Art as Experience
In this activity, students will create a work of art focused on formal, aesthetic, and sensory experience rather than on “meaning.”
ART & LIT LESSON 1:
FINE ARTS
1—2 class periods (60-90 min) + visual assignment
VIDEO:
Against Interpretation Video and Transcript
HANDOUTS:
Handout 1 (as needed)
Handout 2 (as needed)
Handout 3 (as needed)
WORKSHEET:
TEACHING PLAN:
- Art and Culture
Medium > Architecture
Medium > Visual Arts
Subject Matter > Art History
Subject Matter > Music
Subject Matter > Philosophy
- History and Social Studies
Themes > Culture
- Literature and Language Arts
Genre > Drama
Genre > Essay
Place > American
Place > Modern World
- Analysis
- Architectural analysis
- Critical thinking
- Discussion
- Expository writing
- Film editing
- Interpretation
- Making inferences and drawing conclusions
- Media analysis
- Musical analysis
- Representing ideas and information orally, graphically, and in writing
- Painting
- Photography
- Synthesis
- Visual analysis
- Visual art analysis
- Visual art skills
- Writing skills
- ELA Writing: 2, 4, 10
- ELA Speaking & Listening: 1, 4
- HSS Writing: 2, 4, 10
LESSON 1 HANDOUTS
- Choose a single formal, aesthetic, or sensory element to explore as a class, and arrange a public exhibition of the finished works (see our Information for Teachers).
- Allow additional time for peer review, editing, revision, and critique of finished works.
- Assign longer essays or response papers in place of the short reflection, asking students to research related examples of formal, aesthetic, and sensory engagement by historical or contemporary artists and incorporate these findings into their writing.
- Publish a selection of artwork in the school newspaper, literary/art journal, coordinate a class blog, vlog, or web gallery, or encourage students to submit their work independently.