Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you? I hope you're feeling really good.

I'm so pleased that you're here.

My name is Ms. Afzal, and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling particularly pleased about that, because of today's subject matter.

Today, we are looking at social action.

I wonder if that's something you've heard about.

Maybe it's something you've even been engaged in already.

Either way, we are gonna be exploring this today.

A lesson is called What is social action? And it comes from the unit of work, Social Action.

I'm really looking forward to us getting into this.

I hope you are too.

So if you're ready with some focus, energy, and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.

But the outcome for today's lesson is I can create social action stencil art to spark conversation.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

Let's go through them.

Social action and conversation, what do these keywords mean? Social action, when people work together to make their community or the world better.

Conversation, an exchange of thoughts, ideas, or information between two or more people.

And we have some more keywords.

Association and stencil, what do these keywords mean? Association is a connection we make in our minds between ideas or things based on something they have in common.

And stencil, a sheet of material with the design shape or letters cut out, used to apply a pattern or image by painting, drawing, or spraying over the cutout areas, leaving the design on the surface underneath.

So these are our keywords, social action and conversation and association and stencil.

Let's look out and listen out for them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called What is social action? And it has two learning cycles, making stencils as social action art and selecting materials purposefully.

Let's begin with making stencils as social action art.

What could social action mean? Pause here and share with someone what do you think.

Thanks for sharing.

Social suggests that this is about a group of people, like a society or maybe a community.

Actions suggest doing something to help solve a problem and maybe improve lives.

Perhaps you had ideas like these.

Social action is when people work together to make their community or the world better.

It can involve sparking a conversation, heightening awareness, solving problems, improving lives, standing up for what is right.

Social action art does not need to make tangible changes, but can simply make people think and raise awareness.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false, social action involves working together to improve communities by sparking conversation and heightening awareness only Pause here and decide is this true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

And now, I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this, "Social action involves people working together to improve their community by sparking conversation, heightening awareness but also solving problems, improving lives, and standing up for what is right." Social action art seeks to spark conversation by disrupting traditional thought patterns.

Conversation can be an important step in social change.

So first, you identify the issue, then take some community action, which leads to conversation and new ideas.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What is the missing step in this process? So we've got identify the issue, which leads us to community action, which leads to something that is missing, which then leads to new ideas.

So, pause here and show someone what's the missing step in this process.

The missing step in the process is conversation.

Well done if this is what you came up with as the missing step.

Sparking a conversation is an important step in social action artworks to disrupt traditional thought patterns.

This can be the first step in making social change.

Conversation in person can look like positive body language, making eye contact, turn taking, asking questions, repeating what you understand, staying on topic.

It's great when you have a really lovely conversation with someone and all of these things are present.

Pause here and share with somebody who is someone that you've had a really great conversation with recently, where there was positive body language, eye contact, turn taking, questions, repetition, and staying on topic.

Thanks for sharing.

I met up with a friend recently and had such a nice conversation.

All of this was present and I came away from that conversation feeling wonderful.

Artists can spark conversations without speaking in person to the audience by being unexpected, creating memorable works, challenging previous ideas, forming community and connection, using words in their artwork.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Fill the gaps using the word bank.

Artists can spark conversations without speaking in person to the audience by being, creating work, challenging ideas, forming community and using in that artwork.

So, pause here while you fill in the gaps using the word bank.

Well done for having a go at that.

I wonder if you got these answers.

Artists can spark conversations without speaking in person to the audience by being unexpected, creating memorable work, challenging previous ideas, forming community and connection, and using words in their artwork.

Well done if you fill in the gaps in this way.

Artists who have used words to talk to the audience include See Red Women's Workshop, "Black women will not be intimidated," 1980-81, Nina Nissen as part of the Lenthall Road Workshop, "Rolling Sisters," 1983, and Christopher Wool, "Apocalypse Now," 1988.

The '80s were a good time for using words in art.

Take a good look at this artwork.

What conversation does this artwork spark? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your conversation about the conversation.

Rirkrit Tiravanija's works, "Do we dream under the same sky," 2016 and "Untitled 2013, Fear Reach the Soul," 2013 uses bold, clear text to talk directly with the audience.

Here's Sofia, "He stencils onto things like newspapers, but his writing is bold and stands out." And Sam, "It is like the artist is creating his own headline, linking to current events." One way to use words is to create stencils, which offer a few benefits.

Stencils maintain legible text, are quick to apply, can use any font or design, can be repeated, can be used on different surfaces.

When making a stencil, you cut out shapes or letters to create a design and dab paint or spray through the cutout areas.

Pause here and share with someone.

Is there a time or place where you've seen a stencil being used? Thanks for sharing.

Take a look at these letters.

What can you notice about the way the letters with enclosed spaces like A, B, D, and O have been cut out? Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you notice these little gaps, these little bridges.

For letters with enclosed spaces like A, B, D, and O, you need to think about how to keep those inner parts attached to the stencil.

These connections often called bridges ensure that the stencil remains a single usable piece.

Defined letters require connections between the internal gaps and the external frame.

Take a look at this letter e.

Can you see that a dotted line has been added on here? What's the purpose of the dotted line? Pause here and share with someone what do you think.

Thanks for sharing.

These dotted lines are showing us where the bridge will go, which will rub out with an eraser that will keep our stencil strong.

And now, it's time for your first task.

I would like you to select a social action issue important to a community you are a part of.

You could think about an issue that matters to you and that you know a lot about.

Think of an issue that is related to your local area or community.

Supports here while you select a social action issue, which is important to a community that you are a part of.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with selecting a social action issue important to a community you're a part of? You may have said single use plastics in packed lunches, social media use for under 11 year olds, animal rights in fashion, promoting well-being in school.

Oh, love all of these, especially that last one.

For the next part of your task, I would like you to create a mind map with short slogans to spark conversation about your social action issue.

You could be persuasive, write questions to spark conversation.

Pause here while you have a go at this task.

It's good to be back with you.

How did it get on with creating your mind map? You may have said something like this.

Promoting well-being.

Feeling good? Care for body and mind.

One step at a time.

Pause, breathe, thrive.

How are you? And now, I would like you to create a stencil of your preferred slogan to spark conversation about your social action issue.

You could draw large letters in pencil, add dotted lines to secure internal gaps, erase pencil marks around the dotted lines, fold the card to cut inside the letters.

Remember to cut slowly and carefully.

Use tape on the back of the stencil to secure any pieces that have been accidentally removed and cut away any excess tape.

Pause here while you create a stencil of your preferred slogan to spark conversation about your social action issue.

It is great to be back with you.

How did you get on? Oh my, look at this, "Feeling GOOD?" You may have neatly cut a stencil, preserving the internal parts of the letters.

And now, I'd like you to make a print or prints from your stencil.

You could place the stencil down flat, secure a tape.

Use stippling with vertical movements to gain clean edges.

Peel the stencil carefully from the surface.

Pause here while you have a go at making a print or prints from your stencil.

It is good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that? Look at these.

Here's the print.

Here's the stencil.

It's looking great you and you may have used stippling to print the slogan.

Hope you're feeling proud of what you've created.

And now, we're onto our next learning cycle, selecting materials purposefully.

Which materials have been used here.

Pause here and show it to someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you talked about the envelope and perhaps the paint or ink that was used in the printing.

And what's the impact of printing on this surface of an envelope? Pause here and chat with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Artists select materials for a number of reasons.

innovation, a message, accessibility, sustainability, interactivity, challenging tradition, association.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false.

Artists will sometimes select materials to send a message in their work.

Pause here and decide is this true or false.

Well done if you selected true.

And now, I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this, "Artists select materials to create more meaning in their work.

For example, using plastic bottles to highlight environmental concerns." One way artists can create a message in their work is to use common associations people have with the materials or surfaces they use.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which image uses associations between words and images best to spark conversations about physical health.

Is it a, b, or c? Well done if you selected a, with that background of the blister packs of medications.

Artist Katie Just and her community use the fabrics of a high-vis vest to create the "Hope," banner highlighting women's safety in public spaces.

How are the materials or purposeful selection? Pause here and share with someone on.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's gather some reflections.

Here's Aisha, "'Hope,' means that you want something to happen, so maybe the vest highlights that they are hoping for safety." And Alex, maybe the artwork uses a high-vis vest to raise the issue of people being safe and seen.

The materials that we choose as an artist can help to communicate a message to the viewer.

Further artists who use materials purposefully include "Social Fabric," 1991 by Rita Keegan and "RIP Steven Lawrence 1974 to 1993," 2013 by Chris Ofili.

And now, it's time for your next task.

I would like you to match the below services with the most likely associations.

So we have fabric, book pages, cardboard, newspapers, food packaging, and envelopes.

And associations, correspondence, current events, education, uniform, storage, and consumerism.

Pause here while you match the surfaces with the most likely associations.

So, how did you get on with matching those surfaces and most likely associations? Did you match fabric with uniform, book pages with education, cardboard with storage, newspapers with current events, food packaging with consumerism, and envelopes of correspondence? Next, I would like you to combine materials and texts from Task A.

Select the surface that adds the most meaning to your Task A stencil.

Prepare your surface.

You might want to apply a wash of paint to prime the surface.

Stencil onto your surface, stippling carefully to gain clean edges.

Experiment with the color of the text.

Experiment with the positioning of the text.

Reflect on your success in deepening the meaning of your work.

So, pause here while you have a go at combining materials and texts from task A.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task? Combining materials and texts from Task A.

You may have taken your stencil and printed onto something, like an envelope or onto pages of a book.

And here's Izzy.

"I paired the envelope, which is a symbol of communication with 'feeling good?' to spark a conversation about well-being." And here's Jacob.

"We repeated and rotated the stencil, adding multiple question marks to reflect the difficulty some people face in expressing their feelings.

This created a busier, confusing design." Pause here and share with someone your impression of Jacob's creation.

Thanks for sharing.

And here's Jun.

"We stenciled the slogan onto a piece of fabric that we prepared with paint.

It makes the lettering stand out and is visually effective and attention grabbing." It certainly is.

"The association to promote positive well-being is not as strong as the envelope though, so we need to develop this further." In that lesson in What is social action, we've covered the following.

Social action is when people work together to improve their community or the world by standing up for what's right, helping others, fixing unfairness, or starting conversations.

Sparking a conversation is a key part of a social action project.

Artists need to be very clear about the message they wish to convey.

Artists select non-traditional materials to add meaning to the work due to the associations with or symbolism of the material.

Well done everyone for joining with this lesson.

It was great to explore social action, something that is so important and necessary in this world.

And I'm so glad that you are here for it and creating your artworks, which were promoting that message that you feel so passionate about.

Keep spreading your message and shining your light.

And I look forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.