discussing the cause behind her artwork and the reason she chose to create it.

"My cause is related to the UN convention on the rights of the child and the child's right to relax and play.

I wanted to celebrate play and inspire more children to do this." Great cause, Aisha, love that.

And I love what Aisha has created.

"Play is a right, shine bright," so eye catching.

And now it's over to you.

It's your turn to choose a cause to make a piece of art about.

So first of all, explain what the cause is and next why it is important to you.

You might choose a local cause related to the ones below, so it may be social, equality and children's rights, poverty and homelessness.

It might be environmental, climate change, recycling and sustainability.

Maybe it's political, equal rights for all, challenging and changing laws, or perhaps cultural, celebrating different cultures, identity and representation of different heritages.

So many causes to choose from.

So pause here while you choose your cause, share with someone what your cause is and why it's important to you.

So the first part of your task was to choose a cause to make a piece of art about and explain what the cause is.

And there are lots of possible outcomes, but you may have researched a few causes before deciding.

You might have said something like, this is Andeep, "I have chosen to focus on the cause of climate change." The next part of your task was to explain why it's important to you.

Andeep says, "It's important to me as I passionately want to make it better.

I want to provide practical solutions to how we can make it so." Thanks for sharing that, Andeep, really powerful.

And now onto the next part of your task.

I would like you to discuss the reason why you're going to create your artwork about this cause.

Is it to challenge authority, to express personal beliefs, to provoke discussion, to warn, to give a voice to the voiceless, to inspire change, to raise awareness? Pause the video while you share with someone your reasons for creating your artwork.

Here's Andeep again and he says, "The reason I will create my artwork is to raise awareness and inspire change." Great reasons, Andeep.

And I hope you enjoyed sharing your reasons.

The next part of our lesson is slogans that communicate change.

How can artists communicate their message about a cause? "I think they can communicate through colour and form." "I think they can communicate through their choice of subject matter." What do you think? Pause the video and discuss.

One way artists can communicate their message is through using a slogan.

A slogan is a short and catchy phrase that can promote an idea, message or product.

They're easy to remember and make people think or feel something.

We can see our slogan on the screen here is, "Goodbye Computers." Both of these texts are about anti-bullying.

Which one is a slogan and why? We've got, "Build bridges, not barriers," and, "We should try to get along with others instead of being mean or excluding people as it is unfair to them." Pause the video and share which one is a slogan and why.

Andeep says, "'Build bridges, not barriers,' is a slogan as it's short and catchy and repeats the use of the letter B, which makes it memorable." Yeah, great idea is there, Andeep.

Check for understanding.

What should a slogan be, A, detailed, B, long, C, catchy, or D, descriptive? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected C, catchy.

And can you think of a catchy slogan that you've come across, perhaps in artwork or maybe in advertising? Pause and share with someone nearby.

Thanks for sharing.

Lakwena Maciver, born in 1986, is a British artist known for her bold, colourful artwork.

This spreads joyful and powerful messages.

"Nothing can separate us," 2020, is one of her most well-known works.

It uses bright colours, bold patterns, and this powerful slogan to spread joy and positivity and bring people together.

Bob and Roberta Smith is a British artist known for his bright, bold, and powerful text-based artworks about art-related causes.

His paintings feature slogans and bright, colourful lettering.

In his playful work, "Draw Hope," in 2022, he uses word play with two meanings of draw, a discipline in art and a verb to pull something in.

This communicates his message that art is important and gives people hope.

True or false, Lakwena Maciver and Bob and Roberta Smith both use colourful slogans to communicate their messages? Pause the video and decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected true.

Maciver's "Nothing Can Separate Us," 2020 uses bright colours and bold patterns and Smith's "Draw Hope," 2022 uses brightly coloured lettering.

To write a slogan, an artist can one, think of important words associated to the cause.

Aisha says, "The important words that I thought of related to my cause of every child having the right to play were write, play, happiness, joy, and bright." To write to slogan, an artist can use rhyme, repeated letters or a play on words.

Aisha says, "I chose right and bright as they rhyme.

I wanted to include the word play as that is the main point of my message.

And I added shine as it sounds positive and rhymes.

Play is a right, so we should shine bright." To write the slogan, an artist can use between four and seven words, use punctuation rather than conjunctions.

And Aisha says, "I removed some words and the conjunction to make it shorter and catchier.

Play is a right, shine bright." I think that works well, Aisha.

Which of these is an effective slogan for respecting others, A, respect is something people should do and share with others, B, respect starts with you, pass it through, or C, I think respect is important, let's show it to one another? Pause the video and decide which of these is an effective slogan for respecting others.

Well done if you selected B, it's shorter.

It's punchier, it's doing the job.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to write a slogan that communicates your cause effectively.

You could, one, think of important words associated to your cause, two, use rhyme, repeated letters or a play on words, three, use between four and seven words, and four, use punctuation rather than conjunctions.

So pause here while you write a slogan that communicates your cause effectively.

I'll see you when you're finished.

So how did you get on with writing your slogan to communicate your cause effectively? You may have tried a few ideas before deciding one.

There are many possible outcomes, but you might have tried something like this.

Respect starts with you, pass it through, build bridges, not barriers, play is are right, shine bright.

Well done for creating your slogan.

And now for the final part of our lesson, we'll be looking at styles that impact the viewer.

Can the style of text impact the viewer? "Yes, if the text was really small, they wouldn't be able to read it." "If I see colourful text, I think of positive things, so I think it can," what do you think? Pause the video and tell someone nearby.

The style of text is important in effective communication of a slogan.

Which of these has more impact and why? Pause the video and tell someone.

I'm sure everyone selected the text on the right.

This style of text is called block lettering.

Block lettering is a style of text where each letter is written separately and clearly using the capital letters of the alphabet.

It is often used for headings, signs, slogans, and posters, and can have great impact on a viewer as it is clear and easy to read.

Check for understanding.

Complete the sentence, the style of text where each letter is written separately and clearly, using the capital letters of the alphabet is called? Pause the video and complete the sentence.

It's called block lettering.

Well done for completing the sentence in this way.

To draw block lettering, artists can use a ruler and pencil to draw parallel guidelines approximately the height that they want the letters.

Draw the letters using separated, capitalised letters.

To draw block lettering, artists can draw another line for each letter parallel from the original line, join the ends of each letter with a straight line, and create a really nice effect.

Artists rub out any internal lines within the letters for the final stage of creating block lettering.

Check for understanding, which letter A is an example of block lettering? Pause the video and share with someone.

Well done if you selected the A above the letter C.

That is an example of block lettering.

It's time for your final task.

I would like you to create an artwork which influences change and includes a slogan in block lettering.

So the first part of your task is to draw your slogan using block lettering.

Pause the video while you do this.

So you may have created something like this.

Here's a slogan in block lettering.

Next, I would like you to add colour and pattern to inspire change and bring joy.

Aisha says, "I used bright colours and swirling patterns to show positivity and inspire energy and activity." I love that.

Pause here while you have a go at this part of your task, adding colour and pattern to inspire change and bring joy.

Well done for completing this part of your task, using colour and pattern to inspire change and bring joy.

And you may have created something like this.

Oh, look at this wonderful example.

Feels so joyful looking at that.

As well as of course, the bright, positive, important message.

Hope you enjoyed creating your slogans to inspire change.

In our lesson, Art Can Change The World, Text-Based Art, we've covered the following, artists can influence change through creating artworks about causes they feel passionate about, they can use slogans as a powerful way to communicate their messages, block lettering is a style of text that can have great impact on a viewer as it is clear and easy to read.

Well done, everyone, for creating your slogans with block lettering to inspire change, to promote your causes, and may they be a benefit in the world.

And maybe to quote Aisha, "Keep shining bright." See you at another art lesson soon.