Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Holland and we have got a packed lesson today, we've got so much to get through and some really exciting art to create, so let's get started.

So our art lesson today is part of the unit "Art movements" and we're gonna be specifically looking at today "Art movements and disciplines and multidisciplinary artists." So what are the similarities, what are the differences between these things? Our outcome today, so by the end of today you'll be able to use a range of techniques and materials to explore different artistic disciplines, so it's a very practical lesson today, which is very exciting.

Our keywords are discipline, and a discipline is an artistic practise which has its own techniques and materials.

Popular culture, which includes things such as social media, video games, music, food, things that people enjoy in everyday life.

And multidisciplinary, which is about combining or involving more than one artistic discipline.

so more than one artistic practise which has its own techniques and materials.

So we have three parts to today's lesson.

We're gonna look at the disciplines of art, then the disciplines and popular culture, and then we're gonna hone in and focus on multidisciplinary artists.

So let's start with the disciplines of art.

So one of our questions today is, how do artists express their creativity in different ways? Let's see what these pupils say.

So this pupil says, "Artists use tools to express themselves." "Artists depict different things and people." And the third pupil says, "They create art in different ways." What are your thoughts about this? How do artists express their creativity in different ways? Let's find out.

So disciplines allow artists to express their creativity in different ways.

And there are many, many examples of artistic disciplines, and these can include painting, installation, and drawing.

But there are many, many more, but these are three that we're gonna focus on today.

So as there are so many others, what other artistic disciplines can you think of? What about sculpture? What about photography? In art, a discipline is an artistic practise which has its own techniques, which are the different processes we use to create art, and materials which are the different resources that we use to create work.

Check for understanding.

What allows artists to express their creativity in different ways? Let's have a look.

Indeed, it's the disciplines of art.

Another check for understanding.

In art, a discipline is an artistic practise which has its own.

Is it that they have their own tones and patterns, techniques and materials, forms and shapes, or compositions and textures? Let's have a look.

Yes, well done, it's its own techniques and materials.

So let's start looking at this.

And here we have the discipline of painting and we've got an example of someone applying the discipline of painting.

And it basically uses the technique of applying paint to a surface.

We might traditionally think of a brush on paper, but actually the technique itself is just applying paint in a certain way to a surface.

So if we look at this, what different ways has this artist applied the paint? Have a look.

Materials within the discipline of painting include different types of paint and tools such as brushes, palette knives, sponges and air-sprays.

So just like that video clip we just saw, some artists might even use cardboard, we could use our fingers, there's so many different tools we can use.

What different types of paint can you think of? Here is a picture of oil paint.

Did you think about watercolour paint, acrylic paint? Check for understanding, complete the sentence.

The discipline of painting uses the technique of applying paint to a.

Well done, yes, it is the discipline of painting uses the technique of applying paint to a surface, well done.

So we've looked at painting very briefly and now let's look at drawing briefly.

It traditionally uses the technique of applying line, tone, and marks again to a surface.

And I've got two pictures here.

We've got a tonal drawing in pencil, which might be a more traditional way you think of drawing, but we've also got on the right mark making in clay, which is also about applying line and marks to a surface, but the surface happens to be a clay surface.

Importantly, the discipline can also use techniques to explore in conceptual ways, so more conceptual ways such as through walking and other ephemeral ways, on the beach or in the snow, so it doesn't have to last forever.

And this is an example of ephemeral art made in sand.

The materials used in drawing can be varied and they can include pencils, crayons, pens, ink, and a variety of different mark-making instruments, including our own bodies, so we can smudge pencil with our finger.

I'd like you to look at this example.

What materials do you think have been used in this drawing? Well done, yes, so I said I think the artist has used paper, that's their surface, and ink.

And I've said I wonder whether they've used a sort of thin brush to apply the ink.

Let's now move on to installation.

Now installation is a discipline that came to prominence in the 1970s, so really, really came to be known in the 1970s.

And this example here is a small-scale model of an installation, so it's a model of an installation.

An installation art is a discipline that transforms spaces into immersive experiences, engaging viewers beyond traditional paintings or sculptures, so breaking down those barriers that might normally be on a plinth as a sculpture or a frame as a picture.

And the discipline focuses on how the audience experiences the work, so the artist asks the audience to become involved and immersed in the work and to experience it.

There are many, many different techniques and materials used within the discipline of installation, and these can include the techniques of assemblage, so combining different objects to create a unified installation; projection and light effects so you can use light for effect; and really excitingly, soundscape, so we can use music or talking to create that immersive experience as well.

And the materials can include everyday objects, so furniture, books, fabric.

If you want in your immersive installation for people to really engage, you might place chairs within it.

Digital, so you might use video projections or TV screens.

And industrial things such as metal, glass, wire, plastic.

But it's not limited to these techniques and materials, these are just examples of what can be used.

A quick check for understanding, true or false? There can be different techniques and materials used within a discipline.

True or false? Well done, of course it is true.

And that's because art disciplines such as installation and drawing often includes different techniques and materials, and it's often expanding.

We're always experimenting, exploring.

So moving on to our first task and I want you to choose and experiment with a discipline in your sketchbook.

I'd like you to discuss what the discipline is and identify the different techniques and materials you could use.

So you could choose painting, drawing, collage, installation, textiles, sculpture, and photography.

So there's so many different disciplines you could use, whichever one you feel like you want to explore.

It could be one that you haven't explored much before.

And I really want you to discuss and maybe note in your sketchbook the different techniques and materials you've used.

Pause the video.

Well done, I'd love to see your artwork, as always, especially maybe the textiles.

I wonder what textiles you used and what techniques you used.

So Laura here has chosen collage and this involved arranging different materials still on a surface.

And she actually used different types of fabric for her collage and you can see it here, you can see the different types of fabric.

And the techniques she used were cutting and ripping and arranging them and fixing them, and you can see she's arranged them in a kind of colour organisation composition, well done.

Let's move on to our second learning cycle where we're gonna be looking specifically at disciplines and popular culture.

Another question, we've got three questions for you today, this is the second question.

Should an art movement only contain work created in one discipline? So should an art movement only create work in painting? Or should it only contain work in drawing? Let's see what these pupils say and then we'll have a think.

So this pupil says, "Yes! Otherwise they wouldn't have anything in common." This pupil says, "I disagree, actually.

I think they can share the same theme or ideas instead, not the same discipline." Who do you agree with? I think hopefully you'll agree with the person that says they can share the same theme or ideas instead.

Art movements do not only have works created in the same discipline.

If we really think about the art movements you know of or we've looked at before, we know that lots of different disciplines are contained within them.

Art movements instead are groups of artists that share common characteristics, themes, and ideas, but they can express these through different disciplines.

Just as if I gave you a theme, you could choose to express that theme that united you but through different disciplines such as photography or sculpture.

Similarly, a discipline could be found across many different art movements.

So we might see sculpture in lots of different art movements, painting in lots of different art movements.

What art movements have you seen the discipline of painting and drawing in? I'm sure you've seen lots.

Have you been to any galleries, any museums, or learned about any art movements? And what disciplines do they have? Do they have painting and drawing? A check for understanding.

Which statements about art movements are correct? So is it art movements must only have works in one discipline; art movements can have works in different disciplines; art movements share common ideas and themes; and art movements never share materials and techniques? Really, really think about this.

Which ones are correct? Well done, let's have a look.

Yes, it's B and C.

Art movements can have works in different disciplines and they can also share common themes and ideas.

So the disciplines of painting, drawing, and installation that we looked at in our first section can be found in the Pop Art movement.

So here we have a timeline, and Pop Art emerged in the mid 20th century, so around 1950, and shared the common idea of blurring the line between what was traditionally known as fine art and popular culture.

And remember from our keyword slide, popular culture includes things such as social media, video games, music, and food that people enjoy in everyday life.

So traditionally that wasn't thought of something as being fine art because it was in everyday life.

The artists used different disciplines to express this idea and they depicted everyday images and objects such as comic books, famous celebrities, soup cans, and indeed fast foods like this picture of this hot dog.

Why do you think it was brave of these artists to decide to use food like this hot dog to create a work of art? Why do you think that's brave? And what discipline would you choose to represent it? Now I think it's brave because traditionally subject matters such as hot dogs weren't part of the fine art, thought to be fine art.

And actually these artists really pushed the boundaries on this.

And for me, I think it'd be quite fun to make a hot dog out of sculpture, so I would choose to do sculpture.

In Pop Art, some of the artists and their disciplines include.

Now there were many, many artists within Pop Art and many, many disciplines included, but these are just a few examples.

So we have Roy Lichtenstein, who was born in 1923 and died in 1977, and he used lots of different disciplines including painting, printmaking, mixed media, collage, and sculpture.

Marjorie Strider was born in 1931 and died in 2014, and she used painting, sculpture, mixed media, and installation.

And Andy Warhol, born in 1928 and died in 1987, used painting, printmaking, video, photography, sculpture, and indeed fashion too.

So looking at these disciplines, do they only use one discipline to express their creativity? They don't, do they? As artists, we can use lots and lots of different disciplines to express our creativity in different ways.

So Roy Lichtenstein used many different disciplines to express his creativity.

And within these, one of the techniques he used was the Ben-Day dot, and here is a pupil's experimentation with Ben-Day dots.

They're a repetitive pattern that were traditionally used in colour newspapers and magazines, and they were printed by machines.

Lichtenstein recreated these in his works by hand because he wanted to blur the distinction between this popular culture of newspapers and magazines and using machines, and fine art.

So he took that popular culture and placed it into fine art.

What did Lichtenstein paint across the disciplines he used? So check for understanding, what did Lichtenstein paint across the disciplines that he used? Ben-Day spots, Ben-Day specks, Ben-Day flecks, or Ben-Day dots.

Well done, yes, Ben-Day dots, he used Ben-Day dots.

So moving on to our second task.

I would like you to create an artwork that blurs the line between popular culture and fine art.

So you need to choose a subject matter from popular culture, and I'll give you some ideas in a minute, and then represent it using a different discipline to Task A.

So if like Laura, you used collage, don't use collage in this task.

And a repetitive pattern, so a bit like those Ben-Day dots.

So you could choose a piece of technology such as a smartphone, a fast food item, burger, chips, hot dog, an everyday object such as a piece of furniture, or a well-known brand logo.

And I've put a picture and image of a repetitive pattern here to help inspire you.

Pause the video.

Well done, I wonder what you chose.

I feel like a smartphone might be quite a popular choice, but I wonder if anyone did the hot dog and if anyone chose sculpture.

So this is what I chose, the smartphone.

So I took a smartphone and then I created this repetitive pattern, and that's helped me blur this line between popular culture and what people think of as traditional fine art.

And I of course use the discipline of drawing here.

Let's move on to our third learning cycle, multidisciplinary artists.

And it's our third question as well.

Should an artist use different disciplines within the same artwork? I'm not sure.

This pupil says, "Hmm, I'm not sure, as it could look a bit messy and confusing." And this pupil says, "I'm not sure either.

Does it depend what disciplines are being used?" Is there a rule around that? What do you think? Well, many artists successfully combine different disciplines into a single artwork.

For example, the Pop artist Marjorie Strider combined painting and sculpture in her 1973 work "Soda Box." Many artists can also successfully work across disciplines for different artworks, and we touched upon this before, such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol who worked across many, many different disciplines throughout their careers.

Check for understanding, true or false? Artists can only work in one discipline.

Well done, we know that that's false.

Many artists successfully combine different disciplines into a single artwork, and many artists can also successfully work across disciplines for different artworks.

When artists combine different disciplines into a single artwork or work across different disciplines, it is called multidisciplinary art.

So let's look at this word, multi and disciplinary.

Multi means many, derives from the word many.

So multidisciplinary means many disciplines.

Multidisciplinary contemporary artists whose artworks contain characteristics reminiscent of Pop Art, so the Pop Art we've looked at before, include Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, and Anthea Hamilton.

So these three artists are all multidisciplinary contemporary artists and their artworks contain characteristics reminiscent of Pop Art.

These artists use a range of different disciplines and references to popular culture and unique characteristics to create imaginary and fantastical environments.

What term is given to artists who combine different disciplines into one artwork or work across multiple different disciplines? Well done, yes, it's multidisciplinary.

Remember, multi means many.

Yayoi Kusama is a multidisciplinary Japanese artist and is one of the the most influential contemporary artists.

She was born in 1929.

Kusama created and exhibited art in New York during the Pop Art period and is thought have actually influenced some Pop artists and their work.

The disciplines that Kusama use include painting, sculptures, and large-scale installations.

Similar to the Pop artists, she often uses bright colours and repetitive patterns such as polka dots, which she called Infinity Nets.

So not necessarily with the same meaning, but we can see a stylistic link here to Roy Lichtenstein's work.

But Kusama used them with these repetitive patterns and called them Infinity Nets.

Some of Kusama's best known works are her "Infinity Mirror Rooms" installations where mirrors and lights make it look like the space goes on forever, infinitely.

And she began developing these back in the 1960s with her first installation, "Infinity Mirror Room - Phalli's Field" created in 1965, which featured a room carved in mirrors and soft polka-dotted sculptures.

What did Kusama name the repetitive dots that she used in her art? Were they Timeless Nets, Infinity Nets, Eternity Nets, or Endless Nets? Let's have a look.

Yes, well done, they were Infinity Nets.

Since the early 1990s, the multidisciplinary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has drawn cartoons from Japanese, European, and American popular culture to include in his works.

He mixes these images from popular culture with fantasy, science, and history to show that these ideas are all connected and not separate from each other.

Along with using disciplines such as painting, sculpture, and installation, Murakami has created films and worked with fashion brands, even.

Name one discipline that Murakami has expressed his creativity through, and there are lots of different disciplines he's used, so just pick one.

Let's see what you may have said.

So you may have said painting, sculpture, installation, film.

We could have said fashion.

Moving now on our timeline to 1978, and this is when Anthea Hamilton was born.

Anthea Hamilton is a multidisciplinary British artist, and in 2017 she became the first Black woman to be awarded a commission to create a work for Tate Britain's Duveen Galleries.

Hamilton uses bold colours, playful images, everyday objects and references to popular culture in surprising ways, encouraging audiences to see everyday objects in a new way.

And she uses many, many different disciplines, including sculpture, installation, performance, fashion, and she creates large-scale artworks, costumes and immersive spaces that people can walk through and experience.

Indeed, Hamilton's installation "The Squash" in 2018 featured performers in costumes inspired by various different pumpkins and squashes.

Check for understanding.

In Hamilton's installation "The Squash" from 2018, what everyday items inspired the costumes the performers wore? Was it potatoes and turnips, carrots and parsnips, pumpkins and squashes, or broccoli and cauliflower? Well done, yes, it was pumpkin and squashes.

Let's move on to our last task and I'd like you to take some real time over this task, please.

So I'd like you to create a multidisciplinary installation of a fantastical and imaginary environment inspired by popular culture, so we're bringing together all our learning and our knowledge from today.

Now this installation can be a small-scale model or it can be full size.

If it's a model, you could use cardboard or a cardboard box to create a model of a room.

And you could use painting, collage, or mixed media to cover the room.

And then you could use a range of materials and techniques to fill your space.

And thinking about, that's making the installation, the space of the installation, but thinking about your referencing to popular culture, you could use bright colours and repetitive patterns like we've seen.

Images cut from magazines or newspapers, so taking that popular culture and literally placing it in your room.

Materials to create sculptures of everyday objects.

Reflective materials to create an illusion of mirrors.

So pause the video and off you go.

I think I say this every task, but I do really wish I could see your lovely installations.

So I did this one and this was actually using a cardboard box which I painted red, so I used the discipline of painting to paint the inside, and then I used toilet tubes to create the two pillars.

And again, I painted them.

And then I used some Infinity Nets, so I used polka dots to decorate the installation and my model of an installation.

And then I placed a silhouette of a figure within it to kind of show the scale of the room.

I wonder what you did.

Maybe have a look at all the other peoples, if you're working in class, what they did.

Thank you so much for joining me today for this lesson on "Art movements, disciplines, and multidisciplinary artists." We've learned that artists express themselves through using different disciplines.

We've learned that multidisciplinary artists work across disciplines or combine different disciplines in one work, and you've done that today in Task C.

And you've also experimented, like many artists do, using disciplines to depict features of popular culture.

Thank you again, and I hope to see you soon.