Cultural appropriation has existed for centuries, taking on the form of exotification and demeaning of cultures different from one’s own. It is first important to begin exploring what culture is to each person. As it is the first lesson of a six-week session, it is all the more important that the first meeting places an emphasis on establishing community between the students and teachers, in order to encourage thoughtful and respectful discussions and artmaking.
Students and teachers will talk about themselves, who they are, and what they hope to gain from this experience. Students will think of a personal object of cultural significance, and share what culture means to them. This lesson focuses on thinking about how different everyone’s idea of culture is, the many experiences and feelings that are tied to it.
Students will be asked to think critically about how cultural norms, such as films and music have been impacted by other sources, like Japanese and Mexican culture. In examining culture and technology within the context of appropriation, students will have to step back and look at themselves and their influences in order to discover the origins of their experiences. Through examining culture and technology within the context of appropriation, students will learn how to identify different cultural elements being used in larger works that may or may not stray from traditional meanings.
What is originality? Do we consciously and/or unconsciously borrow from experiences we’ve had and things we’ve seen? Is it possible to not appropriate, or is whatever we make automatically a derivative of something else? If you combine two or more items, visual elements, or thoughts, does that create something original? The class will explore the idea of originality versus appropriation, examining these questions as well as addressing them through discussion and analyzing artwork. Students will look towards contemporary media in which there was appropriation, and discuss where those ideas may have stemmed from, attempting to link the image to any existing imagery or subject matter that already exists.
Why might artists choose to appropriate in their work, especially if it’s possible to create original work without using images that already exist? Appropriation is the artistic practice or technique of reworking images from well-known paintings, photographs, etc, in one’s own work. In appropriating existing images and other media, artists can utilize the connotations and the context which surround these images to create a work that is something completely new, with its own unique message. The class will explore why and how artists appropriate in order to send a message by borrowing the power of existing images.
In which students finish their concepts from Week 5.
Victoria is an art educator based in New York. She will soon (and is excited to) obtain her MA in Art Education from NYU. She graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design with BFA in Illustration, and is formally trained with both analog and digital painting, drawing, animation, as well as creative writing and art history. She is interested in the exploring relationship between art and storytelling, and how art can be used as a medium to speak one's mind on social issues.
Zack had short hair once upon a time. He is an art educator who is about to graduate from NYU with a Graduate degree in Art Education with a focus on social justice art. Zack has been a self employed storyboard artist for advertising for almost twenty years. He has also taught figure drawing and painting for five years. He began his career designing toys. Zack has a Bachelors degree in studio art, with a focus on contemporary post modernism and installation art. He also studied modern art and spent almost ten years in an Atelier studying academic figure drawing and painting. He currently resides in New York.