Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Holland, and I'm really looking forward to continuing our journey on our unit of "An overview of art" today.

And today's lesson is called "That's not art!" And we're gonna be really questioning the term art and what it means.

So by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to discuss different art forms and use mixed media to create an abstract artwork.

So that's fantastic.

You're gonna start creating some artwork.

Our keywords today are abstract.

Abstract within art means art that does not depict a recognisable picture, place, or object in the real world.

Ephemeral, which is art that is purposefully temporary, so work that will change over time.

And performance, which is an art form based on designed activities on film or an art form confined to a time and place.

Our lesson today is in two parts.

So we're gonna first of all start looking at abstract art, and then we're gonna move on to performance and ephemeral art.

Let's get started.

Abstract art.

So, here's our big question for the lesson.

Does art have to be recognisable and permanent? Hmm.

Let's see what these two pupils think.

The first pupil says, "It definitely has to be permanent! Otherwise, how can it be art?" Next pupil says, "What about art that expresses an emotion? Emotions change, so the art can change too." That's an interesting thought, isn't it? Our emotions change through the day and through the years, so does art change too? What do you think? Have a think.

Do you think art needs to be recognisable, so you should be able to understand exactly what's in the picture, and permanent? Well, let's start delving deeper.

So, artworks that depict recognisable objects, people, or places is called representational art.

So here we have two examples of representational art.

We can clearly see what the object or the person or the place is in both artworks.

But not all artworks are representational, so not all artworks contain a recognisable object, person, or place.

Here is an example of an artwork that doesn't.

And not all artworks are permanent or meant to be displayed in a gallery.

We often think that art needs to be displayed in a gallery to be art.

It doesn't have to be.

So abstract performance and ephemeral art push the traditional boundaries of representational and permanent art.

So they're pushing those boundaries, and we're gonna explore them more.

So here we have an example of abstract art, performance art, and ephemeral art.

Abstract or non-representational art often has no recognisable objects, places, or people in them.

So as you can see in this example here, there's no clear recognisable object or place or person.

But instead, they use shapes and colours and patterns.

Have a look at this picture.

What shapes are they using? Look really closely.

There's lots of different layered shapes, and they're using colours in a really interesting way.

A quick check for understanding.

All art should have recognisable objects, people, or places in them.

True or false? Well done, I think you probably all got that correct, and that is false, but why? Have a think why.

Hmm.

Let's have a look.

Yes, not all art is representational.

For example, abstract art often does not include recognisable objects but instead expresses an artist's emotions and feelings.

Here we have another example of abstract art.

And abstract artists make those works that express their feelings, experiences, and observations in an imaginative way.

How do you think the artist felt when they made this work? Have a look at the shapes and the colours.

A good question is, do you feel like it's a friendly piece of artwork, or is it a bit, does it make you feel a little bit uncomfortable? For me, this is a really friendly artwork because of the shapes and the colours.

So artists can manipulate the formal elements, such as shape, colour, and pattern, to express an emotion or an idea.

So here we have a warm colour palette, and that's why, to me, it feels friendly.

They're warm colours.

We have blended tones.

So rather than jarring tones, this is very blended.

So again, it feels soft.

There's a sense of movement, isn't there, through the shapes and through how the color's been applied.

And these shapes are organic.

So they're not hard geometric shapes, they're organic shapes.

They remind me of the landscape.

And there are soft textures.

And the composition is balanced.

So the shapes and the colours have all been distributed in a way and composed in a way that make it a very balanced composition.

And all of those things convey a sense of happiness, of peace, to me.

What does it convey to you? Hmm.

Looking at this piece of artwork, what art form best describes this work? Is it performance? Is it abstract? Is it representational? Or is it ephemeral? Hmm.

Well done.

Yes, of course, it's abstract art.

It's another example of a piece of abstract art.

Lee Krasner was an American abstract artist.

Krasner used to paint to explore her feelings and experiences in a non-representational form.

Jad Fadojutimi is a contemporary artist inspired by abstract art.

She often uses vibrant colours, layered brushstrokes, and gestural marks in her work, often reflecting personal experiences and cultural influences.

Artists often use shapes, colours, and patterns to share their feelings and stories without showing real-life things, a little bit like that abstract art we looked at earlier.

Alma Thomas is known for her vibrant compositions inspired by nature, colour, and movement.

Howardena Pindell is known for her innovative use of texture and collage which explores race, identity, and social justice.

And Ben Nicholson developed a distinct style combining relief sculptures, linear forms, and muted colour palettes.

So all of these artists mentioned here all use shapes and colours and patterns to share their feelings and stories without actually showing real-life objects, places, or people.

Right, let's move on to our first task.

And today, I would like you to create a piece of abstract art, which is super exciting.

So we're gonna get creative.

So, I'd like you to choose an emotion and use mark-making to express it on paper.

Remember, you're not depicting a real object, place, or person.

This is all about your inner emotion and expressing that through the formal elements of art.

If you would like some help with this, here are some ideas.

So you could close your eyes and draw shapes on the paper that feel connected to your chosen emotion.

A little bit like automatic drawing, you let your hand move freely without worrying what it looks like.

So, I feel very peaceful today, so I'd close my eyes and just let my hand take me on that journey without worrying what I'm actually trying to show.

You could then add shapes, lines, or marks to make your artwork feel even more connected to that emotion.

So think about that abstract art, which had layers of different marks on it.

Include whatever feels right for the feeling you're expressing.

So you might like some quiet space here to really connect with that emotion.

Pause the video.

Well done.

I wonder what emotion you were feeling and you wanted to portray through your abstract piece of artwork.

You may have said, "My emotion was confusion and I used lots of stretched organic shapes which are tangled." Can you see here, like Alex's, he's tangled them all together.

"I closed my eyes for short while before opening them to reveal my work and add more shapes." So he started off in this tangling of lines and then opened his eyes and started layering up more shapes.

The next part, I'd like you to add colour and additional mark-making linked to your chosen emotion.

You could select a colour palette which links to your emotion.

So if you remember that piece of abstract art we looked at earlier, I felt like the tones were quite warm and friendly.

You could use watercolour to add in colour and marks.

You might want to join some of the shapes or actually cover them.

You could explore the ways you add marks with watercolour.

Experiment with the brush and the movements.

Use your fingers.

And add mark-making then with oil pastel.

This might be to complement the colours or add smaller details.

So let the watercolours dry, and then go over it with oil pastels.

Pause the video.

As always, I wish I could see all of your pieces of artwork, but let's see what Jacob has done.

So Jacob created this artwork that we looked at earlier, and his emotion was happiness.

And he used vibrant warm colours which are blended.

He didn't want to use solid blocks of colours as he felt that that would be too harsh and not as friendly.

I wonder what you did.

Now, we're gonna move on even further and we're gonna deconstruct your abstract artwork.

Wonder what that means.

So deconstruct means take it apart, really.

So you could cut or rip your artwork into different shapes that are associated with the emotion you were expressing.

So if you were angry, if you were expressing anger, you could really rip those shapes up.

You rearrange the shapes in a pattern.

You attach the shapes with string or tape.

And then you might like to document your artwork first photographically for your development process.

So you might want to take a picture of your artwork and then deconstruct it.

But this should really be, again, echoing that emotion.

So for my peaceful emotion, I wouldn't probably rip my paper really angrily.

Have a go at that.

Well done, I wonder what process you decided to use to deconstruct your artwork linked to your emotion.

So here we have Jacob's, and we knew that this was a friendly artwork and happiness.

So he carefully cut his shapes and placed them in different compositions.

And actually, the negative space, the space between the shapes that he'd cut and placed, became part of the artwork itself.

And because he cut it carefully, it continues this feeling of friendliness, warmth.

I wonder what yours looked like.

And have a look if you're in class at other people's and see what theirs looks like and what emotion they represented.

So, now we're gonna review and reflect on what you could change to improve the expression of your chosen emotion.

This is really important within the artistic process.

It's always good to reflect and review and think, "How could I improve this next time?" So you could think about the marks and shapes you have used, the colours you have used, the materials and techniques you have used.

Well done.

Let's have a look.

And Jacob, again, has said he feels like his work has worked really well to share his feeling of happiness because it's fun and has movement.

He would have liked to have used a broader colour palette, though, because it would create more variety and interest.

So he feels now he's deconstructed it and placed it in sort of this mobile form of art, actually, a broader colour palette would have created more contrast and interest.

Well done, you completed your abstract artwork, and now we're gonna move on to performance and ephemeral art.

Performance and ephemeral artists create art that is impermanent, so it's not permanent.

It means that this artwork isn't meant to last forever.

It's not meant to sit in a gallery and be looked at forevermore.

Performance art happens live in the moment.

It's constantly changing.

So the artist uses actions, movement, or music to share their ideas.

It could be someone dancing.

It could be someone acting or creating something in front of an audience.

There is great diversity and creativity in performance art.

So Nick Cave's "Soundsuits," Marina Abramovic's "The Artist Is Present," and Adrian Piper's "The Probable Trust Registry: The Rules of the Game #1-3" are well-known examples of performance art.

Eddie Peake combines movement and music in his works.

And Zadie Xa incorporates storytelling and costumes to reflect cultural themes, and Sonia Boyce creates participatory performances that involve the audience, so she asks the audience to become involved in her artwork.

These are all examples of performance art, and there is huge variety within them.

A quick check for understanding.

Which statements about performance art are correct? So A, performance art stays the same.

B, it constantly changes.

C, it may take place on stage.

And D, it is displayed in a gallery.

Well done.

There are two.

It constantly changes, it happens live, and it can take place on a stage or in a location of the artist's choosing.

Ephemeral art is made purposefully to be temporary.

So it is not made to last.

And we've got an example here.

It's meant to change, often outside to change with the weather and the seasons.

And it might be made from things like mud, sand, ice, or leaves.

So for example, this piece of ephemeral art is made from sand.

It could be a sandcastle or a flower arrangement that the wind or waves can change.

The process is in the change.

Ephemeral art can also have great variety and creativity.

So just like performance art, there's lots of different ways that that can be delivered.

So Andy Goldsworthy, Richard Long, and Anya Gallaccio are well known for creating ephemeral artwork using natural materials.

And not all art forms need to exist in isolation.

So Eddie Peake often uses performance and abstract elements in their works.

So you don't need to be an abstract artist or an ephemeral artist.

You can combine these different art forms either in one piece of artwork or in your career as an artist.

Which of these is the correct definition of ephemeral art? A check for understanding.

So is it A, art that is quick to make and is achievable in a short time, art that is purposefully temporary and will change over time, or art that could be reproduced quickly so that you have many, many versions of it? What is the correct definition of ephemeral art? Well done, of course, it is art that is purposefully temporary and will change over time.

So, onwards to our last task.

So, I would like you to discuss these questions and record your answers, and you could record them in any way you like.

If you've got your sketchbook there, you could make notes, you could make sketches.

The first question is, how do you think artists making ephemeral or performance art are taking risks with their work? So think about what the meaning of ephemeral and performance art is.

This idea of impermanence, of temporary art.

Why do you think that's quite risky in terms of what they're doing with their work? And then why do you think artists make this type of art? So think about what their messaging is.

Why are they making this type of art? And then the second part of the task is to transform your piece in Task A into a performance art piece.

So consider how might your artistic choices further reflect the chosen emotion? So, thinking about Jacob's artwork and his emotion of happiness, how can he transform that into a performance art piece? Pause the video.

Right, let's see how it went.

So, we first of all discussed and recorded our answers to this question, how do you think artists making ephemeral or performance art are taking risks with their work? So Jun says, "Not lasting long means the art won't be seen by many people." That's really interesting, isn't it? Because if we create an artwork to be displayed in a gallery, we know it might be seen by lots and lots of people.

Aisha says, "It's unexpected, which might mean it gets a worse reaction." So people might have an idea of art being a painting of a recognisable object hanging in a gallery.

This is unexpected.

And Lucas says, "There'll be nothing to sell, so how can they make a living?" And that's a whole different debate.

How do they make a living out of performance art or ephemeral art? And then the second question was, why do you think artists make this type of art? So Izzy says, "It allows them to create more meaning in their work." It's a different way to express their meaning.

Laura says, "Performance art is more expressive and focuses on the feeling behind the work." Maybe the artists feel more free to express what they feel.

And Sofia says, "It's memorable, which helps the work have an impact." The fact that it might be unusual to a lot of people means that it could have an increased impact.

And then let's see what Jacob did for part two.

He transformed his piece from Task A into a performance art piece.

And there's lots and lots of different possible outcomes for this.

But he wore his artwork as a physical display of joy, so he placed it over his head.

But it didn't last long, as pieces kept falling off.

It's covering his face partially, which shows that sometimes we can use happiness as a mask.

So by transforming it into a performance art piece, he's extended the meaning behind his artwork and added a layer of depth of meaning to show that happiness can sometimes mask deeper feelings inside.

We've learned that not all art is representational or permanent.

Some forms of art push those traditional boundaries and allow artists to explore their creativity in different ways.

We've learned that abstract art does not depict a recognisable picture, place, person, or object in the real world.

We've learned that performance art happens live and is constantly changing, and the artist uses actions, movements, or music to share their ideas.

And ephemeral art doesn't last forever.

It's purposefully temporary and will purposefully change over time.

Thank you again for joining me today.