TC#8: ART has value, in unequal measures - VALUES, CONCEPTS, & CONCERNS

This scheme of work has been adapted from this resource for KS3 teachers and students. It links closely with Threshold Concept 3. 
Key themes include:
  • Measuring the value of art and how this can be done in different ways.
  • How art histories and concepts are shaped - and not always in fair or obvious ways.
  • How and why artists use art to address concerns, such as inequalities and injustices.

INTRODUCTORY TASK

Look at the Threshold Concept 3 illustration before reading further. Think carefully about what you see and what it might mean to you or others. It might help to sketch the illustration and label this with your own notes and questions.

Now, read the following statements and number your responses 1-3:
1= Clear and obvious
2= Noticeable once I had read the statement
3= Not clear and I'm still not sure.

  • There are two artworks in the image. One artwork (a painting) has been thrown away, the other (a sculpture) is celebrated on a plinth.
  • There are two plinths in the image. They also look like stacks of coins. One plinth is made up of less coins than the other, but they are bigger.
  • One artwork is in a recycling bin. This suggests it might still have use. 
  • There's a crack in the ground. This suggests something is unstable.
  • The crack looks like a graph line where the value of something is decreasing.

What else do you notice within the image? What additional insights or thoughts can you share? In the style of the sentences above, write 2 clear statements to share your thinking. Once complete, ask your classmates to respond to these with the same 1-3 scale.
The TC8 illustration and accompanying (cryptic) statement hint at some complex ideas. To state some of these more directly:

  • Art can be valuable in different ways, to different people.
  • The price of art is not always the best measure of its value.
  • How we value art and artists can change over time.
  • Art histories have not always treated artists equally. Western and European art histories have prioritised white male artists.
  • Art histories have been/are shaped by influential people and institutions that can have vested interests. These are not always positive for all. For example, art exhibitions can be funded by powerful organisations as a means of 'artwashing' - to win public or political favour when their other intentions, investments and actions might be more sinister or detrimental to others.

Choose ONE of the statements above to research and explore further - and then:
  • Design your own graphic poster response.
This is an exercise in visual communication and composition. Carefully consider your choice of 'ingredients' (the imagery and or words you will use), and how these might be arranged. Avoid intricate details and aim for simple strong graphic shapes (considering both positive and negative shapes). It might help to limit your design to one or two colours. 

  • Create a satirical meme.
A meme is an image or video that is often altered in a creative or humorous way with the addition of text. Below are 3 examples that address colonialist issues in British galleries - when, in the past, imperial British explorers (invaders, even) often returned with (stole) ancient artefacts from other cultures.
As an introduction to this exercise, a class might choose from a range of images provided, or all work from the same image and compare responses - as can happen with memes.

Part 1: ADDING ValuE WITH CONTEXT

The TC8 illustration was inspired by a range of artworks. A couple of these are introduced below. Have a careful look at the images and make notes and/or sketches in response to what you initially see and think. 
The artworks above are by Michael Landy, an artist with an ongoing fascination for destruction. He once destroyed all of his own belongings as part of an art installation titled Breakdown. The video below shows some insights into this and a more recent project, Art Bin, 2010. 
Michael Landy's Scrapheap Services, is a room-sized installation that presents a fictional people-cleansing company. Landy spent two years raiding fast food outlet bins for cans, food wrappers and cigarette packs. With these, he cut out the thousands of figures that are scattered over the floor and fill litter bins and a sweeper's cart. Mannequins dressed in a red uniform sweep them up for disposal in the 'Vulture' machine, an adapted wood shredder, which bears (like the bins, the uniforms and the cart) the company logo and the words 'We leave the scum with no place to hide'. 

Landy's work offers an ironic reflection on the spirit of capitalism at that time. Scrapheap Services stemmed from anger that working class members of society were being seen as disposable and were less- valued.

ACTIVITY

The following exercise is a class activity designed to promote reflections and discussions on themes of value and, potentially, representation and identity. Teachers should not reveal all of the stages of the activity at the start. Thought should also be given to how students might document the various stages through notes, photographs and/or drawings.
PART 1
  • Choose a sheet of paper or card from a selection of coloured papers and surfaces. 
  • Working no larger than A4 size, cut-out a basic figure/silhouette shape that might be representative of yourself. This might contain some character, movement, or an element of imagination or abstraction (it doesn't have to be as generic or full-bodied as the Landy example, right).
  • Once complete, set out all of the responses in a row.
  • Discuss the different values these have, and how they might be ordered. For example, could they be organised from 'best' to 'worst'? What issues arise with this - who decides what is more or less valued, and how? How about by 'skill', 'scale', 'accuracy' or 'realistic' to 'abstracted'? What other categories of potential value come to mind?
PART 2
  • Choose someone's paper-figure and scrunch into a ball. What's it like to 'destroy' another's work, and have your own crushed?
  • Pay close attention to the now scrunched-up figures. Treat them gently. You might unfold them a little (but not too much!) before carefully curating these again. Place upon a plinth or clean white background.
  • What happens if a light is shined on these in the dark? Does this add visual value?
  • Produce a careful observational drawing of a scrunched-up form 
    Consider the value of completing such a drawing - for example, how you might use this to improve your observational skills, or technical control using line or tone. Consider how responses in different media and/or  scale might add more or less value. Remember: value can reside in ideas and processes too, not just outcomes.
The following words might be helpful for the above activity. These are common art-terms but also have wider alternative meanings and uses.
Value
The importance, worth, or usefulness of something; how light or dark a colour can be.
Balance
An even, equal distribution; how the elements of art visually relate to each other.
Representation
the description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way; a straightforward recognisable depiction (representational)
Abstraction
the process of taking away or removing; a non recognisable/non representational depiction
Related to the screwed-up paper task, above, this video 'Who's Afraid of Conceptual Art' introduces the work of Martin Creed. It might not be fully KS3-friendly, so I'd suggest the following:
  • watch the first 5mins and 12 seconds, and then from 9mins 45 until 14mins 50 seconds. Discuss your thoughts on Martin Creed's work. Do you think this is 'valuable', and if so (or not), how and why?

  • Given only an A4 plain piece of paper, how might you create something interesting and unique? Can you add value to a plain piece of paper through an act of art making - be it via drawing, sculpture or something more performative, conceptual, playful or absurd? How might you use an A4 piece of paper as a force for good and/or as a means of collaboration and connection?

PART 1 (CONTINUED): CRACKS IN THE SYSTEM

The two images above are of Shibboleth by Doris Salcedo an installation in the Tate Modern in London. Salcedo's installation was a 548-foot (167-metre) long, meandering crack in the floor of the Turbine Hall. The crack was made by opening up the floor and then inserting a cast from a Colombian rock face. For Salcedo, the crack represents a history of racism, running parallel to the history of modernity; a stand off between rich and poor, and northern and southern hemispheres. She invites us to look down into it, and to confront discomforting truths about our world. Following the exhibition, the crack was filled in. A visible scar remains in the floor.
Watch this video to hear Doris Salcedo's explanation of her work, Shibboleth. Within the video she talks about segregation and division and how the work provides a glimpse into catastrophe, albeit from a point of relative safety.

Salcedo also talks about the installation being a disruptive force in a place of power and security (the gallery space) - and how the work will leave a permanent scar as a memory of both the work and those that inspired it.

The work cost over £300,000 to produce. Is this relevant or equal to the value of the work? How might different people benefit from the artwork - for example, the artist, the refugees that inspired it, the institution, the visiting public? And how about you, now, as a student of art?

ACTIVITY

What does it mean to deliberately break, crack or disrupt something? When might this be a positive action? Artists have often been at the forefront of radical and disruptive acts, be it for creative play, challenging conventions or speaking truth to power - but such acts can also have consequences, and so artists (and teachers and students!) must also think carefully about the implications of their works and actions.

  • Using images and/or (copies of) artwork provided by your teacher, experiment with tearing and repairing. Consider how strategically placed interventions - scribbles, tears, scratches and marks; stitches, patches, plasters and tape - might add new value and/or meaning to a re-imagined artwork. How might you connect your response to a wider issue or concern, for example, the environmental crisis, river pollution, inequality or injustice in the world?
Picture
Lee Krasner, Bird Talk, 1955

​Lee Krasner was a female artist who was often referred to (by male artists and critics) as “Jackson Pollock’s wife who also paints.” Krasner cites that a male teacher once commented "your work is so good it could have been done by a man." 

Lee Krasner often destroyed and repurposed drawings and paintings into new works. Starting in 1952-53, she unstretched, slashed, tore and cut up canvases in a way that emphasised their edges. Author Bridget Quinn wrote: “It strikes me that the collages are Krasner’s most autobiographical works [...] selecting chunks of the past and artfully reorienting them in the present. Each collage was ... ripe with her joys and sorrows.”

  • Identify a personal item that you no longer require, or perhaps even actively dislike. This might be an item of clothing, a no-longer-needed object - such as an ornament, poster or toy, or an old school book or a failed artwork. Deliberately deconstruct this. Take it apart carefully (or violently!). Re-arrange, re-imagine, collage and/or repair this in a new and playful or profound way. How might you use this act of (re)making as a means of personal expression or positive activism - an opportunity to make good from bad?
David Hammons, How Ya Like Me Now? 1988; Presidential campaign badge for Jesse Jackson, 1984

What do you know about this artwork, above – or what might you deduce from careful looking? Some questions you might ask are: Who is it? Who painted it? When/where/why was it made? Why are there sledgehammers in front of it, and a flag too – are these also part of the artwork?
How Ya Like Me Now, is an artwork by Black American artist, David Hammons. It portrays Jesse Jackson (left)—an African-American preacher and two-time presidential candidate—as a white man with white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Prior to display, a group of black locals, believing it was racist (and unaware it was by David Hammons), smashed it with sledgehammers. 

A repaired version of How Ya Like Me Now? went back on display. Hammons installed a series of sledgehammers and Lucky Strike cigarettes around the work, bringing the act of destruction into its ongoing narrative.

How Ya Like Me Now? was a commentary on the absence of images portraying African Americans at The National Portrait Gallery. The suggestion being that if Jesse Jackson – the most prominent African American in the US at the time – had been white, his portrait would be in the museum collection.

FOR DISCUSSION

  • By adding the sledgehammers and discarded 'Lucky Strike' cigarettes, Hammons has shifted this work from a large mural painting to something nearer to a ready-made sculpture or installation. Do you think this has added value to the work, and if so (or not), why?​
  • How might the environment within which an artwork is displayed or encountered alter the potential meaning value of an artwork? Is it possible for an artwork's value to change significantly if presented in a different time or place?
  • Who decides which artworks are suitable, appropriate, relevant, skilled, topical - 'valued' sufficiently - to be given gallery space? What factors might influence these decisions? What problems can arise - for artists, institutions and/or their viewers?

EXTENSION ACTIVITY 1

Using your previous response - an object or artwork that has been deconstructed and repaired - (or a photograph of this): identify/design your own mini exhibition space where your artwork could be displayed. This might be a section of a room or a less-anticipated location (such as a garden or a public space, such as a bus stop or park). Consider any additional objects and/or an accompanying display caption that you might add further depth, context and/or value to the work. Photograph this installation carefully (and ensure no damage or littering is caused). You might also record the interactions of others (or time and weather) with your artwork. Alternatively, you might create a model of a gallery space with a miniature model or print of your work. This might also include the responses of others or objects that distort scales and expectations.

​EXTENSION ACTIVITY 2


​Guerrilla Girls is an anonymous group of feminist, female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world. The group formed in New York City in 1985.

The core of the group's work is bringing gender and racial inequality into focus within the arts community and society. The Guerrilla Girls create posters, books, billboards, lectures, interviews, public appearances and internet interventions to expose discrimination and corruption. They  often use humour in their work to make their serious messages engaging.

The Guerrilla Girls are known for their "guerrilla" tactics, hence their name, such as hanging up posters or staging surprise exhibitions. To remain anonymous, members don gorilla masks. To permit individual identities in interviews, they use pseudonyms that refer to deceased female artists such as Frida Kahlo, Käthe Kollwitz, and Alice Neel. Their identities are concealed because issues matter more than individual identities.
We’re the conscience of the art world, counterparts to the mostly male traditions of anonymous do-gooders like Robin Hood, Batman, and the Lone Ranger. We expose sexism and racism in the art world and We use humoUr to prove that feminists can be funny… GUERRILLA GIRLS
Picture
Guerrilla Girls, Dearest Art Collector 1986
  • ​Using The Guerrilla Girls work as inspiration, choose an issue that you would like to address. Importantly - for schools are complex places and individual contexts vary - do this in discussion with your teacher. Be certain with your facts and fair in your actions and expressions. You might research your chosen issue and:

  • Design a poster, placard or a banner to raise awareness and/or challenge an injustice.

  • Design an alter-ego - a disguise or anonymous character or superhero - to fight an injustice. This might include a related mask, costume, specific tools, weapons, super-powers. or even mode of transport. Think carefully about how this relates to your chosen issue in informed, profound and/or unexpected ways.
“I think that if that art galleries were 50/50 men and women, and if there were a proportionate number of artists of colour as there are in the world, we would have some groundbreaking revelations about what it is like to live in our world today.
Micol Hebron

FURTHER READING
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