Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

30 minutes – Part A: Art and Social Sustainability
20 minutes – Part B: Case Study of a Sustainable Artist
30 minutes – Part C: the Art of Social Change
10 minutes – Reflection

Preparation: Prepare for Part B of this lesson by either searching the hashtag #artofchange and selecting a variety (5-10) of images of artworks. Alternatively, invite students to research this hashtag in small groups and select a single image that they feel best represents the theme ‘art of change’.

Part A: Art and Social Sustainability

Step 1. Place a single piece of A4 paper on each student’s desk and write the following statement on the whiteboard: ‘Art can change society for the better’. Invite students to reflect on the provocation on the board, thinking about if they agree with it or not, and why. Assure students that you're asking for subjective opinions and that there is no 'correct' answer.

Encourage students to rewrite the provocation at the top of their A4 piece of paper, leaving enough room for a few sentences below. Invite students to write a one word response to this provocation (yes or no). If the class needs a prompt, remind them of some of the artworks that they have recently explored in class, inviting them to consider if they think these works have made an impact on their society.

Step 2. Once students have responded to the provocation, ask them to write the word ‘Why?’ under their answer. Invite students to reflect on their response to the initial provocation, and write a sentence about how they arrived at their answer. Allow about two minutes for students to do this.

Step 3. Now, direct the class to again write the word ‘Why?’ under their latest response. Invite students to write another response to their last sentence.

Step 4. Encourage students to write their response in a full sentence, for example ‘I believe that art can change society for the better because…’. If the class expresses any frustration around this process, meet them with understanding and good humour. Assure students that this can be a difficult activity but it is a useful way to uncover how we form our opinions on a topic.

Step 5. Invite the class to stand up and scrunch their paper into a ball. Explain that they will be doing a ‘snowballing’ activity where they share their thoughts with their classmates by tossing their pieces of paper around the room! Explain that once you begin the activity, students will use an underarm throw to pass the paper to a classmate. When they catch someone else’s amazing opinions they are to flatten the paper and read that person’s final statement. It they find the statement interesting, they should hang on to it. If not, scrunch the paper up and throw it to another person.

Step 6. Allow about five minutes for students finish snowballing, then invite students return to their desks with the paper that they collected. Ask students to share the opinions that they collected. Encourage them to explain why they thought this was an interesting statement. If prompting is needed, ask students:

'Was this was similar or different to your opinion?'
'Did the other student bring up something that you had not considered or did you both follow a similar train of thought?'

Invite students to find their original piece of paper and stick it in their visual arts process diary (VAPD).

Hot tip: The above step works well using the ‘no hands up’ method, where teachers randomly select a student to share with the class. This is done by teachers creating class batches of ice-cream sticks with their students’ names on them. The teacher then randomly picks an ice-cream stick from the class pile. If the student selected does not want to contribute at this point this is OK but they will have to answer another question of their choosing before the end of class.

Step 8. Explain to the class that they will now be looking at artists who intended to change society through their artworks. These artworks have specific messages relating to environmental or social sustainability. Explain that students will be challenged to consider the impact of these works on society.

At this stage, the class may need you to further define social and environmental sustainability. If this is the case you can lead a discussion around this topic, building from the following definition:

Social sustainability means building fair and equitable structures in our communities, countries and the world, that improve the quality of life of all people.
Environmental sustainability is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Part B: Case Study of a Sustainable Artist

Step 1. Introduce the class to the hashtag #artofchange. Explain that this hashtag was created to give people a place to collect (curate) and share their experiences with– and reactions to – socially and environmentally sustainable artworks. Each of the artists featured in this hashtag is attempting to create change through their art practice. The students’ task is to analyse one of these works, then use this as inspiration for a new artwork of their own.

Step 2. Show students the images that you collected from #artofchange prior to the lesson or encourage students to spend 5 minutes exploring the hashtag. Invite students to select a single artwork that they feel exemplifies sustainability through art.

Step 3. Encourage students to answer the following questions (available in the Student Worksheet):

What are the details of this work (artist, date, and if available, medium)?
Describe the physical elements of the work (composition, colour, line, etc.)
What big issue/s do you feel this artwork is addressing? What makes you think this is the case?
Do you think this work is effective in creating change around it’s chosen issue? To answer this question, you may consider its reach on social media, where it is being displayed or how people are reacting to the work.

Step 4. Invite students to form pairs and take turns sharing their responses to the questions. Explain that students will have 2 minutes each to share their thoughts around the artwork they researched using an active listening routine. In this routine each student will get a chance to be the ‘speaker’ and the ‘listener’. While playing the part of the listener, students will take notes on what the other person is saying as they talk, without interrupting the speaker during their 2 minutes of sharing. Then, once 2 minutes is up, the listener will have 1 minute to paraphrase what they just heard. Students then swap roles and repeat the routine.

Begin this activity, using a watch, stopwatch app or, even better, a digital whiteboard stopwatch (this allows the whole class to see how much time they have during each step) to time the rotations of the activity.

Part C: The Art of Social Change

Step 1. Explain to the class that they will now be drawing inspiration from the #artofchange artwork they examined to create a unique sketch that could be added to the #artofchange feed.

Step 2. In their VAPD, invite students to plan an artistic appropriation that builds on the concepts explored in the #artorchange artwork that they examined. Similar to Marcel Duchamp’s L.H.O.O.Q, Claes Oldenberg and Andy Warhol’s appropriation of pop culture images, or Jeff Koons' ‘gazing ball’ series, their artwork should reference the original. If appropriation is a new concept for the class, show the students works by some of these artists and the originals they were inspired by.

Explain that students' appropriated work will be an altered version of their chosen #artofchange artwork. The changes that they make to the artwork may update or alter the message of the original. To create their artworks, students can use a range of lead and coloured pencils. Students will have 10 minutes to plan and 15 minutes to complete this work. You could encourage the class to use a colour wheel – project the Colour Wheel to select a complementary colour pallet for their artworks. More information on how to use the colour wheel can be found in the following video:

How to use the Pencil Colour Wheel by Faber-Castell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-yRL47LSNM).

Step 3. Invite students to watch the following clips and encourage them to look for techniques that could be used in their artwork:

Mixed Media Polychromos & CASTELL 9000 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmQAhl6f440)

Faber-Castell 9000 Art Pencils (https://youtu.be/yhtISNY_9pE)

As the class watch these clips, encourage them to practice both techniques in their VAPDs.

Step 4. Invite students to plan how they will appropriate their artwork, in their VAPD. Encourage students to discuss with each other how they could alter the original and how this will change the message of the work.

Once planned, students can begin creating their #artofchange works.

Step 5. Once their artworks are complete, students and teachers can make a decision about whether to post their final images on social media using the hashtag #artofchange. If your school has a social media policy, please refer to this while planning this lesson.

Hot tip: Consider adding some art and education hashtags such as #artsed or #aussieed to these posts to further their reach.

Reflection

Invite students to respond to the following questions in the space provided on the Student Worksheet, or in their VAPD:

Look back at your statements made in response to the questions ‘can art change society for the better?’ Has your opinion changed and why/why not?
Social media can be an effective way for artists to affect change but how else could an artist make an impact on society? Brainstorm at least two more creative ways that artists can create positive change with their artworks.

Differentiated Learning

Extension – If you chose to add students’ work to a social media channel, continue to monitor their posts. If there are any appropriate replies or reactions to the work, raise them in subsequent lessons. Allow students to collectively reflect on these replies, considering if this is an example of their art creating change in the world.

Provisions for Learning Support – Provide a printed version of the selected #artofchange work for students to stick into their VAPD and draw straight onto during Part C of the lesson.

Teacher Reflection

Creative Sustainability - The Art of Social Change

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