Yr 9 SELF IMAGE homework

WHO ARE YOU?! 

Well, this self image project is all about YOU expressing who you are, using your imagination, memory and imagination. 

It always helps to look at the work of other artists when exploring a new theme. These homework tasks are designed to get you thinking a bit more in-depth about some of the artists you have studied in your lessons. 

1. Visit the excellent website of the late NYC graffiti artist Keith Haring. Drop, drag and colour your own Haring-style image. Print out what you create and place in your art folder. 

2. David Shillinglaw is a contemporary British artists who has recently had an exhibition in Bristol. 

Shillinglaw states that "my work deals with an ongoing quest to control and define the human condition. The work depicts all the devices we use to conceal and reveal our true identities as we struggle both to fit in and stand out. I make work that illustrates the shifts between the multitude of fictions we labour under and the reality of who we are." 

He has placed many of his intricate and thought-provoking works on his website. Print out two of your favourites and write one paragraph explaining what it is about the images that you like. 

R Davies 

'still life' extension work (year 9)

TASK 1: Create your own traditional-style still life painting by using the NGA interactive painting webpage. Add, move, and re-size objects, change tables and fabrics, use digital paintbrushes, and much more! print out your concluding image and put in your art folder. 

TASK 2: Visit the excellent Tate Kids webpage, and play the 'Memento Mori' game. It will teach you about the symbols and meanings behind 'still life' artworks. When you've played the game, write a short description about the ideas explored in still life art. 

R Davies

shoot that still life part two (yr9)

The second challenge for our intrepid year 9s was to take digital photographs of our boring still life objects, transforming these into interesting compositions. After learning some basic camera control skills the pupils were let loose to energise the dull. Here are some of the most successful shots. 

                    

              

          

Visit our gallery to view yet more of these amazingly imaginative photographs. 

R Davies

9H animations

can be found here

9G animations

can be found here

shoot that still life (yr9)

Year 9 pupils were given quite a challenge in their first three Art lessons of the year - to make the boring interesting! 

The Still Life genre is full of exciting examples of dull objects transformed into vibrant and meaningful art (go to the Tate Gallery website for a bit of context). We decided that animating conventional still life objects would be an interesting place to start. Pupils in 9G and 9H looked at artist Sam Taylor-Wood's seminal re-working of a still life convention, the decaying bowl of fruit, to get ideas for their animations. This film explores ideas about mortality and the fragility of human life. The latin phrase memento mori is used to describe a whole body of such still life art works. 

Pupils in 9G and 9H responded brilliantly to this challenge, but don't take my word for it - play the above films and see for yourselves!

R Davies