Protest
and Persuasion: Making Art That Matters
Objectives
To
explore various methods for creating strong figure/ground
relationships on a two-dimensional surface.
To
create visual images and symbols that could be used to protest or
persuade.
Project
Overview
Your
challenge is to plan and execute a relief print that attempts to
protest or persuade. Your focus should be on
effective
definition of shape, use of symbols, figure/ground relationships, and
impact on your intended viewers.
Project
References
Marcuse,
Herbert, "The New Sensibility," An Essay on Liberation
(Boston: 1969), pp. 23 - 48.
Vocabulary
linoleum
block, brayer, relief print, figure/ground relationships,
intersection, integration, interpenetration
Materials
linoleum
block, linoleum cutting tools, small sheet of glass or plastic for
palette, black printer's ink, brayer (ink roller),
rice paper, burnishing tool (spoon)
Process
Preliminary:
Before
coming to class, review the theme of
Protest
and Persuasion
as
found on the website. Plan out your image, remembering to focus on
shape and figure/ground relationships (see vocabulary above).
Remember that letters and words (as well as images) will print in
reverse.
HINT:
You might choose to use a linear repeat pattern as a border to frame
another image or text, as Luis Guerra did in his painting for a
poster, as Ana Laura de la Garza did with roses around her
monoprint, as José Guadalupe Posada did with his broadside, or as
the santero painter did to frame the New Mexico retablo of the
Virgin of Guadalupe.
Exercise:
1.
Transfer a preliminary sketch onto a linoleum block by tracing the
shapes of the sketch onto tracing paper, turning the tracing
paper over, placing a sheet of carbon paper between the block and the
tracing paper, and finally tracing over the outlines.
2.
Prepare the block by removing areas not to be printed (or with
cardboard, by gluing raised areas to a flat base. Coat
the entire cardboard "block " with watered down white glue
to seal the surface.).
3.
Place a small amount of ink on a palette and spread ink evenly over
the brayer (roller) by rolling it on the palette.
4.
Ink the block by rolling the inked brayer over its surface.
5.
Place a sheet of paper over the inked block.
6.
Apply pressure (with a press, using a wooden spoon, or by applying
weight, such as a stack of books) to transfer ink to the
paper.
7.
Carefully pull off the print. Expect some texture in printed areas.
Critique
Ideas
When
you have completed your composition, divide into small groups and
exchange artworks with another group from
the class. Within your group, work together to respond to each print
in turn. Consider the following:
1. Describe the various
figure/ground relationships your fellow artists used.
2.
Point out any personal and/or cultural symbols the artist used to
indicate a particular meaning.
3.
Discuss ideas the artwork seems to communicate. After some sharing of
interpretations, attempt to state the message of the
composition in one sentence. (This artwork is about. . .)
4.
Explain how the shapes, symbols, or other elements of the composition
support its message.
5.
Divide each group into two subgroups: viewers who role play that they
agree with the artist and other viewers who role play that
they are skeptical.
6.
Describe how each set of viewers would respond to the artwork. Each
student should volunteer to present an interpretation of one of
the artworks basing that interpretation on the small group's
discussion.
Notebook
Checklist
□ Clean
and Organized
□ Turned in on Time
□ Turned in on Time
□ Discussion
Page on Figure/Ground
□ Project
Objectives
□ Concept
Page on Protest and Persuasion
□ Vocabulary
□ Vocabulary
□ Research
□ Preliminary
Sketch