Art is all around, from billboards to magazines to museums.
Modern Art often excites teenagers as the students are allowed to explore techniques currently enjoyed in the everyday world. Examples of modern art pop up in graffiti and on television. Modern art extends to all versions of multi-media, including such Internet sites as YouTube. This type of connectivity brings about a greater sense of understanding from the student, and teachers should use this excitement by bringing it to the curriculum.
Mixed Media
Modernism and new approaches to painting and sculpture include teaching things such as Art Deco, Pop Art and Abstract expressionism. This allows students to explore not only newer colors but also more modern ways of bringing the vision to light. Pop Art includes computer generated processing, mixing with color adjustments not formerly possible. The printing can be mixed media and even have forms of video in the output. A good project is to have students create a mixed media composition or computer graphics they feel represent art. This allows the teen to find personal inner expression.
Technology Advances Sculpture
How technology has affected art extends beyond digital photography and a means of producing images quickly. A large part of the curriculum needs to cover how this technology changed everything, including how sculptures are completed. Comparing the ways artists can work with stone today versus the tools available in times past gives students not only a greater respect for the former art but a true understanding of how it evolved. One curriculum point is to challenge the students to find an example of sculpture from each century between 1500 and now. The student should explore the difference in time it takes to complete the project, the vastness of the work, as well as the respect it has garnered. While technology has made things easier, many things in modern times are not considered as valuable as those of times past.
Realists Affect Modern Art
Look to the past influence on modern art. The realists are the most direct link between the art of the past and what is considered modern art. Finding out what made these artists change the norm by studying color theory and the idea of photography helps to showcase the move towards modernism. Ask the students to develop a photo project, but to utilize tools available at the beginning of photography, such as the old cameras used by Ansel Adams. Have the students compare what it was like to take film photos back then as compared to now. For the project the teens should mix modern photos with those of older cameras to see the difference.
Industrial Revolution Aspects
The industrial revolution had a huge effect on what art could be. Have your students examine what machines were made available to produce art, and how those machines became a part of the art. A modernist such as Andy Warhol not only used machines to create his art; he also featured pieces of equipment or cans of soup in the art itself. A report delving into the artists' decisions of whether or not to let machines take over can offer insight as well as a way to compare and contrast style.
