Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today about street art through digital and new media.

We're going to do lots of thinking, talking, and exploring together in this lesson.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to create your own digital street art that communicates a social message using symbolism, colour, and digital media tools.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are: street art, social message, digital media, and symbolism.

I'm going to say those again and I would like you to repeat them after me: street art, social message, digital media, symbolism.

Good job.

Now, let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean by taking a look at their definitions.

Street art is art created in public spaces, often with social or political messages.

A social message is a statement or theme expressed through art that addresses societal issues such as human rights, climate change, equality, or political movements.

Digital media means tools and platforms that allow for the creation, sharing, and manipulation of artwork using digital technology.

And symbolism is the use of images, colours, or objects to represent ideas or concepts beyond their literal meaning.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles we're working through together in today's lesson: Exploring street art and its messages, and Creating street art with a social message.

In this first learning cycle, we're going to explore street art and its messages.

Have you ever seen street art before? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

Have you seen it before? What did you see and where did you see it? Well, street art is created in public spaces.

It can include graffiti, stencils, sculptures, murals, and digital art.

Street art is often used to express personal identity, engage people, and convey ideas with a social message.

What social message might this street art express? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? What kind of social message might this street art express? Got a whale here on the side of a building.

Hmm.

Well, a social message is a statement or theme expressed through art that addresses societal issues such as human rights, climate change, equality, or political movements.

So this large blue whale street art is across the sides of tower buildings, so perhaps that's something linked with climate change and a social message about taking care of our oceans.

Street art can be used to express personal opinions, challenge political or social norms, and make statements about important issues in society.

By communicating social messages in public spaces, ideas can reach larger and more diverse audiences.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What is the main purpose of street art? To decorate public spaces with random patterns, to express personal opinions or social messages, to simply create graffiti.

Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about the answer to this question.

And press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that the main purpose of street art is to express personal opinions or social messages, you are absolutely right.

While some street art is made without permission, many street artists communicate meaningful political or social messages that promote discussion.

What do you think are the advantages of street art over art displayed in a traditional gallery setting? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? What are the advantages? Well, street art is powerful because it is public and often engages people in unexpected ways: to make people think, challenge their views and even inspire them to take action on social issues.

One of the most internationally recognised street artists is Banksy.

Using public spaces around the world as his canvas, his artwork often communicates social messages.

They can spark conversations about social justice and inequality, challenging the status quo through humour and satire.

Symbolism refers to the use of images, colours, or objects to represent ideas or concepts beyond their literal meaning.

Symbolism can be a powerful tool to weave social messages into an artwork.

You see this large mural of an animal face here that's surrounded by different colours that are bright and also different patterns.

Symbolism may be found in colour choices, in shapes, or in objects or icons.

Street art often uses symbols to convey complex social messages in a way that is easy to understand visually.

For example, red might symbolise danger or urgency, while symbols like fists or flowers might represent activism or peace.

Can you think of any examples of symbols that might be used to convey a social message? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? Can you think of any other examples of symbols? Perhaps you thought of the dove, which often acts as a symbol of peace.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What does symbolism mean in the context of street art? The use of images or objects to represent ideas or concepts, the use of text to describe the meaning of the artwork, or the method of painting murals on large buildings? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said the use of images or objects to represent ideas or concepts? You are absolutely right.

That's what symbolism is in the context of street art.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to use either real life observation or images to sketch your favourite example of street art.

Then I'd like you to write a short description about your chosen example of street art.

In your description, you might want to identify the main social message or theme of the artwork and maybe discuss how the artist uses colours, symbols, and imagery to communicate this message.

And also reflect on the artist's possible intention and the public's reaction to the artwork.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at sketching your favourite street art and writing a short description, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Well, let's look at this example here.

So this is one of Jacob's favourite pieces.

So we've got this polar bear here, and Jacob has written his short description.

He says, "I think this artwork has a social message and represents environmental concerns and climate change.

The polar bear standing on top of a melting iceberg reinforces this idea.

I hope this street artwork would make people think about how their actions can affect our planet and the other animals on it." Well done for exploring street art and thinking about your favourite and what the message is.

This brings us the second part of our lesson.

We're going to be creating street art with a social message.

You can often find messages related to social, political, or cultural issues in street art.

Street art often addresses issues like human rights, climate change, inequality, and political protest.

In this way, street art becomes a visual form of activism, helping raise awareness about critical issues.

Symbols can be used to represent social messages.

Let's take a look at these two here.

What social messages might these symbols represent? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? What could they represent? Well, an animal or globe can symbolise environmental concerns, and a heart could represent love or empathy.

We can consider how different symbols can strengthen a message, and that's why we might want to include them.

Now, discuss with a partner any social or political issues that matter to you, and any symbols you might use to visually represent your social message in an artwork.

Pause the video here and have that discussion with your partner now, and press play when you are ready to continue.

So what's important to you? What social message would you want to share in an artwork? Well, Jacob says, "I am passionate about our relationship to nature.

I want to create an artwork which shows how our actions can affect our environment.

I might use symbols like the ocean, animals and plastic waste to represent this idea." And Sofia says, "Every person has their own strengths and challenges that they face in life.

I want to represent these differences through many hands coming together to hold an Earth." So you may have some ideas like Jacob and Sofia, or maybe yours are slightly different, depending on what is important to you.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What type of message would you expect to find in a piece of street art? A simple decoration with no meaning, an advertisement for a product, or a message related to social, political, or cultural issues? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that you'd expect to find a message related to social, political, or cultural issues, you are absolutely right.

Well done.

How might digital media help street artists communicate their ideas? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

How could digital media help? Well, digital art tools and digital media offer more flexibility, speed, and reach a global audience.

Artists can share their work on social media, websites and digital platforms, increasing the impact of their message.

Chilean Street artist Inti draws inspiration from their cultural heritage, highlighting contemporary social and cultural issues through religious symbols and portraits.

Argentinian Street artist Hyuro creates large scale murals that address social and political issues such as gender inequality and discrimination through symbolism.

NEVERCREW are a street art collective that create large murals of nature, animals and human-made materials to highlight the challenges of the climate crisis, ecological conservation, and animal rights.

In 2011, French artist JR began a project titled "Inside Out," which involves pasting large portraits of people around their homes.

Since its launch, the street art project has visited 153 countries, involving over 2,500 communities, delivering the important social message that everyone has a voice and matters within their community.

Without digital media, street artists are often limited to having their work viewed only by passers by who see their artworks.

The evolution of street art to using digital media also reflects broader cultural shifts and technological advancements.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What is the role of digital media in creating street art today? It enables artists to reach a global audience and share messages quickly, it allows artists to create art on large canvases only, it eliminates the need for physical art materials? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about the answer to this question and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said it enables artists to reach a global audience and share messages quickly, you are absolutely right.

Well done.

When designing your own street art with a social message, think about the social message you want to convey.

Write down any keywords connected to your idea.

Sketch and draw the key concepts and include any symbols or colours that you could use.

Now this brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to plan your own piece of street art that communicates a social message that is important to you.

So choose a social issue or theme that matters to you.

For example, environmental conservation, kindness, mental health awareness or equality.

And then create a mind map of elements, words, symbols, and imagery you could use to communicate your chosen social message.

And then consider the use of bold colours, striking imagery, and clear symbolism to help make your message stand out.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at planning your own piece of street art and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Well, let's take a look at Alex's plan.

So he says that "My street art piece will be about the environment.

I will try to convey this social message through symbols, keywords, and contrasting imagery." So you might have things like this.

So climate change in the middle with some keywords like nature, environment, animals, technology, and plastic.

Maybe the symbols you'll include are the Earth or the ocean, icebergs, animal footprints, a human hand print, endangered species, birds, bugs, bees.

And here are some sketches you might have done to illustrate those symbols you might include.

So well done for having a go at planning your street art design.

And well done for completing this learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about exploring social messages in street art.

Street art is an important form of visual communication and can be used to convey social messages to large audiences.

Symbolism can be used to help convey ideas through the choice of colour, images or objects to represent different concepts.

Digital media tools enable street artists to reach global audiences and reach more people.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you then.