Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Carter, and I'm gonna be guiding you through our lesson today on art and environmental activism.

We're going to be thinking about how climate change affects the world and how artists work as activists to make change and to inspire others to make change.

You're going to need to do quite a bit of hard thinking and to really share your ideas and think deeply about the topic.

I'm sure we're going to have a fantastic lesson, and you're gonna learn lots and lots.

Let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you're going to be able to say, "I can create art that inspires strong feelings about important issues." I wonder if you've already got strong feelings about issues to do with climate change and the environment.

We're going to need to use some key words in today's lesson, and I want to make sure that you feel really comfortable with them.

So we're gonna go through them now.

Imagery, a group of visual elements, like images, to create a specific mood, evoke emotions, or convey deeper meanings.

Microplastics, tiny plastic particles made from big plastic things breaking down.

And awareness, knowing about and understanding something.

There are two learning cycles in our lesson today.

We're going to start looking at how we can use sketchbooks to record information.

We're then gonna move on to creating a microplastic feast.

Let's get started using sketchbooks to record information.

Many artists create work about important issues going on in the world.

This can take many forms, including art activism.

What important issue do you think these works might be about? Jacob shared that he thinks this work is about climate change.

Laura adds "Yes, they've used striking imagery." Artists use the power of imagery to communicate difficult realities about our planet.

Check for understanding time.

True or false? Artists use the power of imagery to communicate difficult realities about the planet.

Pause the video and decide if you think that statement is true or false.

Well done.

How did you get on? Great work if you said true.

Artists use the power of imagery to communicate difficult realities about the planet.

This helps them to communicate quickly and create emotional reactions with the audience.

Environmental art raises awareness of the harm that we are causing to the planet, and it calls us to action.

Selecting the most powerful imagery is an important element in this process.

How do you think artists decide what imagery to use? Sam is answering this question.

"Artists would have to research a lot about the important issue so that they could select imagery that was powerful and relevant to the facts." Andeep adds, "Yes, and I bet they don't just use the first image they think of.

They must develop and refine their ideas." Where might artists record facts and refine ideas? Have you ever recorded facts and refined ideas in art? Where did you do it? Environmental art that raises awareness using powerful imagery includes, Es Devlin who created "Come Home Again" in 2022, which contains drawings of 243 at-risk species.

Emma Blake Morsi created posters and billboards for the COP 22 conference to raise awareness over safe water, making use of clouds as impactful imagery.

Marcela Cantuaria created a work called "Abelhas" in 2016 to 2017, and it depicts environmental pollution caused by the textiles industry.

Interestingly, "Abelhas" actually translates to mean bees.

I wonder if you can think why she might have used that term.

Aida Muluneh worked with Wateraid in 2018 to create Water Life, a series of photographs to highlight water scarcity.

Have you seen any of environmental art which raised your awareness using impactful imagery? Many artists use sketchbooks in their practise.

This can include recording drawings and paintings, processes, idea refinement, influences, and facts and information.

Okay, so check for understanding time.

Fill in the missing words in this statement.

"Many artists use sketchbooks in their practise.

This can include recording, drawings, paintings, processes, blank, influences, blank and information.

Pause the video and decide which words you think are missing.

How did you get on? Well done if you remembered "idea refinement" and "facts." This sketchbook is on the topic of microplastics.

Microplastics are tiny particles of plastic made from big plastic things breaking down.

Some facts about them include, 300 million tonnes of plastic waste are produced annually, 60% ending up in the environment.

Microplastics pollute the air, soil, and water.

Microplastics enter the food chain from marine wildlife all the way through to humans.

Recent studies have shown microplastics have been found in human blood and lungs.

Apples can have a microplastic content of 195,500 particles per gramme.

Did any of those facts surprise you? I know that some of them were quite surprising to me.

This sketchbook page is recording that information in different ways.

We've got a clear title, written facts, and creative imagery.

How do you think the sketchbook page could be improved? You might want to pause the video and have a conversation about this.

Aisha shares that she thinks more imagery could create more ideas.

And Alex adds, "Yes, this page only shows one idea." So for Task A, we're going to create a sketchbook page to document facts about microplastics.

The first part of this is to read the facts and discuss powerful imagery you could use.

So the microplastic facts are, that 300 million tonnes of plastic waste are produced annually, 60% ending up in the environment.

Microplastics are tiny particles of plastic which pollute the air, soil, and water.

The microplastics enter the food chain from marine life all the way up to humans.

Recent studies show microplastics have been found in human lungs and blood.

And apples can have a microplastic content of 195,500 particles per gramme.

Pause the video and have your discussion now.

How did you get on? Did you find that you could think of quite a lot of impactful imagery that you could use to talk about this? You might have said something like this.

Lucas shares, "Maybe I could draw a cut open apple and change the seeds into plastic items like bottle tops." Sofia adds, "I thought about changing lungs into plastic bags.

This shows how plastic is getting into people." Jun adds, "I would draw rain, but the water droplets could be plastic and the clouds could be a rubbish bag." I wonder what kind of imagery you came up with.

We're going to record our ideas in a sketchbook.

You should lightly sketch your workout on your page, thinking about the composition.

You should add detail and firmer lines when you are happy.

Write your facts creatively.

You could add colour to enhance your work.

Pause the video and get started now.

How did you get on? Did you find it quite interesting thinking about how you're gonna fit all your different ideas onto one page? Did you have to choose to work across two pages? I wonder if you made something like this.

And Izzy shares, "My sketchbook page records my ideas and information about microplastics clearly." She also says, "I've added many ideas, allowing myself to experiment." Moving on to our second learning cycle, creating a microplastics feast.

Artists can use shock tactics or joyful encounters to raise awareness.

Shock tactics can be memorable and help change our viewpoint.

I wonder if you can ever think of an artwork that has been shocking or surprising.

Joyful encounters create discussion in a non-confrontational way.

Can you think of any artwork that's been joyful or exciting to see? Can you think of any shocking or joyful artworks? Okay, check for understanding.

"Artists sometimes use shock tactics to raise awareness." True or false? Pause the video and decide if you think this statement is true or false.

How did you get on? Well done If you said true.

Shock tactics can be memorable and help change viewpoints, but it can be confrontational, which might deter viewers.

Artists can select if they wish for their work to be shocking.

Environmental art that raises awareness using shock tactics includes, Chris Jordan's Medway series from 2013, which captures shocking photographs of animal carcasses inside of which plastic can be seen due to the animal's decay.

That work in particular makes you confront visually how plastic is inside of the creatures.

Sir John Akomfrah's "Purple" from 2017 is an immersive video installation filmed across 10 countries, which highlights the shocking reality of climate change.

It also helps us to think about how climate change affects the world globally and also sometimes disproportionately.

Okay, another check for understanding.

True or false? "Artists always use joyful encounters to raise awareness." Pause the video and decide if you think this statement is true or false.

Well done if you said false.

Joyful encounters create discussion in a non-confrontational way.

However, this might not be striking enough to change opinions.

Artists can select if they feel a joyful approach would be effective.

Environmental art that raises awareness using joyful encounters includes, Tomas Saraceno, whose "Mini Iridescent Cloud" from 2018 have reflective and iridescent surfaces which interact with natural light, creating a dynamic visual effect.

Cai Guo-Qiang's "Heritage" from 2013 is initially delightful.

The scene of a watering hole surrounded by drinking animals invites viewers in before prompting reflection on climate change's impact.

Could you imagine walking into a room in a gallery to find a watering hole surrounded by animals? And then the animals also come from all over the world, they're not just from one particular place.

So it's quite funny and startling until you begin to think about that watering hole and the access to water getting smaller and smaller.

How could we develop one of these ideas from the sketchbook into a joyful encounter or shock tactic? Jacob shares, "It's shocking that we eat plastic.

I think we could draw that.

That's a shock tactic." Laura adds, "Yes, we could create a dinner table of microplastic meals to shock people into understanding that they're eating plastic." So for Task B, we're going to create a drawing of a dinner on a dinner plate.

The first step is decide what food you would draw.

Think about your favourite foods, natural foods like fruit and vegetables, and foods that others will recognise and relate to.

Pause the video now and decide what you'd like to draw.

How did you get on? Was it tricky to decide what food you'd like to choose? You might have said something like this.

Lucas shares, "My granny makes cassava pone for my birthday.

I love it warm." Sofia shared, "I like strawberries and cream, which are both natural ingredients." And Jun adds, "I will do my favourite food, sushi.

The fish in it will link to the idea of the food chain." I wonder what ideas you came up with.

For the second step, you're going to cut some paper into the shape of a plate or a bowl.

You should use most of an A4 sheet of paper.

You want to give yourself plenty of room so that you can create your design.

If you do it really tiny, you're gonna have to draw really, really small, and that will be much, much more fiddly.

Consider the food that you've chosen.

If, like Sofia, you've chosen something like strawberries and cream, would it be better to choose a bowl or even you can see there like the glass shape maybe.

But if you've chosen something like the sushi, you might want to alter the shape of your plate serving dish.

You could include more than one dinner piece and/or create cutlery thinking about what kind of cutlery you would need for the dish that you've chosen.

Pause the video now and cut your paper into the correct shape.

And we're now into our third step.

You're now gonna start drawing your food onto your plate, with pencil, adding your tone and details.

You should, press softly to map out shapes, fill your plate or bowl, add shading to create tone, and add details and textures.

Remember, it's always important to start your drawing pressing softly.

This will allow you to remove any guidelines you create and make changes as you go.

Try to avoid adding any shading or tone until you're happy with the overall composition of your work.

Pause the video and get started now.

How did you get on? Did you enjoy making your sketch? You might have something that looks a bit like this, and Andeep shares, "I've captured my fish finger sandwich effectively.

I like how my shading looks like fish scales." I also like how Andeep's chosen not to draw an actual fish finger, and has adapted it so that he's drawn an actual fish.

It's much easier for the audience to recognise what it is that he's drawn, and it really begins to make us think about those layers of marine life.

Andeep also adds, "I need to add plastic to link to microplastics." He's really thinking about that next step we need to take.

At the minute, we've got a beautiful drawing of fish on some bread, but we haven't actually made that link with the shocking topic that we're trying to discuss.

So for step four, we're going to collage plastics to create details that represent microplastics.

Think about what shapes you create and the way that you apply plastic.

You may have chosen to draw something like ice cream, which has sprinkles on top, or other types of food that has a garnish.

Can you replicate some of those shapes, of either the sprinkle or the garnish, with the plastic? Pause the video and decide how you're going to add your plastic, and then start to add it.

How did you get on? Did you find it quite fiddly working with the plastic? Or did you really enjoy it? Did you think about whether you're adding a garnish or have you done it in a different way? It'd be so interesting to see.

You might have produced something a little bit like this.

Andeep shares, "I like how the plastic stands out as it has the only colour.

Adding this conveys our message more clearly." And there's a closeup, and you can really see how he's added the plastic so it looks like a garnish on top of the fish.

Andeep and his class have chosen to further develop their work by creating a sense of a feast in their classroom.

They've covered the tables with plastic bags, and he shares, "I think creating the plastic tablecloths really added the idea of a joyful encounter." I've chosen to title my work, 'Microplastic Melt.

'" I wonder what it would feel like to go into a classroom and see all of the tables covered in plastic with these microplastic meals placed on the tables.

It definitely would make you smile before you started to think about why.

In summary of our lesson, art and environmental activism, we've learned that environmental art raises awareness of the harm we are causing to the planet and calls us to action.

The artists use the power of imagery to communicate difficult realities about the planet.

That many artists use sketchbooks in their practise to record facts, refine ideas, and select the most powerful imagery.

Artists can use either shock tactics or joyful encounters to raise awareness.

Well done for all of your work today.

You've had to do a lot of hard thinking about quite a difficult issue, and you've then produced some wonderful work about it.

You should be really proud of your efforts.

I look forward to seeing you in our next lesson.